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University of York

Salters’ Chemistry Camps at York

Posted on 16 July 2015

60 school pupils from the UK and Ireland have been selected to participate in a residential Salters’ Chemistry Camp for 15-year olds at The University of York next week.

Taking place from 21 – 23 July, the Camps will enable students to participate in the fun of chemistry and motivate them to develop a long-term interest in the subject through an action-packed programme.

Each student will be given an opportunity to tackle a variety of new activities, including exploring the reasons why jellyfish glow in the dark and determining the percentage of copper in a 2p coin in the ‘Complex Chemistry’ task.

Other activities include investigating oscillating reactions, the principle of which is related to the process that gives tigers their stripes, and the chance to make and purify their own sample of anaesthetic in the ‘Cheaper Benzocaine’ activity.

Susan Woodhead, Institute Administrator at Salters’ Hall, said: “It’s not all chemistry, there is a varied social programme for the Campers including a Materials lecture, a fun quiz and a Science Trail!”

The Salters’ Chemistry Camp at The University of York is sponsored by The Salters’ Institute, The Armourers and Brasiers’ Company, The Association for the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), The Company of Merchant Adventurers of the City of York, Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), Sigma Aldrich, The Royal Society and The Royal Society of Chemistry.

For more information on the Salters Chemistry Camps, visit: www.chemistrycamps.co.uk

Further information:

  • The Camps are residential events held at six universities throughout the UK.  First held in 1998, the aim of the Camps is to develop an awareness of and a long-term interest in the subject through a programme which includes hands-on practical work in the university labs, together with lectures and a variety of social activities in the evenings.
  • Each Camp hosts 50 or 60 15-year olds from a variety of schools across the country.  State schools can nominate up to four students and independent schools can nominate up to two students per Camp.  The Camps are staffed by a University Host, a Lead Teacher and a team of five teachers. The students and teachers are accommodated in a University Hall of Residence.  During the last seventeen years approximately 9,500 students have experienced life at a Salters’ Chemistry Camp.  Another 520 students will join this total in 2015.
  • Since 1998 sponsorship in support of the Camps has been raised from over forty companies.
  • The Salters’ Company is one of the Great Twelve City of London Livery Companies and was founded in 1394 for the medieval trade in salt.  The Company’s activities today are centred on charitable and educational giving.  The Salters' Institute, established in 1918, and now the Flagship Charity of the Salters' activities, aims to promote the appreciation of chemistry and related sciences amongst the young and to encourage careers in the teaching of chemistry and in the UK chemical and allied industries.
  • For more information on the Salters’ Chemistry Camp, contact: Ms Susan Woodhead, Institute Administrator, Salters' Hall, London. Tel: 020 7628 5962 ext 213 / camps@salters.co.uk
  • For further information about the Department of Chemistry at the University of York, visit: http://www.york.ac.uk/chemistry/

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