A day in the chemistry lab.

What does Ainan do at Singapore Polytechnic? Well, today he prepared tris(2, 4 pentanedionato)chromium (III).

The details of what he did to make it are not the subject of this post, what is, is a glimpse at the skills he is developing in working at SP. Firstly, before the laboratory session, he has a series of questions to answer in preparation. These are written down and handed in to be marked. There are matters to be explained, problems to be solved, situations to be examined, in these questions. There are also structures to be drawn. The skills acquired in doing them, are basically those of the theoretical side of chemistry. Then, there is the lab class, in which Ainan performs the experimental manipulations needed to synthesize the target material. This allows him to learn classical chemical techniques - the how of making chemicals in a lab. The results are recorded and handed in to be marked. Then, there is the lecture component of the class in which the lecturer delves into the deeper chemical issues in and around the substance of the day.

In all, I would say that the work at Singapore Polytechnic offers a good grounding in Chemistry, particularly in how to actually do it, rather than just sit around and talk about it.

Ainan is enjoying his time at Singapore Polytechnic - and is looking forward to expanding his studies into other areas in the coming semester.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and five months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and ten months, and Tiarnan, twenty-seven months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind, niño, gênio criança, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)