"Wonders-in-Chemistry Class"
Sharing the wonders and joys of science with the children of Sodegaura
At our Sodegaura Center, Mitsui Chemicals' research and development hub, we have been organizing science experiment classes for fifth and sixth grade students from elementary schools in Sodegaura (Chiba prefecture) every August since fiscal 2004. Organized as a companywide initiative, every year around 100 elementary school students take part in the "Wonders-in-Chemistry Class" scheme, which has also received glowing feedback from students' families.
Here at Mitsui Chemicals, we are committed to providing support for the future generations who will go on to become the "scientists of tomorrow" and we will continue to share with them the wonders and joys of science.
Research laboratory tours
Students are introduced to products made by Mitsui Chemicals and shown just how many chemical products we use in our everyday lives.
As plastics change shape when heated, they can be made into products that vary in shape and hardness depending on their purpose, for example, plastic bottles and car parts.
After seeing such products, students go to see plastic bottles actually being made and use microscopes to examine how materials are structured, going beyond what they can normally see with the naked eye.
★How are plastic bottles made?
Students feel the pellets that form the raw material for plastic bottles and gaze in wonder at the process of forming them into products.
★Looking at things through a microscope!
Students examine the shape of different materials using a microscope.
Surprising experiments
Students also get to take part in scientific experiments. They are amazed to see strange phenomena for the first time. After the experiments, Mitsui Chemicals researchers teach students about the mechanisms that cause these phenomena.
★Making slime and slime-balls
If you combine slime mix (PVA) with water and borax, the water is absorbed to create slime. The next step is to try adding table salt instead of water and squeezing the mixture tightly. This produces salt water, leaving behind an elastic slime-ball.
"The color and hardness vary depending on what you add to the mix!"
★Making lantana capsules from chemicals
- Exploring the wonders of jelly
If you add drops of sodium alginate solution to a calcium chloride solution using a pipette, the sodium quickly joins with the calcium to form a mesh. Only the surface in contact with the calcium chloride hardens, creating pretty capsules.
"Processed salmon roe is made using the same principle!"
★Exploring the wonders of sponges
If you mix polyol with isocyanate, they bond together to produce a reaction that generates carbon gas. The gas gets trapped between the bonds and starts to expand, creating a sponge (urethane foam).It is possible to make both hard and soft sponges depending on the type of polyol.
"This is used in fridges and pillows?!
I wonder what it feels like to touch..."
