The Woodlands, TX (November 15, 2011) - As part of National Chemistry Week, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP (Chevron Phillips Chemical) held school assembles for 4th and 5th graders across Texas and Oklahoma to teach students about chemistry and the important role it plays in everyday life.
During the week of October 16-22, more than 30 Chevron Phillips Chemical volunteers led students in hands-on experiments and demonstrations in elementary schools to showcase chemistry in action. More than 2,000 students learned how chemistry contributes to daily life and how the products and plastics made by Chevron Phillips Chemical can help improve the quality of life.
"By sharing our love for chemistry, we hope the students walk away with a better appreciation of chemistry and the process of developing and creating the products and materials they see and use every day," said Linda Koenig, public affairs manager of Chevron Phillips Chemical. "National Chemistry Week is a great opportunity to interest students in chemistry and inspire them to learn more about a field that can offer them opportunities to change the world."
During their presentation at Heritage Elementary in La Porte, Texas, Russ Morris, plant manager of Chevron Phillips Chemical's La Porte facility and Joe Torres, lab technician at the La Porte plant, said the students were discovering and thinking about science in a new light.
"The kids asked compelling questions about states of matter, how gases can be detected and the different properties of various plastics," said Morris.
National Chemistry Week is a program of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and is a community-based annual event that unites ACS local sections, businesses, schools and individuals in communicating the importance of chemistry to the world's quality of life.