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THE DESIGN, IMPLEMENTATION, AND ASSESSMENT OF
A THREE YEAR RESEARCH PROGRAM AT THE HIGH
SCHOOL LEVEL

presented by

ANDREW JOHN MOORE

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6/07 pthlRC/DaleDue.indd-p.1

THE DESIGN, IMPLEMENTATION, AND ASSESSMENT OF A THREE YEAR
RESEARCH PROGRAM AT THE HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL

By

Andrew John Moore

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulﬁllment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTER OF SCIENCE
Interdepartmental Physical Sciences

2007

ABSTRACT

THE DESIGN, IMPLEMENTATION, AND ASSESSMENT OF A THREE YEAR
RESEARCH PROGRAM AT THE HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL

By
Andrew John Moore

Science education has seen many reforms in past years. The purpose of these
reforms is to continually evolve and change to meet the changing needs of students. One
of these needs is to learn how to “do” science, not just to memorize science facts and
procedures. In this study, the author designed a three-year program in which students
will be able to study an area of their own interest, learn experimentation skills, and
ultimately design and perform a research project or their own design with the aid of a
professional mentor. In the process of performing authentic research, students will gain
valuable knowledge and skills, as well as participate in a process that will endear the
student to the ﬁeld of science and research.

Students in this program, sophomores and juniors, participated in many activities
and procedures that enabled them to perform authentic research. Students were assessed
by the creativity, useﬁrlness, and complexity of their project design. This three year
research program has speciﬁc goals of achievement, and each student was assessed as to
the level of attainment of these goals.

The students participating in this research program all showed a signiﬁcant
change in many aspects of their scientiﬁc knowledge, maturity, work ethic, ability to
“do” science, to convey scientiﬁc knowledge orally and in written form, and to

participate in the scientiﬁc community.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I wish to thank Dr. Merle Heidemann, my thesis sponsor and advisor, for
her encouragement and thoughtful advice on this study.

I would like to thank all of the participants from the research program
whose willingness to be candid about their perceived strengths and weaknesses
game me invaluable information in which to write the program, for their tireless
dedication, and for showing me the signiﬁcant role that science research can play
in the life of a student. I would like to express my gratitude to Mr. David Keith,
Mr. Alan Schom, and Mr. Thomas Elkins to introducing me to the world of
science research.

I would like to thank Mr. Steve Passinault and Mr. Thomas Maj of Grand
Rapids Catholic Central for having enough faith in me to let me run this program
in the way that I saw ﬁt.

I would like to thank Dr. Mark Gostine, whose vision and generosity made
this entire study possible.

Mostly, I would like to acknowledge that none of this could have been

possible without the steadfast encouragement and support of my family.

iii

Table of Contents

Chapter One: Introduction

Problem Statement ......................................................................... 1
Program Goals .............................................................................. 4
What is Science Research? ..................................................................................... 5
Success Indicators ........................................................................... 6
Literature Review I

Introduction ................................................................................. 7
Constructivism .............................................................................. 9
Scientiﬁc Literacy ........................................................................... 15
Teaching Science .......................................................................... 17
Literature Review 11

Process Skills ............................................................................... 21
Learning Environments ................................................................... 22
Student Research ........................................................................... 24
Literature Review 111

Evaluation ................................................................................... 26
Summary .................................................................................... 31
Chapter Two: Implementation

Timeline ................................................................................................................. 34
Matrix ..................................................................................................................... 38
Application Process ................................................................................................ 40
Summer Assignment ............................................................................................... 41
One-on-One Meetings ............................................................................................. 41
Finding an Interest Area/Readings .......................................................................... 43
Mentor Recruitment ................................................................................................. 44
Planning ................................................................................................................... 46
Experimental Methodology ..................................................................................... 48
[RB and Grant Board ............................................................................................... 50
Science Thursdays .................................................................................................... 51
Ethics ........................................................................................................................ 52
Statistics ................................................................................................................... 52
Presentations ............................................................................................................ 52
Competitions ............................................................................................................ 53

Chapter Three: Presentation and Analysis of Data

Part I: Skill Assessment .......................................................................................... 54
Part 11: Student Interviews ...................................................................................... 56
Part 111: Junior Research Projects ........................................................................... 63
Chapter Four: Conclusions and Recommendations

Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 108
Recommendations ................................................................................................... l 12

iv

References...

Appendix A:

Appendix B:
Appendix C:

Appendix D:

Appendix E:

Appendix F:

Appendix G:

Appendix H:

Appendix 1:
Appendix J:

Appendix K:
Appendix L:

............................................................................................................ 115
Program Application ........................................................................ 122
Interview Questionnaire ................................................................... 123
Acceptance Letter ............................................................................ 124
Summer Assignment ........................................................................ 125
lO-Day Goal Sheet ........................................................................... 126
Lab Book Instructions ...................................................................... 127
Time Log .......................................................................................... 129
Bi-Weekly Evaluation ...................................................................... 130
Article Dissection ............................................................................. 132
Article Dissection, Sophomore Example .......................................... 134
Article Dissection, Junior Example ................................................... 151
Mentor Recruitment Letter Example ................................................ 161
Mentor Recruitment Letter Example ................................................ 163
Mentor Acceptance Letter from Instructor ....................................... 164
Sophomore Mid-Year Report ........................................................... 166
Junior Vision Plan ............................................................................. 167
Junior Vision Plan, Student Example ............................................... 168
Junior Vision Plan, Student Example ............................................... 170
Junior Mid-Year Plan ........................................................................ 171
Sophomore Summer Vision .............................................................. 172
Sophomore Summer Vision, Student Example ................................. 173
lO-Week Plan .................................................................................... 176
lO-Week Plan, Sophomore Example ................................................ 177
lO-Week Plan, Junior Example ........................................................ 181
Methodology Practice Project .......................................................... 183
Causality vs. Correlation .................................................................. 184
Making Ice Cream-A System ........................................................... 187
Science I, Sophomore Example ....................................................... 188
Science 1, Junior Example ................................................................ 200
Science 11, Student Example ............................................................ 215
Science III, Student Example ........................................................... 228
Science 111, Student Example ........................................................... 234
Lessons in Experimental Ethics ....................................................... 240
Rating Sheet for Scientiﬁc Presentations ........................................ 248
Data and Analysis Part I Questionnaire .......................................... 249
Data and Analysis Part I Results ..................................................... 251
Data and Analysis Part 11 Student Response ................................... 252
Mentor Feedback for Future Planning ............................................. 287
Future Modiﬁcations/Requirements for Incoming Freshman ......... 290

LIST OF FIGURES

Number Name Page
1 Three Year Timeline ............................................................... 38
2 Sophomore Skill Analysis ....................................................... 54
3 Junior Skill Analysis ................................................................ 54
4 Goal Mastery Checklist ........................................................... 57
5 Data, Part I ............................................................................. 247
6 Data, Part I ............................................................................. 247
7 Data, Part I ............................................................................. 247

vi

Chapter I: Introduction

Problem Statement

During my third year of teaching, I had the opportunity to educate a particularly
bright young student, who eventually went on to study mathematics at Yale University.
During that third year of teaching, in which the student was a senior, I had an eye
opening conversation with him. This student looked at me, and said: “I have taken every
science class this school offers, every AP, every elective, and I still do not feel like I
know anything at all about science.” It became instantly clear that this student could take
classes for the next couple of years, and still not know what science really is. Since that
moment, I have spent enormous amounts of time sitting and thinking of a way that
talented, bright students can learn how to “do” science.

While American scientists, as a whole, contribute more to new discoveries in
math, science, and technology than any other nation, American high school students
consistently rank below many underdeveloped countries in overall science literacy.
Studies have shown that students lose interest in science drastically as they continue
through the ranks of a traditional curriculum. While students in elementary school
commonly list science as their favorite subject, science is chosen as a favorite by only a
select few high school students. What is causing this “leaky pipeline,” where bright and
talented students are ending their high school careers with a perception that science is not
their interest? Whatever the cause, it seems that there have been two avenues to ﬁx the
leaky pipeline. First, and most popular, is to seek out a commonality and increase the
“fun” factor of science to appeal to all. The hope is to level the playing ﬁeld for all, and

end up with more students interested in science at the end of the pipeline, albeit with less

individuality and more generality. Second is the theory of intellectual mining;

identifying students who have a propensity for science early, plucking them out of the
general population, and nurturing that talent on an individual basis. I believe that the idea
of intellectual mining, the idea of picking out individuals identiﬁed as talented, and
putting them on a different, science centered track, can help us decrease the gap between
the general ability and science literacy of high school age students and the overall
contribution that American scientists make to new discoveries in the world.

The problem that remains, however, is deciding what kind of program can
adequately address the needs of bright, talented students who have shown a propensity
for science. I believe there is no better way to strengthen student interest in science than
by working on a research project in a laboratory or in the ﬁeld under the mentorship of a
professional scientist. It is there that students are able to undertake detailed investigations
of challenging problems and participate in many dimensions of research. To facilitate
this, I designed a three year research program that not only entices students to explore the
ﬁeld of science, but provides them with an authentic research experience. The purpose of
this research project was to develop, implement, and assess the effectiveness of an
independent science research program at the high school level. The program is directed
to those students who wish to pursue excellence and progress into advanced areas of
original research, while learning what actual research entails, with an emphasis on both
laboratory and bibliographic research.

The ﬁve main goals of the research program are:
0 Use methods of scientiﬁc inquiry: Students state a research problem, generate a

hypothesis, state the hypothesis, and test the hypothesis by designing and

executing an experiment culminating in the production of novel, useful
knowledge. Students collect pertinent data. Students organize the data using
graphs, charts, tables, and ﬁgures. Students store and analyze data by conducting
statistical analyses. Students distinguish valid from invalid interpretations of data.
Students draw conclusions based on data, indicating future research that the
present completed research suggests.

0 Conduct authentic experimentation: Students conduct experimentation which
addresses the hypothesis, is reproducible, has appropriate controls, is complex,
novel, and state of the art.

0 Participate in the scientiﬁc community: Students locate and contact professors
and professionals to serve as mentors, with the purpose of asking them to work
with them on an authentic research project.

0 Write a scientiﬁc paper: Students write a research abstract, using economy of
language. Students write a scientiﬁc paper that includes the review of literature,
statement of purpose (or hypothesis), methodology and materials, results,
discussion of results, and conclusions.

0 Present scientiﬁc data: Students present, at various times throughout the year,
project progress and ﬁnal presentations to the teacher, class, community, and to
the scientiﬁc community at the ﬁnal year symposia using PowerPoint slides and
posters using a delivery of poise and literacy.

The goal of the research program is to foster the inspiration, excitement, and level
of interest in science in a select few students that have shown prior scholastic aptitude

through the implementation of an authentic research project. The goal of this research

project is to assess the viability of the program developed by the author to achieve the
goals that were set earlier in this introduction. Secondary to this primary goal is
providing academic opportunities for students and an open-ended opportunity for
science-loving students to pursue their passions.

The program was intended to span three years, from sophomore to senior years of
high school, with each year advancing towards the program goals. It was assumed that in
subsequent years, students will meet in mixed grade classes. The research program was
designed to have students use external mentors, and to meet for one class section, held
once a day for 47 minutes, as well as one-on-one with the teacher for biweekly
conferences. This was a formal, exclusive, graded program in which students submitted
an application that included transcripts, a parent signature, and an essay.

The ﬁrst year of the program, the sophomore year, had two overall objectives:
First, to help the student ﬁnd an interest area, cultivate that interest well by reading of
primary literature, and recruit a mentor who has done research in the students’ interest
area. A secondary goal was to teach basic research and experimentation methods.

The second year of the program, the junior year, had one overall objective: To
design, and implement, an authentic research project. The junior year was spent reading
and practicing research methods speciﬁc to his/her project objectives and methodology.
At the end of the junior year, the student stated a hypothesis, completed a literature
review, and wrote a methodology to test the hypothesis. This was all done with the
assistance of a mentor and the instructor. The junior year culminated in the summer, a
period of intense work when the student was performing the project that was designed in

the previous school year.

The third year of the program, the senior year, has two overall objectives: First,
students will write a formal paper based on their project. Secondly, the student will open
up his/her project to public scientiﬁc scrutiny by submitting the paper to various
scientiﬁc competitions. In addition to their entry into competitions, the students present
their work both at school as well as at formal symposia.

This research program was designed and implemented at Grand Rapids Catholic
Central High School (GRCCHS) in Grand Rapids, MI. A parochial school of
approximately 700 students, the GRCCHS student body is 93% Caucasian. The research
program revolves around the newly developed research class, which in this ﬁrst year is
comprised of ten sophomores and seven juniors, eleven of which are girls and six of
which are boys.

What is science research ?

In current science classes, students routinely follow the steps of the scientiﬁc
method in conducting laboratory experiments, creating a “cookbook” type experience for
students. Seldom is there opportunity for students to pursue extensive investigations
based on individual interests that include both the learning of the scientiﬁc method and
the science behind the project. Usually, students in a class follow identical procedures
and share their results only with their lab partners and teacher. Science research provides
an opportunity for students to become scientiﬁcally literate by reading journal articles,
while learning concretely by executing their own experiment, and developing complex
problem solving skills by having developed their own hypotheses and experimental
design. Through various venues, such as scientiﬁc competitions and symposia, students

then communicate their work and results to the scientiﬁc community. Students are

supervised and receive feedback not only from a teacher and other students in their
program, but also from a cooperating scientist/mentor. Students learn to communicate in
writing and using e-mail with authors of scientiﬁc papers.

What are indicators that this research program is successful?

Achievement measures are highly variable, depending on both the target of
assessment and the type of achievement. If student achievement is being used as an
indicator of success, then how is student achievement deﬁned?

Many schools, especially on the east coast, are adopting various types of
research programs, and the success of these programs are measured solely on the number
of students who reach the semiﬁnal and ﬁnal levels of science competitions. These allow
the work of the student to be critically reviewed by a wide audience, including
professional researchers. However, to deﬁne student achievement as producing winners
in local, state, and national competitions is narrow and limited, and may overlook many
pedagogical beneﬁts of this program. In the experience of the author, it is evident that
students lose interest in science as they progress through the traditional grade levels.
Bright and motivated students begin to see upper level science courses as means to an
end (to get into a good college) rather than a learning opportunity. Allowing students to
investigate intellectual areas of their own choosing results in students that are motivated
to learn. Students set their own goals and objectives, and rather than a teacher telling
them what level of understanding they should reach, the students decide for themselves.
To accomplish this, they have to work in a completely independent environment, which
helps them with the working environment outside of a school classroom. Therefore, the

success of this program should not be measured in the number of students winning

regional and national competitions, but rather on the quality of individual work and
improvement of experimental methods as the student progresses through the program.
The success of the program should be measured by looking at students in an objective,
individual fashion.

Students who do not win competitions still gain many valuable skills. These
include: researching and understanding scientiﬁc literature; comprehending scientiﬁc
results; interpreting data; reading charts and graphs; time management; problem solving;
reasoning; creative thinking; effective use of technology; planning and organization of
research; following the steps of the scientiﬁc method; real-life application of science;
applied statistics; presentation of results; public speaking (communicating effectively
orally); and technical writing (communicating effectively in writing). Therefore, it
should not be the winning of competitions that dictates success, but rather the
improvement in these areas.

Literature Review I: Justiﬁcation of Methods
Introduction

In developing this pilot program, the author started out with the basic idea that
students need a different venue in which to learn discovery science. To organize a
program that would accomplish the original goals, an extensive literature review is
necessary to establish a philosophy, and therefore methods, that would have a high
likelihood of success. Authentic research is social constructivism in its purest form, and
therefore an extensive review of previous work and study in the beneﬁts of a
constructivist approach is explored. Running a program that embodies authentic research
requires a research instructor that can project his/her own perspectives gained through

his/her experiences, and therefore the author will review of the role of the teacher in a

constructivist setting, as well as characteristics that will make a teacher successful in such
a setting.

While the teacher has a more generalized degree with a broad picture of a subject
area, research scientists have a more speciﬁc expertise. The relationship between the
student and a prospective mentor, beneﬁts and effects, is extensively explored,
culminating in a review of how such an environment would change how a student learns
science, and the resulting beneﬁts to the student. It is assumed by the author that this line
of reasoning, through compilation of previous work, justiﬁes the development of a
research program at the high school level.

Science education should lead students to the shared values of scientists as well as
developing positive attitudes toward learning science, mathematics, and technology
(AAAS 1990). These attitudes include curiosity, openness to new ideas, and informed
skepticism. The choice to pursue a research project demonstrates the ﬁrst two attitudes
and properly mentored experience leads to the third. Project 2061’s Science For All
Americans describes science as a blend of logic and imagination. Although there are a
set of steps that one can follow, called the Scientiﬁc Method, some discoveries occur by
accident, and it is knowledge and creative insight that create meaning in such a situation.
Several principles stated in the book echo the original problem resulting in the need for a
research setting in the high school. “Cognitive research is revealing that even with what
is taken to be good instruction, many students, including academically talented ones,
understand less than we think they do”(AAAS 1990, p. 198). Also, science teachers
should emphasize clear expression (oral and written) because the struggle for clarity often

aids the understanding. Project 2061’s Benchmarks for Science Literagy recommends

“students working individually or in teams should design and carry out at least one major
investigation. They should frame the question, design the approach, estimate the time
and costs involved, calibrate the instruments, conduct trial runs, write a report, and
ﬁnally, respond to criticism” (AAAS 1993, p. 9). Responding to criticism is also cited in
the Natiogl Science Standard as a form of peer review. Conversations with peers can
help to develop meaning and understanding (NRC 1996).
Constructivism: Performing Authentic Research

The authors of Breaking Ranks: Changing an American Institution make the
recommendation that teachers be facilitators of learning so that students will be more
actively engaged and involved in their learning (N AASP 1996). One of the analogies the
National Association of Secondary School Principals draw is that athletic coaches would
never hit or throw the ball for the student. Rather, a teacher who utilizes the Socratic
method in coaching students in the classroom, “all the while providing information for
the student to ponder, provokes the student to discover his or her own answer, pushing
the student to the limits of his or her knowledge”(NAASP 1996, p. 23). What students
are already thinking has an effect on how students interact with teaching (Hawkins 1994;
Johnson and Gott 1996). To summarize Ausubel’s (Ausubel 1968) work, a key factor in
what students learn is what they already know. “Many students’ views of learning and
the learning process are limited in that they conceptualize learning as the transfer of
prefabricated knowledge that then is stored in memory” (Duit and Treagust 1998, p. 6).
For those students, science is essentially just an accumulation of facts. “Science
instruction frequently is not designed for the science perspectives to be learned

effectively” (Duit and Treagust 1998, p. 19). However, learning is deﬁned within the

constructivist view as the “the acquisition of knowledge by individuals through a process
of construction that occurs as sensory data are given meaning in terms of prior
knowledge” (Tobin, Kahle et a1. 1990, p. 6).

Shiland (Shiland 1997) came up with ﬁve propositions of constructivism. First,
learning is an active process that requires mental effort or activity. Second,
misconceptions and preconceptions may interfere with the ability to learn new material.
Third, problems create dissatisfaction and learning. Fourth, learning has a social
component. Finally, applications must be provided or found for learning to be retained.
Regarding Shiland’s third proposition, it was hypothesized that students’ conceptual
difﬁculties are, at least in part, due to concepts being introduced “without making explicit
connections with students’ previous conceptions, and without having students adequately
compare and contrast unfamiliar scientiﬁc concepts with pre-existing notions” (Labudde
1988, p. 81). Regarding Shiland’s fourth proposition, research (Carlsen 1993; Prophet
and Rowell 1993) indicates that teachers tend to dominate classroom talk, particularly
when teaching topics unfamiliar to students. However, use of “intemalized-context”
lessons (Rodrigues and Bell 1995) suggests that when students and the teacher share and
collaborate, cognitive gains occur for the students.

A remarkably simple shift toward constructivism is realized when the teacher
abandons his or her typical questioning style which Erickson (1998) refers to as
‘traditional teacher questions’ in which the teacher already knows the answer to the
question and the students know the teacher knows. Erickson asserts that if the teacher
and students slip back into their former ‘known information’ question, then the new

constructivist curriculum was never truly implemented, and everyone simply ‘went

10

through the motions’ (Erickson and Meyer 1998, p. 1156). Not knowing if an answer or
a procedure is right can be intimidating for students and teachers.

“Learning is seen as construction of mental models. Knowledge then is
something an individual possesses” (Duit and Treagust 1998, p. 8) As such, it is
“imperative to provide an integrated, relevant context in which such knowledge and skills
can be used, applied, and practiced in order to facilitate the development of cognitive
links that are meaningful and coherent” (Berlin and White 1998, p. 505). Accordingly,
the teacher’s role changes ﬁ'om dispenser of knowledge to guide and facilitator (Tobin,
Kahle et a1. 1990; vonGlassersfeld 1988; Berlin and White 1998). It is better to guide
side by side rather than lecture and watch.

Student attitudes as a consequence of implementing a constructivist approach in
the classroom were studied over a four-year period (Hand, Treagust et a1. 1997).
Students reported that they were appreciative of the opportunity to use their own ideas
and knowledge and also aware of the changing roles and responsibilities required of
them. The association between locus of control and summative achievement was found
to have a small positive relationship (Tobin and Capie 1982). “Higher rates of attending
were associated with students with a greater internal locus of control” (Tobin and Capie
1982, p. 453).

Humans have the ability to have mental images of objects and actions on them
“which allows us to reﬂect on our actions, consider multiple perspectives simultaneously,
and to even think about our thinking” (Fosnot 1993, p. 1190). It is the reﬂection on the

representations that may bring new insights, new constructions, and new possibilities.

11

Staver (1998) differentiates between radical constructivism and social
constructivism. The difference is largely in the focus of the study, and Staver
distinguishes radical constructivism as focusing on cognition and the individual, versus
social constructivism focusing on language and the group. In social constructivism,
“collective meaning making is achieved through language-based social interaction”
(Staver 1998, p. 508)

“A crucial part of science education involves understanding the rationality that
scientists employ in generating and validating knowledge claims” (Hodson and Hodson
1998, p. 35). An appreciation of the nature of scientiﬁc evidence and an understanding of
the role of scientiﬁc knowledge are also involved in science education. Hodson and
Hodson argue that a student ‘constructing their own knowledge’ does not constitute
worthwhile science education. However, they do advocate a shift in emphasis toward
social construction within the community of scientists and to a “view of learning as a
process of enculturation” (p. 33). Teaching “comprises the activities associated with
enabling the learner to participate effectively in the activities of the more expert, and
learning is seen as enculturation via guided and modeled participation. Expert
performance is modeled and learners are instructed and supported in their efforts to
replicate expert practice” (p. 37).

Roth argues that to practice constructivism means to make an epistemological and
methodological commitment that inﬂuences the day-to-day practice of science teaching
(Roth 1993). An important task of science educators, according to Roth and
Roychoudhury (1993) is to help students develop the thinking skills of scientists. It is

also important to learn how students view scientiﬁc knowledge, in particular, the status of

12

data and theories. Some students believe that data and observations drive the creation of
theories exclusively, while others concede the role of the scientists’ personal feelings
(DeSautels and LaRochelle 1998). Students are generally aware that scientists work in
teams and discuss the results of their research. However, many students feel that the
underlying factors that lead a scientist to adopt a certain theory are the facts, the
presentation of the facts, and the number of times the theory has been tested. The
recommendation by Driver et a1. is to “make these epistemological features an explicit
focus of discourse and hence to socialize learners in a critical perspective on science as a
way of knowing” which will necessarily develop a different relation to scientiﬁc
knowledge (Driver, Asoko et al. 1994, p. 11). Essentially, knowledge about the world is
viewed as human construction (Duit and Treagust 1998).

Schon (1983) described high school students who were not given instructions in
science process skills yet were able to conduct experiments using open inquiry method.
Roth and Roychoudhury (1993) used the open inquiry learning method in their study
involving science students in 8th, 11"“, and 12th grade. They provided a framework in
their classrooms for students to take ownership of their studies. The students were
assigned to do readings, weekly sets of problems (which came out of different textbooks
and were selected by the students), reﬂective writing assignments and short notes on
biographies of scientists and special topics not normally covered in the course. Student
assessment was partially individual and partially as part of a group. One of the ﬁndings
was that the pursuit of problems of genuine interest motivated students to generate new
hypotheses and to focus questions for further experiments. Another ﬁnding was that

“given the freedom to choose research topics and to design their own experiments,

13

students became very adept in planning and carrying out the investigations” (Roth and
Roychoudhury 1993, p. 141). In the case of some students, it may be that they are
motivated toward minimizing effort rather than toward learning (Rennie 1990), so it is
still necessary for the teacher to supervise the students’ goals and progress.

Learning science involves being introduced to the “ways of seeing” of the
scientiﬁc community and thus involves a socialization process (Driver and Scott 1996).
Learning science is “related to students’ and teachers’ conceptions of science content, the
nature of science conceptions, the aims of science instruction, the purpose of particular
teaching events, and the nature of the learning process” (Duit and Treagust 1998, p. 5).
After observing gender differences in science -—related experiences based on socialization
factors, F arenga and Joyce (1997) concluded that constructivist strategies should be
employed to maximize students’ prior knowledge and interest.

Another inquiry-oriented, laboratory-based instructional approach that is similar
to constructivism is called the Learning Cycle Approach (Abraham 1998). Students were
provided with an introductory laboratory activity and given the opportunity to construct
knowledge from their own experience and apply that knowledge to new situations. With
minimal modiﬁcations, Glasson and Lalik suggest that the learning cycle approach can be
made more congruent with social constructivism (1993, as represented by Abraham,
1998)

Few would question the importance of having students actively involved with
materials, but the connection between this ‘experimental work’ and the growth and
development of students’ scientiﬁc understanding is not readily apparent (Erickson and

Meyer 1998). Several assumptions are made. First, any assessment project must identify

14

what types of knowledge are being assessed by the instruments being used. Second, data
from an assessment project can validate or refute claims about the grth and
development of students’ scientiﬁc understanding. Third, students’ responses to a new
situation will be based on an amalgam of their knowledge bases. Speciﬁcally, the
students possess three general knowledge bases: general cognitive abilities; everyday
science content knowledge; and school-related science knowledge (Erickson and Meyer
1998). In the school-related science knowledge base, there are three subcategories.
These include speciﬁc language and concepts of science, practical techniques (such as
measurement and observation) and inquiry skills (such as an understanding of uncertainty
in measurements, use of a control in an experiment, and ability to replicate an
experiment.)
Constructivism: Scientific Literacy

The goal of scientiﬁc literacy has been mentioned in several studies (Hodson and
Hodson 1998; Kahle 1996; Jenkins 1990). An operational deﬁnition of scientiﬁc literacy
includes the following: an appreciation of the nature of the scientiﬁc method; an
appreciation for the possibilities and limits of technology; a general grounding in the
language and key constructs in science; a basic group of interpreting data mathematically;
and an idea of where and ﬁ'om whom to seek information and advice about matters
relating to science and technology (Jenkins 1990).

Project 2061 recommends that “the presidents of all colleges and universities
establish scientiﬁc literacy as an institution-wide priority” (AAAS 1990, p. 226).
According to the National Science Education Standards, a scientiﬁcally literate society is

deﬁned by educated students who are able to:

15

“experience the richness and excitement of knowing about and understanding the
natural world; use appropriate scientiﬁc processes and principles in making personal
decisions; engage intelligently in public discourse and debate about matters of scientiﬁc
and technological concern; and increase their economic productivity through the use of
the knowledge, understanding, and skills of the scientiﬁcally literate person in their
careers” (National Research Council, 1996, p. 13).

Functional scientiﬁc literacy includes the specialized vocabulary terms of science
and technology. This was the emphasis in science teaching for years (Bybee 1995).
Conceptual and procedural scientiﬁc literacy has been under-emphasized, and should be
demonstrated by an understanding of the parts (facts and information) and the whole
(concepts and structure) of science (Bybee and Ben-Zvi 1998). The National Science
Education Standards (NRC, 1995) and Benchmarks for Science Literacy (AAAS, 1993)
provide clear and detailed deﬁnitions of scientiﬁc literacy. Scientiﬁc literacy is not
guaranteed for those who pursue a science major in college. It is a lifelong pursuit
(Koballa, Kemp et al. 1997). The value of scientiﬁc literacy is more important than the
content; “whether or not persons can communicate in science is not the same as asking if
they do so, will do so, or want to do so” (Koballa, Kemp et a1. 1997, p. 30)

“Although there is no agreement on a single deﬁnition of scientiﬁc literacy, there
is consensus that it encompasses three aspects of science. These aspects are product,
process, and habits of mind. The product part of science is the information base of the
life, physical, and earth/space sciences that also include knowledge of the nature of
science, particularly its methods of investigation. The processes of science are the
thinking skills used to solve problems and to conduct inquiries, whereas scientiﬁc habits
of mind are the beliefs and attitudes that characterize the enterprise of science, such as
respect for logic and longing to know.”(Cothron, Giese et al. 1993, p. vii)

While inquiry is part of literacy, scientiﬁc inquiry should include processes of
science and greater emphasis on cognitive abilities such as using logic and evidence to

construct explanations (Baybee 1995). There has been confusion between an emphasis

on knowing about the procedures of science and doing scientiﬁc investigations (Baybee

16

and Ben-Zvi 1998). Inquiry should not be taught in isolation but as a tool for ﬁnding
answers about the world (Baybee and Ben-Zvi 1998).
Role of the Teacher: Teaching Science

Science teachers “have a responsibility to provide a classroom environment in
which necessary cognitive processing can occur” (Tobin, Capie et al. 1998, p.17). In
order to engage students more actively, the researchers advocate that “individualized
activities must be used” (p. 18). Realizing that “the old teaching methods are not
producing true understanding, educators are beginning to examine what is really involved
in achieving knowledge” (Lord 1998, p. 135). According to Ray Ann Deprisco Havasy,
Professor of Science Education at the New York Institute of Technology, inquiry-based
learning is “learning through which questions get answered and problems get solved via
use of the best science investigation methods. Rather than encouraging students to
memorize a lot of scientiﬁc facts, inquiry-based learning teaches students to ask
questions and come up with a variety of ways to answer them” (Kaye 2001 , p. 68).
Havasy further suggests for science research students working with a mentor,” The best
thing mentors can do is not give students answers. Students who are the most successful
are those with mentors who listen and validate what the students are saying, and then
encourage further inquiry by asking questions, not answering them”(Kaye 2001, p. 68).

In the early 1990’s, collaboration between high school teachers, university faculty
and corporate leaders in Massachusetts led to a pilot program for 56 students from 14
different high schools. The participants had face-to-face meetings and utilized
telecommunications through a statewide education network. Students had access to

worldwide resources in order to facilitate a variety of enrichment activities. One of the

17

goals of the program was to offer the enrichment (including a research project) that one
might expect at a magnet high school without pulling talented students from their home
high schools. A two-week Summer Institute provided hands-on experiences in academic
and research areas in the sciences and mathematics. The outcome of “collaborative work
skills, scientiﬁc research skills and discipline of mind that students learn by doing their
own research” (Goodrich 1994, p. 75) was considered a more important outcome than the
actual research projects completed by the students. Students learned by doing science in
an active environment of their own volition, instead of existing in a passive, traditional
setting.

An essential component of an individual and active learning environment must
have constant self and peer assessment. Having students conduct peer assessments
(Billington 1997) and self-assessments (Tobin, Capie et al. 1998) are crucial for
developing complex understanding and improving learning. Self-assessment activities
can include writing personal logs, portfolios for assessment and self-assessment sheets
about academic and personal progress. These allow students to express what they know,
what they are learning, and what challenges they have overcome or are still facing. More
importantly, these allow students to become aware of their own progress and of the gaps
in their understanding (Black and Atkin 1996). Students can perform these tasks in the
short-term (self-assessment sheets being ﬁlled out) and the long-term (portfolio
assessment.) Students develop the ability to reﬂect on their work (Schon, 1983) which
makes them partners in the assessment process.

The authentic research approach goes back to the 1700’s and Rousseau’s

discovery learning and the early 1900’s and Dewey’s project method which promoted

18

real world experiences (Berlin and White 1998). In this approach, students actively work
on their own problems and the teacher acts as facilitator. Many reformers are trying to
make school science reﬂect to students what really happens when scientists and
mathematicians are at work (Black and Atkin 1996). Black and Atkin discuss a tension
in science education between pursuit or ‘pure, high science’ and ‘science in action’
dealing with messy everyday problems. When dealing with the latter, it is necessary that
students have access to resources which meet their ‘need to know’ which will be different
for each student and arise at different times. The science teacher has the responsibility to
provide a wider range of types of learning (Black and Atkin 1996.)

Science teachers are representatives of the scientiﬁc community and as such, they
have the opportunity to act as practitioners and to induct students into scientiﬁc practices.
The best way to learn the professional standards, conventions, ethical values, and
expectations of the science profession is believed to be through thesis advisers, research
supervisors, and mentors (Bird 1996). Unfortunately, most faculty, thesis advisers, and
research supervisors are not trained to be mentors, and “few are naturally good at it”
(Bird 1996), so training of mentors is a vital component for research programs in which
students will be conducting independent research. In order to have an authenticity at all,
the learning environments need to share some fundamental characteristics with the
everyday work of scientists including poorly deﬁned problems and “predication of
learning on current knowledge” (Roth 1998).

It is not uncommon for apprentices to have access to several masters (Collins,
Brown et al. 1991) and the same premise works with students engaged in independent

science research. Students can gain from their science teacher, from their primary

l9

mentor, a secondary mentor, and others (such as teachers of English). Since the ultimate
aim is to give learners control over their learning processes, an apprenticeship with a
competent and other person is desirable (Hennessy 1993). The apprenticeship may
utilize modeling effective problem-solving strategies followed by fading and scaffolding
as the student is able to engage more successfully. It is ironic that even when group work
is apparently being encouraged, that an individualist perspective still dominates our
educational system.

Students beneﬁt ﬁom observing other learners with varying degrees of skill
(Collins, Brown et a1. 1991) and the classroom which combines sophomores through
senior engaged in research enriches each level of student. The sophomores get a view of
what is to come, and they can benchmark their progress against those further along. The
juniors and seniors also beneﬁt from benchmarking as they view where they started and
how far they have come. The upper classmen especially have an opportunity to reﬂect on
their learning, particularly as they answer questions from the younger students about their
research.

