The Incredi-moles

AP Chemistry Students Celebrate Mole Day

First Place Winners: The Marshmol-lows

Taylor Harmon, Staff Writer

On Monday, October 26, AP chemistry students celebrated Mole Day by creating their own plush moles out of fabric. Similar to Pi Day, Mole Day celebrates the mole, a large number often used in chemistry. Mole Day takes place on October 23 every year between 6:02 AM and 6:02 PM.

“A mole is simply a big number: 6.02 x 10^23. It is the number of atoms that make up the atomic mass in grams,” said chemistry teacher Mr. William Patrizio. “There are about one mole of water molecules in 2/3 of an ounce of water. In perspective, there are estimated to be about 1/2 mole of stars in the Universe.”

Mole Day originated in a 1980s article in The Science Teacher. Inspired by this article, now-retired chemistry teacher Maurice Oehler created the National Mole Day Foundation.

To create their moles, AP chemistry students receive a paper with an outline of the side and the bottom of the mole. They will cut out this pattern with brown or grey fabric. Once they have two sides and one bottom, they will sew and stuff the mole. Once their mole is created, they come up with a theme centering around the word “mole”.

Advanced chemistry students had the opportunity to vote for three of their favorite moles.

“I voted for the Marshmol-lows and the Moleskin Rug,” said sophomore Lauren Kelsey.

While some moles were simply a play on words, others hinted towards well-known celebrities.

“I voted for the moliticians and Molhammad Ali,” said sophomore Kyle Davis.

The votes were counted and the winners were posted on Patrizio’s Google classroom on October 29.

First place: Mini Marshmol-lows

Second place: Moliticians

Third place: Teenage Mutant Ninja Moles and Molhammad Ali

While every student that participated received extra credit, those that placed received additional points. Third place moles receive one additional point of extra credit, second place moles receive two points, and first place moles receive three points.