This holiday season, Carleton University’s Department of Chemistry is once again bringing the magic of science to your classroom!

What happens to a pickle subjected to high voltage? How do they make the inside of Christmas balls silver? Why do some things glow in the dark? What is in fireworks?

A long-standing and much-loved tradition, Carleton’s annual Chemistry Magic Show is produced by professors and university students. The event features up to 25 exciting demos that showcase chemistry’s many principles including kinetics, thermodynamics, gas laws, and atomic theory. Throughout the show, our chemists will educate and entertain audiences of all ages with the “magic” of chemistry.

This year the Chemistry Magic Show will be delivered directly to your classroom and will feature experiments that support your learning curricula!

Interested in Attending?
It’s easy! Fill out the registration form below and indicate the day and time you would like to register your class. Twenty-four hours before the show time you will receive a Zoom link to the access your session and, like magic, your class will have access to the show!

IMPORTANT: If you registered less than 24 hours before your desired show time, we will send you the Zoom link half an hour prior to the event start time (e.g. 9 a.m. for the 9:30 a.m. show). If you still have not received an e-mail by this time, please contact us at ScienceEvents@carleton.ca.

Show Dates and Times
Each live show will be approximately one hour long. After the show, our chemists will be available for a Q&A. We do not anticipate that the show and Q&A portion of the event will exceed 90 minutes in total. Please note that we are located in Ottawa, Ontario and therefore the show times are in the Eastern Time Zone.

The experiments and demonstrations will be the same in each show. The grade listings below are simply a guide to the level of discussion we will be providing. Please feel free to register for whichever day and time suits you and your class. For example, a kindergarten class in Vancouver or Whitehorse is more than welcome to join us for one of the shows at 1 PM Eastern. If we know you are virtually attending outside your grade slot, we will try to balance things for a more diverse audience.

Elementary Schools

Kindergarten to Grade 3 Dec. 18 at 9:30 a.m. ET
Grades 4 to 8 Dec. 19 at 9:30 a.m. ET

Secondary Schools

Grades 9 and 10 Dec. 18 at 1 p.m. ET
Grades 11 and 12 Dec. 19 at 1 p.m. ET

Ignite the conversation at #CUChemMagic and share the magic of Carleton University’s Chemistry Magic Show on social media!

Your engagement makes the magic come alive beyond the virtual classroom. Join the excitement by following @CarletonScience on Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly known as Twitter). Share your thoughts, reactions, and favourite experiments by tagging us and using the hashtag #CUChemMagic!

Connect with fellow attendees, educators, and science enthusiasts as we experience the wonders of chemistry together. Let’s make this holiday season even more magical—CU on social!