Our Most Unusual Activity: Want To Go on a Mole Hunt?

Abstract

The Student Affiliate chapter of the American Chemical Society at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin has undergone a two-year revitalization from a chapter with low activity to one that has won several awards in the past two years. Although many of our activities are the same as those of other student affiliate chapters, our most unusual activity was a one-of-a-kind Mole Hunt held during a Mole Day celebration. After lunch and a guacamole contest, students paired up for a scavenger hunt that dealt with moles. The student pairs were given a check-off sheet (32jr1897,pdf) with a list of tasks to be completed at the six ‘stations.’ The Mole Hunt included such items as measuring moles of a gas, liquid, solute in a solution, and a powdered solid. Definitions were included of words containing either mol or mole; these involved biology, geography, history, and literary terms. At one station, the students identified a molecular model, used calculators or computers to solve some mole-related problems, and used computers or reference books to find information about molybdenum. Some proper names containing mol were given, and the students had to match them to the proper description. The Mole Hunt was a great success, and even somewhat educational!