Travesuras 2014

GenetiX, as a student group, participated in the event Travesuras 2014, which had place the 26 of April 2014 inside the installations of Tecnologico de Monterrey, Campus Ciudad de Mexico. The GenetiX station was located in the high-school chemistry laboratory where 4 groups attended, composed around of 25 children each, with ages that ranged between 7 and 16 years. Inside the station there were nine of our members present involving children into science in a fun and enriching way for them. These experiments included de polymerization of “Slime” with color and “Silly Putty”.

Before initiating the experiment, a quick explanation of the process of polymerization was given. For the polymerization of the Slime, the kids had the opportunity of adding in plastic cups 10mL of polyvinyl alcohol and 3 mL of a borax solution in addition with a drop of colorant. Later, the children agitated the mixture with wooden sticks until it took the slimy consistence expected. This procedure was made in groups of between 2 and 3 kids who shared the slime.

A polymerization of the silly putty was made in the same way in which the slime was made. In this case, 10 mL of white glue (which contains the polyvinyl acetate) and 20 mL of saturated borax solution. The children agitated the mixture until it obtained the desired consistency. Later, they were able to play with it also in groups of 2 or 3 children. All the experiments were supervised by the members of GenetiX in order to prevent any accident and solve further doubts from the children regarding the experiment.

Finally a DNA demonstration took place. For such, a banana was cut into pieces and got liquefied in a blender with distilled water and 2.5 gr of NaCl. It was liquefied until a dense liquid was achieved and then poured into a coffee filter inside a glass flask. We left the mixture in filtration for about 10 min until the flask was half-full. Afterwards 5ml of liquid soap was added to the pulp in order to break the cell walls and membranes and free the DNA. Also 3 gr of meat tenderizer and another 3 grs of sodium bicarbonate were added into the mixture. Once the ingredients were added, the sufficient amount of cold ethanol was added in order to form a thin layer above the banana mixture. Since the DNA is insoluble in ethanol, a whitish layer appears above the banana mixture. Once the process ended, the final mixture was shown to the children and a brief explanation of what DNA is was given.