The group enjoys doing experiments with high school students in the summer program, Eureka! Students learn about electricity, where voltage comes from, and what makes a good electrolyte by making circuits with zinc and copper (and the showstopper: lemons and limes!).

Prof. Stoerzinger LOVES being one of the presenters at Energy & U, where enthusiastic (and very loud) 4th and 5th graders learn the 1st law of thermodynamics with a fast-paced show full of explosions and fire, put on with the theater department and a large crew of student, faculty, and staff volunteers. If you're local, come check out a public show sometime!

We've been working to develop a curriculum at the middle school level that distills the concepts of electrochemistry into fun experiments you can do in your very own kitchen. The following websites were put together primarily by teams of undergraduate researchers in 2021, and we are honing the details and working with educators in implementation. If you have questions, or feedback, please contact Kelsey to chat more!

Electrolytic Cells

Galvanic Cells

Filmed live during the COVID-19 pandemic, we use common household items to split water (H2O) into hydrogen and oxygen gas. We’ll show you how to set this up yourself, talk about what makes up water, and how we use energy to make this process happen (and where that energy goes). Then we'll take you into our lab and show you more!

For videos from other research groups, see the STEM@Home Series

Materials List:

• one 9V battery or four AA batteries

• Scotch tape

• Clear cup

• Tap water

• 2 pencils, sharpened at both ends, or 2 pieces of mechanical pencil lead

• 2 electrical leads with alligator clips, or 2 pieces of insulated wire, stripped at both ends

Optional:

• Piece of thin cardboard/cardstock

• 2 paper clips

• Baking soda

• Distilled water