Today, as I am showing my kids science, I realize that much of what I learned as a kid I used as an engineer. When I saw salad dressing separated in layers, I was learning about the density of oil and water. When I left my bike outside and saw it rust, I was learning how metals corrode. And little did I know when I saw the 1986 Challenger explosion, I was learning about the important role engineers play on safety systems.
As part of the video blog “Engineering My Life“, I’m going to introduce the different types of engineering through simple science experiments in the hopes that one day your student will think back to the science they learned as a kid when studying engineering.
I wanted to begin this series of posts “What I learned as a Kid I used as an Engineer” with my profession, Chemical Engineering.
What is a Chemical Engineer?
Chemical engineers use chemical reactions to make products that improve the lives of others. Ever wonder who makes the chemicals that produce Ziploc bags? How about fabric softeners or baby diapers? Have you imagined a chemical engineer when you snarf down a bag of Fritos? What about when you have a pounding headache and need an aspirin? You can thank a chemical engineer for bringing these products to you!
Slime is chemical engineering preschool style:
What better way to introduce chemical engineering to my preschooler than doing some chemistry with GAK! You’ll need Borax, 8 oz. Elmer’s glue, and warm water.
- Empty the glue into a large mixing bowl
- Fill the empty glue bottle with warm water, swish it around, and pour the glue-water mixture in the mixing bowl
- Mix glue and warm water with a spoon
- In a separate cup, mix a teaspoon of Borax with 1/2 cup of warm water
- Slowly pour the Borax and water into the glue mixture and stir with a spoon
- Get ready for the slime-y fun to ensue!
Borax reacts with glue and links the glue molecules together. The linked glue molecules trap the water which makes the amazing gooey slime! This linking process is called polymerization.
Polymers are everywhere! Chemical engineers use polymerization to make products like plastic, tires, toothbrushes, rain coats, and bottles…just to name a few! Polymers are everywhere!
What I learned as a kid I used as an engineer: So when a student sits in their organic chemistry classes or when the engineer is standing next to an industrial chemical reactor, I hope they remember the polymerization process they did as a kid to link all of those glue molecules together to make slime!😛
Leave a Reply