It is important in school for students to be able to transfer what they learn,
including processes. One challenge is to make the abstract tasks in a curriculum make
sense to the students. The best ways to promote the development of expertise (Collins,
Brown et al. 1991) is to ﬁrst perform a task so that students can observe (modeling) and
then observe and facilitate students performing a task (coaching) and provide support to
students (scaffolding) and encourage students to verbalize their thinking (articulation).

Encouraging students to evaluate their own performance (reﬂection) and to pose and

20

solve new problems (exploration) complete the methods which Collins, Brown and
Holum advocate.

Literature Review II: Impact on Students

Process Skills

Students conducting research improve communication skills, verbal or writing
skills or both, coping with a high degree of uncertainty in the outcome, explaining the
risks and probability of harm, estimating costs, and budgeting time (Cairns 1998).
Having to present their research before others (whether via poster or oral presentation)
motivates students to review their work more thoroughly (Cairns 1998).

One of the major problems of realizing the goal to increase process skills for all
students is the ability (or inability) to assess the outcome. “Educators do not have
nationally recognized, valid, reliable, and efﬁcient (paper and pencil) instruments to
assess all of the process skills that states have mandated be taught and tested” (Lipowich
1998, p. 1). Process and thinking skills include “classifying, collecting and organizing
data, communicating, controlling variables, developing models, estimating,
experimenting, graphing, inferring, interpreting data, making hypotheses, measuring,
observing, recognizing patterns and predicting” (Berlin and White 1998, p. 503). Poster
presentations utilize the student’s ability to write brief and clear summaries and to
identify and demonstrate the important points (Billington 1997) which are additional
valuable process skills. In addition to these process skills, the Iowa Guide to Curriculum
Development set as a goal that students will seek information and to carry out

investigations to verify or generate information (Iowa 1986).

21

Students enrolled in a science research course enroll in one or more additional
science classes each year. The students learn speciﬁc science process skills, generally
from their mentor, which are necessary and appropriate for the chosen topic or ﬁeld. It is
important that the science process skills be explicitly taught since earlier research
concluded that there is not a relationship between the number of science courses taken
and integrated science process skills (Baird and Borich 1987), which implies that taking
science courses does not enhance such skills.

Keeves (1998) refers to the processes of investigation and inquiry as ‘Heurism’.
Keeves argues that the heuristic processes of investigation, which are central to a
scientist’s work, need to be taught. These processes and skills are important not only in
scientiﬁc research but also in learning in the modern world (Keeves 1998).

Communication skills include the ability to convey spatial information that may
not be able to be conveyed by verbal means alone. The poster presentation is an ideal
communication tool and can be an integral part of assessment. In one researcher’s
experience, students who presented well via poster tended to articulate poorly in an essay
task, and vice-versa, leading to the conclusion that diversity of assessment is critical to
assess students fairly (Billington 1997).

Learning Environments

A situation is a speciﬁc external environment that is turned into a context at a
particular time by the mental activity of an individual or group. The four factors of a
situation used for educational activity are: where it takes place; what the focus of the

activity is; what the educational purposes are; and who is involved (Gilbert and Boulter

22

1998). According to Hennessy, “the environment is an essential resource which makes
knowledge possible” (1993 in Gilbert and Boulter 1998, p. 56).

The Learning Environment Inventory (LEI) was developed by the Harvard Project
Physics staff because it was not feasible to visit a national population of classrooms, so
the “paper and pencil alternative was devised to determine students’ perceptions of the
classroom climate” (Whelch 1973, p. 367). Validity and reliability evidence have been
provided as part of a Harvard University doctoral study (Anderson 1969). A different
form of a learning environment instrument was proposed by Fraser et. al. (1992 in
McRobbie, Fisher et a1. 1998). This new form asked students for their personal
perceptions of the learning environment of the class as a whole. The use of both the
personal form and the class form is informative, and the researchers have conducted
validation studies.

After conducting an investigation of learning environments, Tobin and Fraser
advocate for the use of both qualitative and quanitative data in researching learning
environments (F raser1990; Tobin and Fraser 1998). Although it was asserted that
students and teacher would differ in perceptions of the classroom environment (Fraser
1990), it was found that the student perceptions differed due to different learning
environments that existed for different students within the same classroom. Fraser
recommended use of both qualitative and quantitative data because “qualitative data may
provide insights into aspects of the environment which are not captured quantitatively”
(Fraser 1990, p. 218).

One of the initial pioneering studies performed to monitor the students’ views of

the learning environment was conducted by Roth (1997). Roth had students respond in

23

the form of essays, class discussions, and with the “preferred form” of the CLES that
consisted of four groups of seven Likert-type items. Interviews were also used by Roth
to collect data. Autonomy of learning and integration of new and prior knowledge were
shown to improve in the sample taken over two years, as reported by the students.
However, those improvements were aggregate, and it was discussed that certain students
sought the comfort of teacher-directed work and that small groups were arranged for
those students who expressed a desire for more interaction with the teacher.

Research on learning environments in science classrooms has focused more on
the socio-psychological characteristics (Fraser 1994) than on physical attributes of the
environment. However, the physical setting may deserve some attention since a multi-
functional space facilitates “science for all” courses and allows teacher ﬂexibility to
employ constructivist methods (Arzi 1998).

Students Discovering Science through Research

Student motivation to learn increases when work is challenging and related to
students’ interest, according to Brophy (Brophy 1983). Brophy further noted that given
some autonomy over task involvement during activities, students effectively become
more responsible for their own learning. Benchmarks for Science Literacy suggests that
students do not typically participate in legitimate scientiﬁc investigations.

“The usual high school ‘experiment’ is unlike the real thing: The question to be
investigated is decided by the teacher, not the investigators; what apparatus to use, what
data to collect, and how to organize the data are also decided by the teacher (or the lab
manual); time is not made available for repetitions or, when things are not working out,
for revising the experiment; the results are not presented to other investigators for
criticism; and to top it off, the correct answer is known ahead of time”(AAAS 1993, p. 9).

Hodson and Hodson (1998) suggest that scientiﬁc inquiry has ﬁve distinct phases.

The ﬁrst is initiation, which is ﬁnding focus for the inquiry. The second phase is design

24

and planning, in which the learner gathers information to address issues and questions
raised in the ﬁrst phase. The third phase is performance, and this involves literature and
media based inquiries as well as laboratory-based investigations which may require
technical skills to use a range of instruments to collect accurate data. The fourth phase is
interpretation, which will involve manipulation of the data. The ﬁnal phase is reporting
and communicating. In the ﬁnal phase, students learn about the “distinctive styles of
communication adopted in textbooks, and logbooks and interactive journals” (Hodson
and Hodson 1998, p. 39). The inquiry phases outlined above apply to the three-year
Science Research program and the stages that students go through with the sort of
scaffolding and mentoring that were mentioned earlier.

Researchers must reﬂect deliberately on the information they gather and learn
(Erickson 1998). Researchers intending to answer questions must make certain that they
have framed those questions as completely as possible. The source of the information
they gather may come from interview, observation, or experimentation and ideally from a
combination of all three. Erickson suggests that after gaining information ﬁ'om one
method (such as by interview) that the research follow up and attempt to gain information
through the other method (observation).

Some of the attributes of student research found by Tytler (Tytler 1992) were:
interest and motivation, rather than intellectual capabilities; the home environment for
cultivating and guiding interest and accomplishing the project; student commitment; and
self-reliance in the pursuit of background knowledge or in the arrangement of
experimental procedures (Tytler 1991 in Hofstein and Rosenﬁeld 1996.) Because the

projects vary in difﬁculty, scores tend to have “low reliability” (Boud et al. 1986 in

25

Hofstein and Rosenﬁeld 1996) and there is a lack of valid criteria for assessment.
However, validity is high and the opportunity for student leaming is signiﬁcant
(W oolnough 1994).

The perspective of any student is a function of their experiences, and the
environment of learning by authentic research could dramatically change the perspective
of science by students. In a recent study (Rowsey 1997) university research scientists
responded that junior high and high school science teachers had a positive inﬂuence on
their vocational choice. Upon graduation from high school, 85% recognized a special
interest in science and 34% had made the decision to become scientists. Hegarty-Hazel
(1990) proposed that science education objectives can be subsumed under four broad
classes, one of which is “attitudes.” Attitudes include activities that aim to increase
motivation, enjoyment, interest and attitudes toward science learning and choice of a
science career (Hegarty-Hazel; Arzi 1998). Eichinger (1997) surveyed successful college
students, both science and non-science majors, and found that although attitude toward
science is relatively low during the junior hi gh/middle school years, teacher’s behavior
and attitude and the use of active instructional techniques promote positive student
attitudes. Eichinger reported that the high-ability students surveyed craved instructional
activities that involved and challenged them, especially those activities that promoted
personal discovery.

Literature Review III: Evaluation of Students, Program, and Impact of Program

The lack of adequate instruments to assess student performance can be a problem

in putting new standards in place and modifying curriculum (CPRE 1995). The National

Science Foundation (NSF) is attempting to bring together those who have identiﬁed the

26

problems with those who have the resources and skills to help solve them (CPRE 1995).
According to Gitomer and Duschl (1998), the practices of educational assessment are
“very much in ﬂux” (p. 791) and science education ﬁnds itself subject to debates
regarding a move toward having classroom teachers carry out formative assessments of
student learning.

The formative assessments have as their goal not only a valid measure of a
student, but to provide exemplars of good pedagogical practice and clear expectations of
desired competence. Student portfolios allow inferences to be made about the kinds of
expectations that teachers have for their students and about social values (Gitomer and
Duschl 1998). The development of performance assessments, according to Gitomer and
Duschl, raises new generalizability issues. Although one may conclude ﬁom an
outstanding portfolio that the student is an outstanding scientist, it may not be
generalizable to other areas of science. For example, the student may have worked in the
ﬁeld of chemistry or biology and may not be able to demonstrate the same level of
outstanding work in the ﬁeld of physics. Performance assessments may not be
generalizable across a range of conceptual domains, despite evidence of complex
scientiﬁc reasoning in several domains. The most promising efforts in assessment
reform, according to Gitomer and Duschl (1998) are those that “address directly the
relationship of assessment and instruction, specifying precisely how assessment can be
used to support improved instructional practice” (p. 803). However, Gitomer and Duschl
caution that “claims that these models of assessment improve practice need to be

validated” (p. 804)

27

The research literature is limited regarding information of the assessment of
independent student research projects (Hofstein and Rosenﬁeld 1996). The intended goal
of the independent research project is to develop more independent learners. Students
follow their interests and develop self-direction, self-respected and self-criticism
(Kilpatrick 1951 in Hofstein and Rosenﬁeld 1996).

Of the programs the author investigated during the design phase of this study, the
overwhelming majority of programs evaluate the success of the individual student by
simply comparing the overall scientiﬁc ability of each student as a senior to their abilities
and perspectives when the student started the program. If they increased the overall
scientiﬁc literacy of a student, as well as contribute to the formation of a well rounded
learner, then the program was deemed successful for that individual student.

A high school research teacher in Westchester County, New York, wrote an
article entitled, “What students who drop the course learn” (Pavlica 1995). This article
summarized important skills and knowledge gained by students who discontinue a three-
year research program after one year. These include: knowing and internalizing the
protocol of the scientiﬁc method; how to search on-line literature through research
databases; how to search on-line author publications; how to prepare a scientiﬁc poster;
how to make a public scientiﬁc presentation; how to establish timelines; the need to be a
producer of information; the ability to isolate and narrow a topic of research; ability to
plan individual work in short term (two weeks) and long term (10 weeks); ability to
assess self-progress; respect for research and the work of others; how to maintain an
organized lab notebook; use of a portfolio; and how to communicate with professionals in

the ﬁeld of science.

28

The Science Research Program (SRP) is a high school research program
developed by Dr. Robert Pavlica of Byron Hills High School of Byron Hills, New York.
Each year’s formative evaluation of the Science Research Program (SRP) has
documented perceptions of four areas: effectiveness of teacher and student recruitment
and retention efforts; effectiveness of the teacher training component; process of program
implementation during each year; and effectiveness of the program as deﬁned by
outcomes of each year. During the ﬁrst year of the program, it was reported (Newman,
O’Connell et al. 1997) that teachers utilized varying means of assessment of students
(one-to-one conferences, peer evaluations of presentations, and portfolio review) and that
students were reported to improve in knowledge of conducting scientiﬁc research and
knowledge of science. Student portfolios were “highly variable” during the ﬁrst year,
and were therefore carefully reviewed over the next two years. Administrators perceived
the SRP as meeting many of the criteria put forth in various initiatives from the state
education department.

During the second year (Newman, Cardella et al. 1998), students were also found
to have improved in making inferences, organizing and planning, solving problems, using
technology effectively, time management, and interpreting data. Student portfolios were
again reviewed, and 80% were found to be high level. System outcomes included
administrators remarking that the skills in the program translate to all academic areas.
Mentors offered suggestions for expansion of the SRP, and interactions between teachers
and mentors became a focus for year three. Additionally, the evaluation team noted the

willingness of teachers to voluntarily attend training and support group meetings and the

29

unique opportunities for students to collaborate in science research that beneﬁts the
scientiﬁc community.

The Year Three Program Implementation (Newman, 1999) placed an emphasis on
portfolio utilization by students and asked the question, “How do students use their
portfolios to construct scientiﬁc knowledge?” Although the majority of students
maintained high quality portfolios, the portfolios were seen as static collections of work
and questions were posed to determine whether students examine one another’s portfolios
and how this would help students. Approximately a third of mentors who responded to
surveys reported that they were unaware of the existence of the SRP, although these
mentors were actually working with students, the mentors did not know that the students
were a part of the SRP. The majority of administrators noted that “a highly motivated
and committed teacher is instrumental to the program’s success.”

Another area that was assessed by the year one evaluation of the science research
program (Newman, 1997) in order to assess the effectiveness of the program was “What
are perceived changes to the educational system as a result of implementing the SRP?”
(p.6). Respondents believed that the program helped to fulﬁll New York State Education
Standards by meeting the research component of the standards and the Math, Science,
Technology (MST) initiative. One administrator commented that the science research
program “has the potential to foster greater respect and interest for science in the total
body” (p. 23). Participants of the program reported that “the science research program
expands the high school curriculum by adding a unique elective which addresses the

often neglected research component” (p. 23).

30

Literature Review IV: Summary

Students learn better when they are actively engaged in constructing their own
knowledge. It is not enough for students to be actively engaged in a 60-minute hands-on
laboratory. Students do not get deeply involved in “explorations” in which the procedure
is followed similarly to a cookbook recipe and for which the answer is already known by
the instructor. In order to have students conducting scientiﬁc investigations, they must
pose the problems to be studied and they must be involved in ﬁguring out the steps to
solve the problems.

The National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Research
Council, and the American Academy for the Advancement of Science have all recently
published standards for science education which include new areas of emphasis over the
traditional accumulation of facts. Some areas of emphasis include positive attitudes
including curiosity, openness to new ideas, and informed skepticism. Carrying out an
investigation includes framing a question, designing an appropriate approach, learning to
use scientiﬁc tools, and instruments, conducting trial runs, gathering and organizing data,
interpreting data and drawing conclusions, and communicating results to the scientiﬁc
community. The premise of high school students conducting scientiﬁc research
investigations is well rooted in the theories and literature of constructivism.

Another goal of encouraging students to pursue authentic research projects is to
raise scientiﬁc literacy among the population. As students conduct their own review of
the literature in preparation for their experimentation, students are exposed to more
technical abstracts and reports containing specialized vocabulary and techniques with

which they are unfamiliar. Teachers and mentors assist students to decipher and

31

understand the facts, processes, and concepts of science. Scientiﬁc literacy is a lifelong
pursuit and it is less intimidating to initiate at the high school level at which support is
available to students.

New teaching methods emphasize mentoring, apprenticeships, and peer
assessment. It is a natural human response to avoid rather than to embrace change. The
changes required in order to facilitate more inquiry learning include covering less
material in the same amount of time and empowering students (read: removing power
from teachers) to conduct their own investigations. There has been considerable
opposition to divesting content in favor of process. Alternative assessments are still
unfamiliar to many veteran science teachers.

The literature has indicated that taking more science classes fails to enhance
science process skills, but that these skills are enhanced through working with a mentor
on a research process. Critical observations, resolving problems and making decisions
(drawing inferences and conclusions) are the sort of intellectual skills that are valued by
most, if not all, state education departments. Students should become adept in
measuring, generating hypotheses, predicting, estimating, controlling variables and
communicating their work. An idea of where and from whom to seek additional
information regarding scientiﬁc studies is another set of process skills that are critical to
students’ successes in understanding science. The science process skills of carrying out
investigations to verify or generate information are tested on the science laboratory
activity of the Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT) and appear in other state

science education goals.

32

Chapter 11: Implementation

The design of the program and the protocols utilized for the research questions
were reviewed by experts, including University science education professors, scientists,
and pre-college science educators. The design of the program continues to evolve as
needed improvements become apparent, and peer review of design ideas continues, based
on analysis of other programs and the needs of the students.

This three-year research program has many components, all of which contribute
to overarching goals that will help the student in the development of an authentic research
project. To progress from September to June in each year of the program, there are
various processes and procedures for each student and the instructor.

The program is exclusive; only 17 applicants were accepted in the ﬁrst year. The
criteria used for submission include: Grades in science classes, overall grade point
average, teacher recommendation, and an essay that shows the ability to work
independently and to excel in the face of extreme difficulty. In subsequent years, the
program will accept only 7 new incoming sophomores each year. Ten wireless laptop
computers were purchased for the program, as well as a data projector and a
scarmer/photocopier.

T imeline

Starting with summer of freshman year, students are asked to choose an area of
scientiﬁc interest. They are required to read ten articles on this interest from magazines,
newspapers or books. From these articles, the student develops questions, which may

evolve into avenues of research.

33

During the sophomore year, the students are required to continue to narrow and focus
on their topic. They master skills of computer researching, locate and retrieve
approximately 20 journal articles in their ﬁeld of inquiry, and are required to read ﬁve
journal articles per quarter. After reading appropriate articles, the sophomores are
required to write, by the end of October, a statement of their intended research based
upon their bibliographic research. Subsequently, they are to contact the authors of these
articles by telephone (or by e-mail), engage them in a conversation about their own
related topic, and establish a rapport with the professors that often (but not always)
develops into a student/mentor relationship. It is astonishing how readily a professor will
mentor students who have read their publications and show interest in doing research in
the same ﬁeld. Each sophomore is required to publicly present one article from the
articles retrieved. The article is presented using PowerPoint and an overhead projector
and must include:

A review of literature.

A statement of the hypothesis.

The methodology of the author.

A presentation of the data using graphs and charts.

A discussion of the data presented.
The conclusions of the research.

QMPP‘NT‘

The student is assessed by his/her peers on two levels:
1. The presentation of the author’s research using the scientiﬁc method (as outlined
2. Tﬁvsetiident’s presentation itself (viz., eye contact, clarity, use of overhead, etc.).
During sophomore year, the student tries to locate a research facility (with the
teacher’s assistance) where he/she will be doing the actual research. This research facility

is usually a local university, or a company’s laboratory. However, many students’

research projects occur in the school, backyard or the local community, with the research

34

instructor acting as the mentor. During this year, the sophomore will have created ﬁve
timelines which chart the research plan — one for each quarter, and one for the summer.
At the end of sophomore year, the student will create a poster board which will outline
the intended research and any results already obtained. During this year, the student will
meet with the teacher every two weeks to ensure that all goals and objectives are reached.
All student presentations explicitly follow the steps of the scientiﬁc method. At the end
of the year, it is expected that the student will have obtained a mentor, as well as
developed a preliminary project idea and plan.

During sophomore year, parallel to his/her independent work, students will
perform three independent experiments under the guidance of the research instructor.
Science I will take place in the ﬁrst 10 weeks of school, Science 11 will take place in the
second 10 weeks of school, and Science 111 will take place in the last 20 weeks of school.
Also integrated into this year are many lessons in experimentation, wet-bench methods,
survey procedures, and statistical analysis.

The students’ sophomore summer, determined by family commitment, is research
oriented. During this summer, the student begins to design the experiment with the aid of
the mentor, and is in contact with the supervising teacher on an as-needed basis.

The junior year is a year of intense laboratory research. The student meets, calls or uses
e-mail to communicate with the mentor at least twice a month, and is actively engaged in
experimental bench research. The hypothesis is redeﬁned as needed, based upon
literature readings and new experimental directions. Journal readings progress at the rate
of 20 per year. The student continues to meet with the teacher for one hour every two

weeks to discuss the ongoing research. During this year, the student gives public

35

presentations of research ﬁndings to the teacher, the class, and the school community in
the form of sympsia. In these public presentations, the student is required to include:

A review of relevant literature.

A statement of the hypothesis.

A clear exposition of the research methodology.

A tabulated and/or graphical depiction of the data obtained.
A discussion of the data.

The conclusions obtained, and future research needed.

9999397"

These presentations are based on the model developed in sophomore year and is
followed explicitly in every student’s presentation. At the end of junior year, the students
are introduced to the computer statistical analyses programs that they may use to help
present their results.

The junior summer is dedicated to bench research. The student attempts to
complete the research project and is in constant physical contact with the mentor and the
teacher on an as-needed basis.

At the start of the senior year, the student research is completed. The student
continues to meet with the teacher every two weeks to ensure that all goals and objectives
are reached. Thereafter, the student engages in a formal writing of the research and in the
construction of a formal presentation. The paper is entirely written by the student, with
the aid of the mentor, and modeled on the format of journal articles. The paper is
reviewed and edited by the teacher and the mentor. In addition, senior students are taught
how to write and effective and strong abstract, focusing on economy of language. Seniors
create PowerPoint electronic slides to present their research.

Senior students are required to give presentations to:

1. The Class.
2. The student body.

36

3. The academic community including the Board of Education, research mentors,
visiting professors from local colleges, scientists from industry, parents, and the
press, at a local scientiﬁc symposium.

Furthermore, they are encouraged to enter local, state, national, and international
scientiﬁc competitions. Finally, each senior is required to attempt to publish his/her
research in a scientiﬁc journal (high school, or professional). During this year, the seniors
establish four timelines.

Timeline Matrix

On the following page (Figure 1) is the 2006-2007 pilot year timeline laid out in a
matrix format, with each year mapped out against the four quarters of the school year.
This matrix does not include the summer assignment prior to the start of year one.

In addition to the activities that are listed in the matrix, students met with the
instructor in one-on-one meetings every ten days. The purpose and format of these
meetings, as well as all of the components seen in the matrix, will be explained in the
implementation section immediately following the timeline table.

While reading the matrix, one can easily discern a key component of the research
program: modeling. Each student in the research program learns to watch others who are
advanced in their studies to model each individual skill. Students learn how the scientiﬁc
method is applied in real science by reading scientiﬁc journals and discussing with others
how a particular scientist, or group of scientists, solved a problem. Before any student is
asked to demonstrate a speciﬁc skill, that skill is modeled for them at least twice by an
upperclassmen that has already performed the task, or the instructor. For example, before
a sophomore is expected to stand up in front of the class and give a presentation in

PowerPoint, they have seen both juniors and seniors present already. At the beginning of

37

the year, the instructor will present a PowerPoint presentation to give an exemplary

model of a scientiﬁc presentation.

Year
One

Sopho-
mores

Year
Two

Juniors

Year
Three

Seniors

Matrix: Timeline for Research Seminar

Quarter One

-Science I Project
-Observe Juniors
and Seniors
-Exploration,
readings

-Finding interest
area

-After ﬁrst
meeting, write
ﬁrst 10 week plan

-10 Week Plan
-Written Article
Dissection of
Mentor

-Junior Vision
Paper

-Project Design
-Continue
readings and
required content
for project

-10 Week Plan
-Complete
research project
-Write ﬁnal paper
-Present
PowerPoint of
summer research,
including all
available stages
of project.

Figure 1: T imeline Matrix

Quarter Two

-Science II
Project

-10 Week Plan
-Progress from
general articles to
primary literature
End of Quarter:
-Sophomore Mid-
Term Paper
-Written Article
Dissection of
potential mentor

-10 Week Plan
-Present
PowerPoint of
Article Dissection
-Complete
Review of
Literature for
project

End of Quarter:
-Present
PowerPoint of
Junior Mid-term
paper

-10 Week Plan
-Poster Board
presentation of
research project
-12 minute
PowerPoint
presentation of
research project,
in preparation for
competition

38

Quarter Three

-Science 111
Project

-10 Week Plan
-Initiate Mentor
Recruitment
-Present
PowerPoint of
Article dissection
-Wet-bench
exercises

-10 Week Plan
-Poster
presentation of
Junior Mid-term
paper, including:
Review of
Literature,
Objective,
Methods, and
Analysis Tools.
-Initiate project
(if ready)

-Complete Poster
board of research
project
-Competitions
-Mentor
underclass
students

-Run wet-bench
work for
sophomores

Quarter Four

-Complete
Science 111
Project

-Secure Mentor
-Present Poster of
Article Dissection
-Summer Vision
Paper

-Initiate Project
design

-10 Week Plan
-Organize
Symposium
-Complete
Summer Vision
paper with
mentor

-Prepare for
summer research
project

-Review
competition
guidelines
Research
Symposium
-Submit project
for publication in
annual Catholic
Central Research
Journal.

Application Process

Budgeting and time constraints limited the amount of students who could be
allowed into the program. The ﬁrst step in starting the program is developing an
application process whereas students with the highest propensity for success in an
independent environment are identiﬁed. In this pilot year, 9 sophomore students and 7
junior students were invited to participate.

Before giving out the applications, the author visited the classrooms of all
freshman students, and gave a ten minute presentation of the research program, in the
spring. After that presentation, all freshman teachers were given access to applications to
the Research Pro gram [Appendix A].

At the due date of the application, the author gathered all applications and sorted
them according to science and math teachers. In systematic fashion, the author talked to
the science and math teachers of all applicants, to get verbal and on site feedback as to
the capabilities of each applicant to excel in an independent environment. Students who
remained in contention were then interviewed in a one on one meeting with the author
[Appendix A].

After these interviews, the ﬁnal class of individuals was determined. The author
looked for students who had maturity, writing skills, curiosity, and an ability to work well
independently by managing a time and a workload.

Students who were accepted were sent a letter of acceptance [Appendix A], while

those denied admission were sent a letter encouraging them to apply next year.

39

Pre-Program: Summer Assignment

The ﬁrst task of a researcher is to answer a frmdamental question: “What am I
interested in?” For students, this question can be especially daunting. The summer
assignment [Appendix B] simply tries to get students to pay attention to what is catching
their interest.

The summer assignment gives them a head start in preparing for meetings with
the instructor, and puts them in the proper mindset for what lies ahead.

One on One Meetings

In one-on-one meetings, the teacher is able to concentrate solely on the needs and
concerns of the student, and the student gets all of the attention. These meetings are
important so that the teacher can review their progress, set new goals, and give assistance
when needed (particularly with editing of scientiﬁc papers written by the student).

In this program, students meet individually with the teacher once very two weeks.
These meetings are scheduled in advanced, and students must be prepared for them.
Each student will have individualized needs that will need to be tended to, but their
speciﬁc progress ﬁ'om the last meeting must also be checked.

When the ﬁrst one on one meeting in year one commences, the ﬁrst thing the
author will ask the student is “What did you ﬁnd over the summer?” and will simply
listen to what the student has to say about the articles/stories that the student seized upon.
This will allow the author to further assign readings, based on the subject areas that seem
to come up in the articles the student picked over the summer.

At the opening of each meeting, the teacher will ask to see the 10-day Goals

[Appendix C]. These are a set of goals that the student set at the conclusion of the

40

previous meeting, with the idea that they would accomplish these goals between

meetings. The teacher will review with the student the progress towards the completion

of these goals.

After discussing what has been accomplished between the last meeting and this

one, the meeting takes on a set agenda:

1.

Ask for the duplicates out of the students’ lab books [Appendix C]. In this lab
book, students will have written down summaries of any and all readings that
they have done prior to this meeting, as well as any experimental notes on any
project that they have running presently.

Ask for the time log [Appendix C]. A research student who is diligent should
put in at least nine hours of work per week, including in class research time.

It is important for the teacher to check the time log against what is written in
the lab book summaries for inconsistencies. At this time, the teacher can talk
with the student about time management if needed, or if the student simply
needs to be doing more work.

At this point, the meeting becomes individualized. Depending on the class of
the student (sophomore, junior, etc.), the time of year, and level of readings,
this time is spent on whatever needs the student has at this time.

Students produce the 10-Day Goal sheet. At the bottom, the student and
teacher together set the goals for the student ﬁom now until the next meeting
time.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the teacher will allow the student to assess

his/her progress during the previous 10 days using an evaluation form

41

[Appendix C]. The teacher will discuss the assessment with the student, and

the student and teacher together will give the student a value to assess the

students’ progress during the previous 10 days.
Finding an Interest Area/Readings

The ﬁrst task of ﬁnding the interest area of a student is to talk to the students about

paying attention to what they read when they thumb through newspapers and magazines,
which starts off with the summer assignment. When the student participated in the ﬁrst
one-on-one meeting, the teacher ﬁrst asked them to talk about what they found
interesting; i.e., what articles did they summarize? As the student spoke, the teacher
listened to try and glean ideas that are common to the readings. After the student
completed their discussion about each article, the teacher then wrote down several topics
that seem to be in conjunction with what interested the student about that particular
article. Then, the teacher went through the extensive list of different topics that seemed
to have come up while the student was describing the readings, and got oral feedback
ﬁ'om the student. The teacher assigned further readings based on those topics. At the
beginning of the year, this list of topic interests should be large and diverse. Every time
the student meets with the teacher, this topic list should get more and more speciﬁc
towards a certain topic area. Once a student has identiﬁed, with the guidance of the
teacher, a deﬁnite topic area such as biomedical engineering, diabetes, child psychology,
etc., the student then proceeds to read articles solely on that one topic. Again, students
move progressively towards more and more speciﬁc interest areas until the student has
found a speciﬁc interest area that he/she would like to spend the next two years working

within.

42

As each student progressed through the ranks of ﬁnding a speciﬁc interest area,
he/she also progressed in the level of reading difﬁculty. Students started off with
newspaper articles and general magazine articles. Ultimately, students displayed the
mastery needed to start reading primary literature. At this time, real learning occurred on
multiple levels.

When students reach the level of reading scientiﬁc journal articles, they complete
assignment called an Article Dissection [Appendix D], written by Dr. Robert Pavlica.
This assignment enables the student to fully understand both the structure of the journal
article and relative importance of the parts or the journal article. Students dissected a
journal article, and presented this dissection to the class.

As anyone can attest, the reading'of these articles is not a trivial exercise. Students
can take months to read even one article. This is appropriate, because the student must
show mastery not only of the structure of the article but of the content. Students ended
up teaching themselves an enormous amount of material before they were done with a
journal article.

Mentor Recruitment

While the student is reading primary literature about his/her interest area, they found
that certain names kept showing up as leading contributors to the interest area of the
student. This is the time in which the student will start to think about recruiting a mentor
to help guide them in their independent research.

Mentors include college professors and industrial researchers. In most cases,
potential mentors have had a positive inﬂuence of a mentor early in their careers and

have the desire to respond in kind. These mentors understand the signiﬁcant role they

43

can play for a new generation of young scientists. While the teacher has a more
generalized degree with a broad picture of the subject area, mentors have a more speciﬁc
expertise.

The signiﬁcant contributions of mentors to a student that is seeking to develop an
authentic research project include the following: speciﬁc expertise matching a student’s
interest, a time commitment, access to equipment and a lab, access to scholarly journals
and articles, a professional role model, and guidance to the student.

Ideally, a scientist that has written a journal article that the student has already taken a
special interest in would be a primary target as a potential mentor. If the authors of the
papers are not available because of either geography and/or policies of the institute, then
the student would then scour local research universities to look for possible mentor
candidates.

When looking for possible mentor candidates, students consider that the possible
mentor is doing work that is speciﬁcally interesting to the student, that the work is
current, and that the possible mentor is geographically possible.

The student then focuses solely on the work of the potential mentor. In the span of
several months, the student will read every abstract of every study the possible mentor
has published, whether or not it is in the interest area of the student. Then, the student
will pick four journal articles authored by the possible mentor and read them, making
sure that they understand both the structure of the study as well as the science behind it.
At this time, they will write an e-mail to the prospective mentor, that will include a
description of themselves, a description of the program, a description of what they have

read, a description of what work of the prospective mentor they ﬁnd most interesting and

44

why, and a formal request to work with that researcher. Two examples of recruitment
letters to potential mentors can be found in Appendix E. Students are provided models,
and these letters are edited by both other students and the teacher before they are sent.

If the mentor does not respond within eight school days, then the teacher proceeds to
make a personal phone call to assure that the scientist received the email, and if so, if the
prospective mentor had any questions. If the mentor responded and gave a negative
response, then the student wrote a polite letter of thanks, and started over again with
another prospective mentor.

If the mentor responded with approval, then the student immediately wrote a letter of
gratitude and requested a meeting to start the relationship. This meeting is attended by
the student, the mentor, and the students’ parents. At this meeting, the student outlined
what his/her speciﬁc interests are, and where he/she believes his/her potential research is
heading.

In the scope of the three year timeline of this program, students recruited the
prospective mentors in early May of sophomore year, with the goal of having a mentor
secured by the beginning of June. The summer between sophomore year and junior year
will be spent furthering the relationship via email and periodic visits between the student
and mentor, and continuing with readings.

Planning

One of the most important tools of successful researchers is the ability to plan, in both
the short term and in the long term. One of the central ideas in this program is to set
deadlines, abide by them, and arrange work schedules to meet that deadline. To do this,

students must ﬁrst what it means to plan. During the ﬁrst couple of days of school, the

45

teacher asked the students to plan a trip to Disney World. The teacher did not give them
any parameters, except to say that it is a weekend trip to Disney World for the family of
the student. When the assignment was due, the students all shared their plans in front of
the class, for their ﬁrst experience in peer review. As each student stood up and read
through their plan, it was the task of every other student to ﬁnd at least one aspect of the
trip that was not planned. In this way, students learned very quickly that even the
simplest of tasks requires the planning of many, many details that are often overlooked.

