Polymer Ambassadors Promoting Polymer Education 1991 – years with 28 Ambassadors

Sponsors The Polymer Ambassador program is sponsored by the Intersociety Polymer Education Council (IPEC) with grants from: American Chemical Society and these divisions: Polymer, Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering, Rubber; and Society of Plastic Engineers Polymer Pioneers Association

ACS Polymer Division, We Thank You For being interested in precollege education. For recognizing the importance of polymer education. For supporting our mission. For letting us share our success story with this presentation.

IPEC Mission To significantly increase student interest and participation in science and technology subjects by incorporating the teaching of polymers and polymeric materials into K-12 curricula by utilizing the combined resources and infrastructures of the participating scientific societies.

Polymer Ambassadors Mission The Polymer Ambassadors, with resources from educational, industrial, and professional societies, promote polymer education with teachers, students, and community audiences.

When do K-12 students study polymers? When a teacher is excited about them. When a teacher can get the materials inexpensively. When the activities fit the State Science Educational Standards. The Ambassadors site the Standards for each activity.

Our Activities PROMOTING POLYMER EDUCATION INCLUDES: Writing laboratory experiments Performing demonstrations Organizing workshops Developing written materials Maintaining a WEB site Publishing papers in Journals Earning Teaching Awards

Some Examples of Laboratory Experiments What is a Polymer? Polymers in Cosmetics Grow Creatures Polydensity Tubes Designer Sneakers Corn Plastics Slimes and Snakes Art in Science Math Connections

Demonstrations Joyce, Debbie, Jon, Andy, and Lynn

Workshops Barbara, Sue, Sandy, and Vaughn

Recent Published Papers "Polymer Ambassadors On the WWW", J. of Chemical Education, June "Chemical Bonding Makes a Difference!", J. of Chemical Education, October "Sorting Recycled Trash: An Activity for Earth Day 2007", J. of Chemical Education, Feb "Polymers in the Field and Track", J. of Chemical Education, October "Impact of Polymers in Impact Sports", J. of Chemical Education, October "POLYMER AMBASSADORS: A Novel Program to Promote Pre-college Learning about Polymeric Materials", Journal of Macromolecular Science, Part C: Polymer Reviews, October 2008

Where does the money go? Purchasing supplies for every workshop and demonstration. Travel expenses which include: air fare or mileage, hotel room, and food. Shipping of supplies to conventions. WEB site maintenance. Books and courses on polymers. We volunteer our time and effort!

Impact on Polymer Education The audiences vary but we have about 30+/- teachers per session. With 20 active ambassadors, we impact over 2000 teachers. Assuming each teacher has 25 students (elementary) or 125 students (high school), we can estimate that 140,000 students are having fun and learning about polymers each year.

Impact over the years Ambassadors have been giving presentations for 18 years. Our journal publications reach thousands of readers. We estimate that our work has impacted over 1.5 million students! One Ambassador is helping with a polymer exhibit at the Philippine Science Centrum.

Awards and Recognition Presidential Award for Science Teaching – 5 Ambassadors Ohaus Award – 2 Ambassadors CMA Catalyst Award – 3 Ambassadors The Disney Award – 1 Ambassador

The future?? Students having interesting experiences with polymers may want to pursue careers in polymers. Students receiving recognition for competitions involving polymers may also pursue careers in the field. Students reading about current developments of new polymeric products may pursue related careers.

We can’t do it without you!