For the various cities or districts around Canada, the following Table lists all the best crystals by Districts with Quality Scores and Overall Scores for the past eight contests.
Congratulations to all who participated and especially those whose crystals are represented here.
1995 - We used Alum (aluminum potassium sulfate) that was kindly donated by Anachemia Science. They shipped the material in bulk to the National Coordinator, who sent sub-bulk samples to regional coordinators, who sent 1 kg lots to their local participating schools. This presented problems in getting material into the hands of students right at the beginning of the school year.
1996 - To overcome the rapid distribution problems, we used Rochelle Salt that the contestants prepared from baking soda and cream of tartar (potassium hydrogen tartrate) purchased locally. Unfortunately, there appear to be two formulations of cream of tartar available, and one is not potassium hydtrogen tartrate. Many teachers and students learned the frustrations of "research"
1997 - We repeated with home-made Rochelle Salt except that we were able to find suppliers of true cream of tartar. We also had copper (II) ions added, which changed the morphology (shape) of the crystals. The copper concentration suggested was two high and many schools had further "frustrations." This resulted in there being lower average quality and scores.
1998 - Having learned our lesson, we went back to supplying schools directly with the pure Rochelle Salt, thanks to the generosity of Anachemia Science, who shipped 500 g bottles of material directly to the schools. The resultant scores were higher than in the previous two years.
1999 - We returned to the "old" standby Bluestone (copper(II) sulfate) supplied by Anachemia. The average scores were the highest in the five years.
2000 - For this year's contest we added a new "Outliers" Section to encompass schools that did not fit into an established section; there were two entries. We also had separate crystals being submitted for the Best Quality and Over All score categories. Rochelle Salt was supplied by Anachemia.
2001 -Two additional Sections were added. The first was a "Teachers" Section to recognize the support that they give the students, and to give them an opportunity to strut their stuff. Four teachers' crystals were submitted. The second was a "Homeschoolers" Section for children who are taught in their own home by a parent. Thanks to Gayle REMISCH for promoting this venture. Although over a dozen homeschoolers participated, due to unforseen circumstances (e.g. others knocking over the apparatus) only two homeschoolers submitted crystals. The amazing thing is that the growers of these crystals, were only 6 and 7 years old, respectively!!! Anachemia supplied the Alum.
2002 - This was a record breaking year. We:
CANADIAN CRYSTAL GROWING COMPETITIONS |
District | 1995 Qual |
1995 Score |
1996 Qual |
1996 Score |
1997 Qual |
1997 Score |
1998 Qual |
1998 Score |
1999 Qual |
1999 Score |
2000 Qual |
2000 Score |
2001 Qual |
2001 Score |
2002 Qual |
2002 Score |
| Chicoutimi QC | 8.30 | 69.1 | 4.90 | 42.5 | 4.65 | 45.1 | 8.45 | 50.7 | 8.63 | 72.2 | 8.60 | 62.4 | 8.65 | 66.6 | 9.75 | 71.4 |
| Deep River ON | 8.80 | 54.2 | 7.20 | 57.8 | 4.9 | 35.8 | 4.50 | 43.3 | 7.53 | 54.8 | 6.58 | 41.1 | 9.18 | 40.6 | 9.45 | 68.5 |
| Edmonton AB | - | - | 7.85 | 31.6 | 5.65 | 35.8 | 6.40 | 48.9 | 8.73 | 54.3 | 8.80 | 51.8 | 9.55 | 24.6 | 9.32 | 49.1 |
| Guelph ON | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.65 | 45.0 | 7.18 | 46.0 | 9.08 | 47.9 | 9.73 | 33.6 | 9.96 | 49.9 |
| Hamilton ON | 9.30 | 33.6 | 6.15 | 59.4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.00 | 19.3 | - | - | - | - |
| Keewatin NWT | - | - | 9.30 | 16.3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| New Brunswick | 2.40 | 25.1 | 6.25 | 36.0 | 4.6 | 31.1 | 9.20 | 4.0 | 7.10 | 53.6 | 8.98 | 40.3 | 8.65 | 41.6 | 9.65 | 32.3 |
| Nova Scotia | - | - | 6.50 | 25.7 | - | - | 8.00 | 38.9 | 8.28 | 39.9 | 9.20 | 14.7 | - | - | 3.03 | 25.7 |
| Ottawa ON | 8.80 | 28.9 | 9.62 | 50.8 | 7.62 | 52.7 | 8.35 | 54.8 | 8.60 | 56.5 | 9.70 | 50.5 | 9.30 | 46.2 | 9.70 | 66.3 |
| Quebec City | 8.20 | 39.5 | 7.25 | 54.2 | 8.61 | 63.0 | 6.05 | 54.6 | 8.18 | 68.9 | 9.50 | 51.5 | 9.85 | 47.4 | 9.77 | 80.3 |
| Regina SK | 9.70 | 9.4 | - | - | 7.30 | 0.7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Toronto ON | 6.70 | 58.3 | 5.65 | 48.4 | 7.56 | 54.8 | 9.70 | 33.9 | 8.23 | 66.3 | 8.88 | 42.9 | 9.63 | 49.7 | 9.87 | 59.4 |
| Vancouver BC | 8.40 | 22.0 | - | - | 6.80 | 3.7 | 8.95 | 22.6 | 9.43 | 46.1 | 9.90 | 45.1 | 9.62 | 48.1 | 10.00 | 75.0 |
| Victoria BC | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.40 | 37.0 | 8.53 | 35.2 | - | - | - | - |
| Winnipeg MB | 9.60 | 74.3 | - | - | - | - | 9.80 | 74.7 | - | - | 8.28 | 61.7 | - | - | 5.35 | 44.6 |
| Outliers | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.20 | 49.2 | 7.48 | 38.7 | 9.65 | 56.2 |
| Home Schoolers | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.03 | 16.4 | 9.39 | 37.2 |
| Teachers | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.65 | 40.5 | 9.95 | 74.7 |
| Median | 8.80 | 36.6 | 6.85 | 45.5 | 6.80 | 35.8 | 8.45 | 43.3 | 8.28 | 54.3 | 8.84 | 47.4 | 9.30 | 41.6 | 9.65 | 53.1 |