Chemistry Students and Faculty Educate K-5 Students

The STEM ED Club at Montgomery College had an outreach event at the YMCA Ayrlawn in Bethesda, Md., on Oct. 17, 2023, to celebrate National Chemistry Week (October 15-21). The theme this year was The Healing Power of Chemistry, and the STEM ED Club members engaged with students attending K-5th grade to spark their interest and curiosity in STEM and act as role models for future STEM leaders.

Club members led hands-on activities for the younger students that helped them determine the presence of Vitamin C in various juices and the health effects of Vitamin C. They showed them the role of antacids, such as Milk of Magnesia, and neutralization reactions that resulted in dramatic change of colors, which attracted the younger students’ attention. They also burst balloons with citric acid from citrus fruits and household bicarbonate. They also prepared two educational trifold posters explaining commonly used health terms and chemicals.

The event’s teaching session, a lively segment, aligned with the STEM ED Club’s mission: Discovering The Teacher Within The Members. MC students Bradley Woodside, Atiya Dean Graham, Nseyo Oworeniba, Ovando Jurjhen, Oren Freidlin, Joy Roberts, Zhenqiu Chen, Lucas Hoffman, Noura Kignaman, Selome Negash were accompanied and guided by chemistry faculty members Beverly Sivaslian, Cherrie Ramos, and Nevart Tahmazian.

MC's associate's degree in science offers a chemistry/biochemistry track that provides the first two years of courses necessary to obtain a chemistry or biochemistry baccalaureate degree from a four-year college or university. In addition to general and organic chemistry knowledge, students are trained in data collection and analysis, and scientific communication.

For more information about the chemistry and biochemistry programs at Montgomery College, visit https://www.montgomerycollege.edu/academics/programs/
science/chemistry-and-biochemistry-as-degree.html