Q: I saw an online Kitchen Chemistry class held by the Gwinnett County Public Library held on Wednesday afternoons. Can you tell me about this?
A: Yes, you are asking about a virtual chemistry class that uses commonly found items in a kitchen that can be performed between 15 to 30 minutes. The target audience ranges from 8 years up to high school.
The weekly program presenting videos of simple experiments started in August as an answer to continuing science programs due to covid and the change of seasons. A new experiment (recorded) comes out every Wednesday afternoon.
A shared interest in biology led Katharine Russell, teen services librarian, and Sarah Martin, youth services specialist to “... do something indoors, but also make sure we were doing things that parents stuck at home with their kids could do without breaking the bank or without running around to buy a lot of supplies,” Martin said.
Credit: contributed
Credit: contributed
No scheduled time or registration is required. It is a simple pop on at a convenient time to watch and perform the experiment. Depending on the age of the participant, an adult or parent may not be needed, but for example, if a stove is to be used the instructors point that out.
Fireworks in a jar was a recent experiment that went over density and dispersion. Martin’s favorite is the floating man, but the one that sticks out the most uses gummy bears.
“One bear was dropped in regular tap water, one in saltwater and one in sugar water. Twenty-four hours later we compared the size differences, talked about saturation, solutions and osmosis,” she said.
An email in response to the experiment to Martin read, “I love the variety of fun, easy experiments my son and I can do from GCPL’s Kitchen Chemistry. It’s really sparking a love of science,” wrote parent Liz Mangan.
The Gwinnett County Public Library has a full program of youth services programs such as arts and crafts, book recommendations and early literacy tips for those with young ones.
For more information, visit www.gwinnettpl.org. All videos can be watched on https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBLtBEVpFaANPdMIBkR3kfZ8mKl-sLG1b
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