As we are approaching the end of the year, there is an opportunity for some students to go out with a bang. Science teacher and director of the Advanced STEM Research program, Ms. Jill Walker, believes that students learn more from doing than from being talked to. Through the Advanced STEM Research program, Northwood allows students to dive deeper into something that interests them for a whole year. This also allows them to distinguish themselves in the college application process. The course concludes in May with a symposium to present the students’ year of work.
Advanced STEM project research is a class that teaches students how to plan, carry out, and analyze a research project in the STEM field. Here are some of the projects that this 2024 school year includes:
- Studying the effects of blood flow on legs after using the Norma Tec
- Using fruit flies to study the impact of diets and supplements on flies with seizure disorders
- Looking at growing plants in cold-frame greenhouses outside
- Hydroponics in grow tents looking for novel antibiotics in soil
- 3D printing an airplane wing to look at efficiency in a wind tunnel
- Designing a concussion detection device
- Designing and building an underwater robot
- And many more…
Olivia Levesque ’24. Photo by Mr. Michael Aldridge.
Olivia Levesque ’24, one of the students in Advanced STEM Research, is working on a personal project for a complete year. She said Advanced STEM Research was one of the best learning experiences she had in high school. She chose a research project close to her heart, determining if different breathing exercises result in more aerobic efficiency in athletes. She applied the knowledge she learned while studying the subject to put it into practice in her sport of ski racing.
Ms. Walker believes that courses like these ones help students develop skills. For this class, the main skill is independence. Not many courses in high school require you to think deeply about a project without laid-out methods to follow. Students in this class must work on time management and decision-making and deal with things not working out and restarting.
When the deadline comes, students must create a scientific poster. This poster represents all the effort and time dedicated to this project. We then hold a poster symposium at the Northwood Learning HUB on Main Street that is open to the public. All school students are brought over to see the work. Students who worked on their project then stand by their poster and discuss their work with anyone with questions. This year’s symposium will be on Thursday, May 9th, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Innovation Hub on Main Street. We are excited to see you there.
Photos from the 2023 Student Symposium (Photos by Mr. Michael Aldridge):
