Senior Science Research

Overview

• The first goal of this class is to turn the lab work you've done into marketable products. Everyone will produce a research report, a poster, and a slide presentation.
• The second goal of this class is to enter as many science, technology, engineering, and mathematics competitions as possible including the Regeneron Science Talent Search (Regeneron STS), Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS), Terra NYC STEM Fair, St. Joseph's University High School Poster Session, Brooklyn College Science Day, and others.
• The third goal of this class is to promote science, technology, engineering, and mathematics through service to Midwood High School, New York City, and the world.
• Grades are based partly on how much you do (the more things you try, the better your grade will be) and partly how well you do them (the better your work is, the better your grade will be). Important dates are in red. Students who fulfill the nominal class requirements will receive a grade of 85% (G) in the 1st marking period, 90% in the 2nd marking period, and 95% for the semester. There will be many opportunities for extra credit.

Spring Meetings for Seniors

Check the big calendar on midwoodscience.org often. Individual, team, or small group meetings are the way business gets done. Large group meetings are rare. Keep your supervising teacher up to date on your progress. Do not hesitate to tell us of problems. Above all, do not miss your appointments. They count significantly toward your grade.

2. February
   • Entrance meeting in the first 2 weeks of the semester.
     • Expectations for the semester
   • Competitions
     • St. Joseph's University High School Poster Session (mandatory) Saturday, February 3, 2024
     • Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (if selected) at York College in Jamaica, Queens on Sunday, February 11, 2024
3. March
   • March meeting (before end of marking period)
     • Prepare for Terra NYC finals (if selected)
     • Prepare for ACT-SO (optional)
     • First marking period service logs
     • Service options for April
   • Terra NYC STEM Fair
     • Terra NYC Preliminary Round (mandatory) atn/a,Sunday, March 3, 2024
     • Terra NYC Finals Round (if selected) in theNYU Tandon School of Engineering,Saturday, March 23, 2024
     • Terra NYC Awards Ceremony (if selected) atPfizer Auditorium at NYU Tandon School of Engineering,Sunday, April 7, 2024
4. April
   • April meeting (before end of marking period)
     • Prepare for Brooklyn College Science Day (optional)
     • Prepare for JSHS Nationals (if selected)
     • Prepare for ISEF (if selected)
     • Second marking period service logs
     • Service options for May and June
5. May
   • May meeting
     • Date and subject t.b.d.
   • Competitions
     • Midwood High School Science Fair (mandatory) Thursday, May 23, 2024
     • Brooklyn College Science Day (optional) Friday, May 3, 2024 [est.]
     • JSHS Nationals (if selected) May 1–4, 2024
     • Regeneron ISEF (if selected)May 11–17, 2024
     • Application for Change to Weighted Research Course (1.05)
6. June
   • Exit meeting
     • Third marking period service logs
     • Return your drawer keys
     • Grades and other exit topics

Senior Service

• Students will be available to assist research teachers during their free periods or before or after their regularly scheduled school day. Each period of work counts as one point toward your final grade. A period of work may require a full 45 minutes or a fraction thereof.
• Seniors should plan to complete 10 periods of service in each marking period or obtain an equivalent number of points through other means. More periods will result in a higher grade — fewer periods, a lower grade.
• Students may perform additional periods of service to substitute for the St. Joseph's University Poster Session or the Terra NYC STEM Fair in the event of illness or failure to qualify.
• Examples of acceptable service activities include, but are not limited to…
  • Read resumes and cover letters.
  • Assist sophomore teachers with the set up and take down of labs, experiments, demonstrations.
  • Mentor sophomore students as they prepare for the Midwood Science Fair.
  • Speak to the sophomores about how you found your lab and what you did there.
• Seniors will keep service logs. Logs will be checked at monthly meetings and one or two days before the end of each marking period. Totals for each marking period will be recorded by Mr. Elert. Log entries should contain the following information…
  • Date and period of service.
  • Elapsed time.
  • A brief description of what was done.
  • A signature from the supervising teacher (Ms. Cunningham, Ms. Goldstein, or Mr. Elert).

