"Xperimania - From molecules to materials" is an ambitious educational project which aims to raise awareness among young people of how petrochemistry contributes to the development of modern materials.
Through www.xperimania.net (available in 22 languages), European teachers and students are invited to explore the properties of materials, and understand some of the processes involved in creating materials used in everyday objects like MP3 players, tennis rackets and sports shoes.
Targeted at students aged between 10 and 20 years , the Xperimania project includes three main activities:
- Timeline of everyday objects: students investigate a petrochemistry-based discovery (from PVC to liquid crystal polymer) and illustrate what they have found out about it
- Hands on experiments: as a team, pupils set up an easy and fun experiment and upload laboratory reports on www.xperimania.net
- Online chats with experts on specific topics related to petrochemistry’s contribution to society.
Prizes will be awarded to the best experiments and most impressive contributions to the timeline of everyday objects, following evaluation by an expert team of science educators. The deadline for the competitions has now been extended until May 31st, 2008. Winners will be invited to a ceremony taking place in the Benelux region in September 2008, at a research laboratory of a petrochemical company.
Chat on petrochemistry and toys
The next Xperimania chat for schools will take place on April 25, 2008 at 2.00pm. Dr. Eisert, head of the group "Product Safety and Regulatory Affairs - Plastics" at BASF, will answer schoolchildren’s questions on the topic of petrochemistry and toys. Interested schools can already register by sending an email to xperimania@eun.org with the subject "Xperimania chat".
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