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Activities The Chemistry Department actively and enthusiastically participates in a number of activities and trips for the benefit of current and prospective parents and pupils. Each year the Department runs
Each week for one or more terms the Department offers
Each week throughout an academic year the Department operates
Trips The Department helps to organise trips for students to a variety of institutions.
Year 7 chemists undertake study work on properties of materials and participate in demonstrations centred on Kinetic Theory at the SCIENCE MUSEUM.
Year 8 chemists undertake investigative work on weathering, erosion and the rock cycle within a number of galleries at the NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM and use the hands-on facilities available in "Investigate".
Year 9 students visit EXPLORE@BRISTOL and investigate properties of materials.
The Chemistry Department likes to promote activities and trips involving its pupils within the local media. These are also advertised on the Chemistry Department News. The Department lays on occasional internal and external speaker lectures and arranges trips for sixth form chemists. Open Days Complete laboratory transformations based on current themes of study are undertaken by pupils and assisted by staff. In recent years pupils have transformed laboratories into limestone quarries, a walk through seabed and oilrig experience, a BioHazard laboratory for analysis of material from a Roswell-type alien crash landing, complete with music, to this year's spectaculars - Planet Earth: evolution of the Earth's atmosphere over 4.6 billion years, complete with sound, light and Department generated special effects and creation of an International Space Station with scientific analysis stations.
This, coupled with fun filled and academic practical work such as making bouncing custard balls, foaming alien blood, watching advanced computer-monitored titrimetric studies, observing oscillating and colourful chemical reactions and a variety of pupil displays, pupil-manned stalls, video footage of pupils at work within the Department and at the Natural History Museum and slide shows, enthral, engage, entertain and challenge current and prospective pupils and parents.
If you have not been to one of our Open Days, you are missing an unforgettable experience. Open days are held in October and a Department programme is produced in advance, which is available to interested readers.
Salters' Practical Chemistry Club. The Chemistry Department has a thriving and very popular Salters' Practical Chemistry Club. The Club offers pupils opportunities to carry out exciting and fun experiments, from foaming alien blood, bouncing custard balls and food fireballs to solving 'who dunnit' murder mysteries, and from studying and predicting iodine clock reactions to investigating and building chemical rockets. The Club takes place on Monday afternoons, between 4 – 5 p.m. and is open to pupils in Years 7 to 9.
At the same time pupils learn a more about Chemistry. Their confidence and practical skills are also developed and improved. Pupils work individually as well as in groups, the latter encourages and develops effective teamwork skills and helps to develop lateral thinking.
Our work with pupils of all ability levels has been very successful. A team from Warminster successfully applied knowledge and understanding, lateral thinking and teamwork skills to win joint first prize at a south west region Salters’ Practical Chemistry competition held at the University of Bristol
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