Dollar ‘Top of the Bench’ Chemistry Team at London Final
The annual ‘Top of the Bench’ competition gives Dollar’s chemistry students in Forms II, III and IV the chance to participate against other schools in a series of chemistry-related challenges. In November 2006, the Dollar team achieved an outstanding win in the regional part of this competition in Grangemouth. This result qualified the team for a national competition that would pit the Dollar students against pupils from schools located all over the UK. This nationwide final was held in London on Saturday 24 March at the renowned Science Museum in London. The crack Dollar team was made up of James Foley from Form II, Emily Thomas and Arsaleem Cheema from Form III and Calum Burt from Form IV. The Dollar team was accompanied by Mrs Kate Carmichael and Dr Richard Johnson from the Chemistry department.
On the day of the competition, the team travelled to the Science Museum at Kensington, and were faced with three challenges. The first was a written paper that assessed the team’s general knowledge of theoretical and current chemistry topics appropriate to their age group. The team was then tasked, in pairs, with a treasure hunt that involved finding certain objects on display around the Science Museum. The final challenge of the day was a practical activity at Imperial College, London. The students were asked to develop a method of mixing three ‘unknown’ chemicals that would produce a specific final temperature – a difficult task considering that the team only had 30 minutes to complete it before reproducing their method in front of three judges.
Although ultimately they did not finish in the top six, the Dollar team distinguished itself with its excellent conduct and mature focus on the three challenges against competition of the highest calibre from all regions of the UK. The team were also grateful for an opportunity to examine the excellent exhibitions located around the Science Museum during the course of the day.
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