Initiative Overview:
In the Youth STEM Innovators Workshop at Archbishop Curley Notre Dame High School, Sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, Manifezt introduced students aged 14 to 18 to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) based classes outside their regular school curriculum, to give them additional perspectives on those subjects. Along with the help from our gracious volunteers that took the time to serve their local community, Manifezt provided two crash courses on coding and chemistry, aiming to spark an interest in either of the two subjects. The coding class gave the children a basic understanding of coding languages, how they apply to robotics, engineering, and technology, and an insight into the many prominent job opportunities in that field within their reach. In an effort to show the students how fun chemistry can be, the chemistry class consisted of a hands on educational experiment showing the wonders of practical science.
Chemistry Class
The Exploding Toothpaste (or the Elephant’s Toothpaste) Experiment was conducted to show students what can happen from simply mixing two chemicals, sodium iodine (the catalyst) and hydrogen peroxide (the oxidizer) together, creating a thermodynamic reaction which results in steam rising, and ultimately the eruption of foam.
Coding Class
As a brief introduction to coding, Manifezt provided a demonstration of the capabilities of The Raspberry Pi. The students pitched their business ideas to the volunteers so they could explain how The Raspberry Pi could be used to develop software to accomplish their goals.
