Local school pupils are Top of the Bench in on-line chemistry quiz

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Local school pupils are Top of the Bench in on-line chemistry quiz

School pupils from all over the North and North-east of Scotland took part in an innovative on-line Chemistry Quiz Competition at the University of Aberdeen on Friday (January 14).

The competition was the first of its kind in the UK organised by the Aberdeen and North Scotland Section of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), and the University’s Chemistry Department and the Learning Technology Unit.

The groundbreaking event saw 27 teams of four pupils from schools in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray, and Highland taking part. The winning school, Kingussie High School, has been invited to represent the Section in London at the RSC Top of the Bench competition. Top of the Bench is a national competition run by the RSC for 14-16-year-old students. Many schools enter enthusiastically into this, selecting teams from students in S2, S3 and S4, which compete in local competitions. The winning teams go on to a grand final at the Science Museum in London. The final comprises three events including a short test of factual chemical knowledge, a practical chemical problem solving team exercise and an information gathering exercise in the Museum. Prizes are presented by a celebrity and are given for the best overall school performance and for the five runner-up teams, plus the Jacqui Clee Award for an outstanding individual contribution to the day.

Dr Mary Masson, Senior Teaching Fellow, Department of Chemistry, University of Aberdeen, a member of the RSC Local Section Committee, has considerable experience of on-line testing with students at the University of Aberdeen, and also of running events for school pupils.

Dr Masson co-ordinated Friday’s on-line competition, which proved to be an overwhelming success. She said: “The on-line Chemistry Quiz Competition was a particularly good way of encouraging participation by a large number of schools and pupils who were scattered over such a large area.

“It would not have been possible without the support of the staff of our Learning Technology Unit, who have helped me to develop expertise in the use of on-line testing, and who provide essential technical backup. We hope to repeat this event next year, and have even more teams competing.”

Neil Roberts, Chemistry teacher at Portree High School, said: “The quiz was good fun. We were particularly keen on the

format since it saved us five hours of driving from Portree. We hope to enter more teams next year if the format is the same."

Seonaid McLaren, Principal Teacher of Chemistry at Grantown Grammar School, said: “I thought the on-line quiz was an excellent way of allowing all the schools in the Aberdeen and North of Scotland section to compete on an equal footing and was much less intimidating for pupils from small rural schools.

“The organisation by the Local Section was excellent and they are to be complimented on all the hard work that was put in to ensure that everything ran smoothly for the schools. The pupils responded well to the format as they enjoy working with computers.

“They really enjoyed participating and competing against other schools as well as having a small competition in school."

Kingussie High School secured the highest score of the day with 70 out of 76 (92%).

The runners-up were:-

2. Robert Gordon's College, Aberdeen

3. Kilchuimen Academy, Fort Augustus

4. Harlaw Academy, Aberdeen

5. St Machar Academy, Aberdeen

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