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Rings of Glory: Olympicene and the 2012 Global Experiment
With the recent synthesis of Olympicene – the molecule with a very familiar structure – we have been promoting the links between chemistry and sport through our Chemistry in the Olympics site, featuring our 2012 Global Experiment and some speedy Year 5 students.
The Global Experiment provides the opportunity for students to learn about the chemistry behind sports drinks, and explore the central role that chemistry plays in our everyday lives, including in sports and our health.
We have just launched a new video introducing the global experiment with the help of Year 5 students from Dunmow St Mary’s Primary School.
We filmed the Global Experiment with help from Chris, from Knuckle TV, and it was great to work with the Dunmow St Mary’s students as they investigated the effects of sports drinks on physical performance. The afternoon started with making a sports drink from water, squash, sugar and salt. The class was then asked which group (sports drink or control) would run the 100 metres faster. The vast majority thought the sports drink would give them an extra boost!
They then went to find out. All of them ran 100 metres after consuming the drinks and recorded the results. Back in the classroom they calculated the average time for each group, upload their results onto our website, and pinned their location onto the interactive Global Experiment map. After uploading the results, the teacher started a discussion around why one group was faster than the other by asking the following questions:
What happens when you exercise?
What is in a sports drink, and When do athletes actually drink them?
It was great to see such enthusiasm from the students, they were really keen to get mixing the sports drink and running the 100 metres. This approach to learning by application meant that the kids were understanding in a very short space of time and you could genuinely see their levels of excitement!
The Students from Dunmow are very much looking forward to going back to the website in the run up to London 2012 to compare their results with others across the world, and to see if they came to the same conclusion about the effects of sports drinks on running 100 metres.
