While the end of the third quarter usually means tests and papers are assigned, Chemistry teacher David Bergandine's Chemistry A students have something to look forward to: entering the Illinois High School Radon Video Contest.

Instead of the usual quarterly exam, students have spent two months working on public service announcements that informed the viewers about radon gas exposure, its effects, and prevention methods.

Similar to a test, the project was meant to reinforce ideas learned previously in the unit. However, the process of making a video allowed students to learn other concepts they would not have achieved through a test.

"Projects allow kids to be creative and use talents they wouldn't be able to use in a [regular] classroom setting," said Bergandine.

The video was required to be less than one minute long and had to fit into one of the three categories of drama, musical, or comedy to be considered eligible in the contest.

This project was done in place of the Google Science Fair, which last year's Chemistry A students participated in. Bergandine said that the reasons for this change were that the Google Science fair took too much time and students never received feedback from the overseers of the contest.

In contrast, "the people from the Illinois Radon Contest seem very excited to see the submissions," said Bergandine.

All submissions can be viewed at the contest's YouTube page.