Young scientists will take part in an action-packed day at the University of Aberdeen next week.
Forty pupils from 10 schools from across the North-East are participating in the Salters’ Festival of Chemistry being held at the University on Tuesday, March 28.
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 “The Mystery at Salty Towers” 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. This will be followed by a fun lecture, by Professor Marcel Jaspars, Department of Chemistry, who will talk about the connection between chemistry and diving in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
The day will conclude with a a prize-giving ceremony later in the day when the winning teams will be given cash prizes for their schools and all participants will be given individual fun prizes and participation certificates.
This is the sixth Festival of its kind to take place at the University. Dr Mary Masson, Senior Teaching Fellow in the Department of Chemistry and Event Organiser, said: “The University of Aberdeen is a keen supporter of the annual Salters’ Festival and is keen to host events that help to get young people excited about the subject.
“We are looking forward to welcoming school pupils from across the North-East to the event. The pupils always respond with enthusiasm to the challenge of the competitions, involving detective work and problem-solving, as well as chemistry.
“I hope that we are able to enthuse the pupils and to get them interested in studying chemistry in the future.”
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 Aberdeen is one of a series of 52 Festivals which are taking place at universities throughout the UK and the Republic of Ireland between March and June 2006.
The Institute is delighted that the Royal Society of Chemistry is again working in partnership with it for the Festivals this year.