At any given time, students have three plans in place, from the long term to the short
term. The long term plan is for an entire school year, and is called the Sophomore Mid-
Year Plan [Appendix F] (for sophomores) or the Junior Vision Plan [Appendix F] (for
juniors). Midway through the junior year, the juniors will also be asked to submit a
Junior Mid-Year Plan [Appendix F] that will serve as a precursor for the summer
research project. At the end of the sophomore year, students are asked to submit a
Sophomore Summer Vision plan [Appendix F] that explains what they will accomplish
over the summer.

Four times during the year, students will be asked to submit a T en Week plan
[Appendix F], which corresponds with the beginning of each marking period.

Finally, students will set goals and plans to achieve those goals on a 10 day
period, from teacher and student meeting to another. These plans will be constantly
monitored and reevaluated during the course of the year during the one-on-one to make
sure that each plan is being followed, and if there are revisions, to be sure that they are

made appropriately and for appropriate reasons.

46

Experimental Methodology

During the sophomore year, it is important to teach basic experimentation skills.
As the students enter the research program, they have a basic idea of the scientiﬁc
method. The experience of the student has been very clearly “cook book” type labs
where the question is asked for them, the system is set up for them, and the expected data
are explained. Students must be shown the importance of asking a testable question,
setting up a system that can attempt to answer the testable question, how to take data that
can be used to support and or not support a hypothesis, and how to use the data to write a
sensible conclusion. Students also need instruction on how to learn the basic science
behind their projects and ideas, as well as to constantly look out for ways to improve their
system.

Particular, speciﬁc experimental procedures should be taught to the student by the
mentor, in a speciﬁc individualized setting. However, basic methodologies can be taught
to sophomores before starting out on their own self designed projects. This process
involves a great deal of modeling and constant peer review.

Prior to starting any miniature projects that teach basic methodology, the students
participate in three small assignments [Appendix G] that teach students how to set up a
controlled experiment, and an appropriate system, and to determine the difference
between causality and correlation in experimentation.

The sophomores next complete three extensive in house projects throughout their
sophomore year. They are called Science I (an observational study), Science H (an

experimental study), and Science 111 (student’s choice).

47

Science I involved an observational study of a river waterway system. Students
were instructed to research what an observational study is, and the difference between an
observational study and an experimental study. Students were then put in groups of four,
and the class as a whole traveled to a nearby river with ready access. Students were
given two hours to observe and take notes. The next class period, students were allowed
to discuss possible study ideas. The next day, these ideas were shared amongst the class,
and critiqued. Students had a week to develop a complete project plan, as well as an
order list for supplies. Each project plan went through both a written and oral peer
review, and students were given two weeks to run the experiment. After one week of
taking data, one class period was used to give an update to the rest of the class as to the
progress of projects. After collection of data was complete, students had one week to
analyze the data, write a scientiﬁc paper, and present their project and results to the class
in PowerPoint format. An example from a group of four can be found in Appendix G.

Science 11 is an experimental study that involved the science behind cooking,
performed in groups of three. Students were required to purchase the book Cookwise by
Shirley O. Corriher, which is a veritable textbook on the chemistry behind cooking.
Students were required to do an extensive literature review on an area of research
involving information contained in the book Cookwise, design and conduct an
experiment, write up the experiment as a scientiﬁc paper, and present the project to the
class as a Power Point presentation. The Science 11 project had the same time frame and
peer review schedule as Science I. At this point, students become very aware of both the
value and importance of peer review, and actively seek it out even when not scheduled.

An example of a Science H project can be found in [Appendix G].

48

Science III is an individual year end project required for all sophomores. This
project entailed the entire second semester (20 weeks), and the subject and type was of
the individual choosing of the student. For Science I and 11, all deadlines were set by the
teacher. For Science 111, sophomores scheduled their own deadlines for each stage of the
project, including project ideas, literature reviews, design, materials ordering, performing
the project, data collection, data analysis, scientiﬁc paper, and presentation. Students
were also required to schedule peer review at all stages of development and
implementation. Examples of Science 111 projects can be found in [Appendix G].
Institutional Review Board and Grant Board

In an effort to provide students with a research experience as realistic as possible,
part of the research program involves the formation and use of an [RB and a Grant Board.
An IRB (Institutional Review Board) is an appropriately constituted group that has been
formally designated to review and monitor research involving human subjects. The
purpose of IRB review is to assure, both in advance and by periodic review, that
appropriate steps are taken to protect the rights and welfare of humans participating as
subjects in the research. To accomplish this purpose, IRB’s use a group process to review
research protocols and related materials (e.g., informed consent documents and
investigator procedures) to ensure protection of the rights and welfare of human subjects
of research. The IRB at Grand Rapids Catholic Central consisted of four individuals: An
established science teacher (not the research teacher), the assistant principal, the head of
the religion department, and a parent who is a physician. When sophomore students are
performing the Science III project, some of them may choose a project that involves

using other students as subjects. If that is the case, the student is required to ﬁll out an

49

IRB application. This application includes a vast amount of information to the review
board, including the subject of the study, the procedure, the type of data collected, the
procedure in which the data will be collected, the role of the experimental subject in the
procedure, and what risks and or beneﬁts are involved. The review determines if this
project is indeed appropriate according to both school and civilized guidelines (borrowed
ﬁom the IRB at Michigan State University and INTEL), and approves the project. The
student must then write a consent form that must, after again being approved by the IRB,
be signed by both the experimental subject and his/her parent. This gives the student
invaluable experience in the real world workings of experimentation and research.

While performing Science I, II, and 111, students need to order and purchase
materials. Before being allowed to do this, students must justify the need for these
materials to a Grant Board, made up of three individuals: The research teacher, a senior
student that has been hand selected by the research teacher, and the assistant principal.
Students must submit their project proposal in writing, as well as each individual material
and cost. The Grant Board determines if the cost is justiﬁed, and if so, orders the
materials. If the Grant Board determines that costs are not justiﬁed, then the proposal is
sent back to the student for revision. This gives students invaluable practice in two key
areas of practicality: First, students learn to work within a set, limited budget. Secondly,
students learn to work to ﬁnd the most cost effective way of achieving a task instead of
simply ordering kits out of a catalog.

Science Thursdays
As a way for all students to keep abreast of what others are doing in their

individual projects, we have a day of sharing every other Thursday. Elected students

50

bring in food and drink, and the period is spent going around the room giving an update
on the state of each individual student’s research. This is especially useful with the
modeling aspect of the class. Sophomores tend to hang on every word of the Juniors,
learning where they are going to be at this time next year and what they can expect and
where they should be in their own research. It is a key time for peer review of progress
also; it is not uncommon for other students to question why a particular student has not
progressed further since the last Science Thursday. Finally, this gives students in the
class to hear interesting and up to date information on subject areas outside of their own.
Ethics

As students of research, it is important to spend time with students talking about
the ethics that are involved with discovery science. As found in Appendix H, the teacher
spent approximately one week working on ethical issues involved in research and how
best to work with them.
Statistics

Five class periods are devoted to statistic lessons. During these ﬁve class periods,
students travel to the classroom of the AP Statistic teacher, who teaches them basic
statistics, statistical analysis, making and using graphs and charts using data sets, and
using speciﬁc experimental situations to decipher proper statistical analysis. After
getting feedback from mentors and professors, it is deemed not necessary to teach
complex statistics. These skills will be learned on an individual basis with the mentor.
Presentations

A part of being scientiﬁcally literate is the ability to express oneself scientiﬁcally.

When students complete a project, whether it be a Science I, II, or III, or an article

51

dissection, they are expected to present this project to the class in a PowerPoint
presentation, and in the case of a Junior Summer Vision paper, they are expected to also
use a posterboard. The skill of being able to express oneself scientiﬁcally without simply
reading your paper out loud is not only valuable but extremely difﬁcult. For students to
make the switch ﬁom learner of a particular topic to a teacher of this particular topic, to
convey an appropriate amount of understanding, to give a meaningful presentation, is a
skill that takes a lot of time, and practice, to learn. Students that give presentations are
given feedback ﬁom their peers in all sections of the scientiﬁc method as well as the
quality of the presentation itself [Appendix I].
Competitions

Several competitions exist for the sharing of research projects at the high school
level. While entering competitions is not a goal of this research program, nor is winning
a measure of success, entering competitions was encouraged. There are literally
hundreds of competitions that exist nationwide that provide an avenue for a student to put
his/her research project and subsequent paper up for a larger audience for peer review.
Most students will enter the Intel Science and Engineering Talent Search. Some will ﬁnd
their particular project will ﬁt more speciﬁcally in a competition that is geared more

towards the subject area of their project.

52

Chapter III: Presentation and Analysis of Data

This research project set out to deﬁne and then assess the effectiveness of a
research program designed by the author. This research program had ﬁve main goals:
Use of the Scientiﬁc Method, write a scientiﬁc paper, present scientiﬁc data, participate
in the scientiﬁc community, and to culminate into conducting an authentic research
project.

The ﬁrst year (2006-2007) of this pilot program involved both sophomores and
juniors. At the end of the pilot year, the sophomores will have only just secured their
mentor to start work, while the juniors will have started a project of their design.
Therefore, the students in the class will be at different levels of attaining the ultimate
goal: the design and implementation of an authentic research project. The results
gleaned from students in this pilot year are organized into three sections. Part I, which
assesses the competency in research skill areas. Part II, which assesses the change in
attitude, perception, and ability over the course of the pilot year. And ﬁnally, Part IH,
which gives the exact descriptions of each project designed by students so that the reader
can discern the impressive level of accomplishment.

Part I: Skill Self A ssessm ent

Students were asked to self assess their competency in seven areas, which were
expansions of the main ﬁve goals of the program, in both the beginning and end of the
pilot year. These seven main areas are use of the Scientiﬁc Method, scientiﬁc thinking,
conducting literature searches, conducting authentic experimentation, working with data,

participating in the scientiﬁc community, and writing a scientiﬁc paper.

53

Students were given a questionnaire [Appendix J] in both August (Pre-Pilot Year) and
June (Post-Pilot Year).

In Figures 2 and 3, each of the seven skills is treated independently. These data
are gleaned from all 17 members of the pilot year of the research program. Each chart is
representative of the average rating on a Likert scale of each of the seven skills from one
(being the least proﬁcient) to 5 (being the most proﬁcient) both before and after the pilot

year of the research program.

Skill Analysis: Sophomores (n=9)

 

 

I Pro-Pilot Year
I Poet-Pilot Year

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Survey Skill #
Fig. 2
Skill Analysis: Juniors (n=7)
I Pro-Pilot Year
I Poet-Pilot Your
Survey Skill #
Fig. 3

54

Part I Analysis:

All students ranked a marked increase in their skill level for all seven goals. Not
surprisingly, the most improvement came with the skills of working within the scientiﬁc
community and writing a scientiﬁc paper, since anecdotal evidence showed no evidence
of practice in either of these before the pilot year. Also, it is not surprising that goal ﬁve
(use of statistical analysis) showed the least percentage of improvement, since this was
the goal that was least addressed. The bulk of statistical education should be done on an
individualized basis as relevant to the subject ﬁeld and research project, and thus should
be done with the mentor.

These data suggest that on average students in the research program improved at
skills pertaining to the ﬁve goals of the research program over the span of the one pilot
year. Further studies in future years can demonstrate further improvement and mastery of
the goal skills.

Part II: Student Interviews

A technique common in ﬁeld research is the interview. The value of asking
students “real questions,” ones to which the researcher is genuinely interested in the
answer, rather than contrived questions designed to elicit data of a particular sort, is
emphasized by Carol Gilligan (in Maxwell 1996, p. 74). In light of this, all students were
also asked several questions pertaining to perspectives, methodology, and program design
for Part H of the Results. This is particularly helpful to help ascertain whether the pilot
program signiﬁcantly altered attitudes and perspectives of students as pertaining to

science and science discovery. Two sophomore and two junior students were randomly

55

selected for complete reporting of these interviews. The responses for all students were

then used to assess if each student has achieved the research program goals.

The second part of the assessment came in the form of a formal one-on-one

interview using a speciﬁc set of questions [Appendix K]. The interviewer was the

teacher and developer of the project. Each interview took approximately 20 minutes.

The full transcripts of these four interviews can be found in Appendix K.

Figure 4 is a checklist to illustrate mastery at a certain level of goals in the areas

of methodology, perspective, and skills. Figure 4 is based on a distillation of the

interview questions found in the Appendix to simple yes or no responses to the following

questions:

1. What year in the pilot program?

2. Has the student displayed a change in perspective in relation to science interest?

3. Has the student displayed a change in perspective in relation to what scientists
do?

4. Has the student displayed an ability to describe a controlled experiment?

5. Has the student displayed an ability to adequately describe statistical analysis?

6. Has the student displayed an understanding of how science is discovered?

7. Has the student displayed an appreciation for planning towards a goal?

8. Is the student performing at a high level because of his/her own motivation, and
not that of his/her research instructor or parents?

9. Has the student become a better scientist?

10. Has the student displayed the ability to follow the scientiﬁc method?

56

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Question # Student A Student B Student C Student D
1 Junior Junior Sophomore Sophomore
2 Yes No Yes No
3 Yes Yes Yes Yes
4 Yes Yes Yes Yes
5 No Yes No No
6 Yes Yes Yes Yes
7 Yes Yes Yes Yes
8 Yes Yes Yes Yes
9 Yes Yes Yes Yes
10 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Figure 4
Part II Analysis:

After comparing the results from the four randomly selected students to the rest of
the students in the program, it is evident that the four students reﬂect the interview data

of the entire section of 16 students. It is also evident that students in the pilot year of the

research program showed a marked increase in the ability to “do” science and their

interest in science. However, the class as a whole showed themselves to act as a state

function: they all made it to the same level (sophomores with other sophomores, and

juniors with other juniors) at the end of the pilot year, but all took very different paths

with different setbacks to get to that level.

Student A exempliﬁed the aspect of the program to instill in students an ability to

use the scientiﬁc method, experimentally, in an environment of discovery science.

57

 

Student A started off the year with a very healthy interest in science, but with only
limited experience with lab work. While starting out with a very diverse set of interests,
this student soon started to focus in on psychology, and the effects of psychology on
health. Soon, however, this student came across some research on how speciﬁc
nutritional factors affect certain cancer growths, and this idea led to a very intense study
of primary literature of how nutrition can be used to decrease the growth rate of colon
cancer. At about this time, this student completed Science 1, working on a study of
coliforrn levels of a nearby river, and turned in a scientiﬁc paper of a very high level of
complexity. Student A showed a very high level of ability to work in a discovery science
environment early in the year, climbing a very steep learning curve very rapidly. Student
A recruited a professor at Michigan State University, and the mentor was duly impressed
with the level of knowledge and accomplishment that this student showed. This student
immediately cultivated a working relationship with her mentor to design a project, and is
currently working on a very interesting study involving a speciﬁc nutrient in beans and
their effect on the growth of colon cancer cells. This is a student whose interest was only
strengthened, not created. However, her skills and mastery in being able to work in a
scientiﬁc environment as a researcher greatly improved throughout the pilot year.
Student B exempliﬁed an aspect of the program that affords students the
opportunity to appreciate the process of discovery, and the excitement that often
accompanies it, rather than just the end results. Student B is quite possibly one of the
most intelligent and driven students the author has ever been involved with as a teacher.
This is a student who, as predicted, showed very little difference in any goal category

before and after the pilot year. Student B progressed very quickly through the reading

58

stages to primary literature, centering in very quickly on transcription factors. However,
student B lacked a true understanding of what real science entails, and therefore lacked
an appreciation for the value in going through the process. It was very evident, both in
discussion and in interviews, that the primary goal of student B was not in the process,
but in the level of accomplishment in the beginning of the pilot year. For example, the
primary goal was not in the realm of having a rewarding experience, but to “get into
MIT” or to “have an amazing mentor.” Student B, without consideration of logistics,
recruited a potential mentor that was a Nobel Prize winning scientist that worked at the
Whitehead Institute at MIT. This recruitment was indicative that the thought process
involved had more to do with names and accomplishments then the speciﬁc project work
of student B. When the inevitable decline came from the potential mentor from MIT,
student B moved on to another scientist at MIT, and also received rejection. These two
rejections led to student B reevaluating the criteria that was being used to ﬁnd a potential
mentor, and led this student to a professor at Michigan State University. Presently,
student B is working on a very involved, complex, and novel project with this mentor.
Daily, I receive emails from this student that exude excitement over what she is learning
and experiencing. This evidence of appreciating an experience without regard to
accomplishment is very evident in both discussion with the student and with answers to
interview questions. This growth is also evident in the difference in written expression
from the beginning of the pilot year to the present.

Student C is a student that grew exponentially in this pilot year in two key areas.
This student started out the year with little or no conﬁdence and poor writing skills,

despite an acute intellectual ability. When deciding on an interest area, this student

59

wavered for over four months. Even when the student seemed to be locked in and very
excited about automotive engineering, she came in the very next day and declared that
automotive engineering probably was not what she wanted to study. After some
discussion, she admitted that after going home excited about ﬁnally ﬁnding an interest
area that was inspirational, the student’s parents deadpanned the idea, and the student
changed her mind immediately. During this time, student C was completing two projects,
Science I and 11. Both of these projects resulted in papers that were poorly written, with
spelling mistakes, grammar missteps, and poorly communicated ideas and organization.
Even the emails ﬁ'om this student read as if they were text messages to ﬁiends, barely
understandable. At or around February, after much discussion and meetings, student C
started to show a marked improvement in both areas of conﬁdence and writing. Without
prompting, this student found an area (biomedical engineering) and began a furious
primary literature search to ﬁnd out as much as possible about the subject. Student C
then identiﬁed a scientist at the Cleveland Clinic that was working on the PediPump, an
artiﬁcial heart for infants and children, and spent a great deal of time learning about the
work of this potential mentor, and in the process, learning an enormous amount of
content matter pertaining to biomedical engineering. After identifying this potential
mentor, student C presented an article dissection based upon an article ﬁom this scientist.
This written report, and subsequent presentation, was so impressive in written form that it
will be used by the author as a model to other sophomores next year when they write an
article dissection. This student then wrote an incredibly intelligent, well organized, and
persuasive letter to the prospective mentor, and was invited down to Cleveland Clinic

immediately to meet the scientist who readily agreed to mentor the student. This student

60

now speaks and carries herself with conviction and conﬁdence, and emails from this
student are now a pleasure to read.

Student D started this pilot year with incredible intelligence, ability, and interest,
but lacking the work ethic and time management skills needed to achieve full potential.
In our ﬁrst three meetings, student D varied in interest areas, ranging from cellular aging,
psychological aspects of education, and then ﬁnally settling into studying how speciﬁc
genes regulate the spread of different types of cancer. Initially, during these meetings,
the student showed appropriate progress, but it was clearly evident that the student could
be moving much faster and accomplish much more. As a result, the author was forced to
constantly encourage the student to reach farther with the available ability. During
Science I, in a group of four, the student showed interest and did strong work, but the
empathy was still present. Thankfully, in January, the student broke through this mental
barrier. Science 111 is completely independent, and this student welcomed the chance to
work on a project that was completely of his own design, without having to negotiate any
ideas with project teammates. At meetings that occurred during this project, student D
expressed numerous times that he had been spending many late nights preparing for, and
executing, this project. After this project was concluded, the student saw with
experienced eyes what the result is of hard work and dedication. This student expressed
to the author, both in verbal form and in interview form, that the satisfaction gained ﬁ'om
the results of working harder than he had ever worked before was unmatched in any
accomplishment in his life, including sporting events. This student is an all-state caliber

athlete.

61

Part III: Junior Research Projects

In Part [H of the Results, students that were ready to start their research
projects were asked to submit a detailed description of the project, including the
introduction, objective, literature review, methodology, and expected results. This is
used to inform the reader that the junior in the pilot program did achieve the ﬁnal goal of
designing and running an authentic research project. It is left up to the reader to assess
the level of usefulness, complexity, and creativity of each project.

In this section, the reader will see the ﬁnal, and the most complete assessment of
the research program developed by the author. If students are able to design and
implement an authentic research project, with a mentor, then it is assumed that all ﬁve
main goals of the research program have been fulﬁlled.

There were seven juniors in the pilot program, all of whom completed the
necessary steps to implement their research project. The seven students, and their topic
of work, are:
Student A will study how beans affect colon cancer at Michigan State University.
Student B will study a molecular regulator of transcription at Michigan State University.
Student C will study depression and mood disorders at the University of Michigan.
Student D will study meteorites at the Center of Cosmochemistry at the University of
Chicago
Student E will conduct an exploratory study that researches the possibility of attorney
assistance in the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's patients at St. Mary's Hospital
Alzheimer’s Institute.
Student F will study the beneﬁts of using video to model behaviors for autistic children
at Grand Valley State University.
Student G will study space propulsion and build a microgravity drop tower at Michigan
State University.

At the end of the pilot year, before they were allowed to embark on their projects,

each student submitted an introduction to their project. This introduction was to include:

a preliminary abstract, an objective statement, a literature review, methodology, and a

62

review of expected results. These introductions are reproduced here as a testament to the
success of the pilot year of this program for these seven juniors. These papers, in
essence, are descriptions of their projects in both detail and scientiﬁc expression. Please
note, these are student submissions that are not edited or reformatted in any way.

Part III Analysis

When starting this pilot year of this program, I was not optimistic about the level
of work that could be accomplished by the juniors in this program. After all, one has to
consider that with this being the pilot year, juniors were forced to move through two
years worth of work in less than one school year. With this in mind, I did not expect the
cognitive level of projects designed by students to be advanced in any respect.

To my delight, I watched dining the year as the juniors took this challenge and did
not limit their expectations of themselves in any way. As the reader will undoubtedly
see, the students exceeded any and all expectations with the overwhelmingly advanced
level of research work being done. These projects are creative, useful, novel, and
required vast amounts of background work.

In the following pages, you will ﬁnd student examples of work. These papers are
descriptions of their research projects that they are participating in while the author is
writing this thesis. They include the objective, the literature review, the methodology,
and expected results. Following these examples of student work, you will ﬁnd the
Conclusion chapter.

I am proud of these projects, and of the students who designed them.

63

Summer Vision Plan
Student A

Research Objectives:

Throughout this year, I have gained great knowledge through my research. My
main focus has been on how nutrition affects cancer. I am honored to have the
opportunity to work on a project that has the potential for some incredible results. My
project for the summer deals with which part of the bean inhibits the grth of colon
cancer. By feeding rats already diagnosed with colon cancer diets containing different
parts of the bean, we can determine which part of the bean inhibits the growth of tumors
in the colon. Over the summer, I want to truly experience an authentic research project. I
will learn about research and my topic through experience and especially from working
with my mentor, Dr. Maurice Bennink. At this point, I am excited and ready to begin.

Review of Literature:

When it comes to cancer, anyone can get the disease. It does not matter how old,
what gender, or what color the person’s skin is; cancer has a way of getting to anyone [1].
Cancer can be deﬁned as a disease in which the cells grow out of control. Normal cells
follow a certain reproduction pattern. Cancer cells have some sort of mutation, and
cannot stop multiplying [2]. There is also not just one kind of cancer. There are over 100
different types of cancer found throughout the entire body [3]. Of the six different types,
carcinomas are the most common. This type includes colon cancer. This type of cancer is
the third most popular form of cancer in the United States. In 2001, there were over
45,000 new cases for men and over 52,000 new cases for women [4]. This is a serious

type of cancer seeing as how it is the third most deadly cancer in both men and women

[5].

64

Although there is no cure for cancer, many scientists and researchers have found
ways to prevent and control the disease. One can have certain tests such as colonoscopies
or genetic testing done to look for signs of cancer [6]. It has been found that 30-40% of
any type of cancer can be prevented by one’s diet [7]. More speciﬁcally, beans have been
found to contain many characteristics which help in inhibiting and controlling cancer.
Some of these characteristics include the possession of: saponins, protease inhibitors, and
phytic acid. All three of these work to either slow the growth of tumors or prevent them
in the ﬁrst place. Also, with the high ﬁber content, beans also lower one’s risk of getting
cancer [8]. Beans have also been found to contain antioxidants, which play a major role
in stopping cancer. Antioxidants are substances which protect the body from oxidation
and have also been found to ﬁght against cancer [9]. Beans have also been found to have
large amounts of folate and a lower glycemic index [10]. These two properties are
thought to play some role in the anti-cancer effects. Folate is simply a compound of
vitamin B and the glycemic index is a scale that tells how much the blood glucose level’s
average rise after one eats a certain food.

There have been a few experiments whose results have directly supported the idea
that beans help inhibit the growth of tumors. One experiment, Hughes et al., fed rats
either pinto beans or a milk protein. The rats fed pinto beans reduced their number of
tumors by half compared to those fed the protein. Also, the rats fed the beans had fewer
tumors altogether than those fed the protein. A similar experiment was done by Dr.
Maurice Bennink and Dr. Hangen. This experiment had three different groups: casein,
black beans, and navy beans. The results agreed with the ﬁrst experiment showing that

the rats fed the beans had a signiﬁcantly less amount of tumors than the other rats [1 1].

65

The part of the bean that inhibits the growth of cancer is still unknown and is the purpose
of this experiment.

Hypothesis/Obj ective:

The purpose of this experiment is to determine precisely which part of the bean
inhibits the grth of colon cancer. We hypothesize that alter the bean is broken down
into components, only a very small part of the bean will actually have an effect on the
tumors.

Research Methods:

We begin by injecting the rats with the colon cancer. By doing this, we ensure
that each rat will have cancer and tumors in the colon. After this, each rat will be fed a set
diet containing a different part of the bean. The bean will be broken up by which part is
either soluble or insoluble with ethanol, and the soluble will be broken up further for a
total of four different parts of the bean. One group will either be fed the entire bean while
another group is fed a control, similar to the casein from the other experiments, making a
total of six groups.

After a set time, the rats will be sacriﬁced and then dissected. The dissection will
be done in order to obtain the colons, which will be weighed and examined further. By
weighing the colons, we can determine which part of the bean helps inhibit colon cancer
the most. The smaller the tumors or the lighter the colon, the more effective the bean was
in inhibiting the cancer.

Expected Research Results:

After running this experiment, my mentor and I expect certain results. First, we

expect that the rats fed the entire bean will have signiﬁcantly lighter tumors than those

66

rats fed the different parts of the bean. Also, we expect to ﬁnd which of the four parts of
the bean actually inhibit the grth of the colon cancer tumors more than the other parts
of the bean.

These results can play a big role in conducting future experiments. This topic
started very general, just looking for what foods inhibited the growth of cancer. After
concluding that beans do just this, our study focuses on different areas of the beans.
Future experiments can include breaking apart this section of the bean. By continuing to
zone in on the speciﬁc component of the bean which inhibits the growth of cancer,
researchers can ﬁgure out the exact components needed to inhibit these type of cells. By
knowing this, studies can be done to foods with similar structures to ﬁnd more foods with
this ability. This is a step in research which has major possibilities.

Expected Conclusions:

From this experiment, many different conclusions can be made. First of all, by
knowing which part of the bean inhibits the growth of colon cancer, we can start to test
for the effects on other types of cancer. Also, we can look for the same characteristics in
other foods to determine if they too inhibit the grth of these tumors. By ﬁnding out
which part of the bean inhibits the growth of tumors, scientists and researchers are one

step closer to ﬁnding a solid way to prevent and control cancer.

67

Bibliography:

[1] "Cancer deaths declining: Get cancer basics." MayoClinic.com: Tools for
Healthier Lives. 29 Dec 2006. Mayo Clinic. 18 May 2007
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cancer/CA00003.

 

[2] "Cancer Reference Information: What is Cancer?." American Cancer Society.
06 Feb 2006. American Cancer Society. 18 May 2007
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRl_2 4_l x_What_ls_Cancer.asp?sitearea

[3] "What is Cancer?." Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: Dedicated to Discover.
Committed to Ca_r_e_. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. 18 May 2007 http://www.dana-
farber.org/can/what/default.html

 

 

[4] National Institute of Health (2002) NCI Fact Book 2002 US. Health and
Human Services Washington, DC.

[5] "Colon Cancer." eMedicineHealth. 25 Oct 2005. eMedicineHealth. 18 May
2007 http://www.emedicinchealth.com/colon_cancer/article_em.htm.

 

[6] Lee, Dennis. "Colon Cancer (Colorectal Cancer)" MedicineNet.com. 18 May
2007 http://www.medicinenet.com/colon_cancer/article.htm.

 

[7] Donaldson, Michael. "Nutrition and cancer: A review of the evidence for an
anti-cancer diet." Nutrition Journal 20 11 2004 27 05 2007
<http://www.nutritionj .com/content/3/ 1/ 19/abstract/>.

 

[8] "Foods that Fight Cancer." American In_stitute for Cancer Researih 27 05
2007 <http://www.aicr.org/site/PageServer?pagename=dc_foods_beans>.

[9] "Antioxidant." Answers.com. 1 Jun 2007
<http://www.answers.com/topic/antioxidant>.

[10] Brick, Mark. "Deﬁning the Health Beneﬁts of Dry Edible Beans ."
<http://www.cpl.colostate.edu/projects/bean.htm>.

[l l] Bennink, Maurice. "Eat Beans for Good Health." 27 05 2007
<http://www.css.msu.edu/bic/PDF/Nutrition.pdf>.

68

Junior Summer Vision Paper

STUDENT B

C/EBPy is a member of the CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein family of transcription
factors that is shown to have a cell-speciﬁc activating role when heterodimerized with
C/EBPB, regulating proinﬂammatory genes such as TNFOL While C/EBPYs activating
role has been demonstrated in a variety of cell types and promoters, little work has been
done on the TNFa gene. In this experiment, we demonstrate that the re-introduction of
C/EBP'y into C/EBP'y KO mouse embryonic ﬁbroblasts is sufﬁcient to rescue
transcription of said gene through the subsequent formation of C/EBP'y-C/EBPB
heterodimers. Thus, we can conclude that C/EBP'y has an activating role the transcription

of TNFa in MEFs.

 

Review of Literature
CCAAT/enhancer—binding proteins (C/EBPs) are a family of transcription factors

characterized by a highly conserved, basic leucine zipper (bZIP) domain which allows for
dimerization and DNA binding [1-2]. This bZIP domain allows for homodimerization
and heterodimerization between family members [3-5], which then serves as a means of
increasing regulatory diversity [6-9].

Members of this family play an important role in a variety of inﬂammatory
products, such as IL-6, IL-8, and TNFa [10-13]. Speciﬁc to this study, C/EBPB is a key
regulator of TNFa transcription [12]. However, contrary to the activity at the promoters
of a variety of other genes such as IL-6 and IL-8, C/EBPB does not exhibit synergistic
behavior with NF-KB at the TNFa promoter [14-16, 17]

In general, C/EBPB is predominantly found in heterodimers with C/EBP'y, a

ubiquitously expressed member of the C/EBP family commonly found in heterodimers

69

[18—20]; the primary result of this relationship appears to be repression of C/EBPB
mediated transcription [21]. However, this inhibitory role appears to be cell-speciﬁc. In
one study, while C/EBPy did in fact repress transcription in L cell ﬁbroblasts, it failed to
do so in HepG2 cells despite the formation of C/EBPﬁz'y heterodimers [18]. Additionally,
C/EBPy has been shown to activate transcription in immunoglobulin heavy chain
promoters [22-23]. In another study, C/EBPy was shown to augment C/EBP activity at
the IL-6 and IL-8 promoters in a B lymphoblast cell line, but not in a macrophage cell
line [24]. Thus, C/EBP'y appears to have both a cell-type and promoter speciﬁc role in
transcription; further study on its effect on different genes in various cell types is
warranted.

In this study, we investigate the role of C/EBP'y in the transcription of TNFa in
mouse embryonic ﬁbroblasts; while previous work has shown it to have no inﬂuence in a
B lymphoblast cell line [24], C/EBP'Ys cell-type speciﬁcity raises the need to study its
activity in a variety of cells. Here, we demonstrated that C/EBP‘y does in fact play an

activating role and does so through the formation of C/EBPﬂz'y heterodimers.

Research Objectives
This project was sparked by Gao et al., who commented that “it will be

worthwhile to evaluate whether C/EBP'y can stimulate target genes that are known to be
positively regulated by C/EBPB in these cell-types and tissues.” As one of these target

genes, TNFa deserves further investigation.

Methodology

For this experiment, I will be using both WT mouse embryonic ﬁbroblasts, or
MEFs, and C/EBP'y KO MEFs [25]. I will prepare plasmids for TNFa-luc WT, C/EBP'y,

C/EBPB, and p65 (a form of NF-KB), and then transiently transfect the cells with the

70

plasmids in combinations as follows. This will occur both with and without LPS

treatment, which typically induces an inﬂammatory response by increasing the

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

production of C/EBPB [26]:
TNFa reporter C IEBPy C /EBP B N F-x B
gene p65

1 control - - - -
2 baseline INFa expression + - - -
3 baseline 'yactivity + + - -
4 baseline 6 activity + - + -
5 baseline p65 reading + - - +
6 + + + -
7 + - + +
8 + + + +

 

 

 

 

 

 

After 4 hours of LPS exposure time, the amount of TNFa produced will be
quantiﬁed by measuring the amount of light given off by the luciferase using a Luciferase

Reporter Gene Assay Kit and photometer.

Expected Results/Conclusions
In order to support my hypothesis that reintroduction of C/EBP'y into the

ﬁbroblasts will restore transcription of the TNFa reporter gene, readings 3 and 6 ought to
display the highest amounts of luciferase. Additionally, the reading at C/EBPB and p65
(7) should not vary signiﬁcantly from the reading at C/EBPB (4) as I do not expect B and
NF-KB to exhibit synergy; however, this reading was included to account for the
possibility that this synergistic relationship only fails to occur in macrophages, as
previously discussed [17]. Because NF-KB does activate the TNFor gene independently,
though, as further discussed in the Liu et al. paper, I do expect some degree of luciferase
production at reading 5. Reading 8 will ultimately depend on the results of the proceeding

tests.

