Four-year-old Cooper Fox and 7-year-old Kennedy Fox beamed as they slammed their hands onto “oobleck” at Oaks Mall.
The “oobleck,” also known as “non-Newtonian fluid,” was one of 15 Halloween-themed science experiments demonstrated at the UF chemistry department’s eighth annual Molecular Mania Saturday.
Event director and associate professor Adam Viege said hundreds of children and their parents gathered at the mall for Molecular Mania. About 30 undergraduate and graduate students volunteered to perform the experiments.
“As a whole, we do try to connect to the community in different ways,” he said. “It communicates science to the community in a fun and interactive way.”
Sponsored by the chemistry department, UF Center for Catalysis, the Florida local section of the American Chemical Society and the National Science Foundation, Molecular Mania allowed students to explain science to people of all ages, Viege said.
“It challenges them to communicate pretty high-level science to the general public,” he said.
Viege said Molecular Mania’s creative portrayal of chemistry helps capture the attention of children.
“There is real potential to turn on the next great scientist at the mall,” he said.
First-year chemistry doctoral student Candice Ulmer, 21, worked at a station where she supervised kids playing with non-Newtonian fluid, a mixture of cornstarch and water that can act as a solid and a liquid simultaneously.
When Ulmer smacked the pink and green substances with Cooper and Kennedy, it was solid. But when the three lightly touched the surface, they felt a gooey liquid.
Cooper and Kennedy’s mom, Jennifer Fox, 33, said she liked how hands-on the experiments were.
“Some people think science is boring,” she said. “I think it’s neat for the young kids to come and see the experiments.”
Cooper’s favorite was “Peeps in a Vacuum.” His eyes were glued to the glass chamber containing about 15 of the colorful marshmallows, which expanded when a vacuum sucked air out and shrank when air came back in.
“I love marshmallows,” he said.
