Week 7 -Placement 2

This week were taking care of all of the waste chemicals in the store room. First of all I had to type a list of chemicals and there quantifier into an excel document. There were some issues in sending the documents to Ken's laptop so they could be printed out, therefore I had to find a USB key off some one to transfer the document to the other computer. Once I got it sorted I had to compile all of the document into one new excel document and print it off to keep a record of all of the chemicals used this month. 

Afterwards I went back down to the store room with the list of chemicals that needed to be moved to a waste disposal unit at the back of the collage. Once all of the chemicals were taken out and disposed of properly we had our small break at 11:00.

After our small break we went back down to the store room to put new orders that came in, away into the chemical store room. We had to count the different numbers of bottles of each chemical and keep a record of them. We also had to be very careful to close all of the storage cabinates properly to prevent any fumes from the chemicals getting out into the air. 

Just before lunch we had to go to different store rooms in the building and check the different locks and keys and see which keys matched which with the locks.

when we came back after lunch at 2:00 Ken had organised for us to go to a lecture on first year chemistry. I didn't really understand the whole lecture as it was quite a complex topic that we have not covered in school yet. However, I found it very useful o see what it is like to sit through an entire collage lecture. It was interesting to see how the students behaved and how the lecture Declan spoke to them and what questions they came up with. 

When we got back Ken had just some small filling jobs for us to do before we went home. We organised more invoices and made another order over the phone. I finished up at around 4:00 for the day.

Week 6 - Placement 2

This week we were with Ria for the majority of the day. Ria had moved office earlier in the week and she still ad some books and boxes to transfer over to her new office. Ruth and I, along with two girls also on work experience moved all of her manuals over to her new office. We also sorted them out in numeric order. 

Just before we had our morning break Ria brought us down to the lab where Walter works. He demonstrated two of he experiments he would be working on with the first years later on in the day. We also set up the apparatus need for the experiment which we would be preforming after small break. 

At around 11:30 we returned to the lab with another post grad student on work experience. She had already carried out this experiment before so she was able to help us with anything we got stuck on. We all worked away on our own and followed the method in the first year manual. The test ad to carried out three times and the amount of liquid used to neutralize the acid had to be recorded and then averaged.

Once we ad finished with the first experiment we moved onto the second which was basically the same just slightly easier and simpler to carry out. When we had found the average result of both experiment we worked out the maths behind i and tired to calculate the amount of moles used. We were finished and cleaned up just in time for lunch at 1:00.

After lunch we went to a small board room up stairs for a talk on the future of pharmacutical science and chemistry at third level. I found the talk from Declan really interesting and really gave me a clearer idea of what coarses were like at third level. Declan was excellent at explaining the process and was really helpful in answering our questions. 

For the last hour of the day we went down to the chemical store room to put away a new order of chemicals and through out any rubbish in the store room. When we were finished we were able to go home at 4:00. 

Week 5 - Placement 2

The first task of the day was to go down the town and collect iron tablets from the local pharmacy for a first year experiment. We had to wait a while for them to get the order ready as there was such a large amount.

Once we got back we went down to the labs downstairs with Walter and two other work experience students. We had to clean all of the electronic balances as they can get rusty if them are not cleaned properly as the chemicals can choroid the steel. At 11:00 we all went for a small coffee break. 

After our break we returned to the labs and cleaned all of the work benches with bleach. Afterwards, Walter brought us into the prep room of the lab and showed us all of the sop watches used for the different experiments. It was our job to change all of the batteries in the stopwatches and made sure that them were all working well. 

Just before lunch we set up the entire lab for a first year practical. we had to make sure that each desk had it's own sufficient glass ware need for the experiment. We went for lunch at 1:00.

When we came back from lunch we went to a small board room with Dona and carol, the two sectaries of the chemistry department. They explained that we had to put a sticker with an ID number on each sheet of graph paper, which would be used for the end of term exams. Once we were finished with all that Ken allowed us to go home early as we had completed all of the jobs he had lined up for us today.

