The Department of Chemical Engineering at Técnico (DEQ), organised another edition of DEQ Open Laboratories, an event that invites basic and secondary school students to discover the world of laboratory chemistry.

“How is that possible?” asked Leonor, one of the students who participated on the second day of the initiative, February 4, while she was watching what happened to a water balloon filled with liquid nitrogen.

In the first two days, the basic school students had the opportunity to learn how to make ice cream with liquid nitrogen, to discover the essential diaper components, to make toothpaste and to understand how to make indigo dye, which makes jeans blue. “Did Frankenstein really existed?” asks João, another participant, after seeing a liquid nitrogen clouds experiment, which resembled a bubbling witches cauldron.

In the end, we asked some participants about the possibility of returning to Técnico in a few years to study engineering. “Yes, if it is so much fun as it was today”. Before he left, he asked for a Técnico badge that will bring him back memories of a “surprising” day.

It is estimated that throughout this week, more than 1400 students participate in DEQ Open Labs. The activities are organised according to participants’ ages, but the ultimate goal is to motivate and attract young students to science, in particular to chemistry.