The national Crystal Growing Competition is a fun hands-on activity for individuals or teams of high school students to compete in (teachers/technicians can also enter a separate competition). Participants will learn about the growth of single crystals, with the opportunity for winning prizes for submitting the best specimens.
Details of the contest are found on this website:
https://www.cheminst.ca/national-crystal-growing-competition/
The full rules, as well as a crystal growing guide, are found in the “Handbook” link found on that page.
As the regional coordinator for Manitoba, I invite you and your students to participate in this exciting competition. To register, simply contact me with a list of participants from your class/school. Each school must also order the chemical to be used (this year it is potassium aluminium sulfate).Boreal Science (part of VWR) will take orders up to October 4. Charges will be $10.46 plus shipping charges for each 500 g bottle (item number 470300‐154, use quote number 8602639991), and must be paid for by credit card. Taxes and transportation fee (ground delivery) will be added according to the destination, which must be a school.
The crystal growth period is limited to 5 weeks, from October 8 to November 15; after that point, the two best crystals from each school are submitted to me by Nov 19, and regional evaluation will be completed by end of November. The top regional crystals will be sent on to the national level competition for final judging.
If you have any questions about this competition, please don’t hesitate to contact me by phone or email.
Best regards,
Dr. Jamie Ritch
Associate Professor
Department of Chemistry
The University of Winnipeg
ph: 204-786-9730