Young scientists will take part in an action-packed day at the University of Aberdeen this week.
Sixty pupils from 11 schools across the North-East are participating in the Salters' Festival of Chemistry being held at the University on Tuesday, April 8.
Each school will be represented by a team of four 11-13 year olds and will take part in competitive, hands-on, practical activities.
During the morning the teams will take part in "Who Pinched the Salt?" in which they will use their analytical chemistry skills and in the afternoon, they will compete in the "University Challenge", a practical activity chosen by the University in which they will be required to recover smuggled 'rough diamonds'. This will be followed by a fun demonstration, presented by Brian Paterson involving gases, balloons, bananas and possibly some very loud bangs!
The day will finish with a prize-giving ceremony at which all participants will be given individual fun prizes and participation certificates, and the winning teams will be awarded cash prizes for their schools.
Dr Lynda Storey of the School of Natural & Computing Sciences, Chemistry and Event Organiser, said: "The University of Aberdeen is very keen to support the annual Salters' Festival, which is always a lot of fun and an excellent way to get young students excited about chemisty.
"These competitions generate a good deal of enthusiasm with the students, who will be taking on the role of an investigating forensic scientist and putting their skills to the test to solve a mystery.
"We look forward to welcoming school teams from across the North East to the event."
The Salters' Festivals of Chemistry is an initiative of The Salters' Institute, whose aim is to promote the appreciation of chemistry and related sciences among the young. The Festival at the University of Aberdeenis one of a series of 53 Festivals which are taking place at universities throughout the UK and the Republic of Ireland between March and June 2008.
The Institute is delighted that the Royal Society of Chemistry is again working in partnership with it for the Festivals this year.
