W-E Schools District Focus November, 2013 | Page 6

What is Mole Day?
-South High Science Educator, Erin Ertter

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elebrated annually on October 23, from
6:02 a.m. to 6:02 p.m., Mole Day commemorates Avogadro's Number (6.02 x 10^23),
which is a basic measuring unit in chemistry. Mole
Day was created as a way to foster interest in
chemistry. Schools throughout the United States
and around the world celebrate Mole Day with various activities related to chemistry and/or moles.
For a given molecule, one mole is a mass (in
grams) whose number is equal to the atomic mass
of the molecule. For example, the water molecule
has an atomic mass of 18, therefore one mole of
water weighs 18 grams. An atom of neon has an
atomic mass of 20, therefore one mole of neon

Superhero/Imaginary Character Mole

Kaitlin Berigan
Jennifer Chauby
of North High
School,
a nnounced
that
Kaitlin
Berigan
has been named
a
Commended
Student in the
2014 National
Merit Scholarship Program.
A
Letter
of
Commendation

weighs 20 grams. In general, one mole of any
substance contains Avogadro's Number of
molecules or atoms of that substance. This relationship was first discovered by Amadeo
Avogadro (1776-1858) and he received credit
for this after his death.
Mrs. Ertter’s students, along with all Chemistry
students at South, were challenged to compete
in a “Sew-A-Mole Project”. General Chem students were presented with the opportunity to
use a given pattern to sew a mole with a theme
of their choice of the following categories:
Sports, Occupations, Animals, Superheroes and
Other Imaginary Characters (picture included), Celebrities Past and Present, Literature
(picture included), Television and the Movies.

from the school and National Merit Scholarship
Corporation (NMSC), which conducts the program, will be presented by the principal to this
scholastically talented senior. Roughly 34,000
Commended Students throughout the nation
are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the 2014 competition for National Merit
Scholarship awards, Commended Students
placed among the top five percent of more
than 1.5 million students who entered the
2014 competition by taking the 2012 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®).