Next Monday marks the 20th anniversary of National Chemistry Week, and the Niles High School Chemistry Club has been getting ready by blowing stuff up.  “We ignited balloons filled with hydrogen, oxygen, and a mixture to see the differences in noise and force,” says Ami LeFevre, a biology/chemistry teacher and faculty advisor to the club.  “We did it at a school rally.  It makes the students excited and enthusiastic about science.”

The 182 local sections of the American Chemical Society will hold National Chemistry Week demonstrations at malls, schools, museums, and stores next week, with a special emphasis on introducing elementary and middle school students to “the many faces of chemistry.” Among their ambassadors is Meg A. Mole — Future Chemist, a cuddly cartoon girl-mole wearing safety goggles and a school backpack.  Meg interviews industrial chemists to find out how plastic bottles are recycled, how drinking water is purified, and other chemical topics.

Niles High is among 60 Chemistry Clubs supported by an ACS pilot project, with a formal launch anticipated next fall.  LeFevre’s class will don tye-died t-shirts made at a previous club meeting and head for Chemistry Career Day at the Illinois Institute of Technology, where the program includes competitive stage demonstrations by different high schools called “Chemistry Idol.”  “The club gives them an ownership of the subject,” says LeFevre.

Note added by John Moore

The October 2007 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education contains much special information devoted to National Chemistry Week for those like Ami LeFevre who are celebrating NCW with their students and the public. To illustrate the many faces of chemistry there are profiles of a thirteen chemists who have atypical careers (see links below). If you know someone who might be interested in a career in chemistry, then follow the links to find out more.