Interactive science program helps children learn about recycling

Interactive science program helps children learn about recycling

The Saigon Times Daily

HCMC – About 650 children in HCMC learned about recycling in the interactive science program BASF Kids’ Lab that took place at Ho Xuan Huong Stadium in District 3 from November 8 to 9.

Jointly organized by BASF and the HCMC Department of Education and Training for the ninth consecutive year, the program introduced two new experiments to help children learn how recycling can contribute to effective waste management and the responsible use of natural resources.

Participants included primary students from districts 12, Hoc Mon and Cu Chi, as well as children of BASF employees and customers, and 40 children from Anh Linh Charity House in District 7.

The BASF Kids’ Lab program is an interactive, fun and free chemistry education program designed for kids aged 6 to 12 years to discover the world of chemistry through simple and safe hands-on experiments.

“This year, BASF is celebrating its 25th anniversary in Vietnam with a range of initiatives that have a positive impact on the future of Vietnam’s next generation, and Kids’ Lab is at the core of these activities. The new experiments will help children understand the essential role that recycling plays in minimizing waste and using our limited natural resources in a responsible manner,” said Erick Contreras, managing director of BASF Vietnam.

During the program, children worked together to learn about plastic classification and why it is one of the major steps in the recycling process. They experienced different ways of sorting plastics, including identifying the resin code and discovering the plastic’s density using a saline solution.

As part of the three-step experiment, the children also learned more about major resources which are used to produce plastics, including petroleum and other renewable materials, such as corn starch.

The recycling paper experiment helped children learn how waste paper can be recycled into a new, colored paper. They understood how paper recycling can help conserve natural resources and reduce adverse effects on the environment.

In addition, the children took part in various games and quiz to get to know the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) of waste management.

On the occasion, BASF launched three online experiments in Vietnamese in its Virtual Kids’ Lab (http://thinghiemvui.basf.com), an online platform that allows children to take part in a variety of interactive chemistry experiments. It enables young people to experience the joy of chemistry anytime and anywhere.

Through the “Looking for the sender” experiment, children can learn more about chromatography, a laboratory technique for the identification and separation of a mixture. The “Chemistry lab bakery” experiment explains the chemical processes involved in baking a cake, while the “Bubbling refreshment” explains how carbon dioxide makes beverages bubbly and fizzy.

Established in Ludwigshafen, Germany in 1997, the BASF Kids’ Lab program has been brought to more than 30 countries across the globe. BASF has implemented this program in Vietnam since 2011, benefiting about 4,800 children.