Purdue University K-12 Chemistry Outreach

If you are a science or mathematics middle or high school teacher, please consider applying for one of our Summer 2026 Teaching Fellowships! Deadline to apply is Friday, May 1st: https://forms.gle/eCuSYjxF5TvE4Bdh7

2026 Summer Teaching Fellowships Complete the following form to apply for one of the 2026 Summer Teaching Fellowships with Purdue University College of Science K-12 Outreach. 1) Chemistry and Mathematics Teaching Fellowship with Professor Mike Reppert We are seeking one high school math or chemistry teacher for a hands-on summer fe...

If you are a high school chemistry teacher and teaching near Purdue's West Lafayette campus, consider signing up for the April 16 Hands-on Purdue Science Lab with your students. We'll be working through the lab: Cycle of Copper Reactions.

Register here: https://forms.gle/HCz8mce2sXuMsbdw6

We are excited to announce a special edition HOPS Lab with Purdue’s Tarpo Department of Chemistry Professor Ngai! Please consider signing up your class to attend the Cycle of Copper Reactions Lab on Thursday, April 16. This is a multi-step copper transformation lab that will give your students real-world practice with stoichiometry, error analysis, and a variety of reaction types (Redox, Precipitation, Acid-Base, Decomposition). Are your students preparing for the AP Chemistry exam? This lab will be an excellent review of lab techniques necessary for success on the AP exam!

All HOPS Lab sessions are FREE to any participating high school. We have limited availability for this April 16 HOPS Lab. Sign up today to reserve space for your students: https://forms.gle/DKopUR3XJzZYwG368

Learn more about our HOPS Lab program and view other lab dates here: https://www.purdue.edu/science/K12/LabPages/LabExperiences%20.html

If you are a chemistry teacher and teaching near Purdue's West Lafayette campus, consider signing up for the April 16 Hands-on Purdue Science Lab experience with your students. We'll be working through the lab: Cycle of Copper Reactions.

Register here: https://forms.gle/VHS8qTxHZ3sSqfM8A

Are you a high school chemistry teacher? Do you teach near Purdue's West Lafayette campus? If you answered yes to these questions, we want you and your students to sign up for a very special HOPS Lab this April 16.

The 'Cycle of Copper Reactions' is a multi-step copper transformation lab that will give your students real-world practice with stoichiometry, error analysis, and a variety of reaction types (Redox, Precipitation, Acid-Base, Decomposition). This single, comprehensive experiment reinforces the Law of Conservation of Mass. Are your students preparing for the AP Chemistry exam? This lab will help them develop the meticulous lab techniques necessary for success on the AP exam.

All HOPS Lab sessions are FREE to any participating high school. We have limited availability for this April 16 HOPS Lab. Sign up today to reserve space for your students: https://forms.gle/3SFD4kyPHPE8mbYa9

Learn more about our HOPS Lab program and view other lab dates here: https://www.purdue.edu/science/K12/LabPages/LabExperiences%20.html

Have you registered for the 2026 HASTI Conference yet? https://hasti.org/event-6248208

Be sure to sign up for our half-day professional development and receive $100 in teaching supplies to teach the lessons we are presenting!

Only a few spots left! Are you a middle school or high school educator? Join us for our half-day professional development at this year's 2026 HASTI Conference (Feb 20 - 22) and receive $100 in teaching supplies to teach the lessons we are presenting!

Sign up for both sessions and you will get $200 total in teaching supplies. Conference registration $130 + Workshop $20 ($10/half day session) = Total cost $150 for the day. It's like getting paid to attend and you have the option to come back the second day for sessions at no cost. We hope to see you there!

Registration Link: https://hasti.org/event-6248208 (The sign-up button is at the bottom of the left column.)

The PD sessions (must be pre-registered) are:

Chemistry (MS/HS)
Chemistry teachers from across Indiana (and beyond!) have prepared brand new content material to share during this half-day professional development session. Participating teachers will walk through lessons developed for teaching topics related to Lab Safety, chemical nomenclature, equilibrium, and stoichiometry. Lessons include assessments that are part of the Purdue K-12 Outreach STEM Certificate program. Additionally, participants will preview three newly available virtual labs with topics including buffers, calorimetry, and the copper cycle. A website with resources for teaching about Lewis Structures will also be presented. Participants will learn how to access all materials and discuss tips for turning the newly developed virtual labs into hands-on experiences for their students.

