FREE Hands-On Activities | Keynote Guest Speaker | Community Educational Outreach

Prof. Robert A. Downing III

"Reach for the Stars" 

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Professor Downing serves on the faculty of Fremont STEM and as a research advisor for the Aspiring Scholars Directed Research Program. Mr. Downing has extensive experience in a variety of fields, and shares his expertise and his passion for seeing the universe with curiosity for the details  and with appreciation for the big picture. 

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Splitting Water, Making Air: Electrolysis

One of the challenges of space travel is providing astronauts and living things with oxygen to breathe. Students learn about the electrochemical properties of graphite while producing oxygen from the electrolysis of water.

UV Beads Capture Solar Energy from the Sun

Students learn about UV light by capturing solar energy in UV beads, and seeing how they glow! Additionally, students learn why protection from UV light is crucial to us on Earth and those exploring space!

Liquid Light: Fluorescence Painting

Students investigate the photochemical behavior of fluorescein, rhodamine, and other fluorescent and phosphorescent compounds, seeing how they store and emit light energy! Additionally, students learn how this chemistry may be important in illuminating dark space.

Splitting Light with Diffraction Gratings

White light is actually a collection of different wavelengths of light, each with a different color! Here, students split plain white light into wavelengths and learn about how chemists use diffraction and spectra to determine the composition of stars.