Sampling Harvard, and science
The calendar said it was the middle of June, and 11-year-old Benjamin Obianigwe was eagerly rubbing snow between his fingers. Well, it was “snow” made from mixing water with specialized polymers. As part of the Early College Awareness Family Event held last Saturday in Harvard’s Science Center, Benjamin, a fifth-grader, was getting a lesson in chemical interaction. And so was his mother. Theodora Obianigwe watched with interest and pride as her son poured cups of water into various polymers to create what looked like candy, gooey worms; semi-soft jelly; or fluffy powder that resembled wet snow. She listened intently while students from the summer program “Research Experience for Undergraduates,” at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), explained the science behind the different results. “We use all these things, but we don’t know what they are made of,” she said in a lilting accent. “But here we can see how all...