Materials characterization activities for %E2%80%9CTake Our Sons&Daughters to Work Day%E2%80%9D 2013.

Technical Report · Sun Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1096449· OSTI ID:1096449

Mowry, Curtis Dale; Pimentel, Adam S.; Sparks, Elizabeth Schares; Hanlon, Brittany Paula

We created interactive demonstration activities for Take Our Daughters&Sons to Work Day (TODSTWD) 2013 in order to promote general interest in chemistry and also generate awareness of the type of work our laboratories can perform. %E2%80%9CCurious about Mars Rover Curiosity?%E2%80%9D performed an elemental analysis on rocks brought to our lab using the same technique utilized on the planet Mars by the NASA robotic explorer Curiosity. %E2%80%9CFood is Chemistry?%E2%80%9D utilized a mass spectrometer to measure, in seconds, each participant's breath in order to identify the food item consumed for the activity. A total of over 130 children participated in these activities over a 3 hour block, and feedback was positive. This document reports the materials (including handouts), experimental procedures, and lessons learned so that future demonstrations can benefit from the baseline work performed. We also present example results used to prepare the Food activity and example results collected during the Curiosity demo.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 1096449
• Report Number(s): SAND2013-8526; 476806
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English