Top of the Bench Challenge 31st January 2015 at Tsinghua University
The ‘Top of the Bench’ challenge by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is an annual event in the UK and now has some international rounds, including Beijing! It is only the second time the competition has been ran in Beijing at Tsinghua University and the first year that BSB has participated.
The challenge consists of several rounds including a multiple choice answer round, lateral thinking round and a practical investigation. This year there were 6 schools, each school could bring one Year 11 student, one Year 10 student and two Year 9 students. This year our team was Jack Kennaugh (11), Sunny Hwang (10), Siqi Chen (9) and Jule Nestler (9).
The BSB team did a fantastic job at the event, working brilliantly as a team to solve the variety of challenges. In the practical investigation the students were using their knowledge on rates of reaction to try and make the fastest ‘iodine clock.’
Although we did not win (The Royal School Beijing retained their title), I am incredibly proud of these students for taking time out of their weekend to represent their school in a subject that they enjoy, well done team!
Update from: Mrs. Nicola Davenport, Science Teacher