Earth and Environmental Science (MS/HS)
In this session, we will introduce new labs developed by collaborating teachers. These labs all include “pick and choose” components so you can decide which parts work best for you and your students. Each unit includes lessons that can be taught in person, virtual labs that students can complete independently, and other resources to facilitate instruction and assessment.

Labs presented during this professional development session will include :

*Comparing Fuel Types (Calorimetry Lab). This can be completed in the classroom or as a virtual lab for students.

*Introduction to radioactive dating and the geologic timeline. This unit will cover topics such as half-life, radioactive dating methods, and the geologic timescale.

*Introduction to soils. This environmental science unit has resources to teach intro to soils, including lessons about NPK testing, pH, soil characterization, and much more!

This is a great summer opportunity for high school chemistry teachers!

Calling ALL chemistry teachers! Consider applying for a 2025 Summer Chemistry Teacher Fellowship at Purdue University.

Apply here: https://forms.gle/rYHYzMxfpwNoPzU9A

Thanks to both Professor Tong Ren and the Purdue University College of Science, we are pleased to offer a number of teaching fellowships during the Summer 2025 session at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN.

Please review the details of each position and share with any chemistry teachers that you feel may be interested. The deadline to apply for these fellowships is Friday, April 11 (4:30 PM EDT)

Link to apply: https://forms.gle/vQmo2qdqtCRV4zQy8

Purdue's West Lafayette campus is beautiful in the fall! Watch this 1-minute video that talks about why leaves change colors.

What’s up with K-12 Outreach? It’s National Chemistry Week and this year’s theme is Picture Perfect Chemistry! #ACS_NCW Speaking of picture perfect, Purdue’s West Lafayette campus is approaching peak #fall #foliage

It’s National Chemistry Week and this year’s theme is Picture Perfect Chemistry! Check out this STEM Career highlight page from Superheroes of Science which emphasizes the importance of using photographs in science communication to help others better understand scientific content found in subjects like !

STEM Career of the Week: Science Communicator

It’s National Chemistry Week and this year’s theme is Picture Perfect Chemistry! Did you know that a Science Communicator plays an important role in making scientific knowledge accessible to a broad audience? Photography and imaging are a big part of communication. Check out this week’s STEM Career Highlight and look through the rest of our collection to discover exciting STEM Careers!

WATCH Gillian D'Souza talk about her career as a Science Communicator:
https://youtu.be/R2rFSTNMBPQ

Visit our STEM Career Repository: https://www.purdue.edu/science/K12/stemcareers.html

View our collection of STEM Career Highlights: https://www.purdue.edu/science/K12/stemhighlights.html

Check out the Purdue College of Science K-12 Outreach STEM Career Repository! Over 100 videos from STEM professionals, searchable by keyword, and many have a corresponding highlights page. Great for assigning to students learning about STEM careers.

STEM Career of the Week: Photoredox Catalysis in Organic Chemistry

A career in organic chemistry could be for you! Especially if you enjoy hands-on experiments and activities such as cooking and building things. Check out this week’s STEM Career Highlight and look through the rest of our collection to discover exciting STEM Careers!

Visit our STEM Career Repository: https://www.purdue.edu/science/K12/stemcareers.html

View our collection of STEM Career Highlights: https://www.purdue.edu/science/K12/stemhighlights.html

This is a great opportunity for high school science students! Please share with science teachers.

We are looking for science teachers interested in using a new lab with their students during the Fall 2024 semester: From Microbes to Medicines.

With this lab kit experience, students will get to explore the bacteria that live in their own backyard. Students will gather soil, isolate the bacteria that live in that soil, and determine whether their bacteria can kill their lab partner’s bacteria! If students are lucky, they might even discover bacteria that make novel antibiotics!

A virtual version of this lab can be found here: https://www.purdue.edu/science/K12/LabPages/Microbes.html.

Reserve a lab kit for your class today:
https://forms.gle/9c6JhTvZd1rUZsx37