Gladstone high school students recently competed against schools from around Central Queensland to earn the honour of winning this year’s CQ Regional Titration Competition. Team 1 from Chanel College was announced as the winners of the competition with Toolooa State High School (team 1) and Gladstone State High School (team 1) finishing third and fourth, respectively.

Twelve Central Queensland schools participated with a total of 22 teams. The competition required students to work in teams of three to analyse three pairs of chemical solutions using experimental skills and calculations and knowledge of chemical reactions learnt in school.

Central Queensland University’s School of Chemical & Biomedical Sciences, in cooperation with the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI), has held the competition in the CQ region for the past 15 years.

CQU provides the necessary test solutions and serves as the main competition venue. The members of the winning team from Chanel College will receive individual plaques and their school will keep the perennial competition trophy (donated by Queensland Alumina Ltd) for the year.

The top three (or five) teams of the regional competition are invited to participate in the finals of the RACI Australian Chemical Analysis Competition (to be held in CQ in October). Last year, Toolooa State High School won the 2004 Central Queensland Schools titration competition and placed 15th in the finals, for which 119 Australian schools participated. CQU senior lecturer, Dr Vicky Vicente-Beckett coordinates the CQ regional competition and also serves as the CQ competition’s adjudicator and Official Analyst.

Photo to Left: Chanel students hard at work.

Photo Above: The winning team from Chanel College.