ACS celebrates Earth Day

In April, American Chemical Society local sections, student chapters, and technical divisions joined businesses, schools, and individuals around the U.S. to participate in Chemists Celebrate Earth Day (CCED), an annual outreach program administered by the ACS Office of Science Outreach and organized by the Committee on Community Activities.

This year’s theme, “Chemistry Helps Feed the World,” highlighted chemistry’s role in food through hands-on science activities and the planting of community gardens. A majority of ACS’s 185 local sections participated in the celebration, and more than 62,000 copies of the publication “Celebrating Chemistry” were distributed in English and Spanish. In addition, eight student winners were named in the Illustrated Poem Contest.

The following are highlights of CCED activities around the U.S.:

The Central Arizona Section organized Chem Demo events at Betty Fairfax High School in Laveen and Sierra Linda High School in Phoenix. Volunteers performed hands-on activities for more than 350 students total.

▸ The Joliet Section set up an information table at Lewis University, where volunteers distributed information on the environment and showed short videos on environmental challenges such as pollution.

▸ The Kanawha Valley Section hosted events at Virginia State University, including a tour of the university’s greenhouses, an interactive presentation on developing safer pesticides, and hands-on activities.

▸ In the Kentucky Lake Section, the Murray State University ACS student chapter performed hands-on activities for more than 60 students and their parents during Murray Elementary School’s Family Night.

▸ The Middle Georgia Section partnered with Georgia College’s Chemistry Club and Milledgeville Main Street Chamber of Commerce to host hands-on activities during the Hometown Celebration in Milledgeville. More than 300 kids stopped by the outreach booths.

▸ Members of the New York Section and their friends and families came together to celebrate the 6th Annual Chemists Celebrate Earth Day’s “Walk the Brooklyn Bridge” event. More than 175 Earth Day enthusiasts gathered at Pace University for the celebration.

▸ In the Northeastern Section, about 75 volunteers from 11 organizations performed hands-on activities and demonstrations for visitors to the Museum of Science in Boston.

▸ In the Northern New York Section, Dana Barry of Clarkson University gave a presentation to fifth- and sixth-grade students at St. Mary’s School in Canton about crops that provide carbohydrates. The local section also held an undergraduate and graduate chemistry and biology research symposium at St. Lawrence University in Canton.

In other outreach news, on Oct. 22­–28, ACS will celebrate the 30th anniversary of National Chemistry Week with the theme “Chemistry Rocks!” Resources are now available at www.acs.org/ncw.