On 19 June the Year 11 Chemistry students went on an excursion with Miss Newbury to Flinders University. They were greeted by Chemistry honours student Paris, and participated in the Chemical Reactions workshop in the STEM Outreach program.
During the workshop the students learned about different chemical reactions, and made slime and elephant’s toothpaste, which got them really excited about chemistry. Afterwards Phola from STEM Outreach spoke to them about different careers they could aspire for and how to get there with Flinders University’s degrees. This was followed by lunch and a walk around the Bedford Park campus.
On return they were greeted by Professor Justin Chalker, who shared his world-renowned polymer research, giving students an insight into how sulphur can be recycled by combining it with a polymer for uses to help society and the environment in the gold industry, removing mercury pollution in waterways, and creating better and cheaper infrared lenses for use in security.
Students were then taken on a tour of Chalker Labs and were able to talk with Post Docs and PhD students and conduct experiments with them on the very research they had been learning about.
