Would you like to work with school students for a day?
The Royal Society of Chemistry established “Chemistry at Work” events nationally in 1991 to raise schools students’ awareness of the importance of the Chemical Sciences and we have been organising them since 2000 in Buckinghamshire and the surrounding counties.
Chemistry at Work events give experts the opportunity to work for a day with small groups of Junior or Secondary School students and bring them the “WOW factor” of Chemistry and the related Sciences.
Training is available to help demonstrators deliver an appealing 30-minute demonstration to the students with their teachers. The students see many different scientific principles, and career possibilities, and come to appreciate how chemistry and related science is part of everyday life and work. Consequently the students become more motivated to learn about chemistry and the related sciences and the demonstrators enhance their teaching skills.
Large organisations provide their staff or sponsor these events because “Chemistry at Work” enhances their image in the community and can increase their future recruitment while many demonstrators like to take the opportunity to show you people how interesting their career or occasionally their hobby can be.
Thanks to the support from the Royal Society of Chemistry, Education Business Associates have been able to present these events to over 2,000 students annually in recent years. This is just a part of the national total and they have been so successful that the RSC are trying to expand the scheme nationally. To see their distribution in 2011 click here.
Would you like school students to see how science is part of your work or hobby?
More schools are requesting these events so we are looking for more people interested in taking part. Organising these events also incurs costs, so if you know of any organisations or individuals willing to support this work with our local schools please let us know.
Teachers interested in hosting or attending an event:
If you are a teacher interested in hosting a school-based Chemistry at Work event, or would like your students to attend a local event, please contact me. I would be happy to help you or refer your request to the National Organiser.
Derek Jones