Despite the continuing challenges and restrictions due to COVID, RSC Belgium successfully organised and ran its annual 'international eliminator' for the Royal Society of Chemistry's Top of the Bench (TOTB) competition in late 2021. And this year more teams than ever were involved with 13 teams from seven international and European schools taking part. The results are now in and the winning team, who will now represent Belgium in the TOTB grand final in Spring 2022, is Team Titanium (pictured below) from St. Georges International School in Luxembourg. The school therefore retains the Keith Price Cup and makes it three years in a row as RSC Belgium TOTB champs!
Once again, the competition had to be run remotely during late November and early December with the results evaluated over the Christmas holiday period by our TOTB team: Rita Woodward and Susan Schamp.
Our 2021 TOTB eliminator again retained the usual elements of the competition: a written test component for individual team members and a practical group exercise.
This year the written element was a 30-minute online Chemistry Quiz with questions tailored to the three age groups in each team and the practical element requiring input from all four team members based around a simple 'Everyday Chemistry Around You' scenario that could be carried out at school or at home depending on COVID restrictions in place at the time.
TOTB teams are composed of four students with two students from Year 9 (UK equivalent to 3rd year or Grade 8), one student from Year 10 UK (4th year or Grade 9) and one student from Year 11 (5th year or Grade 10).
Online quiz
The online quiz was worked up by Susan. “The quiz worked very well considering it was our first try with this format allowing us to set a wider range of questions than would have been possible with just a pen and paper,” says Susan. “For example, there was a video round where students watched a short video clip showing a chemical transformation or technique, which they then answered questions on.”
The quizzes consisted of 40 questions and students had 30 minutes to complete as many questions as they could before the quiz automatically submitted. “One school did have some technical problems which we will need to solve before running our next TOTB event,” notes Susan.
Practical element
Rita oversaw the practical element that also included a taster video introduction to get the teams thinking about de-gassing fizzy drinks – the subject of the experiment. “The practical task looked to be simple but deceptively proved to be more challenging than for previous years,” says Rita. “Excellent time management, organisation and thinking outside the box were required. This year’s practical was certainly tricky, but many students thoroughly enjoyed the task!”
Alejandro Perez, the coordinating chemistry teacher at St. Georges International School for their teams commented: “We do not appreciate how much more challenging it is to plan a full investigation than to follow instructions in a practical activity, and the event has given our students the opportunity experience the scientific method put into practice.”
Challenging event
In 2021 only four teams from two schools were able to complete and return results in our first attempt at a COVID-proof event, but this year 13 teams from seven schools were involved – returning participation to pre-COVID levels. Teams were entered by Antwerp International School (AIS), the British School of Brussels (BSB), European Schools I and II in Luxembourg, the International School of Flanders (ISF) in Waterloo, St. John’s International School in Waterloo and St. George's International School in Luxembourg.
As ever the competition was very close with some notable individual performances and excellent teamwork, but the overall winner was the Titanium team from St Georges thanks to ranking first in the written part and a top three placement in the practical. Runners up were Team Chromium from BSB with top marks in the practical test and a top three placement in the written section.
Our congratulations to Team Titanium who will go forward to represent RSC Belgium at the RSC’s TOTB final in 2022. And our thanks to everyone who took part in the TOTB eliminator this year. RSC Belgium goodies are on the way to the winning team and all participating team members will receive certificates.
Many thanks to St. George's for providing photos of the winning Titanium team.
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