Chemkids experimental competition: Saxony's young chemists honored at TUD

On Saturday, September 7, the award ceremony for the most successful participants in the experimental competition Chemkids in Saxony took place in the Schönfeld lecture hall of the Barkhausen Building at TUD. The first guests had started around 6:00 a.m. in Vogtland and Upper Lusatia. Parents from Leipzig, Chemnitz, Zwickau and Bautzen, as well as from Dresden and the surrounding area, set off with their children in the morning. The lecture hall was well filled with around 250 people at around 10 am.

The "very successful" work from the last school year was on display in the entrance area to the lecture hall. Many students were looking for their submissions, which had been created with great enthusiasm and care. The sheets with their own surveys, construction drawings of the self-built hydrometer and photos documented the data basis, observations and results of their own research.

The event was opened by the State Commissioner Dr. Jens Viehweg and the Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry and Food Chemistry, Prof. Dr. Stefan Kaskel. He briefly and vividly explained what we need chemistry for in our daily lives and what core research areas are being worked on in Dresden. In a short panel discussion, Dr. Jutta Matreux, Plant Manager at Wacker Chemie AG in Nünchritz, and Ralf Berger, President of the State Office for Schools and Education in Saxony, then answered the questions: Who is sponsoring this competition and why? On the one hand, there is a responsibility to ensure that cutting-edge technologies can continue to be developed and used to create prosperity in the future. This requires young talent. Perhaps the future scientists, engineers or laboratory technicians are sitting in the lecture hall. On the other hand, the Free State of Bavaria will also need motivated teachers in the future who can inspire enthusiasm and promote talent.

Prof. Dr. Michael Hellwig presented the children and adults the talk "In search of hidden sugar" to explain what food chemists do. During an excursion through the lists of ingredients and nutritional value tables, the audience learned that not all sugars are the same. That the Seliwanoff test is negative for lactose and birch sugar. And why starch makes you feel full for much longer than the small mono- or disaccharides.

After a short break, the second part of the event began with a review of the 2023/24 competition year. Despite DB's delay, Jahn Lühmann also made it to this part. He conveyed his greetings from Nordost-Chemie in Berlin and emphasized how important it is for the association to support schools, for example within the framework of the school partnership, the further training of chemistry teachers as part of further training events and good teaching opportunities for pupils.

In fall, 665 pupils sent in their work on the topic of "Rundi's sugar lab". The aim was to determine the amount of sugar that can be tasted when dissolved in water and what influence acids have on taste sensitivity. The sugar content of soft drinks was measured using a self-built and calibrated hydrometer. Although they already suspected that there must be a relatively high sugar content, the actual amount of sugar cubes in the corresponding comparative solution surprised most of the young researchers. The Saxon Chemkids team received 406 entries for the spring round of "Rundi's Color Lab". This time, everything revolved around the question of what influence color has on the perception of taste. And analytical skills were used to investigate whether soft drinks with "cherry flavor" actually contain cherry juice. The properties of anthocyanins as acid/base indicators were used in comparison to other red food colorings. At the same time, they were able to "invent" their own sherbet powder. A total of 1071 entries were submitted in 2023/24, with pupils from 15 elementary school, 4 secondary schools and 61 grammar schools in the Free State taking part. A total of 74 "very successful" participants were invited to this event. This year, the 32nd "Sieben Schwaben" elementary school in Dresden, the Friedrich Tschanter secondary school in Eilenburg and the Schiller grammar school in Bautzen were honored with school prizes for their special commitment. Claudia Schanze from the 32nd "Sieben Schwaben" elementary school in Dresden also received the special prize for her very special efforts in recent years.

Officially, the "Chemkids" competition starts in year 4 and can then be graded as an offer for pupils from secondary schools and grammar schools in years 5 to 8. However, there were also "early starters" in grades 2 and 3 this year, and all winners received book and non-cash prizes. Perhaps we want to establish a new tradition with our Chemkids experiment kits. Conceived as a construction kit for your own chemistry laboratory, we start with the first basic equipment for dabbling experiments in Year 4.

This year, we were once again able to offer internships. Selin Sönmez (Marie-Curie-Gymnasium Dresden) and Tobias Meinhardt (Martin-Andersen-Nexö-Gymnasium Dresden) are going to Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. Together with prizewinners from all over Germany, they will take part in the Chemistry Olympiad Sponsors' Association's internship in the "Nat-Lab" school laboratory from September 15 to 19. Five participants from grades 7 and 8 can look forward to three exciting days at Merseburg University of Applied Sciences in the "hands-on chemistry" school laboratory during the fall break. They will be there: Nele Ehlert (Wilhelm-Ostwald Schule Gymnasium der Stadt Leipzig), Cristiano Zenker (Städtisches Gymnasium Riesa), Lara Kurzhals (Friedrich-Tschander-Oberschule Eilenburg) as well as Helena Legler and Lucy Göhler (both Gymnasium Olbernhau). This prize is financed by Nordost-Chemie.

The event ended with a look at the new tasks in the fall of 2024 "Rundi's Banana Tattoos". After a group photo, a snack awaited all guests in the foyer to fortify themselves for the journey home.

A big thank you goes to all those directly and indirectly involved, the organizers and supporters who contributed to the success of the event.

The entire Saxon Chemkids team wishes you lots of fun with and in chemistry in the future!

Contact:
Dr. Jens Viehweg
E-mail:
Phone (on duty): 03521 456 113

Information about the competition: www.chemkids.de