The team projects are turned in at the registration desk for display and judging.
Chemistry Signs: A poster is submitted on this year’s theme, which is
“Chemistry of the Atmosphere.”
Advance Preparation:
Each team at each level (Level I and Level II) submits a poster based on the topic.The poster must be two-dimensional and the original creation of a chemistry student or group of students in the team’s school at the same level of chemistry as the team. Non-original work should be cited. The display should be on one side of a single sheet of cardboard or poster board whose dimensions are within two centimeters of 56 cm x 71 cm, labeled on the back with the school name and “Level I” or “Level II”.
The Event:
The event prize will go to the poster representing the most original, memorable, effective, attention-getting, and generally appropriate message.
Threaded Ions: The purpose is to grow the most nearly perfect crystal. The official thread for 2019 is Banana Peel: Coats and Clark Color #7240.
Advance Preparation:
The team will submit a single crystal of potassium aluminum sulfate (KAl(SO4)2.12H2O), sodium aluminum sulfate (NaAl(SO4)2.12H2O), or ammonium aluminum sulfate (NH4Al(SO4)2.12H2O). The crystal must be grown on one piece of the official thread. If a seed crystal is used, it must not be bigger than 4 mm in its longest dimension. The crystal thread should be taped to a 3 x 5 inch white file card, labeled with the school name and “Level I” or “Level II” and placed in a clear plastic bag such as a plastic sandwich bag.
You may be able to find the compound (potassium, sodium, or ammonium alum) in the spice section of a grocery store. Hints for growing crystals may be found in various books; one that may be in your school or public library is Crystals and Crystal Growing by Alan Holden and Phylis Morrison, 1982, MIT Press. One suggestion that has worked for some is to refrigerate the solution to slow down crystallization.
The Event:
The crystal will be judged on the following basis:
- the most nearly perfect single crystal containing the fewest flaws (40%);
- the crystal with the most regularity and even-sided growth (40%);
- the crystal with the greatest mass (20%).
Note: a single crystal only–not cluster crystals. A small, better formed and perfectly transparent crystal might well receive more points than a large, very cloudy one. Each team at each level (I and II) may enter one crystal prepared by any student at the school who is at the same level of chemistry as the team.