Twelve students took their chemistry knowledge to a new level when they participated in the American Chemical Society (ACS) contest held on March 7-8 at UMSL.
“We offer the contest to any student taking chemistry,” science teacher Mrs. Beth Karfs said. “This year, we had a mix of sophomores, juniors and seniors from both honors and A.P. chemistry classes.”
The ACS sponsors local, national, and international contests for high school students. Two divisions are available for contests: regular and advanced. Both tests include multiple-choice tests and a written portion for tie-breakers.
“The layout of each test is similar for the divisions, but the questions are the big difference,” Karfs said. “The advanced division is directed more towards A.P. style questions that require a higher level of detail and more complex styles.”
Because the contest would cover material that has not been covered yet in the chemistry classes, Karfs offered preparatory classes in the mornings for a few weeks before the contest. In addition, junior Ani Gururaj said that his A.P. chemistry class and his own independent studying helped prepare him for the contest.
“The most challenging part was learning all of the unknown material quickly,” Gururaj said. “The contest covered a lot of information that we had not learned yet, and the hardest part was learning it myself quickly and accurately.”
Gururaj and junior Minki Kim received honorable mention in the advanced division which qualified them for the National Chemistry Olympiad that will be held April 26 at April. Sophomores Jinghang Zhang and Gajan Kumar placed within the honors division. In addition, sophomore Sharanya Kumar placed first overall in the St. Louis area.
“I think the fact that these students can bring home these awards shows that they definitely have a good concept of chemistry,” Karfs said. “Participating in the contest is like taking a final before we cover all of the information. By doing well, these students have shown that they are able to apply the concepts they learn in the classroom very well in the real world.”
