27th
June 199827th
June 1998
Every two years the Open University becomes even more open than normal as it invites the public to vist its headquarters at Walton Hall in Milton Keynes.
Most of the visitors are students, past or present, who take
this opportunity to see the source of their teaching materials
and to meet old friends and make new ones.
The Open University Chemistry Society
and the Chemistry Department work together to help make Open Day
a big success. Many people invest their spare time (which is in
very short supply for most studets) in the preparation and by
volunteering to help during the day.
Most societies affiliated to OUSA put on a display in the Students Association marquee. The OUCS present was limited to adverts for the events going on in the Chemistry Building. But there were loads of great displays, many devoted to raising money for OUSET (the Students Educational Trust - which raise money to help students in need of some). Click on any of the thumbnails below for the full size pix.
This was where the demonstrations that didn't require a laboratory were carried out. Badge making, molecular models (with sweeties!), smells, vegetable batteries, making ice cream with liquid nitrogen, computers in chemistry and displays of research work carried out in the Department.
This is where the demonstrations that used some of the less pleasant chemicals were carried out. The most popular, as ever, was the slime-making - in three gruesome colours. And the expressions of wonder/confusion that passed across the faces of some of the children watching the colour change (via reversible oxidation/reduction reactions) were a joy.
The number of people that should be thanked here are just too many - you know who you are.
This page was put together by Frank Hollis. Thanks to the wonders of digital cameras and laptop computers most of the pictures used herein where selected on the night of 27th June in the Hilton (where the service was crap) across the road from the OU.
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