Visitors arrived early to get the chance to go behind the scenes to see how some of the State’s top scientists operate with tours of the forensic science and analytical chemistry laboratories booked out throughout the day. And while the laboratory tours were popular- so was the liquid nitrogen icecream!
Hundreds of budding scientists completed their Mission Brief- undertaking activities and discovering science at a variety of different displays before collecting a take home science kit.
Some dressed in the HAZMAT protective gear and underwent the ‘clan lab decontamination experience’, green thumbs brought their garden soil in for testing, others tested their skills with ‘under the influence’ goggles, took a look inside the WA Police Booze Bus or entered the Danger Zone with ChemCentre’s HAZMAT emergency response team.
Visitors provided about 500 fibres to add to ChemCentre’s world-leading fibre database to help solve crime in WA. Others learnt how the body provides scientists with important information even after death, or were introduced to proteins and the study of proteomics at the Proteo -4-rensic…’who dunnit’ activity.
Some queued to taste test the State’s unique monofloral honey varieties and watch the bees in action at the beehive display and learnt how ChemCentre’s work is value-adding to the honey industry.
Others discovered the chemistry behind oil spills and how ChemCentre plays a role in the clean-up and protecting the environment. While others had fun with What’s That Smell? and discovered how science is used to identify unknown smells.
And for the younger visitors there was colourful chemistry fun with oobleck (for those non-scientists- this is a non-Newtonian fluid meaning that applying force to it will change its viscosity -the ability to flow, so sometimes it will act like a solid, other times it will act like a liquid!).