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Ooey Gooey – Chemapalooza

Ooey Gooey – Chemapalooza

There was a lot of ooey gooey goodness to end off our fantastic week of chemistry camp today! Today, our chemical engineers put their polymer knowledge to good use by mixing up a batch of bouncy balls according to an “industry-secret” recipe. They then evaluated the effectiveness of their bouncy balls by measuring & calculating their average bounce heights.

Ask your camper: What was the average bounce height his/her bouncy ball achieved? (What can be done to make the product even better?)

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Gummy Bear Science – Chemapalooza

Gummy Bear Science – Chemapalooza

Today our budding chemists reviewed osmosis, diffusion, and absorption, set about measuring the size of their Gummy Bears and recording the data. Since an important part of science is being able to communicate your results, students were asked to create posters of their experiments that included their question, hypothesis, observations, experimental design, data, and conclusions. Our chemists were challenged to think of what factors may have combined to achieve their results.

Ask your camper: What aspects are included in experimental design? (observations, questions, hypothesis, methods and results)

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Cool Crystals – Chemapalooza Day 3

Cool Crystals – Chemapalooza Day 3

Crystals are one of earth’s most beautiful and fascinating creations, and today our scientists took a look at how they are formed! First the campers learned about the chemistry behind crystals through testing what solutes would dissolve in different solvents. Finally the campers used pipe cleaners and a saturated alum solution to create their own crystals overnight. We can’t wait until tomorrow when we will get to see how the crystals turned out!

Ask your camper: What’s the technical term for something that gets dissolved? (solute) What’s the technical name for something that does the dissolving? (solvent)

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Chemapalooza’s Instant Ice Cream

Chemapalooza’s Instant Ice Cream

Most people have eaten ice cream before, but have you ever made it yourself? Today campers not only made their own ice cream, but instantly froze their creations with super cooling liquid nitrogen (with adult assistance of course). A famous ice cream recipe was lost to the world, but our campers experimented with different quantities of ingredients in order to make the most delicious ice cream of all!

Ask your camper: What was created when the liquid nitrogen was poured into the liquid ice cream mixture? (a gas)

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A Fizzy First Day at Chemapalooza in Aurora!

A Fizzy First Day at Chemapalooza in Aurora!

Our 2019 Chemapalooza Party has gotten off to a delightfully fizzy start thanks to the great chemical minds of our scientists and their understanding of how physical and chemical changes work. Today, campers learned how to identify whether different mixtures of ingredients result in a physical or chemical reaction and then were able to apply that knowledge in order to create beautifully fragrant & stress-busting bath fizzers to take home with them.

Ask your scientist: What are some of the tell-tale signs that a chemical reaction place?

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Chemapalooza!

Chemapalooza!

There will be a Chemistry Party happening at IMSA when this popular camp returns for the coming summer. Join us as we conduct experiments to explore the cool chemistry behind molecular gastronomy, elephant toothpaste, and everyone’s favorite: colorful water beads. Our budding chemists will get the chance to write secret messages using “highly classified” chemical solutions, grow their own crystal gardens, and even create (and eat) their own ice cream recipes! Be sure to join us at Chemapalooza!