Fun with chemistry

victoria-university-of-wellington

Fri Jun 01 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Fun with chemistry

Friday, 1 June 2007, 10:20 am
Press Release: Victoria University of Wellington

Fun with chemistry

Senior secondary school students have the opportunity to test their chemistry knowledge and have fun at the 9th Annual New Zealand Institute of Chemistry Secondary Schools’ Chemistry Quiz, held at Victoria University this month.

Organisers Wendy Popplewell and Joanna Wojnar, student representatives of the Wellington NZIC committee, and both Victoria chemistry PhD students, promise a light-hearted, fun evening that will test students’ chemistry knowledge and show them that chemistry is more than just lab coats and test tubes.

“Teams of four students compete against each other in eight rounds of chemistry questions that are designed to make students think—but often also laugh” says Ms Popplewell.

“This event celebrates the creative side of young chemists, not only encouraging them to see the lighter side of chemistry but also to study science, and ideally chemistry, in the future.”

The event is run by volunteers from Victoria’s School of Chemical & Physical Sciences and is sponsored by the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry, the Faculty of Science, the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology and the School. Prizes awarded on the night include $100 for each member of the winning team and a book voucher worth $100 to buy a chemistry textbook for their school, as well as spot prizes.

It has become hugely popular over the years and Ms Popplewell says there are many students at Victoria with fond memories of the quiz.

“We have several students who attended the quiz in their secondary school years and enjoyed it so much that it strongly influenced their decision to study chemistry at university. We also have a second-year student who was desperate to help this year, as he enjoyed it so much as a college student.”

Attendance has been limited to 200 year 12 and 13 students from more than 20 schools in the greater Wellington region, including the Wairarapa and this year as far away as Napier.

The quiz night will be held on Wednesday 13 June from 7pm in the Union Hall of the Student Union Building.

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