Chem Lab Days

Professor Ingram with two students in lab

Visit us on campus

In the Department of Chemistry, we are dedicated to providing support for high school chemistry educators and students. Our outreach program invites Grade 11 and 12 chemistry classes to visit the University of Waterloo for Chem Lab Days.

Chem Lab Days can include a selection of the following events:

  • Choice of a hands-on chemistry lab that uses stoichiometry calculations and physical properties analysis: The Synthesis of Acetaminophen or Aluminum Recycling
  • Science faculty tour
  • Chemistry mini-lecture
  • Admissions information
  • Free time to explore campus (if requested)

Please contact chemistry.outreach@uwaterloo.ca if you would like to be waitlisted for our next offering of Chem Lab Days.

Preparing to attend Chem Lab Days

Logistical considerations
  • Days are offered in December and April.
  • Time slots fill up fast! We start to schedule in October and February and have priorities for booking to try and make things equitable:
    • Waitlisted schools from plans that fell through (transport issues, student interest).
    • Schools who never visited UWaterloo.
    • Schools local to Waterloo Region.
    • Schools who can fill-in gaps in the schedule we are building. (We aim for two labs a day.)
    • All other schools.
  • When you are booking the day, you will be sent a form, below is the information to fill out:
    • Contact information (name, email, school, and location).
    • Class information (grade and number of students).
      • Only grades 11 and 12 can attend Chem Lab Day.
      • A lab time slot has a capacity of 44 students.
  • Available dates (from a menu of options).
  • Activities to include: Chem lab (2 hours), tour (45-60 minutes), lunch (60 minutes), lecture (45-60 minutes).
  • Choice of experiment: Acetaminophen Synthesis (organic chemistry, yield determination, melting point measurement) or Aluminum Recycling (reaction balancing, multi-step synthesis, elemental tests).
  • Earliest arrival time and latest departure.
  • Additional information (accessibility needs, notes on schedule such as students needing a pause at a certain time to pray, etc.).
  • If you are bringing more than 44 students, you will need to be able to spend 5 hours on campus to fit the whole group within a day.
  • If you are choosing to do another activity besides the lab, we highly recommend time to have lunch or have students pack one for the transport.
  • We are booking lunch for 60 minutes. When we have shortened this time, it consistently caused delays in the next activity, which leads to a poorer experience.

Preparing your students for the lab
  • No need to worry excessively about preparation. Our volunteers love to help and work under the assumption students will need assistance with every step of the procedure!
  • For the day of the lab, make sure students are wearing proper attire (closed-toed shoes and long pants) and that they bring a pen/pencil and a calculator.
  • If you do want to budget class time, a focus on the required stoichiometry calculations is great. We tend to deprioritize the math in the lab to focus on taking in the fun of doing chemistry.
  • Should you want to do some pre-lab preparation or want more details on the procedures offered, interactive lessons for these experiments are in the Interactive lessons section on this page. Please contact us at chemistry.outreach@uwaterloo.ca for a printable version of the procedure and results worksheet.

Interactive lessons

Acetaminophen (Tylenol) Synthesis

Themes:

  • Organic chemistry
  • Yield determination
  • Melting point measurement
Assembly to synthesize acetaminophen in experiment.

Picture of the assembly to synthesize acetaminophen. 4-Aminophenol is dissolved in water inside a flask heated using a water bath. The chemist is currently adding acetic anhydride to the flask.

Aluminum Recycling

Themes:

  • Reaction balancing
  • Multi-step synthesis
  • Elemental tests
Final product of the aluminum recycling experiment.

Final product of the aluminum recycling experiment (potassium alum) grown slowly into a large single crystal. The product is non-toxic so students can bring it home. Crystal growth is a fabulous in-class or at-home activity.

Contact us

For further information about our outreach program, special requests, or general inquiries, please do not hesitate to contact us by email at chemistry.outreach@uwaterloo.ca.