Local sections host Chemists Celebrate Earth Week 2026 outreach events

Travel

June 2, 2026

Local sections host Chemists Celebrate Earth Week 2026 outreach events

American Chemical Society volunteers from 85 local sections and several student chapters organized outreach activities and demonstrations for this year’s Chemists Celebrate Earth Week (CCEW), which ran April 19–25.

This year’s theme was “Into the Woods with Chemistry.” During a week of programs, thousands of members of the public explored the chemistry of trees.

“Chemists Celebrate Earth Week 2026 was a tremendous success, with outreach events across the globe highlighting how chemistry helps us understand, protect, and sustain our forests. Trees are vital partners in creating a sustainable world, and chemistry helps tell that story,” says Keith M. Krise, chair of the ACS Committee on Community Activities, which coordinates CCEW in collaboration with the ACS Office of Science Outreach.

Below are some highlights from the CCEW 2026 celebrations:

The Central Texas Local Section led an interactive science event at the Austin Nature and Science Center. It engaged more than 100 children in interactive activities such as papermaking and slime making. It also hosted a painting and poetry workshop at the Austin Public Library, where tweens created leaf prints.

Central Wisconsin Local Section volunteers shared Celebrating Chemistry magazines with visitors at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point’s Olson Museum of Natural History.

The Columbus Section held an ACS 150th anniversary celebration with a magic show and activities including tree ring analysis. It also distributed commemorative scarves, which featured the anniversary logo and hydrochromic leaf prints.

The East Tennessee Section hosted a chemistry show for homeschool students at a local cultural and history center and visited senior residents at a Knoxville, Tennessee, assisted-living center to discuss environmental topics. It also distributed Celebrating Chemistry to locations including public libraries, elementary schools, doctors’ offices, and science museums.

Erie Local Section volunteers attended the Bethesda Trinity Center, an after-school program for K–ninth grade in an economically disadvantaged area. They engaged about 50 children in hands-on activities including creating marbled paper using shaving cream and food coloring and using citric acid and baking soda to inflate balloons.

Volunteers from the Greater Houston Section and the student chapter at the University of St. Thomas in Houston organized a booth at Green Mountain Energy Earth Day in Houston. They shared facts about the importance of trees and forests to the planet and human life and ran photosynthesis-themed hands-on activities.

The Idaho Local Section sponsored and ran interactive activities at the Portneuf Valley Environmental Fair in Pocatello, Idaho. It also participated in a recycled-art contest.

The Joliet Section hosted M. Luke McCormack from the Morton Arboretum for a talk at Lewis University on the chemistry of trees. This was followed by hands-on activities.

The Kalamazoo Section distributed Celebrating Chemistry magazines in its local community.

The Maryland Section ran hands-on activities at 15 local public library sessions and at an Earth Day event at a local community college. Visitors observed leaf pigments using microscopes, separated these pigments using chromatography, and carried out the iodine-starch test.

Visitors to the Nashville Local Section’s booth at the Nashville Earth Day festival helped create a large wooden display of the periodic table.

Credit:
Anuradha Liyana Pathiranage

Nashville Local Section and local student chapter volunteers engaged over 1,000 visitors at the Nashville Earth Day festival at Centennial Park. Activities they ran included tree ring analysis, acid-base experiments, and natural dye crafts.

Five children stand at a table wearing eye protection and plastic gloves. On the table in front of each child is a mortar and loose green leaves. Each child holds a pestle or has one on the table in front of them. All mortars contain a green substance. The photo was taken inside the library, and another activity table with children around it can be seen in the background. — Children at the North Carolina Local Section CCEW event at Durham County Library extract chlorophyll from plants and learn about photosynthesis.

Credit:
Ana Muresan

The North Carolina Local Section and its supporters organized a community outreach event with hands-on activities at the Durham County Library, attended by 38 children. Participants learned about water filtration, chlorophyll extraction, oil spill remediation, and water-cycle terrariums.

The Orlando Section participated in the Central Florida Earth Day event at Lake Eola Park. Volunteers helped visitors conduct an electrolysis-of-water experiment and helped them understand photosynthesis and distinguish between natural vanilla extract and synthetic vanillin products.

The Penn-York Section ran hands-on activity stations and read the Celebrating Chemistry articles “Woody Chemis-tree” and “The Secret Recipe: Making Food While the Sun Shines” to students at George G. Blaisdell Elementary School.

Six children and two volunteers pose for a photo. In front of them is a table with lots of clear plastic cups sitting on it. Each cup contains a small amount of colored liquid. Some of the cups also have white flowers in them. The photo was taken inside the library, and a table with an ACS-branded tablecloth and two large windows can be seen in the background. — Philadelphia Section volunteers used white flowers and dyes to explain capillary action to children during an event at Pottstown Regional Public Library.

Credit:
Lynise Walton

Philadelphia Section volunteers conducted a children’s chemistry workshop at the Pottstown Regional Public Library. Participants acted as syrup detectives and observed how colored water travels through the stem and into the petals of daisies.

The Portland Local Section partnered with the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry to offer visitors hands-on experiences including doing chromatography with marker pens and making pictures using photosensitive paper, pressed flowers, and leaves.

Two volunteers sit on one side of a table wearing eye protection and plastic gloves. Four visitors stand on the other side of the table. The table has a red tablecloth and a large white tray holding plastic cups containing colored solutions and spoons, and thin strips of dyed fabric are nearby. The photo was taken outside, and a paved surface can be seen background. — Visitors to the Puerto Rico Section’s Festival de Química participate in hands-on activities including discovering how concentration impacts the effectiveness of natural dyes such as those made from turmeric and cochineal.

Credit:
Jeremy Rivera

The Puerto Rico Section held its popular Festival de Química in San Juan, Puerto Rico. More than 350 volunteers engaged hundreds of children and families in hands-on chemistry and environmental activities. The festival also incorporated Puerto Rican culture through folkloric music.

The San Diego Section engaged about 600 families in hands-on activities at Super STEM Saturday at California State University San Marcos. Visitors learned why the cones from conifer trees open and close as moisture levels change and what tree rings reveal about the age and life of a tree.

Four children and two volunteers, all wearing eye protection, stand around a table. On the table are four bottles of syrup, four cups, four worksheets, and a pile of <i>Celebrating Chemistry</i> magazines. The children have spoons in their hands that they are using to taste samples of the syrup. The photo was taken inside the library in a large empty space, and another activity table with two volunteers behind it can be seen in the background. — Southwest Georgia Section volunteers help students at Pinevale Elementary School discover the difference between maple syrup and cheaper synthetic syrups.

Credit:
Linda de la Garza

The Southwest Georgia Section sponsored outreach events at Pinevale Elementary School, Science Saturday at Valdosta State University, and a science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) event at a local college of education. There were hands-on activities at each of these, such as tasting syrup, electrolyzing water, and observing colorful pH-changing reactions.

The Saint Joseph Valley Local Section hosted a table at the Elkhart County, Indiana, Environmental Center Earth Day event. Activities included using glass tubes and white flowers to illustrate capillary action and a demonstration of how much sap is required to produce maple syrup.

Virginia Section and local chemistry club volunteers led hands-on activities at the Science Museum of Virginia’s Earth Day event.

CCEW 2026 national Illustrated Poem Contest winners

As part of Chemists Celebrate Earth Week celebrations, American Chemical Society local sections hold illustrated poem contests for K–12 students in their regions. This year the theme was “Into the Woods with Chemistry,” and 25 local sections submitted winning poems from their local competitions to the national contest. These are the winners of this year’s national competition.

Grades K–2

First place: R.B., Central Texas Local Section