St. Joseph's University High School Poster Session

Saturday, February 3, 2024

• Seniors in this class must participate in this event. Juniors may also participate, but this is not common.
• Register online as a "presenter" as soon as possible. Students who register later are more likely to be assigned to the smaller, more crowded room at the back of the building. The process can be finished in 5 minutes, so there is no reason to wait.
• Students who wish to compete as a team must register individually with the exact same project title. Team members do not need to register at the exact same time, but you should not wait too long.
• If you do not have a mentor, enter none in the "Research Institution", "Research Adviser", and "Adviser Email" fields.
• Forward your confirmation email to your supervising teacher — one per student. Registering is worth +4 points for the fall semester. Participating is worth +10 points for the spring semester.
• This event is open to high school students who have completed research in any scientific area during the past year and can present their findings in a poster.
• The posters will be judged by professors and/or scientific professionals and cash prizes will be awarded for outstanding entries.
• The competition is held at St. Joseph's University - New York in the Clinton Hill area of Brooklyn at 245 Clinton Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11205 on Saturday, February 3, 2024 from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Awards are presented at the end of the event and breakfast is provided.
• This event is sponsored by the New York Section of the American Chemical Society.

Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS)

Thursday, November 30, 2023 (research paper)
Sunday, February 11, 2024 (presentation)

• Seniors who have completed a research report before the application deadline may enter this competition for extra credit. The competition has two parts: a research report and a slide deck.
• Team projects are allowed, but only one member of the team will present. Any other members of the team must attend as observers. Presenters will receive more credit than observers. All team members are responsible for contributing to the research report and slide deck equally.
• Deadline to submit applications and upload documents is Thursday, November 30, 2023. Applications are done online and have the following basic components:
  • Name, contact, and other info about the presenter
  • Abstract
  • Research paper
  • Statement of Assistance (SOA) form (signed by student, teacher, and mentor)
• Prepare a slide presentation for the symposium. Presenters will rehearse in February. The Symposium will be held at York College in Jamaica, Queens Sunday, February 11, 2024 from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Breakfast and lunch are provided.
• The top students at the NYC Metro JSHS move on to compete in the National JSHS May 1–4, 2024in Albuquerque, New Mexico .

Terra NYC STEM Fair

Tuesday, December 19, 2023(research report)
Sunday, March 3, 2024(virtual prelims)
Saturday, March 23, 2024(I.R.L. finals)

• Students in this class must enter and participate in this event.
• Register online in November when instructed by your supervising teacher.
• Read the rules and guidelines to ensure your application will be accepted.
• Begin filling out the application as soon as possible. Your "Research Plan" from junior year is now called the "Project Summary" and is written in past tense.
• The application deadline isTuesday, December 19, 2023, but everyone is expected to finishMonday, December 18, 2023.
• This year's Preliminary Round for all students will be held onSunday, March 3, 2024atn/a.
• The top 6 projects in each category will be invited to participate in the Finals RoundSaturday, March 23, 2024at theNYU Tandon School of Engineering.
• The Awards Ceremony follows onSunday, April 7, 2024atPfizer Auditorium at NYU Tandon School of Engineering
• 13 projects will be selected to represent New York City at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) inLos Angeles, CaliforniaMay 11–17, 2024.

24/7 Lecture

Write and/or perform a 24/7 lecture for some combination of the Midwood Science website, press release mailing list, and social media outlets. The idea for this assignment came from the annual Ig Nobel Prize Awards organized by the scientific humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research. Each 24/7 Lecturer explains their topic twice…

First, a complete, technical description in 24 seconds. Then, a clear summary that anyone can understand in 7 words.

Follow these links to see 2 examples and 3 examples of actual 24/7 Lectures.

This can be done as a blog post for the class website, a performance piece for social media, or both. (More credit will be awarded for doing both.)

