Young Scientists Display Winning Chemistry In Regional Final
25 January 2013
The winning team from Boston Grammar School
It was a close competition but Boston Grammar School's considered approach and brilliant teamwork make them well-deserved winners of the regional final. I wish them all the best in the national final in April.
”Lecturer in Forensic Chemistry at the University of Derby, Samantha Drake.
A Boston school will be representing the Midlands in the finals of a national science competition, after impressing a panel of science judges at the University of Derby recently.
Pupils from Boston Grammar School beat off 10 other teams in the East Midlands' Regional Final of the Royal Society of Chemistry's (RSC) 'Top of the Bench Competition'.
The year nine, 10 and 11 pupils, Michael Purvis, Bradley White, Matthew Wearden, Mihir Rao and Nicholas Doddrell, displayed some serious scientific knowledge in a chemistry quiz and practical skills test. When given a chemical mixture the teams had to separate it into five separate substances using their chemistry knowledge. Marks were awarded for a logical, written method as well as for how closely the mass of each constituent, once separated, matched with what it weighed before they were mixed.
Lecturer in Forensic Chemistry at the University of Derby, Samantha Drake, who helped to organise the competition said: "All the teams performed excellently and I was very impressed by the knowledge and enthusiasm shown by all the pupils involved.
"It was a close competition but Boston Grammar School's considered approach and brilliant teamwork make them well-deserved winners of the regional final. I wish them all the best in the national final in April."
Teams of students from Leicester Grammar School, the Dixie Grammar School (Market Bosworth), Nottingham High School, Derby High School, Boston Grammar School, John Cleveland College with Hastings High School (Hinkley), Swanwick Hall (Derbyshire), Lady Manners School (Bakewell, Derbyshire), The King's School (Lincolnshire) and Stamford School, plus a team made up of up of pupils from Robert Smyth Academy, Welland Park Community College and Kibworth High School, all competed in the 'Top of the Bench' Regional Final, which took place on January 12 (2013).
Demonstrations involving colour changes, fluorescence and sparks were also performed by the University of Derby's Samantha Drake, with help from University student ambassadors, Agata Stodolna and Stacey Camilleri.
The winning cup and certificates were presented to the pupils from Boston Grammar School by the University's Acting Head of the School of Science, Professor Paul Lynch. The team will go on to represent the Midlands in the national finals to be held in Loughborough in April.
