Mandurah Primary School students will get the opportunity to become scientists for a day with the latest edition of the popular BASF Kids' Lab program.
Held over three sessions in the school's brand-new science room, approximately 90 students will embark on a journey of scientific discovery under the tutelage of qualified BASF colleagues and Mandurah Primary School educators.
Over the course of the day, participating children will conduct three engaging and safe experiments to cultivate their interest in STEM topics.
These experiments are:
Superabsorber: Kids will experiment with superabsorber polymers to discover that some chemicals are able to hold several times their weight in water.
Heat sensitive worms: Children will introduce an alginate gel to a calcium solution that causes it to go from liquid to solid form, making the eponymous 'worm'. Students will also find out how a component thermochromic dye allows the 'worm' to change colours in response to temperature.
A balloon without air: By understanding the role each ingredient plays, children will observe how combining baking soda with a weak acid causes a chemical reaction that releases gases, inflating a balloon.
Further reading:
"For over 15 years we've been running the BASF Kids' Lab program in Australia and New Zealand as a creative way to ignite an interest in science amongst primary school children," chair and managing director of BASF Australia and New Zealand David Hawkins said.
"Through a range of exciting experiments, our hope is that participating kids will discover an affinity for sciences and consider furthering that passion with a career in STEM.
"I am very pleased we're able to bring Kids' Lab to Mandurah Primary School for the first time and look forward to engaging the next generation of scientists, inventors and engineers."
BASF's electric vehicle, an Audi e-tron, will also be on display at the school, to prompt interest and conversation around the importance of technology and chemistry in driving innovation.
"Mandurah Primary School's shared commitment and dedication is essential to delivering improved outcomes in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education," the school's associate principal Benjamin Garrett said.
"The partnership with BASF is important in building our students knowledge of, and engagement in, STEM by giving them access to leaders in the STEM industry and real-world contexts.
"Our students are very excited to showcase their new science room and use this space to engage in the Joint News Release September 13, 2021 experiments and activities from BASF."
Read more:
BASF Kids' Lab is a free and interactive chemistry education program designed for children to discover the world of chemistry through simple and safe hands-on experiments and help them understand the ubiquity of chemistry in our daily lives.
Since its launch in 1997, the program has been brought to more than 30 countries and regions across the globe. This program has been running in Australia for more than 15 years.