Midwood Science : The Home of Midwood Science Research

Check the Calendar

Posted on Wednesday, September 27, 2017 by Elert for Juniors, Seniors.

Resumania 2017

Posted on Sunday, September 24, 2017 by Elert for Extra Credit, Juniors, Seniors.

Monday, September 25 and Tuesday, September 26, 2017 are resume review days (a.k.a. Resumania). Juniors registered to Ms. Katzoff’s section of the class show up on Monday. Juniors in Mr. Elert’s section show up on Tuesday. We will meet in room A220 during period 9 on both days.

Seniors show up on both days for full extra credit or one out of two days for half extra credit. It is entirely possible that the meeting will run into period 10. If you have some need to leave quickly during this event, you should not volunteer to participate. Resumes will be divided as evenly as possible between the seniors that arrive on either day. More seniors means less work and a quicker departure.

Juniors will revise their resumes and then resubmit them. Place the second draft of your resume in your supervising teacher’s mailbox in the Research Room (A214) one business day before your next scheduled small group meeting. Groups assignments and meeting dates will be announced soon.

About the Siemens Competition

Posted on Sunday, September 10, 2017 by Elert for Extra Credit, Seniors, Siemens.

Eligible students are encouraged to enter this competition for extra credit. Research Reports may be submitted on projects in the fields of mathematics, engineering, biological, and physical sciences. Social and behavioral science research projects are not eligible.
Register using the Discovery Education website as soon as possible. The competition application is done entirely online. None of the “paperwork” uses actual paper.
Read and follow the guidelines set by the Siemens Foundation.
Paperwork is required of all students participating as well as the students’ parents, the principal, and a qualified scientist or other mentor. Thankfully, these requirements are easy to complete. Projects involving vertebrate animals require additional paperwork from the student and mentor.
This competition is centered around a research paper of 18 pages or fewer (not including abstract and references) and an executive summary (a.k.a. layperson’s summary). Absolutely no student names or references to gender (“he” or “she”), high schools, school officials, advisors, mentors, affiliated research organizations, acknowledgments, or any other identifying information of the entrants are to appear anywhere in the research paper.
Have your final application submission witnessed by your supervising teacher on or before Monday, September 18, 2017. Tuesday, September 19, 2017 is also allowed, but not preferred.
Up to 300 projects are selected as semifinalists. Up to 30 individual students and 30 teams (of 2 or 3 students) are chosen to compete at one of 6 regional competitions in November (MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, UT Austin, Cal Tech). Students’ names will be posted on the Siemens Foundation website Tuesday, October 17, 2017 for semifinalists and Wednesday, October 18, 2017 for regional finalists.
Winners of the regional competitions go on to the national competition in December at George Washington University.

Regeneron STS application now open

Posted on Wednesday, August 2, 2017 by Elert for Extra Credit, Seniors, STS.

Seniors, the application for the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS) is now open. In order to apply, you'll need to submit a research report, request recommendations from a mentor and an educator, request a high school report from a counselor, complete a series of essays about your research, and answer several questions about yourself. Instructions are available for review on multiple PDFs, but the entire application is electronic — no paper documents are needed. The application website closes on Wednesday, November 15 at 8:00 PM EST. Team projects are not allowed.

All eligible seniors should give serious consideration to this competition. Start the process as soon as possible. Summer is a good time to deal with things like this. Review the FAQs, the rules, and the application questions. Work on the research report that you will be using throughout the year. Write a first draft of the essays. Contact a person in your lab who knows you and your project and would be willing to recommend you. (This is not necessarily the head of the lab.) Let your supervising teacher at Midwood know that you are applying so they can give you advice on the application process and begin working on their educator recommendation. Wait until October to deal with the high school report.

Society for Science and the Public, the organization that runs the competition
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, the corporation that sponsors the competition
FluidReview, the corporation that manages the application website
- Application
- FAQs
- Rules and eligibility [pdf]
- Application questions [pdf]
- Educator recommendation [pdf]
- Project recommendation [pdf]
- High school report [pdf]

Three more things

Posted on Tuesday, June 27, 2017 by Elert for ACT-SO, Awards, Brooklyn College, Miscellaneous.