71

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

+0ugp65
.4 . +0.05ugp65
E: +0.5ugp65
r 3 32.2
g 3 +1ugp65
L2 3' a o 0ugp65contro|
8 i3 0 0.05ugcontrols
*1 ‘2 A 0.5 ugcontrols
a i) 3 0 o1ugcontrols
cream - ° 01‘ T
.366 . + .

A ﬁgure from Gao et al., similar to those that will be found in my own paper later this

year!

“This is an example of student work. The above Figure is a part of the work of the
student, and not part of the body of this thesis.

72

References

[1] Rarnji DP, Foka P. CCAAT/enhancer-binding proteins: structure, function, and
regulation. Biochem J 2002;365:561-75.

[2] Johnson, PF and Williams, SC (1994) in Liver Gene Expression (Y aniv, M, and
Tronche, F, eds) pp. 231-258, RG Landers Company, Austin, TX.

[3] Williams, SC, Cantwell, CS, and Johnson, PF. (1991) Genes Dev. 5, 1553-1567

[4] Kinoshita, S, Akira, S, and Kishimoto, T (1992) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 89,
1473-1476

[5] Cao, Z, Umek, RM, and McKnight, SL (1991) Genes Dev. 5, 1538-1552

[6] Lamb, P and McKnight, SL (1991) Trends Biochem. Sci. 16, 417-422

[7] Lee, KA (1992) J. Cell Sci. 103, 9-14

[8] La Thangue, NB (1994) Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 6, 443-450

[9] Garrell, J, and Carnpuzano, S (1991) Bioessays 13, 493-498

[10] Akira S, Isshiki H, Sugita T, Tanabe O, Kinoshita S, Nishio T, et al. (1990) EMBO

J. 9, 1897-1906

[11] Matsuaka T, Fujikawa K, Nishio Y, Mukaida N, Matsushima K, Kishimoto T, et al.
(1993) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90. 10193-10197

[12] Pope, R. M., Leutz, A., Ness, S. A., (1994) J. Clin. Invest. 94, 1449-1455.

[13] Poli, V (1998) J. Biol. Chem. 273, 29279-29282

[14] LeClair KP, Blanar MA, and Sharp PA (1992) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89, 8145-
8149

[15] Stein BP, Cogswell PC, and Baldwin AS (1993) Mol. Cell. Biol. 13, 1854-1862
[16] Matsusaka T, Fujikawa K, Nishio Y, Mukaida N, Matsushima K, Kishimoto T, and
Akira A (1993) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90, 10193-10197

[17] Liu H, Sidiropoulos P, Song G, Pagliari LJ, Birrer MJ, Stein B, Anrather J, Pope RM
(2000) J. Immunol. 164, 4277-4285

[18] Parkin, S, Baer, M, Sopeland, TD, Schwartz, RC, and Johnson, PF (2002) J. Biol.
Chem. 277, 23563-23572

[19] Lekstrom-Himes, J, and Xanthopoulos, KG (1998).]. Biol. Chem. 273, 28545-28548
[20] Roman, C, Platero, J S, Shuman, J, and Calame, K (1990) Genes Dev. 4, 1404-1415
[21] Cooper, C, Henderson, A, Artandi, S, Avitahl, N, and Calame, K (1995) Nucleic

Acids Res. 23, 4371-4377

[22] Cooper, C, Johnson. D, Roman, C, Avitahl, N, Tucker, P, and Calame, KL (1992) J,
Immunol. 149, 3225-3231

[23] Pan, Q, Petit-Frere, C, Stavnezer, J, and Harnmarstrom, L (2002) Eur. J. Immunol.
30, 1019-1029

[24] Gao, H., Parkin, S. Johnson, P. F., Schwartz, R. C., (2002) J. Biol. Chem. 277,
38827-38837.

[25] Kaisho, T., Tsutsui, H., Tanaka, T., Tsujimura, T., Takeda, K., Kawai, T., Yoshida,
N., Nakanishi, K., Akira, S., (1999) JEM 190, 1573-1581.

[26] Alam, T., An, M. R., Papaconstantinou, J., (1992).]. Biol. Chem. 267, 5021-5024.

73

Student C
Mr. Moore
Research Seminar
May 29, 2007
Summer Vision Plan

Research Objectives

The project I will be working on with Dr. Mclnnis and Dr. Saunders focuses on
identifying illness patterns in those with bipolar disorder. The goal of this study is to
identify clinical, neurocognitive, environmental, and genetic variables that may be
predictors of disease patterns. To narrow down my speciﬁc involvement in this study I
hope to ﬁnd a relationship between those diagnosed with bipolar disorder and their
personality types. Hopefully in ﬁnding a connection in the personality types of subjects
with bipolar disorder it will be easier to diagnose the disease. The main objective for my
study is to minimize the amount of misdiagnoses of bipolar disorder by discovering a
common personality of those with the disease. A common factor related to bipolar
disorder will serve as a predictor for the condition therefore proving to be a clue for
determining if someone does in fact have the disease.

Introduction

In order to achieve the goal of identifying a predictor of bipolar disorder 400
subjects with bipolar disorder will be evaluated. 150 of those 400 subjects have a recent
onset of bipolar disorder and 250 subjects have a recent onset of bipolar disorder along
with depression. 400 healthy control subjects will also be analyzed. Patients will be

followed over a period of time in a clinical setting ﬁlling out questionnaires and

74

undergoing examination. Evaluations of personality and cognition will also be taken.
Assessments will occur at regular intervals. The hypothesis of this study is to identify
gene patterns that may be used to predict disease outcomes. I will be analyzing
personality relationships of subjects with bipolar disorder. I will be closely following
answers to the DIGS questionnaire, which is directly used for evaluating symptoms of
Anxiety Disorders, speciﬁcally in my research Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I
hypothesize that there will be a relationship between bipolar disorder and the personality
traits of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. With this information it will be easier to
identify and diagnose bipolar disorder. A new predictor of the disease will eliminate the
amount of misdiagnoses for bipolar disorder and hopeﬁrlly allow agreeable terms for

diagnosing the disorder.

Literature Review

Mental disorders are psychological illnesses caused by chemical imbalances in the
brain that effect thought or emotion of an individual. According to the National Institute
of Mental Health mental disorders affect an estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18
and older (1). Mental disorders often go unrecognized but early detection and
intervention, speciﬁcally in mood disorders, can reduce the severity of symptoms, lower
suicide rates, and lead to quicker recovery (2). Bipolar disorder strikes one in seven
individuals is the most commonly misdiagnosed mental disorder due to its broad
characteristics (wild mood swings) that have not yet been ﬁrlly identiﬁed (3). In a study
done by Bowden, in a group of subjects with bipolar disorder 40 percent had previously
received an incorrect diagnosis (4). The majority of these patients were initially

diagnosed with major depression, schizophrenia, or anxiety disorders. Bipolar disorder is

75

considered to be multifactorially inherited, and the heterogeneity of the disease leads to
conﬁrsion in diagnosis and treatment (5,6). Current studies have proven that both bipolar
disorder and personality are highly heritable (6). A study done my Hoch proposed a
relationship between a withdrawn, detached personality type and the development of
schizophrenia (7). The concept of the endophenotype of personality to mental disorders
was introduced to psychiatry by Gottesman and Shields (8). In a more recent study done
by Brodsky et al. impulsivity was the only characteristic of personality disorder that was
associated with previous suicide attempts (9). Therefore, impulsivity is a potential target
therapeutically for prevention of future suicide attempts. Obsessive compulsive disorder
is a personality/anxiety disorder that affects more than 2 percent of the population and is
characterized by unwanted ideas or impulses that repeatedly well up in the mind (10).
Other studies have shown that obsessive compulsive disorder is sometimes brought on by
depression (1 1), which gives us the link between this personality/anxiety disorder and
mental disorders. It is unclear whether speciﬁc personality traits co-segregate with
individuals with bipolar disorder, and these temperaments have yet to be identiﬁed (8). A
study done by Stone states that it is more likely for a group of borderline personality
patients to develop bipolar disorder than a group of bipolar patients to develop borderline
personality (12). This information proves the idea that there is a connection between
personality and bipolar disorder but the link it yet to be found. In ﬁnding a connection
between bipolar disorder and the personality traits of obsessive compulsive disorder
(impulsivity, anxiety), heritable variable will be identiﬁed and diagnoses will hopefully

be made easier.

76

Research Methods

The research methods to complete this study involved an interview with the
Diagnostic Interview for Genetic Studies and a NEO PI-R will be conducted. In order to
obtain the information needed to support my hypothesis I will be working on data entry
for this study. Exposure to questionnaire results will allow me to closely analyze the
answers to the questions given to the subjects. I will look through the information I can
obtain to ﬁnd agreeing details for my study.

Expected Research Results

From this study I expect to discover a relationship between bipolar disorder and
the traits of the personality disorder of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I do not expect to
have age as a factor in my study. I expect that bipolar subjects have the characteristics of

anxious and controlling personalities.

Expected Conclusions

I expect to conclude that personality is a heritable trait that is passed on along
with bipolar disorder. Hopefully by the end of my study I will have identiﬁed a common
trait among bipolar subjects that will lead to quicker diagnosis. In a more general
conclusion a single personality type will be identiﬁed from this study. More speciﬁcally I
conclude that personality traits of obsessive compulsive disorder are common in those

with bipolar disorder.

77

References

1.

"Statistics." 22 Jan 2007. National Institutes of Health. 30 May 2007

<http://www.nimh.nih.gov/healthinformation/statisticsmenu.cfm>.

F. Angst, "Mortality of patients with mood disorders: follow-up over 34-38 years."

ScienceDirect 68(2002): 167-181.

. "Mood Disorders in Teens and Adolescents." Mood Disorders. 2007. National Youth

Network. 05 May 2007 <http://www.nationalyouth.com/mooddisorders.html>.

Bowden, Charles L.. "Strategies to Reduce Misdiagnosis of Bipolar Depression."

Psvchiartic Services 52(2001): 51-55.

. "Mood Disorders." 2007. Ohio State Univeristy Medical Center. 08 May 2007

<http://medicalcenter.osu.edu/patientcare/healthinfonnation/diseasesandconditions/m

entalhealth.com>.

Saunders, Erika F .H., Scott A. Langenecker, and Melvin G. Mclnnis. "Personality

Traits in Bipolar Disorder."
Keshavan, Matcheri, Harpreet Duggal, Gautarni Veeragandham, and Nancy

McLaughlin. "Personality Dimensions in First-Episode Psychosis." The American

Journal of Psychiatga 162(2005): 102-109.

78

8. Savitz, Jonathan, and Rajkumar Rarnesar. "Personality: is it a viable endophenotype
for genetic studies of bipolar affective disorder?." Bﬁrolar Disorders 8(2006): 322-

337.

9. Brodsky, Beth, Kevin Malone, Steven Ellis, and John Mann. "Characteristics of

Borderline Personality Disorder Associated with Suicidal Behavior." The American

Journal of Psychiatry. 154(1997): 1715-1719.

10. "Obsessive Compulsive Disorder." Mental Health. 2005. Internet Mental Health. 08

May 2007 <http://www.mentalhealth.com/book/p45-ocd1.html>.

11. Gardner, Roselyn. "Symptom Clusters of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder." AllPsych

Journal 12 Aug 2003 07 May 2007 <http://allpsych.com/joumal.ocd.html>.

12. Stone, Micheal. "Relationship of Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar

Disorder." Am J Psychiatry 163(2006): 1126-1128.

79

Student D

Junior Summer Vision Plan

Abstract/Introduction

Although studies of star-forming regions have yielded insights into the evolution
of molecular clouds, the processes relating to the formation of the inner regions of our
solar system—where Earth resides—cannot be found among the stars. To glimpse the
solar system’s early days, researchers must turn to primitive meteorites, speciﬁcally
chondrites. By recording the decay rate of radioactive isotopes in the meteorites, we can
establish the timing of the formation of the solar system and what occurred. In some
meteorites, the decay rate does not match others of its classiﬁcation, which might give
possible clues into earlier times of the solar system. Using the scanning electron
microscope, detectors in the device will record the electrons and x-rays emitted, giving
readings of chemical composition and images. I will be scanning speciﬁcally for
inclusions that were formed by unknown means, since the abundance of such specimens
in scientists’ hands is rare and the merging of such populations needed to decipher the

records the FUN inclusions are needed.

Objective

The objective of this experiment is to use a scanning electron microscope and ﬁnd
inclusions in meteorites that were fractionated by unknown nucleosynthesis. (FUN

inclusions).

80

Literzgure Review

Images from the studies of star-forming regions help our understanding of
molecular cloud evolution, but not into the processes of the formation of inner area of our
solar system (Gilmour). Solid bodies of extraterrestrial material that penetrate the
atmosphere and reach the Earth’s surface are called meteorites (Krot et al.).

Primitive meteorites are comprised of elements of their environment, and the
isotopes they contain also act as solar system chronometers by comparing the amount of
parent isotope decayed to the new isotope that formed, letting the age be determined. The
radioactive clocks can be reset by geological events that cause heating, so the rocks on
Earth are unreliable since they have been reheated so many times. That is where
determining the age of chondrites is important, since they were detached from the Earth
and formed or reset elsewhere in the Solar System (McWeen 40-41).

Primitive meteorites formed in the early solar system and came from asteroids.
They contain chrondules, which are igneous particles, speciﬁcally “millimeter-sized
spherical droplets” that crystallized rapidly in minutes to hours when ﬂash heated and
quickly cooled, although the heating mechanism is still uncertain (Gilrnour) (Scott, Krot).

Large numbers of chrondrules are found in all chondrites, which are stony
meteorites, named so for the chrondrules they contain. Although chondrites have
undergone thermal or shock metamorphism, chondrites were never molten, unlike
igneous chrondules (Scott, Krot). They never melted or experienced any other igneous
difﬁ'entiation, and so still have the preserved records of physical and chemical processes

in the solar nebula ( Krot et a1).

81

Chondrites are also the oldest rocks known rocks, determined by comparing the
amount of tungsten-182 that resulted from the decay of hafrrium-l 82. The slight
difference in amounts of tungsten-l 82 indicates different times of formation, but the
difference is signiﬁcantly large enough to say Earth and the meteorites are the same age.
(There is a 30,000 million year difference, not very signiﬁcant compared to the
4,567,000,000 billion years taken into account.) These “surviving witnesses” to the birth
of the solar system make them the best source of clues for the origin of the solar system
(Scott, Krot). Figuring out the records is the main goal of chrondrite studies (Krot et a1).
Chondrites also “provide the best estimates for the mean abundances of condensable
elements in the solar system”. The estimates obtained are important for developing
theories about the formation of elements in evolved stars (Scott, Krot).

One of the three components of chondrites is refractory inclusions, which are tiny
bits of rock “tens of micrometers to centimeters in dimension”. They were produced by
high-temperatures processes that included condensation, evaporation, and melting. One
of the two types that are to be studied are calcium- and aluminum-rich inclusions, or
CAIs (Scott, Krot).

CAIs are clasts (fragments of rocks made from pre-existing rocks) whose sizes
range from submillimeter- to centimeter-sizes. They are found in chondrites and have
been intensely studied since their ﬁrst descriptions more than 30 years ago.
Thermodynamic calculations were used to predict the phases that condense out of a gas
of solar composition during cooling from high temperatures. The main focus at ﬁrst was

how similar the CAIs’ mineralogy was to those phases predicted (MacPherson).

82

CAIs probably formed during the most energetic phase of protosolar disk
evolution and are the oldest objects in chondrites excluding presolar grains. They are
made of the minerals corundum, hibonite, grossite, perovskite, melilite, spinel, Al—Ti-
diopside, anorthite, and forsterite, which are predicted to condense ﬁ'om a cooling gas of
solar composition at temperatures 1,200—1,300 K and total pressure of 1025 bar (Scott,
Krot).

An exception to CAIs are ones known as FUN inclusions, an acronym in
reference to their Fractionation and Unidentiﬁed Nuclear effects. These inclusions
contain fractionated unidentiﬁed nuclear isotopic anomalies. It is speculated that they or
their precursors might have been injected into the disk during a close pass with a rogue
star, and thus FUN inclusions could predate other CAIs (Connolly) (MacPherson).

FUN CAIs have unusual isotopic properties. The characteristic signatures
included little or no excess of 26Mg from the decay of 26A], among others features.
Although there are many different kind of strange inclusions (UN CAIS, F CAIS), one
feature that “unites” them is that they contain little or no live 26Al at the time of their
formation.

There is no certain way to recognize a FUN CAI except by isotopic analysis. A
FUN inclusion may have an ordinary appearance that gives no hint of it peculiar isotopic
properties.

There is still no understanding on whether isotopic fractionation of some FUN
CAIs is the result of melt evaporation or other processes, and if the former, what the
precursor materials might have been. “It is not even clear if ‘normal’ and FUN CAIs

formed by the same or completely separate mechanisms.” If they did form that way, it is

83

problematic explaining why FUN CAIS show large degrees of isotopic mass-dependent
fractionation when normal CAIS do not even though latter have equally or more
refractory bulk compositions than FUN CAIs.

“A critically needed experiment” is to measure with very high precision the
absolute radiometric age of one or more FUN CAIS and ﬁnd out whether FUN CAIS are
older, younger, or contemporaneous with normal CAIS. And it will not just help to better
understand when and where FUN CAIs formed relative to “normal” CAIS, but this
experiment is “critical” for better understanding observed differences in initial
26Al/27AL among early solar system objects. The reason is unknown, and the
ﬂuctuations to be detected in FUN CAIS may provide very important clues (MacPherson)
Research Methods

How a scanning electron microscope (SEM) works, in short, is that an electron
beam is passed over the surface of the specimen and causes energy changes in the surface
layer. These changes are detected and analyzed to give an image of the specimen. It
yields information only from the surface or near-surface of the specimen. The specimens
used in this experiment are whole meteorites. The following signals and images produced
will apply to the meteorite as well.

The illumination beam is the “primary electron beam”. These are the electrons
being shot at the specimen. When it hits the surface changes are induced by the
interaction of the primary electrons with the molecules in the sample. The beam is not
immediately bounced back in the way light photons would in a light dissecting
microscope. Instead, the energized electrons penetrate and “worm through” the sample

before they actually collide with a particle. This creates a region known as primary

84

excitation. The shape of the region is also known as the “tear-drop” zone, and a variety of
signals are produced from the zone. The three signals to be discussed are secondary
electrons, backscatter electrons, and X-rays.

Secondary Electrons
The most widely used signal produced from the primary electron beam is the sencardy
electron emission signal. It’s produced when the electron from the primary beam hits an
electron from the specimen and loses energy. This ionizes the atom, and for it to re-
establish the proper charge ratio following this event it may have to emit an electron.
These electrons are called “secondary”.

This is the most common type of image produced by modern SEMs. It’s the most
useful for looking at surface structure and gives the best resolution image of any of the
scanning signals. Depending on the initial size of the primary beam and other conditions,
the signal can resolve the structures of the surface down to 10mm or better. This is why
secondary electrons produce “topographical” images, although the electrons must reach
the detector to contribute to the ﬁnal image. The electrons that don’t appear as shadows
or dark contrast then the regions that had a clear path to the detector.

Backscatter Electrons

These electrons are deﬁned as some that underwent single or multiple scattering
events and escaped. They’re produced when colliding with atoms of the sample and still
have about 80% of their energy. The higher the atomic number of the specimen, the more
backscattered electrons are produced. So when a sample has two or more different

elements which are different in atomic numbers, the produced images shows the actual

85

contrast of the elements. Elements that have a higher atomic number will produce more
of the electrons and appear brighter.

This time the region where the backscattered electrons are produces is larger then
the one for secondary electrons. So the resolution is less (1.0 um). There is greater energy
which the backscattered electrons escape from, thus the larger region.

X-Rays

When the electron from the inner atomic shell is displaced by colliding with the
primary electron from the beam, it leaves a vacant spotin the electron shell. To re-
establish the proper balance of the orbitals following that ionization event, the electron
from an outer shell “falls” into the inner shell and replaces the spot. This falling electron
loses and energy and that energy is referred to as X-Rays.

The falling of x-rays may also induce a cascade effect. It is known that atoms of
every element have different energies for x-rays. For example, if an x-ray of 1400
electron-volts of energy is seen, then it came ﬁom a silicon atom. Counting the x-rays
received allow us to identify how many atoms of the element are present. In short, a
chemical analysis can be done with doing any chemistry, which is a very handy tool
(SEM notes #1).

Expected Research Results
The expected result of all the scanning done on the meteorites is the discovery and

identiﬁcation of a FUN inclusion.

86

Expected Conclusions

The FUN inclusions found will have their isotopes analyzed and clues of their
origins recorded. They will also be added to the population so FUN inclusions found,
since only a handful have been identiﬁed and studied. All the conclusions scientists have
drawn from FUN inclusions depends on the properties of the ﬁrst few, and so the
contribution of more specimens will carry greater potential to inﬂuence the studies. They
will result in greater undersatnding of how the inclusions themselves formed, but also
conditions when the Sun, planets, and asteroids were forming. Just the general addition of
more information about chondrites will help us learn more about the compositions, which
in its most extreme circumstance, might prove useful to assess what should be done about
near-Earth asteroids that threaten Earth. A general understanding evidently goes along
way.

If no inclusions are found, then I will be able to say that the density of FUN

inclusions are lower than a certain value I will determine later.

87

References

MacPherson, G.J.. "Calcium—Aluminum-rich Inclusions in Chondritic
Meteorites." 201 , 219-221.

McSween, Harry Y.. Meteorites and Their Parent Planets. 2nd. New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Gilrnour, Jamie. "The Solar System's First Clocks." Science's Compass 29706 Sep
2002 1658-1659. 30 May 2007
<http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/297/5587/1658>.

Krot, A. N., Kay Keil, C. A. Goodrich, and E. R. D. Scott. "Classiﬁcation of
Meteorites." Geghvsics and Planetology Publication 84-86. 30 May 2007

Scott, E. R. D. and A. N. Krot. "Chondrites and Their Components." 144-145,
156-157. 31 May 2007

Connolly, Jr. Harold C. “From Stars to Dust: Looking into a Circumstellar
Disk Through Chondritic Meteorites.” Science’s Viewpoint 7 Jan 2005
75-76. 31 May 2007

"SEM notes #1." 31 May 2007 <http://www.uga.edu/caur/semnote1.htm>

88

Student E

Mr. Moore

Summer Vision Paper
1 June 2007
Introduction:

Currently, dementia remains a largely undiagnosed and untreated disorder in
elderly patients until the disease/disorder has progressed past the treatable stages of the
disease. This study is being done in order to possibly identify a new means of identifying
undiagnosed patients. We hypothesize that Elder Law attorneys have the unrecognized
opportunity to case ﬁnd and refer clients after observing evident loss of memory.
Positive ﬁndings might reveal an unexplored means to diagnose dementia at an earlier
stage and begin management at a time when outcome can be optimized. Uncontrolled
observation by dementia specialists suggest that cognitively impaired patients seek out
elder law attorney services, for completion of powers of attorney, etc., prior to receiving a
medical evaluation.

Objectives:

Through this exploratory study, we hope to identify a possible means of
diagnosing dementia during its treatable stages with lawyer assistance.
Literature Review:

Dementia is the clinical syndrome characterized by acquired losses of cognitive
and functional abilities severe enough to interfere with daily living and the quality of
life."2 It impairs a person’s ability to live the life he or she is used to through language

difﬁculties, anomia, visual and spatial deﬁcits, apraxia, difﬁculty maintaining ﬁnancial

89

accounts, personality changes, etc.,"8 and can be caused by any of more than 55 different
illnesses and disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, vitamin deﬁciencies, and vascular
dementia.”2 Because of the broad deﬁnition of dementia, speciﬁc statistics are unknown,
however, there are now more than 5 million people in the United States living with
Alzheimer’s disease alone.8 Though there are 55 different illnesses/disorders that cause
the disease,2 all types of dementia are treatable, whether through drug therapy or
counseling,3 but dementia treatment is more effective in the earlier stages of the
disease.“’5 With this in mind, it is a problem that Primary Care physicians, because of
limited patient contact, typically do not discover the presence of early stages of dementia
in up to 90% of all cases."7 It is generally agreed that more needs to be done in the early
recognition of Alzheimer’s disease, due to expected increase of patients in the future
which will severely strain our limited health care facilities.

Expected Methods:

The ﬁrst part of the project involved identifying our sample, which, because of a contact
made with the head of the Elder Law and Advocacy Section of Michigan, Mr. Mall, will include
all of the elder law attorneys in Michigan. Next, once the IRB approves our project, Mr. Mall
will email all 1500 attorneys information on the study, including a link directing them to the 5-
question, conﬁdential, de-identiﬁed survey. Our third-party host will collect and tabulate the
results, at which point we will statistically analyze the data against the hypothesis.

Expected Results:
We expect to see data that indicates attorneys assist clients exhibiting signs of memory

loss, that the attorneys recognize that these clients have memory loss, and that only a percentage

of these clients have been previously diagnosed with dementia.

9O

Expected Conclusions:
We expect to conclude that, in fact, lawyers can do more to assist in the early recognition
of dementia, and if the data does support our hypothesis, we will suggest that more work needs to

be done on this topic.

91

REFERENCES

. Geldmacher, David. “Evaluation of Dementia.” The New England Joumal_of

Medicine (1996): 330-336.

. Kawas, Claudia. "Early Alzheimer‘s Disease." The New England J ouonf Medicine
349;11(2003): 1056-1063.

. Besdine, Richard. "Senility Reconsidered: Treatment Possibilities for Mental
Impairment in the Elderly." Journal of the American Medical Association
244(1980): 259-263.

. Seltzer, Ben. "Efﬁcacy of Donepezil in Early-Stage Alzheimer Disease." Archives of
Neurology 61(2004): 1852-1856.

. Le Bars, P L. “Inﬂuence of the severity of cognitive impairment on the effect of the
Ginkgo biloba extract EGb 761 in Alzheimer’s Disease.” Neuronsvchobiologv
45(2002): 19-26.

. Valcour, Victor. "The Detection of Dementia in the Primary Care Setting." Archives
of Internal Medicine 160(2000): 2964-2967.

. Chodosh, Joshua. "Physician Recognition of Cognitive Impairment: Evaluating the
Need for Improvement." Journal of the American GeriaLtr-ics Society 52(2004):

1 05 l - l 059.

. “What is Alzheimer’s.” Alzheimer’s Diseaﬁ. 2007. Alzheimer’s Association. 24 May
2007 http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_what_is_alzheimers.asp>.

 

 

92

Junior Summer Vision
Student F
Mentored by Jamie Owen-De Schryver

Friday June 1, 2007

This paper describes goals and objectives for the coming months and expectations
for this project. It includes the beginnings of what will hopefully become a published

journal article and a calendar that outlines important dates throughout the summer.

93

Research Objectives for This Scientific Project:

We wish to advance the current literature on the development of play skills in
children with autism using video modeling. We will hopefully discover at what age the
models in these videos should be to most effectively teach children with autism play
skills. With this knowledge we will be able to better apply behavioral treatment in hopes
that these children will learn to better interact with their peers and ultimately the world
around them.

Expected Results and Conclusions of This Project:

We anticipate that both the videos, with the peer model and the adult model, will
have an effect on the play skills of the children with autism. Additionally, we expect that
the children with ASD will model his or her peers’ behaviors more accurately than the
behaviors of the adult. This is expected because the peer’s actions will be most similar to
that of the autistic child’s because of the closeness in age. This will help us draw a
conclusion on how to make the most effective videos for behavioral treatment for

children with ASD.

94

Adult versus Child Video Models:
Eﬂects on the Development of Play Skills in Children with ASD

Jamie Owen-De Schryver
Grand Valley State University
Student F
Grand Rapids Catholic Central H.S.

We will assess differences in the ability of children with autism to learn play skills when an adult

models behavior and a peer models behavior for them. This will be done by obtaining a baseline

measure of play skill abilities in multiple children with autism spectrum disorder and then

observing changes in play skills after they watch video models demonstrating appropriate play.

These videos will be created once with a peer modeling play scenarios and again with an adult

doing the exact same scenario. The videos will be shown to the children with autism after the

baseline is obtained and then they will play with another adult while being scored on how well

they model the verbal and play behaviors in the videos.

 

Autism is a neurodevelopmental
disability characterized by impairments
in social interaction, communication,
and restricted and repetitive behaviors
(American Psychiatric Association,
1994). Individuals displaying these
characteristics may be diagnosed with a
spectrum of disorders such as Autism,
Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not
Otherwise Speciﬁed, or Asperger’s
Disorder, depending on the number and
severity of their symptoms.
Collectively, this set of disorders is
referred to as Autism Spectrum
Disorders, or ASD. It is estimated that
ASD occurs in 1 in 166 births, and that

95

these disorders are four times more
common in boys than in girls (Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention,
2005)

Children with ASD show deﬁcits in
social skills, including eye gaze and poor
joint attention, as well as deﬁcits in
commrmication, such as echolalia, or
few verbal initiations, as shown when
studies compared them to normal
children (Dawson et al., 2004). In
addition, while typical preschoolers
frequently engage in play, children with
ASD do not engage in age-typical play
skills. For instance, their play tends to
be perseverative and inﬂexible, and they

show poor symbolic, pretend, and social
play when compared with typically
developing children (Brown & Murray,
2001). Several researchers have noted
the relationship between play behavior
and the development of language and
social skills in children without ASD
(Lewis, 2003; Jordan, 2003). This
previous research suggests that age-
appropriate play skills should be a focus
of intervention as it is possible that play
skills may facilitate the development of
skills in other domains (e.g., social-
communication skills). In sum, the
research consistently suggests that play
skills, social skills and social-
communication skills are important
targets when designing educational
programs for young children with ASD.
A method that has been used to teach
play, social, and language skills to
children with ASD is video modeling
(VM). VM involves having the
participant observe a model on a video
who is engaging in a target behavior.
The model may be an adult, a peer, or
the child with ASD. Subsequently, the
child is expected to demonstrate the
behavior that she or he observed in the
video. Corbett and Abdullah (2005)
suggest in their study involving
exploration of the effectiveness of video
modeling that repeated viewing of the
target behavior via watching the video
encourages retention. In fact, there is
considerable research reporting the
effectiveness of video modeling as a
technique to increase the skills of
students with ASD. Skills that have
been targeted by video modeling include
compliment-giving, which has helped
children with ASD show more interest in
others and forge meaningful social
relationships (Apple, Billigsley, &
Schwartz, 2005), AND social initiations.
In most cases, these skills were

96

maintained for months after the video
modeling (Apple, Billigsley, &
Schwartz, 2005; Buggey, 2005;
Nikopoulos & Keenan, 2003). In
another study by Sherer et al. (2001),
conversational skills were taught by
having the children answer a series of
conversation questions that were
answered with 100% accuracy post-
treatrnent. Perspective-taking is another
skill that has been more successfully

taught through video modeling than in
vivo modeling (Charlop-Christy &
Daneshvar, 2002). Finally, complex
play skills have also been taught with
video modeling, and have been shown to
lead to the rapid acquisition of verbal

and motor skills (D’Ateno,
Mangiapanello & Taylor, 2003).
Several reasons have been

hypothesized for the effectiveness of
VM in teaching skills to students with
ASD. First, VM capitalizes on some of
the features or characteristics that are
commonly found in individuals with
ASD. These include over-selective
attention (Charlop-Christy & Daneshvar,
2002), visual preferences and strengths
(Corbett & Abdullah, 2005), and
avoidance of face-to-face attention and
uncomfortable social interaction
(Charlop-Christy, Le, & Freeman, 2000).
In addition, video modeling may
improve the ability of individuals who
have ASD to focus their attention by
removing unnecessary, distracting
stimuli. Children with ASD generally
have strong visual processing abilities,
which may make them more able to
beneﬁt from the visual stimuli provided
by video models (Sherer et al., 2001).
They also often have a high interest in
watching television and videos.
Therefore, video modeling is likely to be
reinforcing, potentially making children
with ASD more receptive to and more

successful in learning from this teaching
technique.

One aspect that could make a
difference in the success of VM is the
type of model used in the creation of the
video. Although it’s been suggested that
using siblings in videos may make VM
more effective because of the previous
history of model-leamer relationship
(Peck, Cooke, & Apolloni, 1981), this
does not always appear to be the case.
Jones & Schwartz (2004) suggest that
previous model-learner relationship does
not always have an effect on learning the
target behavior and therefore may be too
narrow a perspective when testing the
effectiveness of different types of
models. Whether the models have a
previous relationship to the learner and
the age of the models (adult versus
child) may also make a difference in the
outcome of the VM sessions, but little
research has been done in these areas.
The current study has therefore been
designed to assess the effectiveness of
child versus adult models while using
VM to teach play skills to preschoolers
with ASD.

METHOD
Design. The proposed study involves
the implementation of an alternating
treatments design within a multiple-
baseline (Cooper, Heron, & Heward,
2007; Kazdin, 1982). This design will be
used to compare the effectiveness of
adult versus child videotaped models on
the development of verbal and motor
play behaviors in preschool participants
with ASD. In a multiple baseline
design, simultaneous baselines for three
or more students are obtained, and
intervention is implemented after
varying numbers of baseline data points
for each student. Consistent with the
alternating treatments design, the two

97

treatment conditions will be alternated
until differentiation is observed (i.e.,
student play behaviors improve more in
one condition). The most effective
condition will then be implemented for
four consecutive sessions. If possible,
probes will be carried out in an
alternative environment (e. g., the child’s
classroom) to determine whether the
play behaviors generalize to other

settings.
Procedure. This study will be
implemented in ﬁve phases.

Phase 1. In this phase, age-

appropriate play activities will be
identiﬁed, such as building with blocks,
playing with play-doh, or playing with
farm animals. These play targets will be
determined based on their ability to elicit
both physical play actions and verbal
play language, and based on the
likelihood that these play activities will
be readily available to the children with
ASD in current and future environments.

