DeKALB – Sara Billenstein wants to show lemon juice is more than a cooking ingredient and Alka-Seltzer can be used for more than a heartburn.

Billenstein, a senior at Northern Illinois University, created this fall’s Chem Demo Night theme – “Take-Home Science” – to show parents how they can use household items to create fun activities that could spark an interest in science with their children.

“I have children myself and thought it would be really cool if parents could go home and do these experiments with their kids,” she said.