By: Samanyu Bhupalam…

Ask any university student and they’ll tell you Organic Chemistry has a nightmarish reputation. But for IA students, Ochem is a different story. Last block day, students were given the opportunity to do a lab that is usually reserved for college students: a steam distillation.

While students learned about different important concepts in applications of chemistry such as vapor pressure, they constructed and used a large glass apparatus to extract eugenol oil from cloves. Rather than just sitting and watching the process, students were given a hands-on process, displaying IA’s commitment to authentic learning.