Week 4 - Placement 2

This week we were working with Ria in a lab upstairs for a third year practical. For the first hour we had to set up all of hot plates at all 1 stands and begin measuring out the chemicals for the experiment. All of the measuring out was done underneath a hood to prevent any fumes for the chemicals getting into the room.

At around 10:00 am the third years came into the lab to start their practical. While Ria worked with them, Ruth and I unloaded all of the dishwashers full of conical flasks etc. We then had to wash out all of the used test tubes and pt them into the small ovens to dry them off. Next we unpacked some new glass wear and stacked them at the back of the lab. Once we were finished with this we filled up all of the flasks with de-ionised water, and at 1:30 we went for a coffee break.

After break we went to work with ken in his office on paperwork. We had to put all of the invoices from the last month in alphabetical order. Ken explained to us the what he has to do as head of the department each month. This includes ordering chemicals, organizing order forms, invoices, etc. ken showed us how to make an order and what they ask you for when ordering a chemical. 

After lunch, at around 2:00, Ken allowed Ruth and I to place an order over the phone. IT was actually surprisingly easy enough to do even thought I was a bit nervous doing it at first. Afterwards, we measured out the small lego like partials for making up an atom. These will even out to the first years to held them visualize what a certain atom looks like by building it themselves. 

Week 3 - Placement 2

We worked with Ria again this week. This week some of the students were back in the labs doing experiments. We prepared the lab with all the necessary equipment. We cleaned an collected test tubes. We also worked with Ria to prepaid some of the chemicals needed for their experiment.

After break we went to another lab downstairs where they were holding another leaving Cert. revision coarse. We were going to work on a different experiment however there were already 2 other TYs working on it so we went over to the soap experiment. We got to do the experiment again, therefore we will know it off-by-heart for our leaving Cert.  

When we went back up to Ria they were almost finished their experiment so Ria said it was ok for us to go home. 

Week 2 - Placement 2

Today there were a lot of schools in doing the Leaving Cert revision coarse. Therefore  Ken was tied up for the whole day with students, so we were with Ria again for the day. For the first part of the morning we worked in the Lab upstairs setting up the desks for an experiment tomorrow. we had to make up the master mix of chemicals which would be used as one of the main chemicals. 

After morning break Ruth and I began to set up another experiment called TLC. The experiment is kind of like our junior cert chromatography. We then got to us the UV light to see the spots of chemicals on the paper. 

After lunch, Ria introduced us to Dave and Orla, who would be doing the Soap experiment with us again and with a group of students sitting their leaving cert. This time round he experiment made much more sense and I felt I knew exactly what I was doing and why I was doing it. Once our experiment were at the refux stage, Dave showed the test to see it ethanol is produced. Some of the tests were really cool. one test caused the ethanol to form a silver coating on the inside of the test tube. 

I felt that I improved my skills today and that I am beginning to learn a great deal about some of the main leaving cert experiments  The fact that the collage were running these leaving cert coarse was very beneficial. It gave me an insight into the type of work involved in Chemistry. 

Week 1 - Placement 2

This week I met my new Work Experience employer, Ken. Firstly I had to fill out a health and safety form. This there are ongoing collage exams therefore, there went many labs to set up or experiments to do. So for the first part of the morning myself and Ruth organised all of the absent notes for the first years in the chemistry department. 

We had a coffee break at 11:00 and afterwards we met with Ria who brought us over to one of the labs. We had to 2.5g of KOH into small containers. After, we set up the rest of the lab for a leaving cert revision coarse. 

When we finished, Ria demonstrated a how to make soap. Once she had finished Ruth and I got to do the experiment ourselves. The experiment was a success! Although the theory behind it was quite advanced, it eventually made sense when Ria explained it to us in detail. It was just a more advanced version of our junior cert distillation experiment. WE learned how the reflex is formed and what the purpose of each chemical was. 

Overall I really enjoyed my first day of work experience and I felt that I learned a great deal. I found it very interesting. I also discovered that chemistry isn't the easiest subject in the world, that it involves quite a lot of understanding. However, I am already sure that I want to study the subject for my Leaving Cert.