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Waynesburg University hosts Halloween-themed ‘haunted’ lab

By Eric Morris emorris@heraldstandard.Com 3 min read
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Theodore Clayton, a junior biology major at Waynesburg University, displays preserved venomous creatures and parasites -- or "creepy-crawlies" -- to visitors at the university's annual haunted lab event Wednesday.

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Eric Morris | Herald-Standard

Tiffany Wolfe, 14, of Carmichaels and Dr. Heidi Fletcher, associate professor of chemistry at Waynesburg University, watch as a miniature carbon dioxide “bomb” explodes at the university’s annual haunted lab event.

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Eric Morris | Herald-Standard

Tanner Baldauff, 7, of Eighty Four and Daniela Whitehill, 9, of Waynesburg watch as their Styrofoam “ghosts” dissolve into acetone at Waynesburg University’s annual haunted lab.

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Lillian Greenwood, 9, (left) and Marian Greenwood, 7, of Waynesburg participate in a tie-dye experiment at Waynesburg University's "haunted lab" event Wednesday.

Visitors to the fifth floor of Stewart Science Hall on the Waynesburg University campus last Wednesday evening were in for some spooky surprises as they witnessed the supernatural capabilities of chemistry.

The university’s student chapter of the American Chemical Society (ACS) held its annual “haunted lab,” which it has put on around Halloween each year for the last decade to promote science education by showcasing fun and exciting experiments and hands-on activities.

Geared towards K-12 students — and a hit particularly with elementary and middle school students — the event featured nearly 30 interactive demonstrations performed by Waynesburg faculty and undergraduate students.

“We want them to see that science isn’t boring, that science can be really exciting,” said Waynesburg associate chemistry professor and chemistry and forensic science department chair Dr. Evonne Baldauff.

“I hope they see the college students, too, and have something to one day aspire to be like,” she said.

The haunted lab coincided with National Chemistry Week, an annual community-based program of the ACS held during the fourth week of each October.

Celebrating its 30th year, National Chemistry Week encourages ACS members to build awareness of chemistry at the local level, and with elementary and secondary school children in particular.

The chemistry and forensic science department at Waynesburg holds several events throughout the calendar year, but “this one in particular is geared towards kids having a good time with science,” said Baldauff.

“Hopefully they see some cool things that stay with them.”

Some of those “cool things” involve making slime, watching Styrofoam “ghosts” vanish into acetone and hearing the exothermic “screams” of gummy bears as a chemical reacts violently with their sugar.

Using a Halloween theme allows for the group to incorporate fun into the science, said Baldauff, with references to ghosts and the supernatural, and many demonstrators and visitors dawning costumes.

“We have a series of things we typically do, but we like to change things up from year to year,” she said.

New this year were offerings like a Harry Potter-themed room, and a food station to make gooey foods using spherification techniques and ice cream using liquid nitrogen.

The idea for a haunted lab event came 10 years ago from another university that put on a similar event, said Baldauff.

The Waynesburg students thought it would be neat to hold one of their own, she said. It was successful and has become a yearly event with upwards of 180 visitors in some years.

Part of the success Baldauff attributes to the fun nature of the experiments that keeps people coming back each year.

“Hands-on things are the best. The kids always have a smile on when they’re watching.”

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