Steve Jobs of Apple used to end his keynote speeches with the phrase "One more thing". Well I can do better than Steve Jobs. I have three more things I want to tell you. Steve Jobs pretended like he almost forgot to tell you Apple's one impressive thing, but I actually forgot to tell you about Midwood Science's three impressive things. (And probably another three, but we'll save them for another day.)

Amna Aslam wins Gold, Jasleen Kaur wins Bronze at NYC ACT-SO

Posted on Wednesday, May 3, 2017 by Elert for ACT-SO, Awards.

midwoodscience.org/?p=4982

Midwood Science students sweep again at Brooklyn College Science Research Day

Posted on Friday, May 5, 2017 by Elert for Awards, Brooklyn College.

midwoodscience.org/?p=4984

Midwood Science projects strength again at the 2nd Teptu STEM and Entrepreneurship Conference

Posted on Friday, April 21, 2017 by Elert for Awards, Miscellaneous.

midwoodscience.org/?p=4792

2017 Midwood Science Fair Results

Posted on Friday, June 2, 2017 by Elert for Awards, Science Fair.

And the winners are…

1st Place
Zoe Robertson Buffers for Acid Rain	Ahmad Choudhry & Daniel Gaft Squirm of the Worm

2nd Place
Ifra Khan Birth Order and Personality	Humayara Karim & Zuha Ahmed The Search for Bacteria	Zara Nadeem The Vitamin C Concentration In Homemade Orange Juice vs. Brand Name
3rd Place
Maqadus Sakhi & Fizza Nayab What the fizz	Emily Movsumova Testing the Efficiency of Acids on the Rate of Milk Curdling by Using Spectrophotometry Analysis
Honorable Mention
Tiffany Huynh & Fiona Lin Do Seeds Need H2O2?	Sonel Rubinstein A Taste of Bacteria
Allen Borshch & Andrew Kobrin Electrolyte Concentration of Liquids	Nimrah Naseer Rust Busters	Ashley Chen & Amy Chen The effect of different colored solutions on the absorption of light
Jie Tang Kill the Plastic Bottles!	Yvette Somersel & Michelle Koshelyuk Calculating Vitamin C Using Titration

Junior Exit Meetings and Summer School MetroCards

Posted on Friday, June 2, 2017 by Elert for Juniors.

		☜ All of my juniors should meet with me period 3, 5, 7, 8, or 9 on Monday, June 5 for an exit meeting. Bring your lab log. Topics for discussion include spring semester grades and summer research plans.

		☞ Summer school MetroCards will be arranged for students that need them. Have your mentor contact me stating that you will be working in their lab over the summer. MetroCards will be available in the first or second week of July and will expire in the middle of August.

Senior Exit Meetings

Posted on Friday, June 2, 2017 by Elert for Seniors.


		Email proof of service at the World Science Festival by Midnight Sunday, June 4. Email photos of yourself working each day and your volunteer itinerary.

		Return your drawer key on Tuesday, June 6 or Wednesday, June 7.

		Bring your 3rd marking period service log. Bring it even if it is blank.

Midwood alumna’s article on 2017 Science Fair featured on BKLYNER website

Posted on Thursday, June 1, 2017 by Elert for Media, Science Fair.

Midwood Science alumna Zainab Iqbal (class of 2015) reported on this year’s science fair for the local news website BKLYNER. Her article, 10th Annual Midwood HS Science Fair – A Glimpse, offered slice-of-life descriptions of the fair, facts about the science research program at Midwood, and a quick spotlight on senior Mahmoud Abouelkheir and his recent trip to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Los Angeles. Follow these links to read more of Zainab’s contributions to BKLYNER and Excelsior (Brooklyn College’s student run news publication).

Winners of the 2017 Midwood Science Fair will be announced sometime after 3:30 PM on Friday, June 2, 2017.

Science fair competitor standing in front of her posterboard

Posterboard entitled 'Where do lizards go to lunch?'

Judges and contestants in one of the judging rooms

2017 Science Fair Abstract Book

Posted on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 by Elert for Science Fair.

Team NYC at 2017 Intel ISEF Public Viewing

Posted on Friday, May 19, 2017 by Elert for ISEF.

Team NYC relaxes at Universal Studios Hollywood, Intel pays the bill

Posted on Thursday, May 18, 2017 by Elert for ISEF.

