Massachusetts State Science & Engineering Fair (MSSEF)

Massachusetts Science Superstars Compete at International Science Fair

editor — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:19:26 +0000

Some of the world’s brightest high school students — including 26 from Massachusetts — have converged on Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania this week to compete in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Their ultimate goal? Grab a piece of the more than $3 million in prize money, with a cool $75K going to the grand prize winner alone.

The students in the Massachusetts delegation have had a busy month. Just last week many of them competed in the 63rd annual Massachusetts State High School Science & Engineering Fair at MIT (May 4th and 5th). Most of them rose to the state fair level on the strength of their projects’ performance in their regional fairs — of which there are six in Massachusetts. The students’ regional fair standing also provided the basis for their selection for the international fair in Pittsburgh.

The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, a program of Society for Science & the Public, provides an opportunity for the best young scientists from more than 68 countries to share ideas, showcase cutting-edge science projects, and compete for big money in awards and scholarships. The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair is the world’s largest pre-college science and engineering competition, drawing more than 1,500 student participants (referred to as “finalists”) from around the world each year.

Massachusetts is well represented in ISEF’s Educator Academy lineup. Cora Beth Abel, Executive Director of the Massachusetts State Science & Engineering Fair (MSSEF), delivered a talk entitled “Three Steps to Systemic Improvement in Science Education & Increased School Participation in Science Fairs” on May 14th. Later in the day, MSSEF director Bill Rigney offered his perspective on “Creating and Sustaining a STEM Early College High School Model.”

While we don’t know who the winners are at this point, congratulations are in order for all the members of the Massachusetts delegation for reaching the International Science Fair!

MSSEF Representatives

Addie Fleron & Bridget Lewis, Westfield High School
The Adverse Effects of Consumer and Pharmaceutical Goods on Plant Life

Ann Ming Samborski, Mass Academy of Mathematics and Science
Medical Records to Go: A Mobile App to Access Student Data

Daniel White, Somerset – Berkley Reg. High School
Diagnosing Premature Cancer Mathematically Utilizing Minkowski Dimensi

Surya Bhupatiraju & Hao Shen, Lexington High School
Investigating the Spread of the Influenza A Virus: A Phylogenetic Analysis

Vincent Lin, Falmouth High School
Effects of Fertilization and Temp on GHG and NOx Emissions from Soils

Nafisa Wara, Boston Latin School
Effect of Biological Compounds on Glycerinated Muscle Contractility

Regional Fair Representatives

Region I – Western Massachusetts

Shannon Boley, Westfield High School
Effects of Intonation on Cognitive Learning

Region II – Central Massachusetts
Annish Athalye, Mass. Academy of Math & Science
Cooling without Electricity: Engineering a New Refrigerator

Julia Knowles, Mass. Academy of Math & Science
Flushed Away with Gray: Engineering the Gray Water Toilet

Sneha Subramaniam, Westboro High School
Engineering a Novel Hydrogel Matrix for Bone Cell Regeneration

Gregory Konar, Alex Aquila, & Charles Brooks, Marlboro High School
The Effects of Rhodiola Crenulata Root Extract on SKOV-3 Cells

Region III – Southwest
Luke Beaulieu, Taunton High School
Areoponics Vs. Traditionally Grown Plants

Daniel McCormack, Dartmouth High School
Effects of Spectral Variation on the Growth and Reproduction of Synech

Region IV – Northeast
Emily Hu, Lexington High School
The Effects of Mindful Decision Making on Post Decision Regret

Region V – Southeast
Richard Housley, Boston University Academy
Emergency Convulsive Seizure Detection and Notification System

James Roggeveen, Nantucket High School
Effect of Water Temperature on Cavitation

Steven Spall, Falmouth High School
Biomass Denitrification of Saltwater Estuaries

Lucas Johns & Carlo Bocconcelli, Falmouth Academy
Trophic Diversity of Protists in Relation to Eutrophication

Region VI – Boston
George Lok, Boston Latin School
Autism Prescreening Tool for Mobile Devices

Emily Xie, Boston Latin School
Development of Recombinant Oral Bacteria as AIDS Vaccine Vector

Dominic Zheng, Boston Latin School
Mast Cell-Restricted Tryptase-Heparin Complexes Hinder Coagulation

Most 8th Graders Fall Short on NAEP Science Test

editor — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:42:21 +0000

The bad news: In a sampling of 122,000 8th graders from more than 7,000 schools across the country, fewer than one-third demonstrated proficiency in science on a test administered by National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The good news: Massachusetts students fared a bit better than most, with 40% of those tested scoring at the “proficient” level. Results of another science test administered by NAEP will be released in June. This test will measure students’ proficiency in hands-on experiments. “We’re very, very interested in tasks that look more like real science,” said Sean P. “Jack” Buckley, the commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, which administers NAEP.

