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Woodside and COSI have good chemistry
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .Aaron Means (left) and Eric Smith were excited to start making slime to take home during a COSI visit to their school on Jan. 27.
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .Ryliegh Roman (right) showed off the secret messages she created at a COSI Chemistry activity station on Jan. 27.
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .COSI outreach educator Katie Trausch made some noise and light with a set of "whoosh tubes." Trausch sprayed a bit of ethanol into the tubes and lit them on fire to create the effect.
By SARAH FOOR
The Columbus-based Center of Science and Industry (COSI) visited Woodside on Jan. 27, needing help to solve a caper with the help of chemistry.
COSI Outreach Educator Katie Trausch promised the students at Woodside that they could each make their own slime, but soon was interrupted with a news brief that explained that the evil Arthur Slimenheimer had stolen the ingredients to make the substance.
With the help of the students, Trausch searched for clues hidden around the school’s gym. Together, the team identified liquids as acids or bases, identified unknown substances by examining its properties and produced heat, light and sound with chemical reactions.
The adventure around the gym led Trausch to her lunch box where she found polyvinyl alcohol and sodium tetraborate, the missing pieces of the slime recipe.
However, once the mystery was solved, the fun wasn’t over. In grade level groups, students explored hands-on activity stations that demonstrated chemistry concepts with plenty of fun. The fun included writing secret messages with colorful chemicals, producing exothermic and endothermic reactions, and mixing solids and liquids to produce a gas.
The event was COSI’s first visit to Woodside and the educational experience was possible with the hard work of the Woodside PTA.
Trausch said she was thrilled to share the experience with the students at Woodside.
“It’s a visually interesting and super exciting experience for the kids, but we’re also tackling some really tough chemistry theories. The program was really well received with the students and I’m so happy to see the kids so excited about learning,” Trausch said.