A mole is the amount of any substance that contains as many elementary particles - atoms, molecules, electrons, etc - as there are atoms in 12 grams of pure carbon. The number is approximately 6.02 times 10 to the power of 23, or 1 with 23 noughts. As 6.02 corresponds to 6th February, the School has adopted the date as their ‘Mole Day’.
While the aim is to help students understand the importance of the chemical ‘mole’, many other mole-related activities brought the concept to life, from sporting to artistic. During the day, pupils at the Upper School were set a range of experiments and challenges including:
· Mole experiment circus
A lunch-hour session of simple chemistry experiments all related to a mole (a unit)
· Make a mole
Prizes were awarded for the best entries to the ‘make a mole’ competition.
· Guess the number of moles in a balloon
Pupils were challenged to correctly guess the number of moles of gas in a helium balloon carried around the school at break and lunch.
· Moleympics
The sports department ran a MoleBall tournament (a variation of a dodge ball, but with a distance being set at 6.02m)
· Mole hunt
Pupils visited various departments around the School to find answers about moles relevant to the subject, for e.g. in the biology classroom there was a question about the animal species
Even the catering team got in on the action by creating mole-themed dishes such as Chicken Mole Poblano, a Mexican dish with chili and chocolate, and ‘Caramole’ pudding.
Head of Chemistry, Dr Tanya Khimyak, said: “Mole Day has been lots of fun and it’s been great that everyone from the sports department to the catering team got involved, with the new School sport of ‘Mole ball’ proving particularly well-supported. It’s been a really enjoyable way to get an important scientific point across, and I doubt anyone at The School will forget what a chemical ‘mole’ is in a hurry!
“Vitally-important ‘STEM’ subjects – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – are some of our most popular subjects at The Perse. Mole Day extends pupils’ classroom learning, fuelling their interest and helping to inspire and equip them to take on roles in Britain’s research and development industry in the future”.
About Mole Day
Mole Day was created in 1991 as a way to foster interest in chemistry by a chemistry teacher in the United States. Schools throughout the United States and around the world now celebrate Mole Day with various activities related to chemistry and/or moles. Due to the American way of presenting dates, Mole Day is traditionally celebrated on October 23rd from 6.02am to 6.02pm.For more information, see: http://www.moleday.org/
About The Perse
The Perse is the oldest secondary school in Cambridge and has a well-deserved national reputation for high academic standards. Co-educational from the ages of three through to eighteen, The Perse provides an exceptional learning experience supported by excellent facilities in a caring environment.
The qualities of a Perse education were recognised in the 2010 ISI inspection. Inspectors were impressed by the outstanding progress of pupils, the excellent public exam results, the remarkably wide range of high quality extracurricular activities and the outstanding pastoral care.
Regularly featuring in the top 25 schools nationally, The Perse is committed to producing happy and successful students. Children progress through three different schools, the Nursery and Pre-Prep ages 3-7, the Prep ages 7-11, and the Upper ages 11-18 but have all the benefits of being part of one larger institution with an integrated curriculum and pastoral care system.
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For media enquiries, please contact Becky Lamont at The Perse press office on 07920 888544 / 01480 532618 or by email on becky@lamontpr.co.uk
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