Students and teachers attending the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) were granted free access to the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park after the main part of the competition. Rides and restaurants were made available free of charge from 7 PM until midnight. This included The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, The Simpsons Ride, Revenge of the Mummy, and Jurassic Park — The Ride. Unlimited Butter Beer was enjoyed by all.

Team NYC on its way to the 2017 Intel ISEF

Posted on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 by Elert for ISEF.

Judging is now underway at the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Team NYC's 14 students are competing against nearly 1,800 students from over 70 countries. This is the biggest science event for high school students on the planet. Our man from Midwood Science is Mahmoud Abouelkheir (2nd from left in the back row). Public viewing is tomorrow, Thursday, May 18 from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Come visit us if you're in the downtown LA area.

Back row: Benjamin Firester, Mahmoud Abouelkheir, Gregory Gueorguiev,
Neeraj Sakhrani, Ajmain Yamin, Thomas Lee, Stephanie Li, Vera Zarubin
Front row: Dylan Li, Ryan Foo, Karen Jiang, Jessica Frank, Sharon Lin, Georja Fotiou

One week to the Midwood Science Fair

Posted on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 by Elert for Science Fair.

Add to calendar
Wednesday
24

The Midwood Science Fair is almost upon us. Wednesday, May 24, 2017 will be here before you know it. Juniors and seniors meet in the Library period 9. Alumni and other registered celebrity judges show up around 2:45–3:30 (a little early is better than a little late). Sophomores be in your assigned spot by the start of period 11 (your board will be waiting for you). Everyone be prepared for an afternoon of science and celebration.

Midwood Science students sweep again at Brooklyn College Science Research Day

Posted on Friday, May 5, 2017 by Elert for Awards, Brooklyn College.

Every spring, the Brooklyn College community gathers for the annual Science Research Day. This event showcases the research of high school, undergraduate, and graduate students at Brooklyn College and other CUNY schools. On Friday, May 5, 2017 around 150 students presented their research across 14 categories in STEM, with over 50 faculty members and students from the college serving as judges. Midwood won all three awards in the high school division. For the second year in a row, a junior from Dr. Frank Grasso's Biomimetic and Cognitive Robotics lab won the top prize. Congratulations to Aushna Saleem, Nomon Mohammad, and Jasleen Kaur.

Aushna Saleem
"Listen to me! Older monk parakeets vocalize significantly more than young in social stiuations." Aushna worked under the supervision of Dr. Frank Grasso and Dr. Andrew Fulmer in the Department of Psychology at Brooklyn College.
Nomon Mohammad
"Anthraquinone as an effective electrolyte for redox flow batteries." Nomon worked under the supervision of Dr. Sophia Suarez and Mr. Domenec Paterno in the Department of Physics at Brooklyn College.
Jasleen Kaur
"Evaluating efficient methods for determining bioaccessible lead." Jasleen worked under the supervision of Dr. Zhongqi (Joshua) Cheng and Ms. Sara Perl Egendorf in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Brooklyn College.

Amna Aslam wins Gold, Jasleen Kaur wins Bronze at NYC ACT-SO

Posted on Wednesday, May 3, 2017 by Elert for ACT-SO, Awards.

The New York Academic, Cultural, Technological, Scientific Olympics (NYC ACT-SO) was held Saturday, April 22, 2017 at Edward R. Murrow High School. Often called the "Olympics of the Mind", ACT-SO is a youth program under the administrative aegis of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Students compete in one of 28 academic categories, including 8 sciences. Midwood had 2 medalists this year — Amna Aslam (Gold) and Jasleen Kaur (Bronze). As a gold medalist, Amna goes on to compete in the National ACT-SO July 20–23, 2017 at the 108th NAACP National Convention in Baltimore, Maryland. Wish her good luck.

Amna Aslam received a Gold Medal and $500 in Biology/Microbiology for her project "Role of nucleolar stress factors in DNA damage response." Amna worked under the supervision of Dr. Anjana D. Saxena in the Department of Biology at Brooklyn College.
Jasleen Kaur received a Bronze Medal and $200 in Earth and Space Sciences for her project "Evaluating efficient methods for determining bioaccessible lead." Jasleen worked under the supervision of Dr. Zhongqi (Joshua) Cheng and Ms. Sara Perl Egendorf in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Brooklyn College.

Application for Change to 1.05 Weighted Course

Posted on Sunday, April 30, 2017 by Elert for Juniors, Seniors.