Phase 2. Phase 2 will involve
identiﬁcation of two age-appropriate
peers to serve as video models. These
peers will be videotaped while playing
with the toys identiﬁed as play targets in
Phase 1. An adult “prompter” will also
be present in the video and will provide
verbal or physical guidance to elicit
appropriate play and language, e.g.,
“what are you making/doing?” “where’s
the _?” After the videos with peer
models have been created, the video
clips will be transcribed and adult
models will be identiﬁed to participate.
The adult models will be videotaped
while playing with identical toys and
will engage in the same play behaviors
and utilize the same language used by
the peer video models. Adult prompters
will also ask identical questions of the
adult models in order to elicit the same
verbal responses.

Phase 3. In this phase, three-four
participants with ASD will be identiﬁed.
These students will be of preschool age,
and will communicate primarily through
a verbal modality. Since verbal
language is a target of the intervention,
we will not include students who
primarily communicate through an
augrnentative device or with the Picture
Exchange Communication System
(PECS). Students will be identiﬁed

based on teacher recommendations
regarding: (a) student verbal
communication skills and (b) the

appropriateness of play skills as targets
for intervention. The ﬁrst three-four
participants for whom permission is
obtained will be included.

Phase 4. In this phase, the three
students with ASD will be observed
during ﬂee play interactions with the
targeted toys. Adult prompters will use
the same verbal and physical prompts
that will be used during the intervention
phase to elicit physical play actions and
verbal language. Verbal and physical
play behaviors of the child will be
scored.

Phase 5. The intervention phase,
Phase 5, will involve a comparison of
the two interventions. The student with
autism will be exposed repeatedly to
both conditions in random order, either
experiencing one or two conditions per
day depending on student schedules. In
the Child Model condition, the student
with autism will ﬁrst observe the video
of the child model playing with the toys.
After watching the video, the child will
be brought to a room with the targeted
play materials, and will be observed
during ﬂee play with the materials. The
child will be observed for up to 3
minutes during ﬂee play with the
materials; the adult prompter will again
use identical verbal and physical

98

prompts to elicit appropriate play. The
Adult Model condition will be run
identically, with the exception that the
child will ﬁrst observe an adult model
demonstrating appropriate play in the
video clip prior to engaging in ﬂee play
with the materials.

Measures. The following behaviors will
be scored during these ﬂee play
activities in both the Child Model and
Adult Model conditions: (1) modeled
physical play actions (e.g., placing a
cow in the barn, making a tunnel with
the blocks), (2) modeled verbal play
statements (e.g., having the cow “moo,”
saying “make a pancake” while playing
with play-doh), (3) novel physical play
actions (any appropriate play action that
was not modeled in the video) (4) novel
verbal play statements (any topically-
appropriate verbal statements that were
not modeled in the video), and (5) social
initiations - verbal or physical initiations
directed toward an adult that begin an
interaction (e.g., handing a toy,
requesting help, leading adult to an
object).

REFERENCES

American Psychiatric Association. (1994).
Diagnostic and statistical manual of
mental disorders (4‘h ed.). Washington,
DC: American Psychiatric Association.

Apple, A. L., Billingsley, F., & Schwartz, 1.
S. (2005). Effects of video modeling
alone and with self-management on
compliment-giving behaviors of
children with high-functioning ASD.
Journal of Positive Behavior
Interventions, 7, 33-46.

Brown, J., & Murray, D. (2001). Strategies
for enhancing play skills for children

with autism spectrum disorder.
Education and Training in Mental
Retardation and Developmental

Disabilities, 36, 312-317.
Buggey, T. (2005). Video self-modeling
applications with students with autism

spectrum disorder in a small private
school setting. Focus on Autism and
Other Developmental Disorders, 20, 52-
63.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
(2005). Retrieved on October 18, 2005,
ﬂom
http://www.ch.gov/ncbddd/dd/aic/abou
t/default.htm

Charlop-Christy, M. H., & Daneshvar, S.
(2003). Using video modeling to teach
perspective taking to children with
autism. Journal of Positive Behavior
Interventions, 5, 12-21.

Charlop, M. H., Le, L., & Freeman, K. A.
(2000). A comparison of video

modeling with in vivo modeling for teaching
children with autism. Journal of Autism
and Developmental Disorders, 30, 537-
552.

Cooper, J.O., Heron, T.E., & Heward, W.L.
(2007). Applied behavior analysis.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Education, Inc.

Corbett, B. A., & Abdullah, M. (2005).
Video modeling: Why does it work for
children with autism? Journal of Early
and Intensive Behavior Intervention, 2,
2-8.

Dawson, G., Toth, K., Abbott, R., Osterling,
J ., Munson, J ., & Estes, A. (2004). Early
social attention impairments in autism:
Social orienting, joint attention, and
attention to distress. Developmental
Psychology, 40, 271-283.

D’Ateno, P., & Mangiapanello, K. (2003).
Using video modeling to teach complex
play sequences to a preschooler with
autism. Journal of Positive Behavior
Interventions, 5, 5-11.

Jones, C.D., & Schwartz, LS. (2004).
Siblings, peers, and adults: Differential
effects of models for children with
autism. Topics in Early Childhood
Special Education, 24, 187-198.

Jordan, R. (2003). Social play and autistic
spectrum disorders: A perspective on
theory, implications and educational
approaches. Autism, 7, 347-360.

99

Kazdin, A. E. (1982). Single-case research
designs. New York: Oxford University
Press.

Lewis, V. (2003). Play and language in
children with autism. Autism, 7, 391-
399.

Nikopoulos, C. K., & Keenan, M. (2003).
Promoting social initiation in children
with autism using video modeling.
Behavioral Interventions, 18, 87-108.

Peck, C.A., Cooke, T.P., & Apolloni, T.
(1981) Utilization of peer imitation in
therapeutic and instructional contexts. In
P.S. Strain (Ed.), The utilization of

classroom peers as behavior change agents
(pp. 69-99). New York: Plenum Press.

Schuler, A. L. (2003). Beyond echoplaylia.
Autism, 7, 455-469.

Sherer, M., Pierce, K. L., Paredes, S.,
Kisacky, K.L., Ingersoll, B., &
Schreibman, L. (2001). Enhancing
conversation skills in children with
autism via video technology: Which is
better, "self" or "other" as a model?
Behavior Modification, 25, 140-158.

Student G
Research Seminar
Summer Vision
May 15, 2007
Junior Summer Vision Paper
I. Introduction
This summer I will spend seven weeks as part of the High School Honors Science
Program (HSHSP). I will be working with Michigan State Mechanical Engineering
Professor Indrek Wichman to design, build, and test and ad-hoc Drop Tower to measure
the effects of zero-gravity on ﬂame droplets as well as candle ﬂames. As part of this
experiment I will be designing and building a Schlieren Apparatus to visually capture the
reactions of the ﬂame and the surrounding gases when zero-gravity is established. Using
the data we ﬁnd we hope to better understand how ﬂames behave in space.
11. Literature Review
Fire is one of humanity’s greatest tools but at the same time one of its worst enemies.
When in space this is no different. To better understand ﬁre in space you must ﬁrst
understand it on earth. Combustion is a complex sequence of exothermic chemical
reactions between a fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat or both
heat and light in the form of either a glow or ﬂames. As this reaction occurs the heat and
gases rise and creates the conical shape of a candle ﬂame [1]. In a complete combustion
reaction, a compound reacts with an oxidizing element to create compounds of each
element. Complete combustion reactions rarely occur however because of varying

amounts of fuel and because in most cases not all the fuel is burned.

100

On earth ﬁres are hard enough to contain and suppress but in the unpredictable
environment that is space it is even more challenging. When introduced to zero-gravity
ﬂames have different characteristics than they do on earth. Data ﬂom the Kimzey et a1
experiment notes that ﬁre seemed to burn hotter in zero g’s than it did in 1 g. Through
using airplanes ﬂying in a parabolic patter they also were able to ﬁnd that the
ﬂammability of many objects including parafﬁn, a ﬁre starting substance, increases. This
adds to the danger that astronauts and soon civilians will face in situations in space. At
the moments of highest risk of ﬁre breakout, take off and landing, astronauts are stuck in
restraints and are unable to move and suppress the ﬂames.[2]

To add to the fear of ﬁres many scientists such as Robert Friedman suggest that the space
station’s automated ﬁre suppression system is inadequate in its protection of the crew and
needs new technology speciﬁcally designed for microgravity. Although he labeled the
suppression systems on the space shuttle as adequate he recognizes a need for
improvement in the detection and suppression of ﬁres[3].

One area of ﬁre suppression that is often overlooked is the creation of soot. Soot is the
dark powdery left over fuel that travels in the air as smoke. Soot is very dangerous as it
can cause blindness and asphyxiation. On earth people are taught to stay near the ﬂoor to
keep away ﬂom the rising smoke. In space, however, smoke does not move at all because
of the lack of gravity. The Oostra et a1 experiment found that soot production increases in
a zero gravity environment. This happens because unlike the fuel on earth, which just sits
on the ground, the fuel does not have the restrictions of gravity and can move and break

up as combustion occurs. Using a similar procedure as the Kimzey paper the Oostra

101

experiment found that increased soot production does occur and poses a great risk to the
crew as well as their sensitive instruments with which they pilot the craft [4].

In the Joel A Silver et al experiment they used diode lasers to measure the concentration
and temperature of the gases surrounding the ﬂame. These lasers are not unlike the LED
lasers that are found in many ﬂashlights and laser pointers. This group found that Diode
lasers are particularly good in ad-hoc drop towers because of their compact size and
power supply. In there experiment they placed a diode laser in a drop rig to measure the
gas and temperature changes as the rig was placed in zero gravity. They found that they
were very good at detailing the changes in gas concentrations [5].

NASA is the largest group currently working on studying the effects of microgravity on
everyday occurrences on earth. At the Glenn Research Center in Ohio NASA has two
drop towers that they use to conduct experiments in zero-gravity that would be to
expensive to take into space or use a jet in a parabolic maneuver. The Lekan et al paper
talks about how the 2.2 second drop facility is maintained and operated. This facility was
created out of an old ﬁrel distillation tower and provides 2.2 seconds of complete
weightlessness by dropping a rig several hundred feet down a shaft. The rig is where the
experiment and usually video cameras and other sensors which document the drop[6].
One of the sensors often used is the Schlieren Apparatus. A Schlieren Apparatus is a
device that measures the concentration, densities, and temperatures of gases by optical
transmission. In the Schwarz et al paper the team used a Schlieren Apparatus to measure
the gas concentrations around a ﬂame as it experienced temporary weightlessness ﬂom a

drop tower. They found that the Schlieren Apparatus was able to capture not only the

102

concentration and densities of the gases but also how the moved when experiencing
weightlessness[7].
III. Hypothesis
My hypothesis is that not only will weightlessness have a profound effect on the shape of
the ﬂame but also on the temperature of the ﬂame and the behavior of the gases
surrounding the ﬂame.
IV. Methods
1.As the ﬁrst part of the project I will calculate the height of the drop tower needed to
have the rig experience weightlessness for l second.[6]
2. Next I will construct the tower out of steel ﬂaming to the desired height.[6]
3. I will then build a Schileren Apparatus to optically capture the effects of
weightlessness on the ﬂame.[7]
4. Inside the rig along with the Schileren Apparatus will be a high speed still camera and
diode laser to study the reactions of the gases and the ﬂame itself.
5. I will then pull the rig up to the desired height and drop it to the ﬂoor.
6. Then I will input the results into a computer for storing.
V. Expected Conclusions
I expect to ﬁnd that the temperature of the ﬂame and the gases surrounding it will
increases temporarily but then lower due to an increasing lack of oxygen. I also expect
that the gases and soot around the ﬂame will not radiate out as quickly or as far on earth

which will support my hypothesis.

103

VI. Bibliography
1. Wichman et al “Diffusion ﬂame tip Instabilities of a Wide sample in Microgravity”
MSU

2. Kimsey John Howard et al “Flammability During Weightlessness” NASA Manned
Spacecraft Center.

3.Friedman, Robert et a1 “Risks and Issues in Fire Safety on the Space Station” NASA
Glenn Research Center

4.W. Oostra et a1 “Measurements of Soot production of a Candle under Microgravity
conditions” Delft University of Technology

5.Silver, Joel et a1 “Diode laser measurements of concentration and temperature in
microgravity combustion” Meas. Sci. Technol.

6.Lekan, Jack et al “Users Guide for the 2.2 Second Drop Tower of the NASA Glenn
Research Center” NASA

7.Schwarz, A et al “Multi-tomographic ﬂame analysis with a Schlieren Apparatus” Meas.
Sci. Technol.

104

Chapter IV: Conclusions and Recommendations
Conclusion:

The purpose of this research project was to develop, implement, and assess the
effectiveness of an independent science research program at the high school level.

The ﬁve general goals of the research program were to enhance the ability to use
the Scientiﬁc Method, to conduct authentic research, to participate in the scientiﬁc
community, to write scientiﬁcally, and to present scientiﬁc data.

Part I of the Data and Analysis showed that these goals were met by directly
asking the students about their proﬁciency in these areas both before and alter the pilot
year. According to Figures 4, 5, and 6 in Appendix J, Part I showed an average 137%
increase in self assessed proﬁciency in these areas, with most of the improvement in the
area of participating in the scientiﬁc community and writing a scientiﬁc paper. This is
not surprising, considering that none of the students who started the program this pilot
year had ever had experience working with a scientist, and had never written a scientiﬁc
paper. On the Likert scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most proﬁcient, every single
student in the pilot year of the research program jumped at least 2 scale values for each
and every goal, with most jumping 3 scale values.

Part II of the Data and Analysis showed that these goals were met by talking to
the student through an interview process [Appendix K]. These interviews illustrated
several changes in the perceptions, habits, and skills learned by students during the pilot
year. These interviews show the tentativeness of the unknown in the beginning of the

year, and then show the conﬁdence and pride of hard work yielding tremendous results

105

that they student never thought they were capable of, and the lack of fear for tackling a
seemingly insurmountable task. As student A put it, in Appendix K:

“My interest has been changed. I now appreciate what researchers go through

every day so much more. There is so much thought and hard work and amazing

stuﬂ involved in research. But after all the hard work, reading, background
research, running the experiment, and supporting one ’s hypothesis....now it
doesn ’t get much cooler than that. I used to like science merely because I found it
interesting. It was a once a day class that I looked forward to. Now, it feels
normal to go home and look up the latest info in the science community or read
up more on my topic. ”

Part HI of the Data and Analysis showed that these goals were met by giving
actual examples of student work. These examples are descriptions of the authentic
research projects that the seven junior students in the pilot year of the research program
developed. To accomplish this singular feat, all ﬁve goals of the research program
simply have to be met. If these goals were not met, then the process of project design
would have immediately been halted at the point of breakdown, and the project design
would not be able to commence until mastery of that particular goal is achieved.

The ﬁnal culminating goal of each sophomore in the program was to have
ﬁmdamental experimental skills, and to have secured a mentor in their interest area to
start designing a an authentic research project. As the data in Part I and II of Data and
Analysis show and examples in the Appendices D, E, F, and G show, this goal has been
achieved. Each of the students in the sophomore class are now ready, with a mentor, to
design and implement an authentic research experiment.

The ﬁnal culminating goal of each junior in the program was to design and
implement an authentic research project. As the examples in Part ID of Data and

Analysis show, every junior is presently at a lab with a mentor running a research project.

As these projects are implemented, this goal has been achieved.

106

It is expected that the program will become self sustaining in future years. In this
pilot year, because it is new and in development, the driving engine behind the program
has been the teacher. In subsequent years, the main drive that will sustain the success of
the program will lie with past, present and future students themselves, parents, the school
community, the scientiﬁc community, and the faculty.

Overall, through the literature review, data analysis, and student examples, and
my own teaching experience, I have concluded that the standard pedagogy in science
education just is not working as well as this program does. There is not enough hands-on
activity going on in science. Science has to go beyond just learning concepts. In science,
we have to give greater attention to the development of scientiﬁc thinking and the process
of scientiﬁc inquiry, with scientiﬁc education involving a student in situations and
activities that are closer to the activities of the scientist, making it more authentic.
Students are generally learning biology, chemistry, physics and earth science, and they
are learning a lot of content matter, but there is another part of science called process.
Students need to use the scientiﬁc method, engage in scientiﬁc thinking, conduct
literature searches and do authentic experiments-not “cookbook” projects. In this
program, the student has to learn how to organize the data, learn how to make formal
presentations of the science, learn how to write science. I believe that these are important
aspects that are not being addressed and have to be addressed in science education.

I believe that there needs to be a paradigm switch with science education. A lot
of science educators today are referencing the future based on the past. That is the way
that they were taught, and that is the way it has been done and so, therefore, it is going to

work that way in the future. However, what worked in the past may work sometimes, but

107

it may not at other times. Discoveries happen every day, by people that work hard.
Students have to be caught early on and made to realize that science is fun and that
science is investigative. I think the part of the program that I enjoy the most is listening
to a student talk excitedly about a scientiﬁc topic that would never have come up in any
of his/her science classes in any depth, where in this program he/she is allowed to spend
as much time as he/she wants investigating an idea.

I think that this program is awesome, and I am humbled by the success that I feel
it has achieved in the pilot year. I think that this program is going to launch the
educational lives of many young men and women, increasing the likelihood of success in
college, and in life, many times over. Students coming out of this program are going to
have a swagger that challenges anybody to give them a problem to solve. Students in this
program are reading hundreds-hundreds! of articles, completely without the teacher
assigning them a single task. I had parents calling me telling me that their son/daughter
is staying up all hours of the night reading articles about beta cells in diabetics, and when
the parent asks them to stop and go to bed, the student launches into a short enthusiastic
lecture about how beta cells work and how maybe they can be used to cure his sister of
diabetes. If a program can spur moments like that, then something is working correctly.

Earlier in the pilot year, a student identiﬁed her interest area as shape changing
polymers. She is fascinated by how they work, and what they are used for. In her
process of journal reading, she came across some content that she could not understand,
regardless of her efforts. On her own volition, she wrote to a chemical engineer at
Michigan State University asking some questions. This email, and subsequent response

ﬂom the professor at MSU, spurred a relationship of a student asking pointed and

108

penetrating questions to an accomplished scientist and getting well explained answers.
After about a month, I received a phone call ﬂom this professor, inquiring about the
college plans for the student. The professor wanted to make sure that the student applied
to MSU next year, and was willing to help with the application. The professor had
perceived, and therefore assumed, the student to be a senior in Advanced Placement
Chemistry. In fact, this student is a sophomore in high school, and has never taken
chemistry in her entire life. Her questions were so advanced and complex, the professor
volunteered to be her research mentor right there on the spot. This student had quite
literally educated herself to a high level of content understanding in chemistry, and it was
completely her choice. This phenomenon is a feature of this program, and it is amazing.

I believe that every school in the state of Michigan should have this type of
program. I have no doubt, grandiose claim that it may sound, that if the majority of
schools in this state adopted this type of program as a standard, the scientiﬁc literacy and
ability of students to succeed in difﬁcult and challenging environments would climb
dramatically. Soon thereafter, Michigan would become a fertile ground of future
scientists, engineers, and problem solvers.
Recommendations

Based on what was learned in the pilot year of the program, the author has many
suggestions and changes that will be made in future years.

First and foremost, the idea of providing some kind of wet-bench experience to
students prior to sending them to work with a mentor is going to be explored. Towards
the end of the year, looking ahead to he second year of the program, the author wrote to

several mentors and asked them for general feedback on the research program. When

109

asked, mentors gave mixed responses to the idea of students having practice with certain
methods before working with them [Appendix L]. It is of the opinion of the author that
some kind of practice in basic experimental skills such as using a micropipette,
electrophoresis, titration, spectrophotometry, etc. would be beneﬁcial. However, some
mentors argue that it is best taught by the mentor themselves, as most mentors have a
very particular, and speciﬁc, way of doing procedures and it would be a better use of the
student’s time to not have to releam a procedure once in the mentor’s lab. I have
decided, for the second year, to teach and practice several very general skills, but to leave
most of the wet-bench training to the individual mentor. I think that this will allow for a
relationship to begin, as well as trust between the mentor and student to forge.

Another aspect of the class that I am anxious to change is deadlines. Deadlines
were often moved and/or ignored. The teacher was very inexperienced with the timeline
of projects, assignments, and skill attainment, and therefore had a difﬁcult time
ascertaining how much time was needed for each. Several times during the year a
deadline had to be moved back because the teacher did not allocate enough time for
completion of a task. Students were tolerant of such changes initiated and made by the
teacher. However, with the crux of the class lying in the ability of all students to work
towards ﬁxed goals and stay within deadlines, it is anticipated that next year I will be
able to set out the deadlines accurately for the entire year, and they will not be negotiable
and/or ﬂexible.

One other aspect that I look to change is the presentation model. For the ﬁrst half
of this pilot year, my perspective was that the more the student had a chance to present,

the more they would improve. However, because students were reading papers with high

110

levels of technical content, it soon became apparent that they needed much more time to
prepare for their presentations. They need time to simply learn the material before they
present, so that they can take on more of a teacher role instead of simply reading text.
Therefore, next year I plan on having higher expectations of fewer student presentations.

Lastly, one change that I hope to implement this year is to assign a senior member
of the class to each sophomore to act as a personal mentor for class and research

procedures.

11]

REFERENCES

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118

Appendix A: Program Application
Grand Rapids Catholic Central
Research Project Seminar
Application for the 2007-2008 School Year

Name: Phone:

Street Address (include street, village/town, zip):

e-mail:

Grade: Gender: M F (circle) Guidance Counselor:
Current Science Class: Current Science Teacher:
Current Science Grades: Q1: Q2:

Current Math Class: Current Math Teacher:
Current Math Grades: Q1: Q2:

Would you be willing to meet in Research Project Seminar during your lunch?

TO APPLY, PLEASE DO EXACTLY THE FOLLOWING:

1. Complete this application.

2. Write a short, gpammatically correct, essay (1-2 pages word processed)
describing why you would like to join Research Project Seminar. If you have
had any experience in science fairs, science programs, or if you have special
interests in science, we would like to hear about it.

3. Send stapled application (cover page on top) or hand-deliver it to the
following address, so it is actually received by me (not postmarked) no later
than Friday, March 16 at 3pm:

Mr. Andrew Moore, Research Instructor
Grand Rapids Catholic Central HS

319 Sheldon

Grand Rapids, MI 49503

Late applications will most likely be rejected. Admission to Research Project Seminar
is competitive, and we regret that we cannot accept an unlimited number of students.
This is an intensive program through which you will be working on your own, and
entering many science competitions. Being able to meet deadlines is extremely
important. One thing that you can do to increase your chances of being accepted,
therefore, is to hand in a carefully prepared application ON TIME.

I would like to apply for admission to the Research Project Seminar:

Student Signature Date

 

Parent Signature Date

 

119

Appendix A: Candidate Interview Questions

10.

ll.

12.

l3.

l4.

POSSIBLE CONSIDERATIONS & QUESTIONS FOR
INTERVIEWING CANIDATES

CONSIDERATIONS
Was the student on time?
Was the student essay prepared as directed?
QUESTIONS FOR CANIDATES
Why do you want to take the course?

Talk about something you really wanted to do in your life and then failed
at? What did you do next? Why?

Talk about chances you take.

Describe yourself as a self-starter.

Describe yourself as independent.

Describe yourself in three words.

Describe how you would prepare a surprise birthday party.
If you were not accepted for the course, would you do independent study?
What have you quit in life?

Do you belong to boy scouts/ girl scouts?

Have you participated in science fairs?

Have you participated in the play, chorus, etc.

Do you play sports?

Tell me something you really wanted to do — and did it.

120

Appendix A: Candidate Acceptance Letter

April 16,2007

Tom Kennedy
4610 Bradford NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49525

Dear Tom,

Thank you for your application for admission to Research Project Seminar. The essay
that you provided was thoughtful, sincere and a pleasure to read.

I am very pleased to offer you a position in the Research Project Seminar.

The inclusion of this program into the curriculum at Catholic Central signals an
important, historical change in the way that we teach science to gifted individuals. The
success of this program will depend entirely on the acceptance of this responsibility by
the bright students, like you, that are part of the program. I hope that you are as excited
as I am to take on that challenge.

Please note that this position is conditional upon the ability of Catholic Central to
schedule you into a section of Research Project Seminar. Scheduling conﬂicts can, and
do, arise.

There will be an informational meeting for parents on Monday, April 30 ﬂom 6 pm. to 7
pm. It is important that you and your parents attend.

Congratulations on your acceptance to the Research Project Seminar.

Sincerely,

Andrew Moore

Instructor, Science Research Program
Grand Rapids Catholic Central High School
(616) 233-5830

andymoore@grcss.org

121

Appendix B: Freshman Summer Assignment

Science Research
Summer Assignment

You are now a student of research. You must do six things, in this order:

1. Purchase a lab notebook. This can be done online or at any bookstore. The lab
notebook must be at least 100 pages with duplicates.

2. Read. Read. Read. When you read a newspaper or magazine, pay attention to
what kinds of articles catch and hold on to your attention. Keep track of the
topics that seem to interest you. It is expected, and normal, to have a very wide
range of interests. This is a good thing.

3. Read and KEEP ﬁfteen (15) articles ﬂom magazines, newspapers, or books.
These articles should be of interest to you in your intended ﬁeld of study for this
coming year. These can come ﬂom any source of your choice.

4. SUMMARIZE each article in one page or less by giving the key points of the
articles, indicating the author, and a 100-word summary and reaction to the
article. This should be done in your lab notebook.

5. IDENTIFY the scientist and the location of the laboratory mentioned in the
article.

6. For each article, ask three (3) questions about the topic that you are reading.
These should be questions that you would want to ﬁnd the answer to.

Expect emails ﬂom me throughout the summer with additional assignments. I will most
likely not send out any additional work until mid-July, but you never know. So, get in
the habit of checking your research email. Around the beginning of August, I will email
you the syllabus for the class, and then we will be off and running.

I hope that you have a great summer, and I am excited to guide you through the
wonderful world of discovery.

Moore

122

Appendix C: 10 Day Goal Sheet for One-on-One meetings
10-DAY GOAL SHEET FOR SCIENCE RESEARCH
DUE EVERY CONFERENCE DAY

Name: Date:

 

 

DIRECTIONS:

Please indicate those activities, readings, and goals that you accomplished during your
last cycle. Organize your statements in logical order and write in complete sentences.
This part must be completed before the meeting. (List additional activities on the back of
this page).

 

 

 

 

 

QMPPNZ‘

 

DIRECTIONS:

Please indicate those activities, readings, and goals that you intend to accomplish in the
my cycle. Organize your goals in logical order and write in complete sentences. This
part is completed with the teacher during the meeting. (List additional activities on the
back of this page).

 

 

 

 

 

P‘P'PP’PZ"

 

123

Appendix C: Lab Book Instructions

The Laboratory Notebook

The lab notebook contains original raw data. It must be treated with care and respect.

REASONS FOR NOTEKEEPING

1.
2.

9W"?

7.
8. To maintain contact with scientists.

9.

To preserve experimental data and observations.

To preserve clear, unambiguous statements of the truth as observed by the
investigator.

To allow another scientist to pick up your notebook and repeat your experimental
exactly- based on your entries.

To help you remember exactly how to repeat your own experiment.

To study the data and observations.

To give you a platform to analyze, evaluate, interpret and discuss your
experiment.

To eventually write reports, papers, abstracts.

To review your work and plan future work.

10. To record your mathematical calculations.

11. To record your safety notes.

12. To keep track of supplies and names of manufacturers.

13. To record your drawings. Good drawings will save pages of writing.

GENERAL IDEAS

l.
2.
3.

4.

Your notes must be: clear, concise, and complete.

Notes must preserve failed experiments as faithfully as successful ones.

Your notes must be bound so that pages do not fall out. Slip in folders are not
acceptable.

Your notebook must have a format of entries, and you must consistently follow
this forma.

5. Your notebook pages must be numbered in sequence.
6.
7. Your notebook must be in duplicate, and the duplicate must not be stored with the

Your notebook must contain bound graph paper.

original.

A PROPER NOTEBOOK PAGE:

A proper notebook must be:

9999?)?

Dated when work begins on a daily basis.

Clearly headed with identiﬁcations that describe the work at hand.
Immediately entered before the investigator leaves the lab.
Legible and grammatically correct.

In permanent ink (black ballpoint is preferred)

on one side of a page only.

124

ORGANIZATION OF THE NOTEBOOK:

1.

2.

3.

The key to the notebook is clarity. A clear layout and descriptions, good
penmanship, and a high degree of organization must be apparent.

The format is ﬂexible and is determined by your personality. However, all
formats are logical, legible, complete and concise.

A notebook may contain a Table of Contents.

Each section should have

Apurpaose and experimental plan in a couple of sentences.
mtements such as; “To determine he effects or role of. . .”

Labeled diaggams, if appropriate
Methods and materials

125

Appendix C: Time Log

BI- WEEKLY RECORD OF INDEPENDENT RESEARCH TIME

Name:

A.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date:

Date of Last Meeting:
BIBLIOGRAPHIC RESEARCH:
1. Developing research skills hrs
2. Searching for topic hrs
3. Reading popular periodicals hrs
4. Reading professional journals hrs
5. Other ( ) hrs

Total Time Bibliographic Research .....

COMMUNTCATING WITH PROFESSIONAL RESOURCES:

 

 

 

 

1. Writing E-mail, letters, faxes, etc. hrs
2. Telephone conversations hrs
3. Meetings, conferences, etc. hrs
4. Other ( ) hrs
Total Communicating Time

LABORATORY RESEARCH:

1. Designing experiment hrs
2. Collecting Data hrs
3. Organizing, analyzing data hrs
4 Other ( ) hrs

 

 

Total Laboratory Research Time

PRESENTATION PREPARATION:

1. Journal articles hrs
2. Poster hrs
3. Oral hrs
4. Final Paper hrs

 

Total Time Preparing Presentations

TOTAL TIME COMMITTED TO RESEARCH PROJECT

126

hrs

hrs

Appendix C: Student Bi- Weekly Evaluation Form

Bi- weekly assessment of student performance

STUDENT NAME: Date:

1.

 

 

During this cycle, did the student do and appropriate amount of bibliographic
research on:
a.) General literature (SIRS, etc.)
b.) Scientiﬁc journals (Google Scholar)
YES NO N/A

During this cycle, did the student achieve appropriate advancements in the j oumal
readings, i.e., did the student progress ﬂom general literature to speciﬁc journal
scientiﬁc readings? Did the student read an appropriate amount of literature this
week?

YES NO N/A

Did the student order journals and did the student attempt an appropriate journal
retrieval effort?
YES NO N/ A

During the cycle, did the student’s work focus on the hypothesis or the area of
research?
YES NO N/A

During this cycle, did the student meet every deadline without additional
reminders?
YES NO N/A

During this cycle, did the student use e-mail, the Internet, the telephone, or the fax
machine to further his/her research?

YES NO N/A
During this cycle, did the student communicate with the primary mentor?

YES NO N/A
During this cycle, did the student achieve appropriate and timely progress in the
research experiment he/she chose to do?

YES NO N/A
During this cycle, did the student design his/her research with the aid of journal
literature to help shape it into a compound, complex, and state of the art body of
research?

YES NO N/A

127

10. During this cycle, did the student spend sufﬁcient time on his/her research?

YES NO N/A
11. During this cycle, did the student exhibit a clear direction in his/her work and is
he/she approaching the research in an enthusiastic manner?

YES NO N/A
12. Is the portfolio neat, complete, and updated?

YES NO N/A
13. Is the student using class time appropriately?

YES NO N/A

OVERALL STUDENT/TEACHER IMPRESSION:

6543210

Student’s signature:

 

Date:

 

Teacher’s signature:

 

Date:

 

128

Appendix D: Article Dissection

THE ANALYSIS OF A PROFESSIONAL
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH PAPER
Copyright 2003, Robert Pavlica, PhD
Used with permission

Junior First Quarter Dissection Paper
Sophomore Third Quarter Dissection Paper

Please use a separate sheet of paper for each section. You must answer your questions
using the same format as posed by the questions, i.e., using Roman numbers and the

Arabic

I.
l.

4.

IV.

1.
2.

V.
l.

2.

subdivisions to clearly address each component of the analysis.

The Abstract:
Count the number or words in the abstract. Identify the percentage of words
dedicated to the Review of Literature, the Hypothesis, the Methods, the Results,
the Discussion, and the Conclusion.
What can you conclude about how to write an abstract?

The Title Page
Identify the name of the article, the authors, the journal, the year, the volume, and
the pages.

The Review of Literature (Introduction)
Identify how many references have been citied.
In bullet fashion, explain each reference (ﬂom the Review of Literature) and also
give the full reference.
Now, in composition style, identify how these bullets created the “funnel” i.e,
justify why reference one is reference one; why reference two, why reference
three is reference three, etc. Your justiﬁcation must follow the logic of most
general to speciﬁc.
Summarize how to write a Review of Literature.

The Hypothesis:
Clearly identify the hypothesis.
Summarize how the Hypothesis/Objective is linked to the Review of Literature.
You must be very speciﬁc in your explanation. This is the key to the Hypothesis.

The Methods:
Identify the format (construction/architecture) used by the author to address the
methods and materials? Identify and explain the subsections used by the author.
Give two speciﬁc examples of how one writes Methods and Materials.

129

VI. The Results:

1. Count the number of graphs, charts, tables, and pictures used by the author.

2. Copy or scan: a graph, a chart, a table, and a picture into your answer. Explain
exactly components of each of these visuals. Comment on the axes, the legend,
the title, the ﬁgure number, the location of the graph/table on the page, the
amount of lines or bars found in the graph, the open and closed data points on the
graph, and any other interesting item that you have noticed.

3. Summarize the key elements required when you include a graph, chart, table and
picture in your paper.

XII. The Discussion:

1 . Explain how the author united the discussion with the results and resolve the
hypothesis. Give two examples of this union among the results, discussion and
hypotheses.

. Why did the author use other references in the discussion?

. What is the role of the Discussion? What are the key ingredients of a Discussion
section?

UN

XIH. The Conclusion:
1 . How did the author indicate that the aim of the study was achieved?
2 . Copy the author’s words onto your report to identify the Conclusion.
3 . Where did the author discuss the signiﬁcance of the research. Copy the author’s
words onto your report to identify the signiﬁcance.

