Coast Southwest Sponsors California You Be The Chemist!®
Think back to when you were a kid. Which would make you more interested in chemistry? Memorizing the Periodic Table or building a baking soda volcano?
The Chemical Educational Foundation's (CEF) You Be The Chemist!® (YBTC) program enhances K-8 science education by introducing the science of chemistry as it relates to our everyday lives the study of other sciences.
YBTC has three parts.
- YBTC Essential Elements assists K-8 educators in teaching chemistry concepts through hands-on learning and connecting those concepts to students' everyday lives. Contact the CEF staff to learn more about the 5E learning cycle format and how to bring an Essential Elements workshop to your school.
- The YBTC Activity Guides: Lesson Plans for Making Chemistry Fun offer a variety of exciting science lesson plans, enabling educators to bring hands-on learning to students, inside and outside of the classroom. The Activity Guides are divided according to grade level and contain educator-reviewed lesson plans, activity sheets, and a resource guide filled with safety information, tips for non-chemistry teachers, and much more.
View a sample lesson plan.
- The YBTC Challenge is a fun and educational competition that brings grade 5-8 students, educators, parents, industry, and other members of the community together to shine the spotlight on the science of chemistry.
The Challenge, which follows a question and answer format similar to a spelling bee, is organized on local, state, and national levels. State championships are held in states with more than one local competition. State champions from across the country compete for the national title.
The 2013 You Be The Chemist!® California State Challenge will be hosted by Coast Southwest in conjunction with the Discovery Science Center (DSC) in Santa Ana on May 11. Local California challenges will run from mid-March to mid-April. Finalists from the local competitions will participate in the 2013 You Be The Chemist!® California State Challenge.
The 2013 National YBTC Challenge will be held June 24 in Philadelphia, PA.
Some useful links for teachers, parents, and kids:
Educators and parents, learn more about the You Be The Chemist!® National Program.
The Chemical Education Foundation's YBTC program enhances K-8 science education by introducing the central role of chemistry in all the sciences and in our everyday lives. Read more >
Kids, begin your exploration of chemistry now. It's SWEET! AWESOME! COOL!
Are you curious? Do you like to try things just to see what will happen? Would you like to learn how to design an experiment in a scientific way?
Read more >
The 2013 You Be The Chemist!® California State Challenge is May 11th.
On this exciting day, the winners of California Local Challenges will meet at the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana to compete for a trip to the national You Be The Chemist!® Challenge to be held June 24 in Philadelphia. To learn how your school or organization can participate, click here >
Read about Other Kids in YBTC.
The 2012 competition brought together almost 200 students, chemical industry representatives, family members, and educators in a celebration of chemistry.
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Kids, Visit Newton and Kelvin in the Lab!
Newton and Kelvin's Laboratory is built just for kids to have fun with chemistry. Play games! Unscramble humongous chemistry terms! Learn the names of elements as easily as you learned the alphabet! What are you waiting for? Come on in!
Supporting the YBTC Challenge in Their Communities
