Keeping Science Fun

Creating chemistry between kids and lab science is the passion of graduate students Kelsey VanGelder and Lyndsay Wood. Together, they founded the Activities for Community Education in Science (ACES) program to introduce local students to the sciences with a hands-on approach. Both Ph.D. students in the Department of Chemistry, as well as members of Penn’s Women in Chemistry club, VanGelder and Wood wanted students—particularly those in underserved communities—to discover that science can be fun.

A Saturday afternoon program, ACES brings students in grades three through 11 to the department and divides them into small groups, where they perform a variety of science experiments designed to pique their interest. ACES launched with a pilot program last July. The activities included extracting DNA from strawberries, electroplating pennies with a variety of metals, and making ice cream using liquid nitrogen.

The experiments have kid-friendly names and descriptions in the ACES brochure. The “Chemistry Super Heros” experiment lets participants “use chemistry to rip open cans like the Hulk, freeze objects like Mr. Freeze, and make their very own Mr. Stretch.”

As part of the lab work, the children and teens discuss the concepts of the experiments with ACES volunteers.

“The program is fast paced and fun,” says VanGelder. “If kids are entertained, they are genuinely interested in learning about science.”

With the help of Jane Horwitz, Director of the Science Outreach Initiative at Penn, the ACES leadership team—which also includes doctoral students Rachel Abaskharon and Adrienne Pesce—contacted local schools and houses of worship in order to spread the word about ACES. They also reached out to Teach for America, as well as several area charter schools. ACES will hold a second session on October 18. Each session can accommodate as many as 70 students.

The July program received such positive feedback from the students that they are expanding the number of experiments offered in October.

ACES is funded by both the public and private sectors, including the Women in Chemistry club, the Department of Chemistry, the American Chemical Society (Philadelphia Local Section), Fisher Scientific, Arkema, and Wheaton Science Products.

“We are familiar with the industry recruiters who come to campus, so we reached out to them first,” Wood explains. “We sent out letters asking for sponsorship at various levels, and we received a great response.”

Science education has been a priority for Penn’s Women in Chemistry Club. The club’s board has assisted in several outreach programs in the local community in the past, including the Science Education Academy, run out of White Rock Baptist Church in West Philadelphia.

Wood and VanGelder have known each other since their undergraduate days at the College of New Jersey and are both experienced instructors of undergraduates. In spring 2011, Wood won the University of Pennsylvania Chemistry Department Teaching Award.

“Kelsey and I worked on the project together, and ACES is our dream. This is the legacy we want to leave at Penn,” Wood says.