Chemathon

About Us

History of the Annual Chemathon: High-spirited High School Competition at the University of Maryland

(The following is based on an article written in 1993 by Prof. Howard DeVoe and Dr. Julianna Pax for the Capital Chemist, a monthly publication of the Washington Section of the American Chemical Society.)

In the fall of 1984 a small group of Montgomery County, Maryland, high school chemistry teachers began talking about organizing a chemistry competition for high school students that would emphasize the fun of doing chemistry. They got the idea from the International Chemistry Olympiad, which Mary Beth Key of St. Albans School had described at a Montgomery County chemistry teachers meeting. Why not design a competition, they asked, that in contrast to the Olympiad would involve a large number of students?

Among the teachers planning this new competition were Joann Burak, then teaching at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School and now at Exeter Twp. High School in Pennsylvania; John Hudson, of Rockville High School; Judith Ann Pauley, of Connelly School of the Holy Child in Potomac; and Julianna Pax, now at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda. The four brought their idea to Professor Henry Heikkinen at the University of Maryland at College Park (and now at the University of Northern Colorado), who was enthusiastic about their plans, and the Chemathon was born. From the beginning, it has been a collaboration between area high school teachers and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Maryland.

The goal of the Chemathon is to provide an opportunity for high school students to use knowledge and skills gained in the classroom and to have a good time doing so. The events are planned to engage students of varying ability in activities that are enjoyable and rewarding, and to give research opportunities to creative and inventive students.

The first Chemathon took place in 1985, and it has been going strong every year since. A school may enter a team at either or both of two competitive tracks, one for students taking their first year of chemistry and one for second-year students. Each team has up to six students and a chemistry teacher who serves as the team's coach and a judge at the Chemathon. No registration fees are involved.

The various competition events (projects, lab activities, and knowledge-testing games) take place concurrently in nine laboratory rooms and two auditoriums. There are four forty-five minute rounds of competition during which three members of each team compete in four events and the remaining three members compete in another four events. The judges are the chemistry teachers who accompany the teams, and volunteers including students and faculty from the University of Maryland. The Maryland Section of ACS has provided volunteer judges in past years.

The Chemathon Saturday starts with separate welcome meetings at 8:30 a.m. for the teams and judges. The competitive events begin at 9 a.m. and are finished at noon. The students take the competition seriously, but obviously have a lot of fun. A 75-minute lunch break allows the Chemathon committee to tally the event scores and prepare certificates. During the last half hour of this period a faculty member presents a chemistry demonstration show with such effects as billowing foam, a dust explosion, and a thermite reaction.

The day ends in the afternoon with the award ceremony, a high-energy finale punctuated with the cheers of students as winners are announced. Few if any teams go without some kind of award. The prizes include beribboned flasks filled with wrapped candy, posters donated by the ACS national office, subscriptions to Chem Matters donated by the Maryland Section of ACS, and scientific calculators donated by Hewlett-Packard. The university chemistry department gives a Chemathon T-shirt to each participant.

We feel the Chemathon is beneficial to the students, the teachers, the university, and the chemistry profession. At a Chemathon workshop held in January 1993, several teachers mentioned that the Chemathon was sparking interest in chemistry classes; in at least one school, students took chemistry specifically to be able to go to the Chemathon. Chemistry teachers from a widespread geographic area interact with one another. The students and teachers get a feel for the facilities and faculty at the University of Maryland. Chemists who attend the Chemathon provide a role model for students who may be unfamiliar with chemistry as a profession.

The Chemathon since its local beginning in 1984 has inspired similar events elsewhere. Chemathon committee members have given advice on starting up these events. Eastern Pennsylvania now has a Science Olympiad thanks to Joann Burak who brought her expertise to Pennsylvania.

Dr. Howard DeVoe is Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742. Dr. Julianna Pax is a retired high school chemistry teacher.

Skip to toolbar