Blog post

A fast talker could probably squeeze out 2½ words per second or 60 words in 24 seconds. Write a summary of your research project in 60±10 words that is not afraid to use technical language. Then write a 7 word summary that is poetic, clever, or witty. Include at least one original graphic element, which means no artwork "from the internet". A graphic element could be a photograph (natural or staged), a drawing (freehand or technical), or a graph (if it is interesting or has special visual appeal). Also, come up with a very short title for your "lecture".

If you would like to do this part of the assignment, submit it to Mr. Elert via email as a unformatted plain text message with your full-resolution graphic element attached (no copies of photographs of screenshots of images copied into Google Docs forwarded as an attachment to an email). When it is found to be good enough to go on the class website it will be posted for you. After several entires have been posted they will be combined into one message and sent out to the Midwood Science press release mailing list.

Performance piece

Imitate the style of the examples linked above. Reading a script is totally fine. Find someone to be your timer. They don't have to dress like a football referee (unless that's what they do) or use a whistle (although that would be true to the spririt of the original). Have them hold you to a strict time limit. If you exceed it, they need to cut you off abruptly. If you are part of a team, have one member read the 24 second technical description and another read the 7 word summary.

If you would like to do this part of the assignment, submit your recording to Ms. Goldstein.

Brooklyn College Science Day

Wednesday, April 3, 2024 [est.] (abstract registration)
Friday, May 3, 2024 [est.] (poster session)

• Brooklyn College Science Day is an annual poster competition for graduate, undergraduate, and high school students. This competition is mandatory for all Midwood seniors with Brooklyn College mentors (optional for juniors). Students working at other CUNY schools may be allowed to participate at the discretion of the event organizers.
• Registration instructions can be found on the for students page. Submit your application before Wednesday, April 3, 2024 [est.].
• The poster session will be held from 9 AM to 2 PM on Friday, May 3, 2024 [est.] at the Student Center (a.k.a. SUBO), which is two blocks away from Midwood on Campus Road. Awards are announced at the end of the event and lunch is provided.

Midwood High School Science Fair

Thursday, May 23, 2024

All Science Research students participate in this event.

• Sophomores
  • Bring something to eat or drink
  • Participate as contestants
  • Feast
• Juniors and Seniors
  • Help set up
  • Participate as judges
  • Feast
  • Help clean up
• Alumni and Teachers
  • Participate as judges
  • Feast

Spring Lab Logs

• Junior lab logs are due on the first business day after the end of each month. They are worth points toward your grade and are necessary to qualify for Honors Science Research. All juniors are required to keep a lab log starting in January.
• Senior lab logs are due on the first business day after the end of each month but are only used to qualify for Honors Research. Only a few seniors are typically eligible for Honors in the spring semester.

Honors Science Research

Honors credit is available for juniors and seniors who work on their project under the supervision of a mentor (PhD, MD, other qualified professional) affiliated with a regulated research institution (university, hospital, government agency, etc.). Eligible students will have their class grade weighted by 1.05 when their transcript average is computed. (AP classes are weighted by 1.1, in comparison.)

In order to qualify, students need to…

• Juniors
  • Fall semester: Be accepted into a regulated research institution by a mentor before the end of December. Have your mentor email us saying that you will be an intern, volunteer, etc. or that they will be supervising, mentoring, or advising you with your project. (Let them decide on the language.)
  • Spring semester: Keep a lab log of the work you do for this class in February, March, April, and May. Meet the goal for the number of hours each month (typically 16 hours). If you do not have a mentor at the beginning of the semester, you need one by the end of May.
• Seniors
  • Fall semester: Keep a lab log of the work you do for this class in September, October, November, and December. Meet the goal for the number of hours each month (typically 16 hours). Have your mentor fill out and sign a Qualified Scientist Form for the Terra NYC STEM Fair before the deadline in December.
  • Spring semester: Have your mentor contact us saying that you will continue to work with them or other people in their lab as an intern, volunteer, etc. Keep a lab log of the work you do for them (and for the class in general) in February, March, April, and May. Meet the goal for the number of hours each month (typically 16 hours).

Extra Credit

STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Math