All juniors and seniors with a currently active research placement who would like to apply for a 1.05 weighted research course (Honors Science Research) for the spring semester of 2016 must fill out, print, sign, and present this form to their supervising teacher along with an up to date lab log. You need to apply every semester. Renewal is not automatic. See your supervising teacher sometime Monday through Thursday this week unless you were told to do something different.

An "active" placement in the fall is one with 16 hours (on average) of lab log entries per month for February, March, and April. A placement is not official until your mentor has contacted me saying you have been accepted to work in their lab. It should also state the date you began working there. A handful of juniors still have not done this. You will be contacted by email if this is the case.

One month to the Midwood Science Fair

Posted on Monday, April 24, 2017 by Elert for Science Fair.

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Wednesday
24

The 2017 Midwood Science Fair is only a month away. Right now as you read this the sophomore research students are diligently working on their projects, formulating hypotheses, and plotting the best way to gather and analyze data. The juniors and seniors are sharpening their metaphorical pencils as well as their literal questioning skills. The alumni judges are looking forward to seeing old friends at Midwood once again. The teachers are keeping their students focused. Everyone is coordinating their schedules to make sure they’re ready for Wednesday, May 24, 2017.

Midwood Science projects strength at the 2nd Teptu

Posted on Friday, April 21, 2017 by Elert for Awards, Miscellaneous.

Teptu is a nonprofit organization of (mostly young) entrepreneurs headquartered in New York City dedicated to providing educational opportunities and fostering awareness in both entrepreneurship and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). On Monday, April 3, 2017 Teptu held their second annual STEM and Entrepreneurship Conference (a.k.a. Teptu Brink) at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens. Over 100 students from about a dozen NYC schools were present for the finals round — including 22 Midwood students. Amna Aslam and Mahmoud Abouelkheir made it into the top 10. Spirits were kept high during the competition with engaging guest speakers and music from an appropriately loud rock band and a soothingly mellow Japanese-American jazz trio. "Not enough snacks" was the only complaint heard.

Amna Aslam
"Role of nucleolar stress factors in DNA damage response." Amna worked under the supervision of Dr. Anjana D. Saxena in the Department of Biology at Brooklyn College.
Mahmoud Abouelkheir (Microbiology)
"Intra-microcolony spatial positioning affects antibiotic susceptibility in Neisseria gonorrhoeae."
Mahmoud worked under the supervision of Dr. Nicolas Biais in the Department of Biology at Brooklyn College.

Flatland: The new world of two-dimensional materials

Posted on Thursday, April 20, 2017 by Elert for Lectures.

The Brooklyn Subsection of the American Chemical Society and the NYU Tandon School of Engineering present a free lecture to the public. Flatland: The new world of two-dimensional materials.

Dr. James Hone
Flatland: The new world of two-dimensional materials
Brooklyn Frontiers in Science Lecture

Thursday, May 4, 2017, 5:30–7:00 PM

Pfizer Auditorium
NYU Tandon School of Engineering
5 Metrotech Center
Brooklyn, NY 11201

James Hone is currently Wang Fong-Jen Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Columbia University, and director of PAS³, Columbia’s Materials Science Research and Engineering Center (MRSEC). He received his PhD in experimental condensed matter physics from UC Berkeley in 1998, and did postdoctoral work at the University of Pennsylvania and Caltech, where he was a Millikan Fellow. He joined the Columbia faculty in 2003. His current research interests include synthesis, characterization, manipulation, and applications of graphene and other 2D materials; nanomechanical devices; and nanobiology.

If you are interested in attending, please register here. Midwood Science Research students will receive extra credit if they attend and submit the public lecture assignment to Mr. Elert the day after. An attendance photo will also be taken.

teachers	office	em	ail	extension
Mr. Elert (Coordinator)	A214	elert@	midwoodscience.org	2141
Ms. Goldstein	A317	sgoldstein@	midwoodhighschool.org	3172
Ms. Katzoff	A300	skatzoff@	midwoodhighschool.org	3001
administrators	office	em	ail	extension
Mr. McDonnell (Principal)	127	mmcdonn2@	schools.nyc.gov	1270
Ms. Kornaker (Assistant Principal)	A300	jkornaker@	schools.nyc.gov	3003
Mr. Rosenfeld (Assistant Principal)	A200	trosenf@	schools.nyc.gov	2003

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