Judging Is Underway at MSSEF’s 63rd Annual High School Fair

editor — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:00:05 +0000

The 2012 Massachusetts State High School Science & Engineering Fair has begun! About 350 volunteer judges received training this morning on the finer points of the job, and have made their way into MIT’s Johnson Athletics Center (JAC) to meet their assigned students. Results of the judging will be tabulated this evening and winners will be announced during the awards ceremony tomorrow evening. Billy Costa, host of High School Quiz Show and well-known radio personality, will MC.

With half a million dollars in prize money and scholarships at stake, there’s palpable energy in JAC today! The science fair will be open to the public tomorrow, May 5th, from 12:30-3:00. Bring the family and check out these amazing student projects!

High School Fair Participants on FOX25!

editor — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:26:50 +0000

Youth And Innovation: MA State High School Science & Engineering Fair: MyFoxBOSTON.com

High school seniors Loreen Louiny and Reshma Patel from Stoughton High School and senior Ricky Housley from Boston University Academy had a moment in the spotlight this morning, describing their science fair projects on FOX25 TV. All three are headed to the 63rd annual Massachusetts State High School Science & Engineering Fair at MIT this weekend. Loreen and Reshma have entered their team project, “Will White Roofs Reduce Global Warming?” and Ricky will be showcasing his “Emergency Convulsive Seizure Detection and Notification System.” The public is invited to visit MIT’s Johnson Athletics Center on Saturday, May 5th from 12:30 until 3:00pm to see these projects and hundreds more!

Lexington High School Wins Energy Department’s National Science Bowl!

editor — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:54:13 +0000

Congratulations to Lexington High School, which triumphed over North Hollywood High to secure the top place in the high school division of the Energy Department’s National Science Bowl yesterday at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC.

The five student members of the team — Alan Zhou, Julia Leung, Jonathan Tidor, Zaroug Jaleel and Matthew Arbesfeld — will receive an all-expense paid, nine-day Alaska adventure! Hearty congratulations to all of the students, and to their coach, Nicholas Gould.
See on energy.gov

What We Lose by Losing Women in the Hard Sciences

editor — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:45:41 +0000

Watch “Hard” Sciences: A “Boy Thing?” on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Changing Times Means Changing Recruitment Strategies for STEM Employees

editor — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:43:35 +0000

Once focused on college and university grads as the primary source of potential new employees, more and more companies that need workers with solid STEM skills are looking at talent in middle and high schools. So says James Brown, Executive Director of the STEM Education Coalition. “To the extent that you’re really trying to look at the big picture … [companies are betting] that if we make the pipeline stronger there, it will have ripple effects upwards,” he says. And how do you encourage and nurture talent at the K-12 level? Make STEM subjects fun. Get students excited about STEM through inquiry-based learning, and competitions like science fairs. Clearly, corporate resources can have a tremendous impact on improving the quality of STEM education in the country, and more and more corporations seem to understand that the eventual payoff — in the form of well-trained employees — is worth the investment.
See on www.washingtonpost.com

Meeting Inquiry Halfway

editor — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:21:47 +0000

It can be nerve-racking for teachers to surrender control of a classroom in order to let inquiry-based learning in. A recent post on eMINTs‘ blog, “Networked Teaching & Learning,” guides teachers on ways in which to move gradually toward a model of open inquiry rather than diving in with both feet. Among the recommendations offered: consider where each lesson lies on a “continuum of inquiry”; some are more naturally suited to closed inquiry sessions than they are to open inquiry. In addition, the article suggests that a teacher try to limit the questions that he or she provides, allowing student questions to propel the experience. “There are many small things we can do in order to make inquiry part of our lessons and units of study without jumping into student-led inquiry headfirst,” the article states. “If you struggle seeing your students as able to complete an inquiry independently, but you want to make your lessons more open, meeting open inquiry halfway might be a suitable compromise.”
See on blog.emints.org

How Can Social Media to Spur STEM Engagement?

editor — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:53:30 +0000

Let’s face it: Social media plays an integral in the average high school student’s life. While some parents and educators might be prone to view Twitter, Facebook, and the like as distractions to the young people in their lives, an interesting blog post by George Washington University biomedical engineering student William Broman suggests that there’s a flip side to that assumption. His article on US News & World Report‘s STEM Education blog suggests ways in which creative educators might consider leveraging the technology to encourage engagement in STEM subjects. Broman concludes, “Higher education, including my school, and businesses are using Twitter and Facebook to communicate effectively with students or customers and solve problems–it’s time for high schools to do the same.”
Via www.usnews.com

50 Best Sources of Free STEM Education Online

editor — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:03:42 +0000

These days, there’s no need for anyone interested in pursing greater knowledge of STEM subjects to be constrained by course offerings at their local schools and universities. The Internet opens up a world of possibilities for the studious and curious alike. OnlineUniversities.com has put together a list of 50 free, online sources of STEM education, including lectures by Ivy-league professors and Nobel Laureates, IT tutorials, educational media from lie likes of National Geographic and NASA, entire courses, and scholarly articles.
Via www.onlineuniversities.com