Green chemistry outreach hands-on experiments increase students’ interest in STEM, to prove this hypothesis, a quantitative analysis study was conducted. Green Chemistry workshops were organized at seven PreK–12 schools in Rapid City, SD and the Pine Ridge Reservation area. The workshops showcased various hands-on experiments such as biopolymers from seaweed, isolating and identifying casein from milk, green chemical reactions, and pH demonstrations using safe chemicals. A total of 242 PreK-12 students participated in the workshops, of those 167 were American Indian, 72 Caucasian, and 3 African American. Overall satisfaction of the workshops, level of interest in science and in pursuing a degree in a STEM fields were assessed. An evaluation before and after the workshops took place was completed. All participants returned the evaluation questionnaires. The efficiency of the Green Chemistry workshops was evaluated using a t-test. The results indicated that students’ attitudes towards science were generally impacted positively, students also expressed greater interest in pursuing science careers with p&lt;0.05. The effect size of the workshops ranged from 0.74 to 1.45 in increasing interest in science and 0.16 to 1.14 in increasing interest in pursuing a STEM degree. The t-test showed a large effect which indicates a significantly higher interest in science and STEM fields after the workshops. Information from this evaluation will be used to plan future Green Chemistry workshops for PreK-12 students in South Dakota.<br/>

Evaluation of the effectiveness of PreK-12 Green Chemistry workshops

2019 Spring National Meeting

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