The 15-year-olds have been selected from schools all over the UK to take part in The Salters’ Chemistry Camp. The two three-day camps will run from 16-18 and 18-20 July 2007.
The camps will enable the students to participate in chemistry and motivate them to develop both awareness of, and a long-term interest in, the subject.
Each student will be given an opportunity to tackle a variety of new activities. They will work on researching the properties of local anaesthetic, Benzocaine, and will discover how to extract oil used for flavouring food and making perfume from a seed.
Other exciting tasks for students include producing a photograph without a camera involving a process called ‘Cyanotyping’ or better known as ‘Blue Printing’ and students will also be using their detective skills to pinpoint the culprits who are selling their own brand of painkillers.
Dr Dudley Shallcross, Outreach Director in the School of Chemistry at Bristol University, said: “We are again delighted to be hosting a Chemistry Camp in collaboration with the Salters' Company and one of the new pharmaceutical camps in particular.
”The Camp is another great way for students to be able to gain experience of extended practical work in Chemistry using some equipment that is unlikely to be available at their schools. We know from our extensive experience of schools' engagement that students value the opportunity to work in our recently refurbished teaching laboratories.
“It is also good fun and a way of helping to open up the university experience to a wider range of secondary school students.”
There will also be a chance for the students to unwind in the evening with a number of social events. These include ten-pin bowling and a fun quiz.
The Salters’ Chemistry Camp at the University of Bristol’s School for Chemistry is sponsored by The Salters’ Institute; GlaxoSmithKline; Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI); Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE); The Royal Society; The Royal Society of Chemistry and the University of Bristol ChemLabS.