Area 1: Goals:

To provide awareness and encourage future participation in science and the graphic arts, to use realistic and practical application to demonstrate the role of science in industry, and to focus efforts in the schools surrounding the Carlstadt Technical Center.

In accordance with the New Jersey Core Curriculum Standards, the Science Plus Program (Sun Chemical Initiative for ENhancing Classroom Education: SCIENCE +) supports the following standards:

5.1 Scientific Processes: All students will develop problem solving, decision making and inquiry skills, reflected by formulating, usable questions and hypotheses, planning experiments, conducting systematic observations, interpreting and analyzing data, drawing conclusions, and communicating results.

5.1.A Habits of Mind
5.1.B Inquiry and Problem Solving
5.1.C Safety

5.2 Science and Society: All students will develop an understanding of how people of various cultures have contributed to the advancement of science and technology, and how major discoveries and events have advanced science and technology.

5.2.A Cultural Contributions

5.3 Mathematical Applications: All students will integrate mathematics as a tool for problem solving and as a means of expression and/or modeling scientific theories.

5.3.A Numerical Operations
5.3.B Geometry and Measurement
5.3.D Data Analysis and Probability

5.4 Nature and Process of Technology: All students will understand the interrelations between science and technology and develop a conceptual understanding of the nature and process of technology.

5.4.A Science and Technology
5.4.B Nature of Technology
5.4.C Technological Design

5.6 Chemistry: All students will gain an understanding of the structure and behavior of Matter.

5.6.A Structure and Properties of Matter
5.6.B Chemical Reactions

5.7 Physics: All students will gain an understanding of natural laws as they apply to motion, forces, and energy transformations.

5.7.B Energy Transformations

5.10 Environmental Studies: All students will develop an understanding of the environment as a system of interdependent components affected by human activities and natural phenomena.

5.10.B Human Interactions and Impact

Area 2: Activities:

Sun Chemical in Carlstadt, New Jersey is a global manufacturer of printing inks, coatings, and pigments. The Carlstadt Technical Center is the largest Research and Development Laboratory in the world dedicated to the graphic arts.

The Program Coordinator is Dr. Richard Durand, who is the Director of Knowledge Management. The SCIENCE + Program was developed in 1996 by the Sun Chemical scientists in Carlstadt, New Jersey with additional support from the Corporate Communications Department. The program is designed for Fifth Grade students. The following is a list of the SCIENCE + Program activities:

Activity One: Search, Discover, and Share
This experiment is an introduction to the scientific process. The experiment shows how heat is generated or removed by dissolving salt in water.

Activity Two: Go With the Flow
This experiment allows students to understand the term viscosity, as it relates to many different products. The children use a Flux Cup to measure the viscosity of different materials.

Activity Three: Chain Gang
This lesson is about polymers. Using an Elmer's Glue and Borax solution, the children make a polymer similar to silly putty.

Activity Four: THE SCIENCE + TOUR
The students visit the Technical Center for an official SCIENCE + Tour and Graduation Ceremony. After a brief introduction video entitled "Living in a World of Printing," the students tour the Research and Development Facility. The Tour, developed and scripted by the SCIENCE + Team, is centered around a "mysterious" printing problem with TV Guide. Using this example, the SCIENCE + Team creatively take the children though the laboratories, reinforcing the classroom lessons and showing them how Sun Chemical's scientists solve problems everyday.

The Tour begins in the pressroom, where the Tour Leader is notified of the TV Guide problem. From the pressroom, the Tour proceeds through various laboratories. At each stop, a scientist from that lab explains what part his or her lab would play in solving the TV Guide mystery. At the final stop, the class discovers that the problem was not the ink or any of the raw materials. It was the paper. At this point, the scientists discuss with the students the need for a new ink product that can be matched to the paper.

The Tour is followed by an interactive video during which the children are asked questions about what they learned. Lastly, Sun Chemical presents the students with a gift packet including a diploma, Sun Chemical Lunch Bag, and SCIENCE + t-shirt.

Area 3: Outside Resources:

Sun Chemical bears the cost of the program. Sun Chemical provides a team of twenty to twenty-five staff members that participate in the program.

Area 4: Evaluation:

After each activity, Sun Chemical supplies data sheets to be completed by the Fifth Grade students. The next day, the Fifth Grade Science Teacher reviews the answers and results; hence, this provides additional reinforcement of the previous learned experiments. Upon completion of the SCIENCE + Program, Sun Chemical requests feedback as well as an evaluation of the program from the Carlstadt School District.

Area 5: Stability:

This is the ninth school year for conducting the SCIENCE + Program in Carlstadt, New Jersey. As a result, approximately five-hundred Fifth Grade students have been involved in the SCIENCE + Program in the Carlstadt School District. This program provides a combination of hands-on experiments and business experiences. The three experiments stress the process of scientific discovery, observation, quantitative/qualitative measurement, and the value of discovery. The Tour of the facilities emphasizes problem solving related to developing and maintaining products for customers.

Area 6: Endorsements:

"Over the past ten years Sun Chemical, located in Carlstadt, New Jersey has done a tremendous job to support education in this school district. They have conducted numerous programs at our schools and also at their corporation site. These hands-on science activities have added a special dimension to our Science Curriculum. Just one example that comes to mind is our Annual SITE Program, which promotes student involvement and discovery. Employees from Sun Chemical can always be counted on to come to our school and listen to our children as they present and provide feedback to their work."

Lawrence Giblin, Principal, Washington School - Carlstadt, New Jersey

"Completing science experiments, having students engaged in these activities, and traveling to a business atmosphere so students can observe a community corporation in operation, all contribute to a successful science-based program provided by Sun Chemical."

Michael Signorella, 5th and 6th Grade Science Teacher, Washington School - Carlstadt, New Jersey

"As the individual who started our educational outreach program (SCIENCE +) at Sun Chemical, I can say that we have enjoyed strong interactions with the Carlstadt school system over the last ten years. Our mutual commitments have certainly been high as it is usually difficult to sustain such level of interest and effort for this length of time. Both parties see the tremendous value that comes from interactions between scientists and students within our program. Two images stick in my mind over the years of interacting with the Carlstadt school system that indirectly relate to how successful we have been. First, I recall a teacher preparing me for who the difficult children might be in a particular class. During the actual course of the program, I noticed the interest level of the children was always high whatever their level of academic achievement and regardless of their individual reputation relating to classroom behavior. All students were engaged in the program through our hands-on approach, relationship to real world issues, and the direct contact that they had with us. This attribute has continued to be a mainstay of the program over the years. Secondly, the reception that our staff gets when they see the students out in the community is very positive and even students that were involved in Fifth Grade years ago relate fond memories of their involvement. Thus, as we move forward in the future, this partnership between Sun Chemical and Carlstadt Schools will continue to excite the students and yield personal satisfaction to Sun Chemical scientists from the strong enthusiasm expressed by the students and teachers."

Richard Durand, Ph. D - Director, Knowledge Management, Sun Chemical Corporation