XIV. The Bibliography:
1. How many references did the author use?
2. How was the bibliography arranged?
3. Give one example of how the author wrote a reference.

130

Appendix D: Student Example of A rticle Dissection

Sophomore Article Dissection

I. The Abstract:

1. There are 121 words in the abstract. The percentages of
the words are devoted to different categories as
follows:

i. Review of Literature: 0%
ii. Hypothesis: 0%

iii. Methods: 28.9%

iv. Results: 34.7%

v. Discussion: 18.2%

vi. Conclusion: 18.2%

2. In this article, the writers focused mainly on what they
did and what they found. They dedicated no time to
the review of literature and hypothesis. They
assumed the reader would know about the topic if
they were reading the abstract. They simply stated
their procedure, their results, and how their results
relate to results of other similar experiments. In an
abstract, you only have a short paragraph to explain
the entire experiment. This restricted paragraph must
be utilized well to explain the entire experiment. The
review of literature and the hypothesis are just ﬁllers.
The only necessary parts are the methods, results,
discussion, and conclusion.

131

II. The Title Page:

1. Name of the Journal: p1
Cooperate in Tumorigenesis

611*11‘7‘4‘l and p53 Deﬁciency

2. Authors: Norman E. Sharpless, Scott Alson, Suzanne
Chan, Daniel P. Silver, Diego H. Castrillon, and Ronald
A. DePinho

3. Publication Info: Cancer Research 62, 2761-2765,
2002

132

III. The Review of Literature
(Introduction):

1. The introduction cited 11 sources in 9 unique references.

2. The references appeared in the journal in the order as
follows:

0 (1, 2) “The Rb pathway can be perturbed in several
ways, including D-type cyclin overexpression, Rb
deletion, CDK4 point mutation of ampliﬁcation, and
pl6mK4“ deletion, point mutation, of promoter
silencing.” This explains how the Rb pathway to cell
senescence may be deactivated. It gives a wide variety

of causes.
1. Sherr, C. J. The Pezcoller lecture: cancer cell cycles
revisited. Cancer Res., 60: 3689-3695, 2000.
2. Malumbres, M., and Barbacid, M. To cycle or not to cycle: a
critical decision in cancer. Nat. Canc. Rev., 1: 222-231,
2001.

o (1) “In the p53 pathway, loss of function is typically
attributable to p5 3 point mutations or deletion, MDMZ
ampliﬁcation, or p] 4"” (p19ARF in mice) deletion”
This reference gives a wide variety of reasons for p53

pathway inactivation.

1. Sherr, C. J. The Pezcoller lecture: cancer cell cycles
revisited. Cancer Res., 60: 3689—3695, 2000.

o (2, 3) “Various combinations of these lesions occur in
human cancers, but the combination of p53 and
pl6lNK4‘1l loss appears most common, particularly in
adult carcinomas.” This reference talks about the
causes of cancer that will be studied in the journal.

133

2. Malumbres, M., and Barbacid, M. To cycle or not to cycle: a
critical decision in cancer. Nat. Cane. Rev., 1 .° 222-231,
2001.

3. Sharpless, N. E., and DePinho, R. A. The INK4A/ARF locus
and its two gene products. Curr. Opin. Genet. Dev., 9: 22-
30, 1999.

(4) “Loss of p53 has been suggested to fuel genomic
instability, provide resistance to chemo-radiotherapy,
and attenuate grth arrest in response to telomeric
shortening, hypoxia, and nutrient deﬁciency.” This
references tells what p53 loss may do to a cell to cause

cancer in certain conditions.

4. Levine, A. J. p53, the cellular gatekeeper for growth and
division. Cell, 88: 323-331, 1997.

(5) “The tumor-speciﬁc stimuli that induce p16INK4a

expression, however, are less clear but may relate to

the need to bypass the replicative senescence

checkpoint,” This tells that the exact causes of p16

expression are not pinpointed, but are vaguely known.
5. Duan, J., Zhang, Z., and Tong, T. Senescence delay of

human diploid ﬁbroblast induced by anti-sense p16INK4a
expression. J. Biol. Chem, 276: 48325-48331, 2001.

(6, 7) “as well as the pressure to deactivate G1 phase
control in the setting of suboptimal growth
conditions.” This gives another condition when p16

expression occurs.

6. Ramirez, R. D., Morales, C. P., Herbert, B. S., Rohde, J. M.,
Passons, C., Shay, J. W., and Wright, W. E. Putative
telomere-independent mechanisms of replicative aging
reﬂect inadequate growth conditions. Genes Dev., 15: 398-
403, 2001.

7. Wieser, R. J., Faust, D., Dietrich, C., and Oesch, F.
p16INK4a mediates contact-inhibition of growth. Oncogene,
18: 277-281, 1999.

134

0 (8, 9) “or oncogene activation.” This reference gives

one more cause of p16 expression.

8. Zhu, J ., Woods, D., McMahon, M., and Bishop, J. M.
Senescence of human ﬁbroblasts induced by oncogenic Raf.
Genes Dev., [2: 2997-3007, 1998.

9. Serrano, M., Lin, A. W., McCurrach, M. E., Beach, D., and
Lowe, S. W. Oncogenic ras provokes premature cell
senescence associated with accumulation of p53 and
p16INK4a. Cell, 88: 593-602, 1997.

o (10, 11) “Early passage MEFs ﬂom the p16INK4a—
speciﬁc knockout mouse (p16mK4“'/') have been
shown to possess similar growth kinetics compared
with littermate wild-type control cultures when
passaged at nonsaturating densities.” This reference

tells the grth patterns of mice with p16 deﬁciency.

10.Krimpenfort, P., Quon, K. C., Mooi, W. J ., Loonstra, A., and
Bems, A. Loss of p161nk4a confers susceptibility to
metastatic melanoma in mice. Nature, 413: 83-86, 2001.

11.Sharpless, N. E., Bardeesy, N., Lee, K. H., Carrasco, D.,
Castrillon, D. H., Aguirre, A. J ., Wu, E. A., Homer, J. W.,
and DePinho, R. A. Loss of p161nk4a with retention of
p19Arf predisposes mice to tumorigenesis. Nature, 413: 86-
91, 2001.

o (11) “However, the major distinction of p] 61M”
cultures was a greater ease of immortalization when
passaged serially on a 3T9 protocol.” This tells how
p16 deﬁcient cells grow in comparison to cells with

normal p16 grown on the same protocol.

11.Sharpless, N. E., Bardeesy, N., Lee, K. H., Carrasco, D.,
Castrillon, D. H., Aguirre, A. J ., Wu, E. A., Homer, J. W.,
and DePinho, R. A. Loss of p161nk4a with retention of
p19Arf predisposes mice to tumorigenesis. Nature, 413: 86-
91, 2001.

135

3.

The authors deﬁnitely funneled their information as
they made references. The ﬁrst two references gave vague
wide causes of pr and p53 deactivation. The next
reference told of some vague causes of cancer. The
funneling already begins with the next reference. This one
connects p53 deactivation to a cause of cancer. Next, the
references move to explain another protein, p16, used in
the experiment. This protein was researched more in the
experiment so it has more speciﬁc information. This is
why it is explained later in the introduction. The next three
references all give conditions when p16 is expressed. The
reference after these tells how expression of that protein
affects growth in mice. Finally, to complete the funnel, the
last reference tells how p16 deﬁcient cells grow compared
to cells with functional pl 6. This last fact was tested in the
experiment, along with p53 deﬁciency.

In order to write a review of literature, you must do a
lot of research. Many times, you may read separate articles
to receive the same information. You must have all of this
information to create a good funnel effect towards what
you want to study. This funnel will give the reader of your
journal good background information on what you are
researching. First, they will receive basic information
about the ﬁeld you are studying. Then, the information
will become more and more speciﬁc, telling the reader
everything they will need to know to understand the
journal, without assuming there is general knowledge that
they already have. When writing an introduction, you must
assume that your reader has no knowledge of the subject,
and that you must give all the information they would
need to have to understand the research.

136

IV. The Hypothesis:

1.

The journal did not have a hypothesis but it had a
goal. This was to ﬁnd if “p16INK4a loss conferred
additional tumor-relevant capabilities in the setting of
p5 3 deﬁciency.” It can be assumed, however, that they
thought it would.

This hypothesis was linked to the last reference of
the review of literature. They both had to do with the
affect of p16 deﬁciency on cell growth. Therefore,
when you write a review of literature, your last
reference must be clearly closely connected to your
hypothesis. This way, your funnel effect will lead you
directly to your hypothesis, and therefore, directly to
your research.

137

V. The Methods:

1.

The experiment was divided into ﬁve major parts.
First, they gave procedure information that applied to
the entire experiment. They gave this information in
three subsections. They explained how the mice used
were obtained and bred, how the cells used were
obtained, grown, stained, and analyzed, and ﬁnally,
how tumors were found and analyzed. Then, it went on
to the different sections of the experiment. Each section
had a different type of procedure and a different type of
results. To avoid confusion, they talked about one
section’s procedure and its results entirely in the results
section. Then they started a new section, talked about
its procedure, and then gave its results, and so on.

Here are two examples of how Methods and

Materials were written in the journal:

A. “Mouse Colony and Histopathology. Animals
were generated as described previously (11).
p16INK4a_/_ males (__75% FVB/n) were mated with
p53_/_ females (n _10 FVB/n; Ref. 12).
Nonlitterrnate p16INK4a_/_ p53_/_ females were
then mated with p16INK4a_/_ p53_/_ or
p16INK4a_/_ p5 3_/_ males to generate the
experimental colonies (_87.5% FVB/n). Litterrnate
controls were analyzed in all instances for tumor-ﬂee
survival. Animals were genotyped by PCR and
monitored as described previously (11, 12).
Histological characterization was done as described
previously (1 1). We did not perform
immunohistochemical analysis on the majority of
tumors in this work, and, therefore, many tumors
were classiﬁed as malignant spindle cell neoplasms.

138

These tumors generally do not express markers of
speciﬁc mesenchymal differentiation (Myf, SlOO,
desmin, and CD31) yet most likely represent poorly
differentiated sarcomas and are termed
“ﬁbrosarcoma” or “malignant ﬁbrous histiocytoma”
by others. It is possible that a minority of these
tumors represent poorly differentiated squamous cell
carcinomas, amelanotic melanomas (particularly
given that this analysis was performed on albino
mice), or other poorly differentiated malignancies.”

B. “Tumor Analysis. Primary tumors ﬂom 18
p53_/_ and 17 p53_/_ were analyzed; the
distribution of p] 6INK4a genotypes is shown in
Table 2a. Western blotting for p53, Rb, p16INK4a,
and pl9ARF was preformed as described on primary
tumors (11). In brief, tumors were lysed in BBC _
protease inhibitors, and cell lysates (50 _g) were
resolved on either 16% Tris Glycine or 4—12%
NuPage (Novex) gels. In addition to antibodies
described previously, membranes were also blotted
for Mdm2 (1:200 2A10, gift from A. Levine). LOH
analysis of the p16INK4a and p53 loci and MSP
were performed as described previously (1 1). For the
purpose of Table 2a, tumors were considered to have
an Rb pathway lesion if they lacked expression of
p16INK4a or Rb. Tumors were considered to have a
p53 lesion if: (a) they lacked detectable p53 and
demonstrated increased pl9ARF expression (e.g.,
tumor #9; note p1 9ARF is repressed by functional
p53); (b) overexpressed p53 with low mdm2 (e.g.,
tumor #6; note mdm2 is a p53-inducible gene); (c)
overexpressed mdm2 (e. g., tumor #11); or (d) lacked
pl9ARF expression with low p53 (e.g., tumor #3).”

139

VI. The Results:

1. This journal contains 4 graphs, 2 charts, 3 tables, and 3
pictures.

2. A. A Graph ﬂom the Journal

b

Population Doublings

 

 

 

I 1 Tu"- T' ” " ’1

3 4 5 6 7 8
Passage

This graph shows the growth of wild-type MEFs
at varying densities. Each of the three lines in the graph
represents a different density. 6 cm is the densest
because it is the smallest dish. 15 cm is the least dense
because that is the diameter of the largest dish. The
number of population doublings was recorded at each
passage (up to 8 passages). The cells were passaged
every 3 days. Therefore, the passage is the x-axis and
the number of doublings is the y-axis. As shown by the
graph, the dish with medium density grew the most.

140

B. A Chart ﬂom the Journal

       

 

 

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This chart illustrates the ratio of p16 deﬁcient
cells to cells with functional p16 grown at high density.
The ratio is the y-axis and the days in culture make up
the x-axis. The ratio was recorded at three to four day
intervals. Data was recorded for 21 days. There are two
bars at each recording. As the legend shows, the shaded
one represents normal cells, and the speckled one
represents cells with a mutant ineffective form of p53.
These are both included to see if deﬁcient p53 would
create a difference as well. There is a horizontal line in
the graph at one to show when the ratio is above or
below one. When it is above one, there are more p16
deﬁcient cells than ones with functional p16, and vice
versa when the graph is below one. As the graph shows,
p16 deﬁcient cells grew much more than cells with
ﬁrnctional p16 regardless of whether there was
functional p53.

141

A Table ﬂom the Journal

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This table shows the number and types of tumors
that developed in mice with varying amounts of
functional p16 and p53. The left column tells whether
the mice have fully functional, no ﬁrnctional, or half of
the regular amounts of functional p16 and p53. +/+
means fully functional protein. +/- means half of the
regular amount of functional protein. -/- means no
functional protein. The left column also tells the
number of tumors observed ﬂom the number of mice
observed. The right column tells every type of tumor
found and how often it was seen in that particular
combination of p16 and p53. As the table shows, as p16
and p5 3 decrease, the number and types of tumors
increase.

142

A Picture ﬂom the Journal

C
6cm |10cm I 15cm

p16'""4‘ . ‘li’ji-
p19“ 41"?

Tubulin W
Passages 5 7'3 5 7'3 5 7

This picture shows the result of a western blot
analysis run by the authors. This analysis shows the
expression of p1 6mm" and pl9ARF at different passages
at different densities. The dish with the 6 cm diameter
is the densest because it is smallest. The dish with the
150m diameter is the least dense because it is the largest
dish. The dishes are separated in the picture by thick
vertical lines. Also each dish is divided again by its
passage. The dishes were passaged once every three
days. These readings were taken on passages 3, 5, and
7. Also, each row of blots measured something else.
The ﬁrst row measured p16 expression; the second: p19
expression; the third: tubulin. As shown by the picture,
tubulin remained constant at all densities and passages.
p16 expression increased with each passage. Also, it
was slightly higher in passage 7 of the highest density
than in the passage 7 of lower densities. Also, p19
expression increased with every passage. It increased as
density decreased as well.

143

When you include a graph, chart, table, or picture,
you must include enough information to let the reader
understand what it means. Each axis must be labeled
and have divisions. Also, the legend must make sense
in order to explain the information in the graph. The
diagram must also be explained in the paper. It cannot
stand alone. It needs words to back it up and explain it
more deeply. If it is not explained in the paper, then it
will seem like a last-second add-in. It must be weaved
into the paper well to create a fuller understanding of
the research in the reader.

144

VII. The Discussion:

1.

The authors linked their results and hypothesis to
their discussion in this paper. Immediately, the authors
said that their results suggested that deﬁciencies of p16
and p53 cooperate in forming tumors. This was their
hypothesis. The discussion, results, and conclusion
were all wrapped up in one sentence together. The
authors did not stop there. They went into much deeper
detail with what their data found. They also spoke of
unexpected ﬁndings. They said their results suggested
that growth at high density (as in a tumor) could be a
cause of p16 deletion or silencing. This was not
expected in their hypothesis, but it is still good
information found. This connects their results and
discussion.

The authors used more references in the
discussion to compare their ﬁndings to other similar
papers. These comparisons could lead to helpful
conclusions about solving the p16 and p53 anticancer
pathways.

The Discussion is one of the most important parts
of the paper. It gives explanations for expected ﬁndings
and tries to ﬁnd causes for unexpected ﬁndings. Also, it
compares the study to other similar studies. This way,
the information can be compared to see if it is unusual
or points to any new conclusions. For a good
discussion, ﬁrst, you need to state your ﬁndings. Next,
you must relate them to your hypothesis. Afterwards,
try to ﬁnd an explanation for your ﬁndings. Finally,
compare your ﬁndings to the ﬁndings of other similar
papers. If you compile both of your works, you could
create a new conclusion.

145

VIII. The Conclusion:

1. The authors did not clearly state that the aim of
the study was achieved, but they did state, “in human
cancers... loss of p16INK4a and p53 cooperate in
tumorigenesis.” That was their hypothesis. Therefore,
the aim was achieved.

2. The conclusion and the discussion were blended
together so there is no deﬁnite starting or stopping point
to the conclusion. I believe the conclusion begins when
they say, “A few features of these results are notable
and somewhat unexpected.” They then state their
important and unexpected ﬁndings.

3. The signiﬁcance of their study is mentioned more
than once. They say, “Elucidating the molecular nature
of these density-mediated signals, and determining if
they are the same signals that mediate p16INK4a
induction and ultimately loss, in nascent tumors may
lead to an improved understanding of this barrier to
cancer.” Also, they discuss the signiﬁcance of their
study when they say, “Our data are consistent with the
high ﬂequency of p] 6INK4a methylation seen in
human cancers and suggests p161NK4a_/_ mice
provide a useful platform for the study of this process.”
Both of these quotes tell what type of studies could be
run in the future to further our knowledge of p16 and
p53 ’s involvement in the formation of tumors.

146

XI. The Bibliography:
1. The authors used 25 references.

2. The bibliography was arranged numerically. The
sources were listed in the order they were cited in the

journal.

3. This is an example of one the references written

by the authors:
1. Sherr, C. J. The Pezcoller lecture: cancer cell

cycles revisited. Cancer Res., 60: 3689-3695,
2000.

147

Appendix D: Student Example of A rticle Dissection

Junior Article Dissection
I. The Abstract

1. There are 217 words in the abstract.
i. Review of Literature: 19.4%
ii. Hypothesis: 7.8%
iii. Methods: 15.7%
iv. Results: 16.6%
v. Discussion: 32.7%

vi. Conclusion: 7.8%

2. What can be concluded about writing an abstract is that the main bulk of
the abstract will be on discussing the data in the results. Less time is spent on the
hypothesis and conclusion, since both are the results of a funnel effect, present in the

literature review and in the method-results-discussion process.

148

II. The Title Page

1. Title: Presolar stardust in meteorites: recent advances and scientiﬁc ﬂontiers
2. Authors: Larry R. Nittler
3. Publishing Information:

Earth and Planetary Science Letters 209, (2003) 259-273

149

1H. The Review of Literature (Introduction)

1. Three cited references in the Introduction.

0 E. Zinner, Stellar nucleosynthesis and the isotopic composition of presolar grains
ﬂom primitive meteorites, Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 26 (1998) 147-188.
“There have been several reviews of the subject over the last decade [1-3] and the
reader is referred to these and the current literature for more details on the topics
discussed here.”

0 E. Anders, E. Zinner, Interstellar grains in primitive meteorites: Diamond, silicon
carbide, and graphite, Meteoritics 28 (1993(490-514.

“There have been several reviews of the subject over the last decade [1-3] and the

reader is referred to these and the current literature for more details on the topics

discussed here.”

- T.J. Bematowicz, E. Zinner, Astrophysical implications of the laboratory study of
presolar materials, AIP Conf. Proc. 402, Woodbury, 1997.

“There have been several reviews of the subject over the last decade [1-3] and the

reader is referred to these and the current literature for more details on the topics

discussed here.”

3. These bullets create a “funnel” effect because reference one first speaks
about what stellar nucleosynthesis is, and includes information on the isotopic
composition of the presolar grains. Reference two comes next it specifies what types
of presolar grains are present in the spoken-of meteorites, listing off diamond,
silicon carbide, and graphite. Reference three is the last because it sets the stage for
the hypothesis, speaking about the astrophysical implications of laboratory studies

of presolar materials.

4. To write a Review of Literature one must “funnel”, using references to
support stated facts that narrow in specificity as the reader proceeds through the
Introduction. But the author(s) must also keep in mind that the Review of
Literature is also part of the even larger “funnel” effect: the article itself. Thus, the

Review of Literature must maintain the “funnel” and avoid ending too speciﬁc.

150

IV. The Hypothesis:

1. There are two hypotheses in this article.
i. I highlight some recent advances in presolar grain research
ii. I. . .suggest where new insights might come. A recurrent theme is how
progress in this ﬁeld has gone hand in hand with the development of new analytical

techniques.

2. The Objectives are linked to the Review of literature because the author
states that he will elaborate further on what he has previously spoken generally
about. In the Introduction he had spoken about different types of research, and the
grains themselves, linking to the first objective. Also in the Introduction he spoke
about possibilities of where the research could be headed, connecting them to the
current research endeavors. This links to the second Objective, where he will

suggest different methods of research.

151

V. The Methods

1. The format used by the author to address the methods and materials is in
compositional form, with further citations and inserting tables and pictures. He
begins in general, speaking about the mineral phases and the presolar grains, than

narrows the topic and speaks about the types of grains, being more speciﬁc.

2. Examples:

i. There are probably other presolar phases present in meteorites,
especially silicates, which are dissolved in the procedures currently used to
concentrate presolar grains.

ii. Nanodiarnonds (V2.5 nm diameter) are the most abundant, but least
understood type of presolar grains. They are identiﬁed as presolar on the basis of
containing highly unusual Xe and Te isotopic ratios, which seem to reﬂect

nucleosynthetic processes in supernovae (SN) [5,6].

152

VI. The Results:

1. ll graphs, tables, and pictures are used by the author.

2. Examples:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i. Graph
1- ‘ . C “‘“l .
10-2 -' uSpinel é -:
5 AW - g
,. -3'.
£7 10
10.4 E- :
5i ”r34 : j
10' ....l . - . . ..... i . . . -.
10‘5 10“ 10'3 10‘-
"0:"‘0

This graph depicts the oxygen isotopic ratios measured in presolar oxide

grains from meteorites. The scale is in scientific notation, and is very miniscule. The

ellipses indicate grain groups.

 

 

ii. Table
Table 1
Types of presolar gram in meteorites
Phase Abundance Size

(9me

Nanodinmond 14(1)I [71] 2 nm
SiC I4ll [7l] 0.1 —20 pm
Graphite 10‘ [71] 1-20 um
Tic. ZrC, MoC, RuC. FeC. Fe Ni metal ? (sub-grains within presolar graphite) [12] 5-220 urn
Sim. >o.ooz* [21] ~l urn
Conrndum (A1203) ~0.05¢ [l6] 0.5—3 pm
Spinel (MgAhOd ‘0.05“ [16.20.58] 0.1—3 um
Hibonite (CaAluOn) 01112 (three grainsf [l7] ~2 um
TiO; ? (one grain)c [18] ~l urn

 

" Abundance from: Orgueil (C11).
" Abundance from: Murchison (CMZ).

‘ Abundance from: unequiwrnted ordinary chondrites.

153

This chart depicts the types of presolar grains in meteorites. The first column
are the phases of the grains the second, the abundance measured in parts per

million. The sizes are measured in nanometers, and are in the third column.

iii. Picture

1 Olim

 

This is the transmission electron microscope (TEM) image of a V100-nm-
thick slice of a V1 -Wm presolar graphite grain. The dotted ellipse indicates a cluster
of tiny TiC crystals that probably served as a nucleation center for the growing
graphite sphere.

Nucleation is when a bubble or other structure appears spontaneously at a random

or unpredictable spot.

3. Key elements required when including a graph, chart, table, and picture in
a paper is that a thorough explanation is required so that there should be little effort
from the reader, who must be a bit well-versed in the topic. Understandable legends
and clear groupings in columns are also required. Information on pictures must also

be present, since the information will not be in the picture itself.

154

VII. The Discussion:

1. The author united the discussion with the results by drawing upon the
data from the results and accomplishing what he had stated in the hypothesis, to
highlight recent advances in presolar grains research.

i. “It is now well established that the majority of presolar SiC grains
originated in C-rich AGB stars and most of the oxide grains formed in O-rich red giants
and AGB stars. The strongest evidence for both conclusions is the similarity of measured
isotope distributions (C in SiC, 0 in oxides) with direct spectroscopic isotope
measurements of the stars (e. g. [26,27])”

a. These statements summarize the data about oxide
distribution in the grains. He states the evidence came from the measurements, a
form of data retrieval he had brieﬂy spoken about.

ii. “Inﬂared spectroscopic features of SiC and corundum have also been
observed around such stars. Moreover, the ranges of many isotopic ratios observed in the
grains are in good quantitative agreement with theoretical predictions for these types of
stars [9,16,30].”

a. Once again the author refers back to the data mentioned in
the previous example (also taken from the Results). He speaks about the SiC and
corundum, and states that thos features have been noticed around other stars. This
connects the data from previously in the article to the methods he spoke of near the
beginning of the article.

2. The auther used other references in the discussion because he had to
support what he stated, and the evidence was presented in the results, which would

never have been present if it did not have the hypothesis to guide its aim.

3. The role of the Discussion is to discuss what the data retrieved consisted of,
also tying it to the hypotheses. Key ingredients of a Discussion are referring to the
results, mentioning the hypotheses to ground the evidence, and elaborating further

on the data retrieved in results.

155

VIII. The Conclusion:

1. The author indicated that the aim of the study was achieved by stating how
information retrieved from microscopic presolar dust grains are very important in
learning more about stars and other objects we are incapable of learning more of,
including composition and origin. He then proceeds to detail further possible

avenues of presolar grain research.

2. Author’s words:

Microscopic presolar dust grains are clearly an exciting new source of important
information about cosmic objects tens of orders of magnitude larger than themselves
(Fig. 1). However, there are still many unsolved problems, some of them fundamental,
some in the details. I have touched on some puzzles in this brief review (e. g. the still
uncertain origins of nanodiamonds, high-density graphite, A+B SiC and Group 4 oxide
grains) but there are of course others, including the origin of 15N enrichments in SN
grains [48,52] and the paucity of presolar oxides relative to C-rich presolar grains [16].
Although many of these problems will undoubtedly be solved, we are certain to
encounter both new surprises and new puzzles in the future. Some of the most promising

routes to interesting new insights are given below.

3. The author discussed the significance of the research at the beginning of
the Conclusion.
Microscopic presolar dust grains are clearly an exciting new source of important

information about cosmic objects tens of orders of magnitude larger than themselves
(Fig. 1).

156

IX. The Bibliography:

1. 79 references were used.

2. The bibliography was arranged in order of use, with no regard to
alphabetical. The authors are listed, then the title of the article, then the journal,
volume, and date. The page numbers are last.

3. Example:

[57] LR. Nittler, C.M.O’D. Alexander, J. Wang, X. Gao, Meteoritic oxide grain
ﬂom supernova found, Nature 393 (1998) 222.

157

Appendix E: Mentor Recruitment Letters, Student Example

Dr. Lawrence Karl Olsen,

My name is Sophomore Student. I am sixteen years old and a sophomore at
Catholic Central High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Catholic Central is the oldest
coed Catholic high school in the United States and this year was voted one of the
country’s top 50 Catholic high schools in academics. I am currently enrolled in a three-
year class called Scientiﬁc Research Seminar at my school. This program is unique at the
high school level in the state of Michigan. The class was founded at the end of last year
by my teacher, Mr. Andrew Moore. Mr. Moore encouraged me to apply to be in this
class where I could pick my own topic to research and design my own experiment. My
older sister has had type 1 diabetes for 12 years, so picking a topic was easy for me. I
completed an application essay discussing why I wanted to take this three-year class and
how I could be an asset to the program. I was selected along with nine other ﬂeshmen
and seven sophomores out of 70 applicants.

In my ﬁrst year of Scientiﬁc Research Seminar, 1 have learned about experimental
design and techniques through group and independent guided instruction. Until this
class, I have left all of my science classes wanting more than the book could provide.
After learning what happened, I wanted to learn why it happened. This class has given
me the opportunity to answer these questions on my own. My focus this year has been on
possible cures and treatments for type 1 diabetes. I have read over 50 articles and six
scientiﬁc journals on this subject.

Because the knowledge I gain through experimentation, data collection, and
article reading can only take me so far as an independent researcher, a mentor to guide
me through more professional work is an essential aspect of this class. I received your
name ﬂom Dr. Laryssa Kauﬂnan at Michigan State University in early March of 2007.
Since then, I have done extensive intemet research on your work pertaining to diabetes
and pancreatic cells. I have read all of your abstracts written about diabetes, as well as
the full texts of Eﬂects of T acrolimus (FK506) on Human Insulin Gene Expression,
Insulin mRNA levels, and Insulin Secretion in HIT-T15 Cells, Differentiation of Glucose
Toxicity from Beta Cell Exhaustion during the Evolution of Defective Insulin Gene
Expression in the Pancreatic Islet Cell Line, HIT-T15, and Increased expression of GPI—
PLD-speciﬁc phospholipase D in mouse models of type-1 diabetes. I have spent the most
time with the ﬁnal journal. Three weeks ago, I presented this journal to the students in
my class through a Power Point presentation.

I am writing you to ask if you would be able to advise me and guide me in my
research. I am intrigued with the work that you have done, and I would be honored if
given the chance to work with you next summer. I am a very good student and a very
hard worker. I am currently ranked 2Ind in my class of 190 students and have a cumulative
GPA of 4.57. I am taking four honors classes, including Science Research Seminar, and
am receiving A’s in all of them. I am extremely self-motivated and learn very quickly. I
also volunteer weekly at my church and volunteer as needed for the West Michigan
chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. My father, Dr. Sophomore
Student, received his medical degree ﬂom the College of Human Medicine at Michigan
State University in 1980. He was on the Board of Directors for JDRF for three years. I
would truly appreciate the opportunity to work with you next summer, performing a self

158

designed experiment on type 1 diabetes that would be submitted to the Intel Science
Competition my senior year. Although my goal is not to win this competition, I would
like to gain the experience of designing and completing an authentic and publishable
experiment.

Thank you for taking the time to read this request. Please respond back by email
at your earliest convenience. If you have any questions, feel ﬂee to contact me or my
teacher, Andrew Moore, at (616)233-5 830 or at andymooore@grcss.org.

Sincerely,

Sophomore Student
sophomorestudent@yahoo.com

159

Appendix E: Mentor Recruitment Letters, Student Example

Dr. Schwartz:

My name is Junior Student and I am a 17 year-old junior at Catholic Central High
School in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This year, my school has begun a three year program
called the Authentic Research Seminar in which talented students can pursue independent
research in the area of their choosing. Even in the program's ﬁrst year, competition for
entrance was extremely competitive, with only 17 of over 70 students accepted. By the
end of the three years, it is expected that each student will have completed a 20-page
research paper and entered it into the prestigious Intel Science Talent Search. Unlike any
other high school class, this program allows students to truly ﬁnd their passions and push
themselves beyond the limits of the traditional classroom. A vital part of this program,
though, is ﬁnding a mentor to guide our research.

I have always been interested in science. For years, I had my heart set on
exploring the reaches of the universe until a science teacher introduced me to molecular
biology in 7th grade. Last year, I rediscovered my love of proteins in AP Biology where I
became fascinated with the entire transcriptional and translational processes. When it
came time for me to focus on my interests this year, I was logically drawn to the
mechanisms governing transcription. After college, I would like to pursue a Ph.D. and a
career in research.

Knowing that success in the world of research does not come easily, I have done
everything in my power to give myself the necessary background to excel. I read over 55
general articles concerning neurobiology, cancer genetics, and stem cells before
beginning to read journals regarding transcription. I have read 10 of these, 1 of which
was your paper “C/EBP'y Has a Stirnulatory Role on the IL-6 and IL-8 Promoters.” As I
am absolutely fascinated with the various molecular interactions regulating transcription,
I was particularly interested by C/EBP'y’s ability to stimulate C/EBPB activity. In fact, I’d
love to be able to read your paper “Differential roles of C/EBP beta regulatory domains
in specifying MCP-l and IL-6 transcription,” as I was unable to obtain a copy.

If you afford me the opportunity to work with you, I will only add vitality and
passion to your lab. I am ﬁrst in my class of 187 with a weighted GPA of 4.6. I received a
perfect score on the AP Biology test last year as a sophomore in a class of primarily
seniors, while on the PSAT I received 228 out of 240, placing me in the top .5% of
juniors nationally. However, numbers are rarely an effective way of judging a person's
character. I have a genuine passion for knowledge and am incredibly driven in everything
I do. I learn quickly and would be honored to research with, and learn ﬂom, someone
with your experience.

I would be extremely grateful if you would agree to mentor me through a research
project. If you have any further questions regarding this program, please feel ﬂee to
contact my teacher, Mr. Andrew Moore, at andymoore@grcss.org or at 616-233-5830.
Thank you very much for your time, and I would appreciate it if you would respond to
this email at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,

Junior Student
juniorstudent@gmail.com

160

Appendix E: Mentor Acceptance Letter From Teacher to Mentor

Dear Dr. Hord,

My name is Andrew Moore, Sophomore Student’s research instructor. I wanted
to take a moment to provide you with some information regarding the Science Research
Seminar program at Grand Rapids Catholic Central High School.

Our students are enrolled in a three-year program called Science Research
Seminar. It is a graded program, the goal of which is to provide students with the
opportunity to discover, and subsequently to become intensely involved in, an area of
passion for them in science.

During the ﬁrst year of the program, students learn about experimental design and
techniques through group and independent guided instruction. They read dozens
(sometimes hundreds) of periodicals and journal articles on their topic, learn the
fundamental science associated with their chosen ﬁeld of study, and learn to critically and
formally dissect research papers. Along the way, they hopefully ﬁnd a mentor in their
ﬁeld, which is where you have so kindly stepped in.

