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By VIK KIRSCH
It's crystal clear who the winners are in a national competition overseen by local research scientist Chris Young: students exploring science.
Each year, several. hundred high school students from across Canada compete for top spots in a national crystal-growing competition. They're in two categories: best overall and best quality.
While Guelph students didn't walk away with top honours, two teams from Centennial Collegiate and Vocational Institute, under the direction of science teacher David Sutherland, made a good showing.
Andrew Clarke, Robin Furmah, Geordie Glumac and Yao Yu produced a crystal that placed fifth for best quality, while a team comprised of Megan Mitchell, Veronica Carter, Jason Saunders and Chris Parsons earned seventh place in the best overall category.
"It's amazing. I'm just so thrilled," Sutherland said Thursday. "I'm bouncing off the wall. It's the best we've ever done." Teams from his school have competed for the last three years.
Young, a scientist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's regional centre on Stone Road, said the winner in the best overall category was a team from Ecole Monsignor Labrie in Quebec's Saguenay region. It was comprised of Olivia Jomphe, Marc Boudreau and Maryline Jomphe.
In the best quality category, the winner was Wendy Cheung of Stevenson Secondary School in Richmond, British Columbia.
The judges were Young and University of Guelph chemistry professor George Ferguson, who scored entries by a formula based on weight and crystal quality.
Young said growing crystals for the competition, sponsored by the Chemical Institute of Canada of which be's a member, is intended to be an enjoyable, hands-on learning experience for students. "They're relatively easy to grow. Students can have the satisfaction of building something."
Crystals are common in nature. At this time of year, think of snow and ice. Other examples include sugar, salt and diamonds.
The Anachemia chemical supply company provides students with the substances from which crystals are grown.
Young's overseen the competition for the past six years. "I used to be a high school teacher. I see this as a teaching tool," said Young.
For Young, the project is valuable for helping teach students scientific discipline. "They also learn the frustration of science, when things go wrong," he quipped. "That is a part of science."
For example, the competition typically begins just after Thanksgiving, a time when people begin heating homes and schools. Fluctuations in interior temperatures can make growing difficult, since crystals require even temperature to form well.
What's happened in some instances is students returning to school after a weekend have discovered their crystals dissolved because of heating fluctuations, said Young.
Challenges, he suggested philosophically, are a part of learning.
He's made that crystal clear.
Crystal Clear - Federal research scientist Chris Young holds two crystals. On the left is a blue crystal from last year and on the right is this year's winner, a white crystal. |