The final selection of the "High School Chemistry Grand Contest" was held at the Shibaura Institute of Technology Toyosu Campus on October 2023th and 10th, 28, and the first place winner, the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award, was awarded to Ikeda Gakuen Ikeda High School SS Club ( ``Volcanic gas measurement in the Sakurajima volcanic area using a simple alkaline filter method'' by the SSH Geography and Meteorology Group was selected.
The "High School Chemistry Grand Contest" supports the "learning and research activities" carried out by high school students and technical college students (3rd year and under) nationwide, and allows high school students to develop their scientific creativity while enjoying independent inquiry activities. This is an educational support program that aims to cultivate human resources who can play an active role in the scientific field in the future. It has been held mainly at Osaka City University since 2004, but after the coronavirus pandemic, Shibaura Institute of Technology has been hosting it since 2023.
The final selection of the High School Chemistry Grand Contest was held on October 10th and 28th at the Shibaura Institute of Technology Toyosu Campus, with 29 students from 1 high school teams from all over the country who passed the first screening, and 80 students from 304 teams invited from overseas competing on a daily basis. Announcing the results. A total of about 3 people visited over the two days.Of the 13 teams that were judged, 2 teams gave oral presentations and 800 teams gave poster presentations.
Ikeda High School's research, which won the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award in first place, ``Measurement of volcanic gas in the Sakurajima volcanic area using a simple alkaline filter paper method,'' is an important contribution to the measurement of sulfur dioxide currently being carried out in Kagoshima Prefecture and Kagoshima City. In addition, hydrogen chloride and hydrogen fluoride will also be observed, and the concentration and composition ratio changes of each component will be investigated with the aim of elucidating phenomena that may serve as indicators of volcanic activity in the future.To this end, we conducted experiments using a volcanic gas collection device using alkaline filter paper and a self-made spectrophotometer, and proposed a new measurement method that can be easily measured at many locations.
Yu Yoshii, head of the 2nd year SS club at Ikeda High School, said, ``At the final selection meeting, which I participated in for the first time, I was overwhelmed by the high level of English presentations. I was able to confidently present my presentation in Japanese, but I couldn't believe it when I heard that Ikeda High School won the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award.In the future, I would like to continue my research, further improve the content of my research in preparation for the international competition, and give back to everyone who has supported our research."
