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Make STEM “Fun”: ACI Video, Activity Kits Teach “The Science Behind Soap”

• Online Materials Bring to Life ACI Exhibit at USA Science & Engineering Festival• Tomorrow’s Innovators Get a Glimpse of Creative Chemistries at Work in Cleaning Products Industry

Washington, DC, April 13, 2016 – The American Cleaning Institute (ACI) unveiled a new video and classroom activity kit to help teach “The Science Behind Soap,” the theme for ACI’s exhibit at the USA Science & Engineering Festival in Washington, D.C. April 16-17.

ACI’s exhibit at the Festival demonstrates for students the science behind the chemistries that help produce the safe and effective products that enhance our health and quality of life.

The video and classroom activities – for teachers and students – are available online at www.cleaninginstitute.org/STEM.

“The American Cleaning Institute exhibit, video and written materials create an activity to showcase the chemistry of cleaning products by interactively introducing participants to product formulation while creating sand art. The goal is to encourage students to think about how science impacts their daily lives,” said Darci Ferrer, ACI Manager, Environmental Sciences.

Through the displayed activities, students can visit a series of stations to learn about the function of the ingredients found in soap. By placing colored sand into a tube at each station, students will learn what it is like to “formulate” a soap product, and will even be able to check how well their creation would clean.

“We want to make science, technology, engineering and mathematics fun,” said Melissa Grande, ACI Senior Manager, Sustainability Initiatives. “There is so much innovation in our industry that has helped make soap and cleaning products safe, effective and sustainable. We want to ensure that tomorrow’s innovators get a glimpse of the creative chemistries at work and get them interested in careers throughout the cleaning product supply chain.”

The USA Science & Engineering Festival, taking place at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC, is the country’s largest and only national science festival and was developed to inspire our nation’s youth to seek out career in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

The American Cleaning Institute® (ACI) is the Home of the U.S. Cleaning Products Industry® and represents the $30 billion U.S. cleaning products market. ACI members include the formulators of soaps, detergents, and general cleaning products used in household, commercial, industrial and institutional settings; companies that supply ingredients and finished packaging for these products; and oleochemical producers. ACI (www.cleaninginstitute.org) and its members are dedicated to improving health and the quality of life through sustainable cleaning products and practices.