During the second year, students are expected to accelerate their studies on their
topic. They now focus on the work of the mentor and commit truly large quantities of
time towards learning the material - this is necessary because while the students may be
motivated and talented, they are obviously still young and have much knowledge to gain
in a relatively short period of time. During this time, their mentor guides the student
through the literature, as they work together to develop a plan for the coming months. I
call this the Junior Vision Plan. Rather than simply being a course of study, it is intended
to become plan of action. Depending upon their relative location, mentors communicate
with the student through email correspondence, telephone, or through face-to face
meetings at a convenient time. Some students begin work at the laboratory or facility
during junior year. Typically, mentors get a sense around this time of the potential ability
of their student and help to guide him or her in a direction of independent or semi-
independent work within the area of interest. The goal, which is often (but not always)
realized is to eventually have the student work on a small piece of the "scientiﬁc
mystery" on their own or in collaboration with you, your doctoral students, or your
colleagues. This original work is not gratuitous - the student must earn the respect of the
mentor to the extent that he or she becomes a true asset rather than a time liability for the
mentor.

At this point, real learning can occur. Many students have contributed signiﬁcant
ﬁndings to their mentor's work and have been complemented on being better than many
graduate students in their dedication and ability. Of course, there is never a guarantee
that things will "gel" this well, and the main onus for follow-through always rests with
each individual student.

Between junior and senior year, there is typically a period of intense work. This
is the culmination of the year-plus of reading and study and involves the possibility of
contributing a novel piece, however large or small, to the research. This is a tall order for
a high school student, but it is tremendously exciting for them. This work may continue
through the beginning of the student's senior year but it must be concluded early in the
fall because at that point, the student will write the formal paper that is the highlight of
senior year. This paper may then be entered into the Intel Science Talent Search, for

161

which there are only forty annual ﬁnalists ﬂom the entire nation. In addition to their
entry into the Science Talent Search, the students present their work both at school as
well as at formal symposia.

Dr. Hord, Sophomore Student is deeply indebted to you for your assistance with
this part of her education. It is only through the generosity of intellects such as yours
that the next generation of scientists may emerge, and what you are doing today will
produce far-ranging positive consequences for tomorrow. Please know that each student
is supported here at Grand Rapids Catholic Central High School and that I am available
to assist in any way that he or you might need. I hope that this helps to clarify the
Science Research Seminar program, but if questions remain please get in touch. I am
attaching my contact information below.

Sincerely,
Mr. Andrew J. Moore
Grand Rapids Catholic Central High School

(616)233-5830
andymoore@grcss.org

162

Appendix F: Sophomore Mid- Year Report

THE SOPHMORE MID-YEAR SCIENCE RESEARCH REPORT

The following assignment will help you to reconstruct the planning, research, and thought
processes you have done so far in your research. It will also assist your research
organization in the second half of the year.

As you are all at different stages of your work, there will be considerable variation in
your papers. However, each item below requires a minimum of a one-page discussion.
Your work should be typed and double spaced. This report is due February 27.

1.

What is (are) your current area(s) of interested research? Discuss how your
interests or direction have changed over time due to both personal and practical
reasons.

Write three plausible hypotheses you would like to pursue based on your work to
date. Explain each of these hypotheses.

Write:
a) A Review of Literature of the most important readings you have done.
Include at least ten items.
b) Also, include three of the most prominent researchers you have found.
c) Lastly, indicate the research facilities where this research is occurring.
Write: Design three possible experiments of your own to support your three
hypotheses above. Include all materials and methods to the best of your ability.

In as much detail as possible, write a timeline for the second half of the year. Do
not forget preparation time for your presentation in class.

Assess your research based on the rubric found in the portfolio. Explain in great
detail why you chose this grade.

163

Appendix F: Junior Vision Plan
Junior Vision Paper

0 At this time, you should be envisioning the end of your Science Research
Project, i.e., what do you want to have as your research product in June of
your Junior year? This vision will be initially prepared by you and turned in
by the 2” week of November. You and your mentor will review and revise this
plan.

0 Write the goals and objectives that you intend to accomplish this year. The
purpose here is state where your research progress should be at the end of
your Junior year and before you begin your research in Junior summer.

0 Your research plan should contain:

1. your research objectives

2. a timeline ﬂom October through June

3. the methods you will use to accomplish your goals
4. your expected research results.

0 Your plan should contain a clear timeline, by month and/or by experiments
bringing you to June of Junior Year.

0 After this plan is revised with you and your mentor, it must be dated and
signed by you and your mentor. A copy of the signed plan must also be left
with your mentor and one given to me.

164

Appendix F: Junior Vision Plan, Student Example
Junior Vision- 11.26.2006

This year I aim to accomplish in my research a clear understanding of what
subjects of astronomy I am interested in and capable of comprehending to the best of my
ability. I also wish to secure a mentor who works in one of the ﬁelds I will have
identiﬁed, and that I will be able to assist/work with the mentor, no matter how tedious.
Gaining a more general understanding in my chosen ﬁeld would also be desired and
worked for. I am interested in ﬁnding more about optical and radio astronomy, since the
physics might not be too staggering, although that is what I hope as I research.

November and December will be mostly ﬁnding the speciﬁc ﬁeld and compiling a
list of potential mentors to be narrowed down in the future. I will also ﬁnd a journal
article to be dissected and turned in by December. Choosing the mentor will be in
December, where contact will be worked on. By January I should already have received
news ﬂom the possible mentors and have been accepted.

February will be the literature review, as recommended by the mentor. March will
include more literature and development of the method of the experiment. April will be
more in-depth with the method. May and June will be the objective, which will be carried
out in July and August through the experiment.

I will use the Internet, most likely the sites Science Daily for little tidbits, which
will link me to interesting journals. Discover also has interesting articles more aimed at
the average person. Scientiﬁc American has a lot of journals to look at. Google scholar is
the hotspot for journals I will be searching for. I will also use various communication

devices like the telephone and email to contact various possible mentors.

165

I expect for results that I have gained more understanding on my mentor’s work,
and that I will have successfully secured one and am assisting/working with the person. I
will also have gained a better understanding of how to navigate through science journal

articles, and the workings of one.

166

Appendix F: Junior Vision Paper, Student Example

Junior Vision Paper

Year Goal: Complete an undergraduate level research paper to be presented at the Spring
Symposium and reﬁned through summer research.

“To give anything less than your best is to sacriﬁce the gift.” This quote ﬂom
Steve Prefontaine in regards to running is equally applicable to scientiﬁc research. In my
personal research this year, I am aiming for nothing less than perfection while
passionately pursuing a subject I enjoy. If perfection means failure, then so be it. Such is
scrence.

By the end of this school year, I hope to have completed an undergraduate level
research paper which I will present at the Spring Symposium. Ideally, I will then work
with my mentor this coming summer to reﬁne that paper in order to enter it into the
Siemens Westinghouse Competition and Intel Science Talent Search my senior year.

In order to reach this point, I will be reading journals during the entire month of
December. By the beginning of January, I hope to have contacted a researcher with the
intention of securing a mentor and ideally would like to have heard back ﬂom them by
mid-month. The remainder of January will be spent working on a procedure, and by the
beginning of February I would like to have begun experimentation.

Realistically, I expect to spend the months of February, March, and April on my
experiment. By the end of April, though, I should be organizing my data into a research
paper. From that point on, my person work will primarily consist of ﬁnishing my paper
for presentation in the May Symposium.

As I do not yet have a ﬁrm idea of my speciﬁc line of research, this paper will
have to be updated at the end of December. By that point, I expect to have a clear idea of
my experiment and expected results.

Outside of this class, I will be self-studying for the USA Biology Olympiad,
which begins in early February. If I perform well in those opening rounds, I will have the
chance to compete at higher levels later in the school year. I do not expect this to alter my
research plan, however.

In addition, I will be applying to the Research Science Institute, hosted by MIT
next summer. Though my chances of being accepted are close to 4%, that still means I
have a l in 25 chance of attending and I see no rational reason not to apply. Everyone
needs a dream. I have wanted to attend RSI since 7th grade and I’m not stopping now.

In short, my long term goal is nothing less than a nationally competitive research
paper. However, no award is worth it if I don’t thoroughly enjoy my work.

167

Appendix F: Junior Mid- Year Plan

THE JUNIOR MID-YEAR SCIENCE RESEARCH REPORT

As part of your mid-year report card grade, you are required to submit a lO-page
document of your research status to date. The paper, which must be typed and doubled
spaced, is due by January . It must consist of the following reports:

1.

 

The Title Page: Clearly identify the title of your research project. (The title
may eventually change.)

The Review of Literature: Write a review of literature which clearly
demonstrates the “funnel effect.” That is, your review must chronologically
and logically be in order, indication the historical and logical progression of
the research. You must use the proper citation format: Title, Author, Journal,
Volume, Page, and Year. Your review must indicate a void in literature which
leads to your present hypotheses. You should indicate how the review helped
form and shape your present hypotheses.

 

Hypotheses: Write a statement of your goals, objectives, or purposes of your
research. Your hypotheses should always be compound, complex, and the
state of the art.

Methods and Material_s:_ List and explain the methods and materials used in
your research to date. This may include your intended questionnaires, data
check-lists, and any other tool (instrument, survey) you will use to collect
data. The use of a ﬂow-chart would be helpful to indicate the progress and
continuity of your research project.

Results: Include here any data you already have. Any data you report must
be explained with tables, charts, and graphs. You may also include your
expected data.

Discussion: Use this report to explain and fully discuss the meaning of your
results. This report should clearly explain every detail of your results.

Sigpiﬁcance: Indicate what is the signiﬁcance of your results. Indicate, also,
the value of your research data.

Conclusions: List your conclusions to date. Your conclusions should refer
directly to your hypotheses.

galorowledgments: Include here all those people that have signiﬁcantly

helped you in your research (mentors, teachers, parents, etc.) and indicate why
you are thanking them.

168

Appendix F: Sophomore Summer Vision Plan

Summer Vision Plan
Sophomores

This assignment is due May 21.

1.

9°

It is time for you to prepare for your junior year. At the end of your junior year,
you will be running an authentic research project with a mentor.
This vision is to be created by you and your mentor.
In paragraph style, please create a vision of your research idea and how you are
preparing to run the project.
This research vision should contain:

a. A summary of what you have done to date (readings, procedures, etc.)

b. A preliminary project objective

c. A summary of concepts that you need to learn to test objective

(1. A summary of procedures (lab, survey, statistical, etc.) that you will need

to have mastered before running the project or analyzing data

In addition to the written paper, create a calendar for the months of June, July, and
August which indicate your objectives for each month. Additionally, if possible,
specify your goals for each of the twelve individual weeks. This is to be
completed with the advice of your mentor.
The joint created plan (with your mentor) should be dated and signed by both you
and your mentor.
Three copies are to be made: One for Mr. Moore, one for your mentor, and one
for yourself. The copy to Mr. Moore should be digital, and a single ﬁle.

This plan will prepare you to do your Junior Vision paper in September, as well as your
ﬁrst lO-week plan.

169

Appendix F: Sophomore Summer Vision Plan, Student Example
Sophomore Vision Paper

To date, I have learned of the methodology of conducting an experiment and read
80 abstracts and six journal articles. The learning of the research process took place in the
Science I, II, and 111 projects. Science I taught preliminary skills and introduced the
ﬁrndamental concepts of observational studies through an experiment within a river
ecosystem. Although the actual study conducted by my group and I failed, the experience
helped to emphasize the importance of peer review, limiting variables, and the
relationship between data and the hypothesis — supported, never proven. Science 11
allowed for an experimental study, which for my group studied the correlation between
the numbers of eggs to the height that a scufﬂe raises over time. With the lessons learned
ﬂom Science I, the procedure was more reﬁned to limit as many variables as possible and
subject to a more extensive peer review. As a result, the data supported the hypothesis.
Finally, Science HI permitted an independent scientiﬁc study in order to thoroughly test
the familiarity with the basics of a well-done study and force students to experience all of
the scientiﬁc procedure, which is impossible in a group setting. My own research
searched for a correlation between video game experience and learning a new video
game. This was the ﬁrst study in which I had to write a full paper, which included the
Literature Review. The review was integral in forming and reﬁning the hypothesis and
the procedure. The most valuable lesson taught in this study was the usefulness and
difﬁculty of 3 Literature Review.

As for the independent research, which began at the beginning of the year, I ﬁrst

began with psychology but moved toward optics as I read through popular articles ﬂom

170

Discover, Scientiﬁc American, and ScienceDaily. Originally, I was more interested in IQ
than telescopes but that changed when I learned of an article involving an invisibility
cloak. I read about the cloak but I then became disinterested on the subject, but I retained
my fascination of light. Eventually, I came upon an article discussing telescopes and the
“war” for funding. Finally, I decided to pursue telescopes as a topic of interest, which
bloomed into an interest involving methods to increase telescope resolution.

When it comes to reading journal articles, I have read 51 abstracts and ﬁve
journals by Rebecca Bernstein. The writings were about galaxy dynamics, spectroscopic
instruments, the Dark Energy Survey Camera for the Blanco 4-m telescope, the MIKE
spectrograph within a Magellan Telescope, and the Giant Magellan Telescope.
Afterwards, so far, I have read 29 abstracts and one journal by John Monnier. His
writings were mainly about inﬂated interferometry and difﬂaction-lirnited imaging,
which leads to millarcsecond resolution, and observing nebulae, Herbig Ae/He stars,
Wolf-Rayets, as well as other types of stars with interferometry to discover facts about
stellar evolution.

As of the writing of this paper, my mentor has not been ofﬁcially secured.
Therefore, unless my mentor says otherwise, my preliminary objective is to answer the
following question: Do techniques used to increase angular resolution work on the small,
amateur telescope as well as they do on the large, professional telescope, particularly
aperture masking? In order to test this objective, I would have to build my own telescope
and learn how to make non-redundant and partially redundant aperture masks. In
addition, I would have to learn the basic concepts of engineering so that I can pick the

correct materials and accurately and precisely cut the correct holes in the mask as well as

171

making any necessary electrical connections. Also, learning how to program a computer
to capture independent, fast images and then combine them would also be useful. It
would particularly help also to learn more about the properties of light. The most

important concept to know, though, is Fourier analysis.

172

Appendix F: 10 Week Plan
10 Week Plan

At the beginning of each quarter we will sit down together and go through a 10 week plan
that you have written. The plan must have the following parts:

A written statement of what you have accomplished over the past 10 weeks.
Goals that you wish to accomplish in the next 10 weeks

An individual lO-week timeline per goal set for the quarter

The 10-week timeline is placed on an actual calendar with each goal receiving a
separate calendar.

Each goal is put forth with as many speciﬁcs as possible. For example, it is inappropriate
to simply say that you are going to do 10 article readings. Where are you going to get
them? What topic? From mentor? Etc. . ..

173

Appendix F: 10 Week Plan, Sophomore Example

Research Seminar 2nd Hour
12 December 2006
10 Week Plan
10 Week Accomplishments

Over the past ten weeks in Research Seminar, I feel like I have accomplished
many things on my way to becoming at better researcher. Before taking this class, I
knew very little about diabetes, except that my sister has it and that she has to take shots
every day to control the amount of sugar in her blood. After researching the topic and
reading and summarizing 50 articles about it, I ﬁnally understand why. What I am most
proud of is my ability to understand the material I read. Usually, everything comes very
easy to me in school. But that is not the case with this class. I cannot say that I have
understood the articles I have read on the ﬁrst try, but I have developed a habit of
underlining words or phrases I don’t understand and looking them up before I move on to
the next article. For me, the language of the articles is the most strenuous part of medical
research. Also, apart ﬂom my individual research, I conducted my ﬁrst research project.
The River Project was not something that I’ve ever done before, but I feel like I gained a
lot of experience ﬂom collecting samples, testing them, recording the data, writing a
paper, and presenting the results. It was a great experience for me to learn how to
perform a real research project. So far, I am pleased with the progress I have made.

Week 1 (Nov. 26)
This week, my goal is to read my ﬁrst journal. It will be on a very general subject

to diabetes, yet still contain information that I have been researching in the articles I have

174

read. I plan to get most of my journals ﬂom MD Consult, a journal website that my dad
subscribes to, and Google Scholar. MD Consult has tens of thousands of journals on a
wide range of topics. What I hope to do with this journal is to read it over the weekend,
underline words that are difﬁcult to understand, look up the underlined words, read the
journal over again for clarity, and, during the last few days of the week, surrnnarize it in
my process journal. On Friday, I will ﬁll out the project forms for my meeting. Those
that I do not ﬁnish at school, I will ﬁnish when I get home Friday, or on Saturday
afternoon.

Week 2 (Dec. 3)

My goals for this week are similar to those of week one. During week two, I will
ﬁnd a journal that narrows in on the immunology of diabetes. By now, I hope to start
closing in on that area. Most of the week, I will follow the same routine as in week
one— reading, underlining, and summarizing. I know that this journal will be much
more difﬁcult to read than the ﬁrst journal, so I am dedicating an entire week to
understanding all of the concepts in it.

Week 3 (Dec. 10)

This week, I will ﬁnd two journals (or two studies) that deal speciﬁcally with the
immunology of diabetes. These two journals will be found on MD Consult or on Google
Scholar. If there are not two good journals either of these sites, I will go to Discover or
Science Daily to ﬁnd material. Because this is my ﬁrst week reading two journals, I
expect it to be a very busy week. I will dedicate as much time as I have to learning more
about immunosuppressive drugs and vaccination treatments. I want to become familiar

with immune reactions and research them later in the semester.

175

Week 4 (Dec. 17)

I will spend week four ﬁnishing journal summaries and projects ﬂom week three,
and looking for articles online about immunology. I will right down the names of
reoccurring researchers in my research. At the end of the week, I will search for a journal
that is appropriate
for my Dissection Paper. This journal should be a study that was conducted on immune
system treatments of patients with type 1 diabetes. At the end of the week, I will begin
summarizing the journal that I have chosen.

Week 5 (Dec. 24)

Over Christmas Break, I will ﬁnish summarizing the journal that I will dissect and
ﬁll out any project reports for my next meeting. I will become as familiar with the
journal as possible, and I will also learn any new terms that seem important to the type of
research that I am planning to continue. The last three days of the week will be spent
creating an outline for the Dissection Paper. This outline will provide me with a rough
draft of my paper.

Week 6 (Dec. 31)

At week six, I plan to begin writing the introduction to my Dissection Paper. I
will ﬁnish the paper on Monday and Tuesday before I go back to school. On Wednesday,
I will ﬁnd two articles in class. I will read them both and underline new terms. I will
summarize the articles at home, and ﬁll out the project reports for the articles on
Thursday. On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday I will write the second part of my

Dissection Paper.

176

Week 7 (Jan. 7)

Week seven is dedicated to my Science Thursday Presentation. Most likely, I will
be presenting the article that I have chosen to dissect because I will have had the most
experience with this particular journal. On Sunday through Wednesday, I will be
working on my Power Point and my oral presentation. I plan to be very comfortable with
the material that I am presenting by second hour on Thursday. On Friday, I will complete
any project reports pertaining to my Science Thursday Work.

Week 8 (Jan. 14)

During week eight, I will ﬁnish my Dissection Paper. On Sunday, Monday,
Tuesday, and Wednesday, I will work on and ﬁnish the third section of my paper. On
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (Dec. 21), I will work on and ﬁnish the fourth
section of my paper.

Week 9 (Jan. 21)

Because week nine is exam week, I expect to be very busy studying forother
classes. I do not plan to do any individual research this entire week. If I do have any
spare time at all between studying, I will spend it outlining my Semester 1 Vision Paper.

Week 10 (Jan. 28)

I will spend the ﬁrst three days of week ten ﬁnding 5 articles, summarizing them,
and ﬁlling out the projects that pertain to each. I plan to spend the rest of week ten
writing my Semester 1 Vision Paper. This paper will take me more than just week ten to

ﬁnish, and will continue on into my next ten week plan.

177

Appendix F: I 0 Week Plan, Junior Example

Mr. Moore
Research Seminar
27 November 2006
lO-Week Plan: 2nd Quarter

Over the past 10 weeks, I have walked ﬂom the darkness of ignorance into the
light of knowledge. Before, my plans for my life focused on restrictive international
business. Because of this class, my attention has turned toward a ﬁeld with much more
ﬂeedom, much more compassion, and much more room to grow as a person. Yes, Mr.
Moore has successfully caused me to consider scientiﬁc research as a fulﬁlling career.
After all, last year, I was falling asleep during my economics class, and this year, reading
a journal about the connections between Alzheimer’s Disease and Down Syndrome
wakes me up.

Ok, so now that we have that bit of creative genius out of the way, let’s get down
to business. Since August, I have read approximately 100 different articles on a broad
range of topics, including global warming, premature birth, and cancer. The one topic
that really piqued my interest, however, was Down Syndrome. As I conducted research
to further my knowledge about Down Syndrome, I discovered some progress that was
being made by researchers about the connections between Alzheimer’s and Down
patients, especially at the Down Syndrome Research Center at Stanford University. I
identiﬁed a possible mentor, Ahmed Salehi, and have been reading articles written by
him and other members of the lab where he performs his research since. On the side, I
have completed an observational study on how storm drains affect fecal coliforrn levels
in the Grand River with Shannon, Katie, and Maggie, and I am in the process of
completing an experimental study on the best appliance for baking a cooking as a
measure of moisture content with Ann and David.

In this next quarter, I hope to contact and secure a mentor, complete our
experimental study, and start brainstorming what experiment I want to perform.

In order to contact and secure a mentor, I will need to read at least ﬁve more
articles written by Ahmed Salehi. I will read at least one each week ﬂom now until
Christmas break, and one more over Christmas break. I will ﬁnd my articles through
Google Scholar, as well as the Mobley Lab website (the lab where Ahmed Salehi works.)
I will focus on the articles dealing with Alzheimer’s in relation to Down Syndrome, but I
will not turn down other articles he has written. Over Christmas break, I will compose
my letter to Ahmed Salehi and email it to Mr. Moore. Hopefully, by the end of break, my
letter will have been sent. If Dr. Salehi has not replied by January 12‘", I will attempt to
make contact again.

As far as completing our experimental study, I will make the remaining two
batches of cookies on December 1‘”, and begin typing up my results December 2"". I will
obtain my data on Monday, December 4th, and by Friday, December 8‘“, I will have
completed typing up my results. During class the week of December 4th, I will work with
Ann and David to complete our background research. On December 9‘”, I will try to get
together with my group in order to write our paper and ﬁnish up our work. By
Wednesday, December 13th we will hopefully be ready to present.

178

Every other week through the next quarter, I will have one day in class set aside
as a brainstorming day. On this day, instead of working on my journal article, I will
browse the web for other Alzheimer’s and Down information, talk to others, and
hopefully use it to take a step back and make sure I’m still on track with where I want to
be. Also, I will use it to brainstorm speciﬁc experiments I may want to perform with my
mentor. These will fall on Fridays, speciﬁcally, December 1", December 15‘”, and
January 5‘”.

179

Appendix G: Methodology Practice Project

Testing the Hypothesis in a Controlled Experiment

BACKGROUND:

A hypothesis is best tested with an experiment. The results of your experiments are compared to your
hypothesis in order for you to determine if your hypothesis is correct.

All experiments must have an experimental condition and a control. The experimental factor or variable is
the part of the experiment that tests the hypothesis. You can have only one experimental factor at a time.
The control serves as the comparison against which the experimental factor can be judged. All factors in
the experimental condition are identical to all of the factors in the control except for one variable—the
experimental factor.

PURPOSE:

Once you have completed this activity, you should be able to:
1. Deﬁne the term hypothesis
2. Identify the experimental factor and control of a given experiment.
3. Designate the logical steps a scientist would take in conducting a controlled experiment.

MATERIALS:

Pen and paper.

PROCEDURE, PART I:

Read the following passage and answer all questions:

When the Salk vaccine for the prevention of polio was tested, two nearly identical groups of children were
tested. These children were of the same ages, sex, in the same classes, lived in the same area, had similar
diets, etc. One group of children received the Salk vaccine and the second group of children were
“vaccinated” with injections of saltwater instead of the Salk vaccine. The two groups were compared one
year later. Among the thousands of children who had received the Salk vaccine, only a few children got
polio. Among the thousands of children who had received the saltwater, hundreds of children contracted

polio.

Questions:

1. What is the experimental factor in this experiment?

2. What is the control in this experiment?

3. State a possible hypothesis for this experiment.

4. What could the doctors conclude ﬂom the results of this experiment?
PROCEDURE, PART II:

Design a controlled experiment based on the following information:

Some plastic wraps are more air-tight than others. The more air-tight the plastic wrap, the longer food will

keep ﬂesh when wrapped in it. Seeds need air to sprout and grow.

Design an experiment that could determine how air-tight different brands of plastic wrap are. Your design

should follow a logical sequence that includes a statement of the problem, materials section, and procedure.

ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSIONS:

Based on your experimental design, answer the following questions:

What is the problem that you are trying to solve with your experiment?
What is your hypothesis?

Identify your experimental factor and control.

How would you know if your hypothesis was correct?

Describe the experimental results you might expect to obtain.

9:59P!"

180

Appendix G: Causality vs. Correlation
Causality and Correlation

If everyone in this class earns a grade of A on each Biology or Chemistry test,
does that mean that if a student transfers into this class they will also earn an A on Each
Biology or Chemistry test? There is a correlation between being in this class and earning
a good Biology or Chemistry grades. Does this information prove a cause and effect
relationship?

Does smoking cause lung cancer? That question has been one of the most widely
discussed health issues in the second half of the twentieth century in the United States.
Cigarette smoking, once less common, rapidly gained popularity in the 1930’s and
1940’s. Eventually, two out of every ﬁve Americans were counted as smokers.

Some health experts became concerned about this trend. They began to see a rise
in the number of respiratory diseases, such as chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and lung
cancer. They suspected that cigarette smoking might be the cause of this rise.

Cigarette manufacturers disagreed. They could not deny the increase in cases of
respiratory diseases. But, this increase was not caused by cigarette smoking, they argued.
It was only a coincidence that respiratory diseases and cigarette smoking increased at the
same time.

This story illustrates the problem that scientists have in separating cause-and-
effect relationships ﬂom correlational relationships. A cause-and—effect relationship is
one in which it is possible to say that factor A causes event B to take place. Health
workers were saying that cigarette smoking caused a respiratory disease.

A correlational relationship is one in which two variables change according to a
similar pattern. But there may or may not be a cause-and-effect relationship between the
two. To pick an absurd example, if you graphed the number of Protestant ministers
coming to the United States ﬂom 1650 to 1750 and the number of cases of rum imported
during the same period, a result like the one in the ﬁgure below might be obtained. There
is obviously a correlational relationship here. But is there also a cause-and-effect
relationship? If so, what is it?

181

 

 

Number ol cases of rum imported (thousands)

 

 

Number of Protestant mlnlsters arriving in America

1520 1670 1720
Year

1. State, in words, the correlational relationship shown by the graph.

2. State two possible cause-and-effect relationships that could account for the
data shown by the graph.

3. What does the term variable mean in mathematics and science?

4. Can you ﬁnd four variables mentioned in the information in the previous
reading?

Tracking Down the Cause

Beginning in the 1950’s, many owners of football stadiums began to replace the
natural grass or turf in their facilities with a grass-like plastic substitute called artiﬁcial
turf. Builders of dome stadiums, such as Houston’s Astrodome, had no choice in the
matter, since grass could not grow in the artiﬁcial light of the stadium. Line A in the
following graph represents the number of square yards of artiﬁcial turf installed in
football stadiums each year since 1950.

Shortly after stadituns began installing artiﬁcial turf, sports physicians began to
see an increase in the number of knee and ankle injuries experienced by football players.
Line B on the graph shows the number of such injuries reported each year since 1950.

Examine the graph and use it to answer the questions:

182

 

Squareyerdeolarttllclalturflnetaled

 

 

 

°§§§§§§§§
Numerotenldeendkneelnjurlee

l l I l
o _l l l l

150 1055 1900 135 10701075 10M 1” 1000 135

Ybar
1. This graph shows a correlation between variables A and B. How do you
know?
2. Is the correlation between A and B perfect? How do you know?
3. Is there any possible cause-and-effect relationship between A and B? If so,
what is it?
4. How else can you explain the correlation between A and B other than as a

cause-and-effect relationship?

5. How could you test to see if the correlation between A and B is also a cause-
and-effect relationship?
Conclusion:
1. What conclusions can you make about the relationship between the use of

artiﬁcial turf and knee and ankle injuries? Write them in a paragraph.

Your town notices that every time there is a heavy rain and extra water runs
through the storm drains into the local creek, dead ﬁsh are found downstream.
How could your town ﬁnd out if there is a cause-and-effect relationship between
the events?

183

Appendix G: Asking a T estable Question, Setting up a System

Make Ice Cream in a Baggie

Materials:

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup whipping cream (heavy cream)

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla or vanilla ﬂavoring (vanillin)

1/2 to 3/4 cup sodium chloride (NaCl) as table salt or rock salt
2 cups ice

l-quart ZiplocTM bag

l-gallon ZiplocTM bag

measuring cups and spoons

cups and spoons for eating your treat!

Procedure:

. Add 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 on milk, 1/2 cup whipping cream, and 1/4 teaspoon

vanilla to the quart ziploc bag. Seal the bag securely.

2. Put 2 cups of ice into the gallon ziplocTM bag.

3. Use a thermometer to measure and record the temperature of the ice in the gallon
bag.

4. Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup salt (sodium chloride) to the bag of ice.

5. Place the sealed quart bag inside the gallon bag of ice and salt. Seal the gallon bag
securely.

6. Gently rock the gallon bag ﬂom side to side. It's best to hold it by the top seal or
to have gloves or a cloth between the bag and your hands because the bag will be
cold enough to damage your skin.

7. Continue to rock the bag for 10-15 minutes or until the contents of the quart bag
have solidiﬁed into ice cream.

8. Open the gallon bag and use the thermometer to measure and record the
temperature of the ice/salt mixture.

9. Remove the quart bag, open it, serve the contents into cups with spoons and
ENJOY!

Analysis:

Describe the system that is being used to make the ice cream. Within this, describe any
and all variables that can or are present in this system. Finally, describe at least ten
experiments that can be done with this system, fully describing both the variable
involved, the controls, and the entire system involved.

184

Appendix G: Science I, Sophomore Example
Correlation of Soil Properties to River Oak and Birch Concentration at the
Grand River
Introduction:

River ﬂoodplains have greater clay content and lower soil silt content due to
ﬂooding. This inﬂuences the vegetation in the area. (Burke et al, 2002). Another study in
the Blackhawk Island, Wisconsin, shows that climate and soils inﬂuence the composition
of Wisconsin forests. Relative effects on each were not determined, but determining
effects of soil properties on species composition is needed in a single climatic regime
(Pastor et al, 1982). A variation in quantity of plants inputs to the soils contributes to the
variation in microbial biomass. The soil is related to the variation among species of the
grass (Dijkstra, Hobbie, and Reich, 2006). Tree community physiognomy correlates with
soil properties. A canonical correspondence analysis, along with Speannan’s rank
correlations, demonstrates that species’ abundance distributions are signiﬁcantly
correlated with the soil properties. Differences in soil nutrient content and in ground
water are the leading factors determining tree species distribution within the ﬂagrnent
(Oliveira-Filho et al, 2001).

pH is also known to affect the tree population around the area and also
microorganisms. pH of 6.6 to 7.3 is favorable for microbial activities that affect nitrogen,
sulfur, and phosphorus in soils. This, in turn, affects the tree biomass (Soil Quality
Indicators: pH, 1998). River birches are also affected by pH. They are found commonly
along low pH streams in southeastern Ohio (Bartuska and Ungar, 2005). At the Sierra

Occidental of northwestern Mexico, there are distinct patches of evergreen-oak

185

woodland, which are surrounded by subtropical deciduous forest in a mosaic pattern. The
patches occur on extremely acid, infertile soils, while deciduous vegetation dominates on
less acid, more fertile soil showing the correlation between soil and tree species present
(Goldberg, 1982).

It is evident, then, that soil does inﬂuence tree biomass, and that river birches
favor lower pH environments. Silt and clay ratios affect types of vegetation living in the
area, and that there are correlations with tree communities and soil properties. This
afﬁrmation narrows down factors we tested for in our experiment.

This experiment was an observational study of the correlation of soil properties to
tree species concentration. We took data on soil pH and its composition, ranging ﬂom
sandy, silt, and clay. There were three soil samples taken ﬂom areas with no trees,
serving as our control. Three samples of dirt were taken near each tree we used and then
brought back to the lab. We used Dish Drops dishwasher detergent mixed with dirt and
water to determine the proponents of the dirt, estimating ﬂom the proportions what made
up the soil. Our hypothesis was that soil pH and composition inﬂuence the concentration
of river birch, maple and oak near the river, which was the Grand River near the 3.0.8.
in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Procedure:

First, our group picked different types of trees to take samples ﬂom. By the Grand
River there were oaks, river birches, and maples. We decided to use these as our trees to
take samples ﬂom. We simply took samples next to the trees we tested for. This was so
samples could be used to compare the soil properties with different types of trees. Soil

samples were taken ﬂom 5 centimeters deep, but we had no time to measure out the

186

amount we took. We simply ﬁlled two soil sample bags, which came out to be roughly
350 milliliters of soil. We scooped the soil into the bags with a small shovel. We took
four samples ﬂom oaks, four samples ﬂom river birches, three sample ﬂom maples, and
three samples ﬂom areas where there were no trees to serve as controls. The samples of
river birch A were taken on September 26, 2006. The temperature was 47° and the dew
point was 44°. There was 90% humidity and no wind. There were scattered clouds. All
the maple samples were also taken on September 26 but later in the day. The temperature
was 59°F and the dew point was 40°F. There was 49% humidity and 3 mph wind. It was
partly cloudy. The next samples were taken on September 27. These samples were all the
oak samples and controls A and B. The temperature was 56°F and the dew point was
50°F. There was 87% humidity and 12 mph wind. There was also light rain. Our last
samples were taken on September 28. These samples were for river birch B and control
C. The temperature was 47° and the dew point was 43°F. The humidity was 86% and the
wind speed was about 4 mph. There were scattered clouds.

