Students competed in the annual chemistry Molympics event with high schools across the country on Oct. 23, 2019. 

Molympics honors the term “mole” or Avogadro’s number, which is the “amount of a substance that contains as many particles as there are atoms in 12 grams of pure carbon-12” (1 mol= 6.022 x 10²³ molecules of elementary entities of a substance), according to Biology LibreTexts. 

Molympics consists of five labs and events that students all around the world can participate in.

There are over 100 schools in the United States competing, and there are 10 others around the globe, according to chemistry teacher Jennie Bonitz.

“I think that it gives them more of a reason to learn the material in depth,” said Bonitz.

 The labs use material that the students have already learned to help them review and learn.

Junior Embla Due was happy to be a part of the activities.

“I just liked that it was something different and fun, and I would say that it was more engaging than a normal class,” said Due.

The labs were made to help the students learn, but to also be fun and entertaining.

The 18 students in Bonitz’s ninth period class participated in the Molympics and took part in activities like water bottle flipping, a tally mark competition, a fitness challenge, building towers and more.

Similarly, junior Amelia Nadobny enjoyed participating in the labs.

“It was cool to be able to apply the things we are learning into something that students across the world are also learning and be able to compete,” said Nadobny.

Each of these activities has a winning team in the classroom, and the best group’s score is submitted to the final competition.