We then ran tests on each sample ﬂom September 27th to the 29‘h and ﬂom
October 2nd to the 29‘”. To determine soil composition and pH, we put about 100 mL of
soil in a 600 mL jar. We then added about 50 mL of water to make a muddy mixture.
Using a pH meter, we recorded the pH measurement of each sample. After ﬁlling the rest
of the jar with water (about 100 mL) and putting one drop (1 mL) of soap inside, we
shook the jar until it was thoroughly mixed. The soil separated into layers after about ﬁve
days of sitting. The sand, which was a lighter color than the silt, sat on the bottom. Silt,
which was darker, sat on top of the sand. Then on top was clay, which was the lightest

color of all. We measured each layer’s height in millimeters and took percentages

187

accordingly. We then recorded all the data we took and graphed it. We searched the
graphs for any correlations that could hopefully support our hypothesis or suggest a trend
other than our hypothesis.
ELIE;
Compositions
Controls

After our tests, we received the following results. In the controls, A and B had a
similar composition. Their sand contents were high at 88.9 and 94.7% respectively. Their
silt contents were low at 8.9 and 5.3%, and their clay contents were also low at 2.2 and
0%. Control C, however, was different. Its composition had no sand, and it was 96.7%
silt. Similar to the other controls, though, it did have low clay content at 3.3%. Figure 1

illustrates these results.

 

Composition of Controls

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

100 /_
so /\
‘E 60 \ / +% sand
g X + % silt
1:. 4° / \ % clay
20 N
0 a i \‘e
Control A Control B Control C
Samples
Figure 1

188

Maples

The maple samples differed greatly in their results. Their sand composition
ranged from 62.5 to 0% with an average of 37.5%. The silt content ranged from 35.7 to
93.3% averaging at 55.5%. Finally, however, clay content was somewhat similar, ranging

from 0 to 14.3% clay and averaging at 7.0%. Figure 2 illustrates these results (following

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

page).
Compositions of Maple Samples
100 A
80
g 60 .></ \ +% sand
+7 Silt
IE 40 r \ /\<: 9; clay
2O \ /
o . Y .
Maple Left Base Maple Right River Edge Near
Base Maple
Samples

 

 

 

Figure 2
Oaks

The oaks were all very similar in their composition results. Their sand content
ranged from 81.0 to 88.0%, with an average of about 84.9%. The content of silt had
minimum and maximum of 8.0 and 16.7%. Its average was roughly 12.6%. Finally, clay

ranged from 1.8 to 4.0%, averaging at approximately 2.5%. Figure 3 displays these

results.

189

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Compositions of Oak Samples
100
W
80 c '
E 60 +% sand
8 —|— % Silt
8 40
o. % clay
20 L
W
9N
o I l 1
Behind Oak Riverside Side Oak B Riverside
A Oak A Oak 8
Samples
Figure 3
River Birches

The river birch results were also largely similar to each other except for the
sample taken from the river edge near river birch A. Excluding this different sample, the
results to the composition tests were as follows: The samples had 0% sand content. They
had high silt content ranging from 90.8 to 98.4%, averaging at 95.3%. Their clay content
had a minimum and maximum of 1.6 and 9.2%. Its mean was 4.7%. The one different
sample had a high sand content of 75.0%, a relatively much lower silt content of 21 .4%,

and a similar clay content of 3.6%. Figure 4 graphically shows these results.

190

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Compositions of River Birch Sample
100 f/IP’.
80
E 60 \ / +% sand
g 40 y + % silt
IL % clay
20 / \
\
o . \e . - , -
River edge Behind Birch Behind Birch Riverside
near Birch A A B Birch B
Samples
Figure 4
pH Levels

The pH levels of all the samples were very similar. Control A was the only
sample of all of them that was signiﬁcantly different. Its pH was 4.8. Controls B and C
had pH levels of 6.5 and 6.7 respectively. The maple samples had a minimum and
maximum of 6.5 and 7.0. The average was roughly 6.8. The oak samples’ pH levels
ranged from 6.4 to 6.8. The mean was 6.5.

Finally, the river birch samples had a minimum and maximum of 5.8 and 6.8, averaging

at 6.4. Figure 5 shows these results using a bar graph.

191

 

pH of All Samples

 

lpH

pl-l Level

 

 

 

 

Figure 5

Discussion & Conclusion:

In view of the data collected the hypothesis was not supported. There was no
deﬁnite correlation or causation. In order for the hypothesis to have been supported, the
pH and composition of each type of sample had to differ from each other. This, however,
was not fulﬁlled because the soil pHs of the samples were all similar to each other and
the composition only vaguely suggests a correlation. The lack of difference between
samples was unexpected because cited works stated that there should be some distinction
between the soils. Limitations within this study included the lack of time, inability to
control the weather, and the incapability to collect a large number of samples. If these
factors could be eliminated, the accuracy of the results would have greatly improved.
Data on proximity to the river, the depth to the bedrock, the salinity of the soil, the types
of microorganisms, and the types of minerals in the soil should have been collected. The
proximity to the river and the presence of speciﬁc kinds of microorganisms could have
revealed the reason for the presence or lack of certain trees because of possible ﬂooding

affecting the tree growth; the depth to the bedrock would have revealed whether or not

192

there was even enough soil for tree germination; the salinity of soil would have

determined the types of trees near the river as would the types of minerals.

Work that could be done at the experimental site is the gathering the previously
mentioned data. Besides taking more samples, proximity to the river and the depth to the
bedrock could be measured via string (for the distance to the river) and by digging down
to the bedrock and then measuring the distance. Salinity of soil could be tested at the
same time as the minerals by common tests done after ﬁltering the soil. Such tests would
be similar to solubility and testing the reaction of certain minerals to speciﬁc chemicals
like calcium to hydrogen peroxide (H202). Tests on the presence of microorganisms
could be done via testing kits provided by companies such as Flinn Scientiﬁc, Co. Taking
all of the samples in the most limited amount of time within one day could limit the
varying weather conditions, but this would require a larger group of collectors or a
greatly lengthened period to obtain data from the river. The ﬁndings of this study differed
from that of other studies. The pH of the controls, which were areas with no trees, had no
apparent signiﬁcant difference than that of the experimental groups, meaning no
correlation could be determined between soil composition and pH vs. lack of trees. The
cited studies, though, showed a correlation between soil pH and tree populations and
between soil composition and tree populations. Data taken by this study was not complete
enough to determine that each type of tree (maple, oak, and river birch) although the
controls had a different composition of soil, which could suggest a correlation and
possibly causation.

Limitations of observational studies, in general, include the inability to affect the

groups being observed. This disallows stating causation between factors and outcomes

193

because no variables can be changed to affect results, and every variable cannot be
monitored, especially if you are observing an already established natural system. Because
all variables similar to temperature and moisture cannot be controlled and made the same
throughout the entire study, there is greater difﬁculty to determine the exact cause and
causality of the resulting data because all factors cannot be taken into account and made
to be the same throughout the entire study. Although there are limitations, there are also
valuable reasons for observational studies. When a controlled experiment is unethical (for
example a study about what effect smoking has on the human body), researchers utilize
observational studies. Also, observational studies enable data to be taken on subjects as
they are acting naturally and, therefore, may be more useful outside of a study.

Future research based on the ﬁndings of this study includes a study about the
possible relationship between pH and soil composition, between other types of vegetation
besides trees with soil composition and pH, or between proximity to the river and soil
composition/pH. If a relationship is found between soil composition and pH, then it
could be possible to manipulate one and change the other. If non-tree vegetation is
related to soil composition and pH, manipulating the composition and/or pH could
increase the success of the vegetation. If a relationship is found between river proximity
and soil properties, then one could plan ahead to the location for planting or change the
pH of one to change the pH of the other in order to promote the growth of plants of the
population of life in the river. These three studies could be useful for economic purposes

such as tourism, farming, and the promotion of the consumption of goods by gardeners.

194

Bibliography
1. Bartuska, A. and Ungar. "Elemental Concentrations in Plant Tissues as Inﬂuenced by
Low pH

Soils." Springer Netherlan_ds_ 20 Sep 2005. 157-161. 20 Sep 2006.

2. Burke, Marianne, King, Gartner, and Eisenbies. "Vegetiation, Soil, and Flooding
Relationships In a Blackwater Floodplain Forest." Wetlands 16 Sep 2002. 20 Sep

2006.

3. Dijkstra, Feike, Hobbie, and Reich. "Soil Processes Affected by Sixteen Grassland
Species

Grown under Different Environmental Conditions." Soil Science Society of
mm

Journal 29 Mar 2006. 20 Sep 2006.

4. Goldberg, Deborah. "The Distribution of Evergreen and Deciduous Trees Relative to
Soil

Type: An Example from the Sierra Madre, Mexico, and a General ." E_co_10gy
63Aug

1982 942-951. 20 Sep 2006. <http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0012-

9658(l98208)63%3A4%3C942%3ATDOEAD%3E2.0.CO%3B2-2>.

195

5. Oliveira-Filho, A., Curi, Vilela, and Carvalho. "Variation in Tree Commnity
Composition and

Structure with Changes in Soil Properties Within A Fragment Of Semideciduous
Forest

In South-Eastem Brazil." Edinburgh Journal of Bota_ny 05 Mar 2001. 20 Sep 2006

 

6. Pastor, John, Aber, McClaugherty, and Melillo. "Geology, Soils and Vegetation of
Blackhawk

Island, Wisconsin." American Midland Naturalist Oct 1982. 20 Sep 2006.

7. "Soil Quality Indicators: pH." Soil Quality Information Sheet Jan 1998. 20 Sep 2006.

<http://soils.usda.gov>.

196

Appendix G: Science I, Junior Example

An Observational Study on the Correlation between the
Number of Fecal Colifonn Colonies and Dissolved Oxygen

1 Introduction

The water quality standard for fecal
colifonn bacteria requires there to be
an average of no more than 200
colonies per 100 mL of water over at
least 5 tests [1]. Ifthis limit is
exceeded, it would indicate that the
water is polluted; in our experiment,
this would imply that the section of
the Grand River we are performing
tests on is polluted.

Fecal colifonn is an indicator
bacteria, meaning that it may
indicate the presence of harmful
parasites and pathogens [2].
Individuals exposed to these
parasites and pathogens which travel
with fecal colifonn could experience
diarrhea or become ill with fever,
nausea, and stomach cramps. Serious
illnesses, like typhoid fever, hepititis,
gastoneteriris, and dysentery, can be
contracted as well. These pathogens
enter the body by way of mouth,
nose, ears, or any opening in the
skin, such as cuts or scrapes [3].
Sewage dumps and animal wastes
washing into the river may cause a
rise in the number of fecal colifonn
present in that water source.

Fecal coliform levels rise due
to many different factors such as
human or animal wastes washing
into the river. UV light impedes the
growth of coliform bactiera.
Therefore, at deeper levels of the
river, where there is not as much

Levels

sunlight, the amount of fecal colifonn
should be higher [4].

On the other hand, dissolved oxygen
has separate factors that affect the different
levels. Some of these include: the current (a
higher current allows more oxygen to enter
the water,) temperature (a colder
temperature means higher dissolved oxygen
levels,) time of day (late afternoon allows
for higher levels of dissolved oxygen,)
altitude (a lower altitude means more
dissolved oxygen), and organic wastes (the
more wastes, the more dissolved oxygen)

[5].

To account for the differences in
temperature, which affect the dissolved
oxygen levels, saturation will be used.
Saturation is the representation of both the
temperature and the amount of dissolved
oxygen. Saturation levels between 90% and
110% are considered to be good [6].

1.1 Hypothesis
We hypothesize that there will be an inverse
correlation between the percent saturation of
dissolved oxygen and the number of fecal
colifonn colonies present in lmL of sample
water.

Work by Melanie L. Clark and Jodi
R. Norris of the US Geological Survey has
indeed shown an inverse relationship
between these two factors [7]. These
researchers also found that the levels of
fecal coliform are higher in the summer and
fall months as opposed to the winter months.

Based on this background research,
our group believes that there is signiﬁcant

197

reason to believe an inverse
relationship between the amount of
dissolved oxygen in the water and
the number of fecal coliform
colonies exists. In order to test this
hypothesis, we will be conducting an
observational study by taking water
samples ﬁom our study area on the
Grand River without changing any
parts of the water system.

The general area of this study
is on the bank of the Grand River.
Nearby are many trees, rocks, and
soil. There is a steep incline which
allows for other items to be washed

into the river, speciﬁcally at our area.

Our site is near a group of rocks
which jut out into the river, allowing
the current to be weakened, and the
samples easier to obtain. There is
also a storm drain nearby, which
empties into the river and will be
used to do additional testing.

2 Methods

The area we studied was located in
the Grand River, near the bank, in
Grand Rapids, Michigan. One can
access this area by the building
called "The BOB". The entire area is
moist from the river and shaded in
most parts. We took our ﬁrst sample
from the storm drain. When we refer
to the storm drain, we are discussing
a structure used to drain rain water
from higher elevations throughout
Grand Rapids into the Grand River.
This structure is made out of large
stone blocks with mold on the inside
surfaces where the water is touching
or has touched. The storm drain is
approximately one hundred yards
long and several yards wide. We
could not measure the length of the
storm drain due to a lack of
instruments capable of measuring

such a distance accurately. The entire
structure and our area lie on a steep incline
with vegetation such as trees. From the
storm drain we used in our experiment, two
small streams appear where there are
openings. Many tiny runoffs from the storm
drain resulted from unintentional cracks
between the adjacent stone blocks. A
separate upstream creek is identiﬁed in the
experiment when we discuss a meter
upstream of the series of storm drains, and a
downstream creek is identiﬁed when
discussing a meter downstream of the storm
drain. The entire area is ﬁlled with dirt,
trees, and rocks. Sporadic leaves, therefore,
were commonly seen in our area of study.

2.1 Sample Collection

Our ﬁrst sample was taken directly at the
site where the storm drain empties onto the
bank. The water from the storm drain
empties itself into a stream which then runs
until the river, over rocks and mud. Then,
we gathered a sample ﬁ'om a meter upstream
of the ﬁrst storm drain. The second sample
was taken from the surface of the actual
river next to a bunch of rocks. We collected
the third sample ﬁom a meter downstream
of the last storm drain. This sample was
taken ﬁom the surface of the water. This
experimental set-up is illustrated in Fig. 2.1.
All samples were taken with a test tube
labeling their speciﬁc location. For the ﬁrst
sample from the storm drain, we labeled the
tube "SD". The second sample from the
river, a meter upstream of the series of storm
drains, was labeled "S-". The third sample
ﬁ'om the river, a meter downstream of the
series of storm drains, was labeled "8+".

198

I

Upstream Site
S-I-

 

RIVER ’
SYSTEM OF
E STORM DRAlNS
O
5
0
Storm Drain SD
X Downstream Site
5.
Fig. 2.1

We used sterile glass test
tubes to collect our samples of water
from the three previously mentioned
sites. We took the "SD" samples
from the original point of entry for
the storm drain water into the
streams; in this way, we eliminate all
other factors affecting the water
quality of the storm drain water.
Then, we took samples from a meter
upstream of the ﬁrst storm drain,
expecting less fecal coliform because
the water lacks the nmoff from the
storm drain. Next, we took a sample
from downstream of the storm drain,
expecting more fecal coliform in
comparison to "S+" since the water
has been exposed to the runoff from
the storm drain.

Our ﬁrst sample collection
was on September 26, 2006 by
Margaret Kennedy, a student at
Grand Rapids Catholic Central High
School. She collected the samples by

holding the test tube to the surface of the
site’s water, allowing the water to ﬂow into
the test tube until full. She then capped the
tube immediately to prevent any change in
dissolved oxygen level or contamination.

2.2 Data Collection

Back in the lab, we followed the
Standard Innoculation Procedures as
provided by the Fecal Coliform Culturing
kit. The directions follow:

1. Place the Petriﬁlm Aerobic Count
Plate on a ﬂat surface. Carefully peel
open the Petriﬁhn plate being careful not
to touch the nutrient gel with your
ﬁngers.

2. With a pipet perpendicular to the
Petriﬁlm plate, place 1 mL of sample
(inoculum) onto the center of the bottom
ﬁlm.

3. Release top ﬁlm; allow it to drop. Do
not roll top ﬁlm down.

4. With ridge side down, place the
spreader on the top ﬁlm over the
innoculum.

5. Gently apply pressure on the spreader
to distribute the innoculum over a
circular area. Do not twist or slide the
spreader, simply apply a gentle
downward pressure to the spreader.

6. Lift the spreader. Wait at least one
minute for the gel to solidify.

We counted the colonies 72 hours
after culturing the water, recording them in
the number of colonies per mL. We
measured the fecal coliform in such a
manner because we knew from background
research that two or more colonies per lmL
(derived from 200 colonies per lOOmL)
meant that the water was polluted with
unsafe levels of fecal coliform [1].

Then, we tested the dissolved oxygen
levels by pouring the remaining water into a
beaker. Using the Vernier dissolved oxygen
probe measurement system, we then swirled

199

the probe in the water until the
readings stabilized. The probe only
works when water is passing over its
tip; for this reason, swirling is
essential. Standard installation
procedures for the Vernier products
were used. All measurements were
found in milligrams per liter, or mg /
L.

2.3 Distribution of Labor
Shannon Moran prepared the fecal
coliform cultures and dissolved
oxygen on the 26‘“. Katie Fatum
measured dissolved oxygen and
Maggie Stein prepared fecal coliform
cultures on the 27th, 28th, and 29"".

On September 27, Kennedy
also collected samples. Due to a
misinterpretation of standard
inoculation procedures, our cultures
for September 27 were erroneously
prepared and measured by Fatum
and Stein. Therefore, these results
must be disregarded and are thus not
reported in the following pages. The
data collection and analysis on the
dates of September 28 and 29 follow
the procedure explained for
September 26.

3 Results

Without further analysis, inconsistent
correlation seems to be evident
between the number of fecal

coliform colonies present after 72 hours and
the level of dissolved oxygen in mg / L
observed. Table 3.1 displays our raw data
ﬁ'om testing and the dates on which the
readings were taken. Figures 3.2-3.4
illustrate the correlation between dissolved
oxygen levels and fecal colifonn colony
counts at our 3 separate testing locations.
The solid black line on each graph is the
“trend line,” which shows the general trend
in the data. You will notice that at locations
S- and S+ 3 strong positive correlation is
evident while at location SD a weak inverse
correlation exists. Figure 3.5 clearly
illustrates the inconsistent correlation by
placing all 3 locations’ data sets and the
control onto one graph.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.
Date DO Level Colonies
28-Sep 7.3 6
29-Sep 7.9 3
26-Sep 9.6 55
8+
Date DO Level Colonies
29-Sep 7.5 2
28-Sep 7.5 3
26-Sep 9.4 6
SD
Date DO Level Colonies
28-Sep 7.3 7
29-Sep 7.3 2
26-Sep 9.4 3
Table 3.1

200

The Number of Focal Collfonn Colonles In 1mL of Water

.25 09.3.3.0: @323: :5 25:62 0.“ menu. 00.:qu 00.019». p.633 5 3... 2 598.. man
:5 0.3022. 9060: 55. m» .0830: m.

mo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

0.3023 9060: .65. :5an

Fig. 3.2

201

The Number of Fecal Collform Colonlee In 1mL of Water

.25 023.930: monies: =5 2:302 oa moon. 00:32.: 00.019». $333 .3 ASP 2. 593‘ man
:5 0.3022. 0560: 55. m. .0820: m+

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nu m Pm w on.
Sumo—<0: 056°: ro<o_ ABQF.

 

Fig. 3.3

202

The Number of Fecal Collform Colonles in 1mL of Water

.30 02.3.3.0: 002.00: 2.0 2:302 0. mean. 00.20:: 00.00.00 13003.: .2... 0* 50.2 2:...
:8 0.30200 9060: r0<0. m. .0033... 0+

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nm

 

 

who 0

0.00022. 0560: r20. 3.6.5

 

 

9m

 

Fig. 3.4

203

The Number of Fecal Collform Colonles Present ln 1 mL of

Sample Water

2.0 0030.030: 00230: 2.0 25:00.. 0.. menu. 00.203. 00.3.00 2.30:. .: .3... 02 520.. 0:0

2.0 0.000200 0x30: .05.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8

8 \

.8 - 1
+0.
III

8 -i i l 9.
I’lmo
+0259

8 -

a ll

0 0
V .8 m a... 9m 8

0.000200 0x50: r05. 3an

Fig. 3.5

204

3.1 Dissolved Oxygen Percent

Saturation

Thus, other factors must be
accounted for when analyzing and
reading this data. First of all, it was
cloudy on all 3 of our testing days,
allowing us to rule out the differing
effects of sunlight on dissolved
oxygen levels [4]. Also, all samples
were taken within the time frame of
9:00 to 9:30 in the morning and we]
taken at altitudes of statistically
insigniﬁcant difference. Ruling thes °
out, only three other factors
inﬂuencing dissolved oxygen
remain: current, temperature, and
organic wastes. While we could not
easily measure current speed nor
easily account for it in our analysis,
and since fecal coliform itself was
being used to indicate organic
wastes, we had to account for the
temperature of the water.

To do this, we used a
measurement called the percent
saturation which accounts for both
the oxygen level in mg / L and the
water temperature in degrees
Centigrade. The chart used for
measuring this is shown in Fig. 3.6.
To ﬁnd the percent saturation, one
uses a straight edge to connect the
water temperature in Centigrade with
the level of oxygen in mg / L. The
percent saturation is located at the

‘3‘ " '0’”
L.lllllll'lll'lll‘..ﬂ.lllj

point where the straight edge intersects the
line of percent saturation.

 

I V fvTr' v 'lvaI'Tmlvv'v'vvir'

l
e s‘. :0 I: 20 u :0
Water lfmperafuree 'Cenc

    

 

Oxygen mg. “per lilo:-
l I l n J I L I. I
Fig. 3.6
Thus, using this method we use the water
temperatures from each day, found in Table
3.7, and ﬁnd the following data outlined in
Table 3.8. Figures 3.9-3.11 illustrate the
correlation between fecal colifonn colony
counts and the percent saturation of
dissolved oxygen. As with the last set of
graphs, the thick black line is the “trend
line” and displays the trend of the data. At
location S-, a strong inverse correlation is
shown while location S+ shows an
extremely weak negative trend and graph
SD displays a strong positive correlation.
Again, there is inconsistent correlation.
Figure 3.12 clearly displays this by placing
all 3 locations’ data sets and the control onto
one graph. Note: The water temperature on
September 26 was due to the fact that we
kept our samples in ice for 2 hours until we
were able to culture them.

205

The Number of Fecal Collform Colonies In 1mL of Water

2.0 0020.000: 003.00: 0.0 25:00.. 02 0000. 00.20:: 00.0300 3000:. .: .3. o." 50.0.. 0:0

0.0 0030:. 008.000: 0." 9000.50 9.30: 0. .8000: m.

 

mo

 

mo 4.

so .. is. ill.

8+.

no -1

a -.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

mwb

00

mm.»

00.0

1030:. 002300:

00.0

00.0

Fig. 3.9

206

O) ‘1

0|

(.0

The Number of Fecal Collform Colonles In 1mL of Water
M

O

A
I
I

_k
I

2.0 0020.000: 000200: .00 25:00.. 0. 0000. 000.03.: 0o.0:.00 3000:. .: .3. 0. 50.0.. 0:0
.00 00.00:. 00.5000: 0.. .u.000.<00 0200: 0. .00000: 0+

 

 

1T

 

 

 

K

Kl/l

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

mo

0» m

w 00

00.00:. 00.5000:

0.x

Fig. 3.10

207

0)

...:0 0030.000: 003.00: .50 2:300. 0. 0000. 00:33: 00.0300 1300:. .: .3. 0. <<0.0.. 0:0
.30 0030:. 00.5000: 0. 0.000200 9200: 0. .000..0: 0+

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

208

The Number of Fecal Collform Colonles In 1mL of Water

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

m. on 00 00 00 mm 0.x
0030:. 00.5.0.3:

Fig. 3.11

...:0 0050.0..0: 00.5.00: .30 2:3005 0. 0000. 00:33: 00.0300 3000:. .: .3. 0. 5.0.0. 0:0
.:0 10.60:. 00.5000: 0. 0.000200 0560:

 

 

 

The Number of Fecal Collform Colonles In 1mL of Water

 

 

+m.

 

 

IOI 0033.

209

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

00 mo 00 No um mo 00 we 00 .8
V0303 00.5000:

Fig. 3.12

3.2 Fecal Coliform Colonies
The number of fecal coliform colonies, as stated earlier in this paper, was counted 72
hours aﬁer the culture was made. The colonies appeared as dark blue dots on the

Petriﬁlm.

3.3 Control

For the sake of comparison, we also used a control of tap water. We received the
expected results of no bacterial growth, as shown below in Table 3.13.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Control
% Sat. DO Level Colonies
95 8.9 0
Table 3. 13
3.4 Further Testing

We cannot say with any degree of certainty that our hypothesis is supported.
Though our original plan had called for 15 days of testing, which would have supplied us
with sufﬁcient evidence to either support or deny our hypothesis, 3 days of testing
provided too many anomalies and inconsistencies to draw any real conclusions ﬁom the
data.

Thus it is that this observational study would need, at the very least, 3 more days
of data collection. We cannot even claim that the Grand River is polluted; though our
data shows that in all cases the fecal colifonn levels are either at or exceed the acceptable
water quality levels, without 5 testing days to draw an average from we cannot say for
sure.

4 Conclusion and Discussion

When our group performed our observational study, we, by deﬁnition of
observational study, did not manipulate the environment from which we took our
samples. We merely collected the samples in glass, capped test tubes. We could not
control factors such as weather and our results may have been affected by the heavy
amounts of rain just prior to our data collection. However, the rain would have affected
all of our sites and would not have affected the overall correlation. Thus, we do not need
to account for it in our data analysis. An observational study, however, was ideal to test
our hypothesis because we wanted to observe the number of fecal coliform colonies that
were evident in their natural environment.

As stated above in 3.4, the duration of our testing did not provide enough support
for us to either prove or disprove our hypothesis. All our collection results do, however,
indicate bacteria levels above what is considered polluted. Our data, especially for 26-
Sep, demonstrates that, as mentioned in the introduction, humans do have an effect on
these pollution levels in the Grand River because the number of fecal colifonn colonies at
S- was signiﬁcantly greater than the number at S+, indicating that run-off from the series
of storm drains may have played a role. Further testing would need to be completed in
order to obtain more conclusive results. Also, if a separate experiment were to be
performed, our group would recommend testing multiple storm drains along that section
of river because there are multiple drains in a row and the particular drain we tested did

210

not show the drastic amounts of fecal coliform we saw in our ﬁrst day of data sampling.
Though our testing did not occur over a long enough period of time, our data did lead us
to infer that the numbers of fecal colifonn colonies in further tests would also be above
the levels that are considered safe and non-polluted.

5 Bibliography

[1] Bacteria and other Microbial Contaminants. Lake Superior Duluth Streams. 13 Sept
2006 <http://www.duluthstrearns.org/understanding/impact_bacteria.html>.

[2] "Bacteria." m_at do you want to gowl Wellowner.com. 17 Sept 2006
<http://www.wellowner.org/awaterquality/coliform.shtml>.

[3] "General Information on Fecal Coliform." TOTAL AND FECAL COLIFORM
BACTERIA. City of Boulder/USGS Water Quality Monitoring. 17 Sept 2006
<http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/data/BACT/info/FColi.html>.

[4] Fecal Coliform Bacteria and Illinois Streams. Chicago Area Paddling/Fishing Guide.
17 Sept 2006 <http://pages.ripco.net/~jwn/fecal.html>.

[5] "General Information on Dissolved Oxygen." DISSOLVED OXYGEN (Dm. City of
Boulder/USGS Water Quality Monitoring . 17 Sept 2006
<http://bcn.bou1der.co.us/basin/data/BACT/info/DO.html>.

[6] "Dissolved Oxygen: Aquatic Life Depends on It." Water Action Volunteers. 17 Sept
2006 <http://clean-water.uwex.edu/wav/dissolvedoxygen.pdf>.

[7] "Occurrence of Fecal Coliform Bacteria in Selected Streams In Wyoming, 1990-99."
ﬁlter Resources Investigation Report 00-4198 (modiﬁed format). US. Geological
Survey. 17 Sept 2006 <http://pubs.usgs.gov/wri/wri004198/>.

211

Appendix G: Science II Student Example

The Correlation of the Number of Eggs in the Base of a Soufﬂé and the Time Needed for
Deﬂation

Introduction:

This experiment was an experimental study that tested the effect of the number of
eggs in the base of a chocolate soufﬂé on the time needed for deﬂation of the soufﬂé. Our
group used the recipe for Chocolate Souﬂlé with White Chocolate Chunks from Cookwise
by Shirley O. Corriher [1]. We tested soufﬂés with different egg amounts varying from
zero to four and measured the number of soufﬂés that fell after certain time amounts.

A soufﬂe is a light, airy mixture that usually begins with a thick egg yolk-based
sauce or purée that is lightened by stifﬂy beaten egg whites. They may be savory or
sweet, hot or cold, but baked soufﬂés are much more fragile than those that are chilled or
frozen because the hot air entrapped in the soufﬂé begins to escape (causing the mixture
to deﬂate) as soon as the dish is removed from the oven. Every soufﬂé is made of the two
components of a base, which is a ﬂavored cream sauce that provides the ﬂavor, and the
beaten egg whites, which provides the “lift” for the soufﬂé [2].

Factors that affect the soufﬂé are temperature and noise. Temperature change can
cause bubbles that hold the soufﬂe together to fall. When the heat is too strong,
particularly the heat ﬁom above, a crust immediately forms on the soufﬂe, creating a
barrier that prevents the heat from penetrating the inside. This means that it will cook
superﬁcially and not rise well. When the heat is too weak, the soufﬂe languishes and
risks running over the sides of the dish when it rises, because the heat is not strong

enough to solidify the ingredients as the soufﬂé rises [3]. The same is for noise. Oﬂen,

212

the larger the soufﬂé, or the dish the soufﬂé is in, the harder it is to keep the soufﬂé from
falling because it is the sides of the soufﬂé are where the most structural support exists.
The sides are most supportive because the molecules have support from the ramekin, or
porcelain cylinder shaped bowls, and they cooked more, becoming crunchy .Another
factor that affects the soufﬂé is that when cooking at a high altitude, they do tend to fall
faster. Because of these factors, we made sure to keep the temperature in the house
constant, and to make very little noise. The altitude stayed constant because we mad the
soufﬂés in the same oven each time [4].

The type of oven has an effect on the soufﬂés. A convection oven works by
forcing hot air through fans so it circulates around food, cooking it quickly and evenly [5].
Usually the soufﬂés would be better if the oven heated from the bottom up, but this was
not an option for us. They placement of the soufﬂés in the oven also has a great affect on
them. The soufﬂés should always be on the lowest rack of the oven with all other shelves
removed so the heat reaches the parts of the soufﬂés in the most accurate way [3].

In the base, the whole eggs and the egg yolks are combined with a cream sauce to
create the base. The base contains milk, sugar, and ﬂour. The ﬂour contains long chains
of molecules, otherwise known as starches. Flour that is not cooked has starch molecules
that are crammed closely into granules, or pieces. The heat from the stove causes the
granules to swell as they absorb water from the milk. In time the granules burst and some
starch molecules escape into the milk. The long starch chains entrap and entangle each
other while the granules that remain are caught in this “net” that is formed in the sauce.

This is how the sauce is created thick.

213

The ﬂuffy egg whites that cause the lift in the soufﬂé are created with egg whites
and cream of tartar. Distilled white vinegar can be substituted for cream of tartar when
beating eggs because white vinegar will provide the right amount of acid [7]. As the egg
whites are beaten with the vinegar, the coiled protein molecules, which usually stabilize
the egg, uncurl and position themselves at the surface of the bubbles. This prevents them
from collapsing [8].

The amount of whole eggs in the base affects how long the soufﬂés stay risen is
because of the protein in the egg yolk as well as white. The protein adds to the structure
of the soufﬂé. If it wasn’t for the coagulation of the egg white, the soufﬂe structure would
not rise very well, but also fall immediately. The tiny bubbles in the beat egg whites are
usually the only factor that hold the soufﬂé up. By adding extra whole eggs, there is more
whole proteins in the entire mixture. The whole egg would be added with the egg white
because of the protein, but if there is any sign of an egg yolk with the whites when
whipped, the soufﬂé will not rise. The whole eggs, therefore, are added to base. This
makes the soufﬂe more dense, less airy, but also more stable [9].

Procedure:

We followed the recipe for Chocolate Soufﬂe with White Chocolate Chunks from
Cookwise by Shirley O. Corriher. We took twelve six-ounce ramekins and buttered them
well and coated the sides with sugar with a total of two tablespoons. Next we heated one
tablespoon of water, three tablespoons of Kahlua, one cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips,
and two teaspoons of instant coffee in a small saucepan over low heat until the chocolate
just melted. After this, we blended a third cup of bleached all-purpose ﬂour, a quarter cup

of sugar, and an eighth of a teaspoon in a medium saucepan. We slowly whisked in three-

214

quarter cups of milk into the mixture until smooth. Then we heated it for two minutes,
stirring constantly. After removing ﬁom the heat, we mixed in one tablespoon of pure
vanilla extract, and the chocolate mixture. This is where the experiment varied. We
mixed ﬁve large egg yolks with varying amounts of whole eggs. Our amounts were 0, 1,
2, 3, and 4 whole eggs. The batch with zero eggs served as our control. We put four
tablespoons of the chocolate mixture into the eggs to warm them and prevent coddling.
Next we folded the entire egg mixture into the rest of the chocolate mixture. While
waiting for that to cool, we beat six egg whites in a large bowl using a KitchenAid
electric mixer at the highest setting until foamy (5 seconds). Then we added three-quarter
teaspoons of vinegar. We continued beating until soft peaks formed (30 seconds). We
added a quarter cup of sugar on tablespoon at a time, every 15 seconds. We beat until the
egg whites formed soft peaks that did not fall over when we lifted the beater (75
seconds). Then we stirred a quarter of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. After
this, we folded in the remaining egg whites. We then began ﬁlling the ramekins with the
mixture. When they were ﬁlled halfway to the ﬁll line, we added roughly 15 white
chocolate chips. Then we ﬁlled the ramekins the rest of the way to the ﬁll line about 3.3
centimeters high. The ramekins were then put into a J enn-Air convection oven preheated
to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (191 degrees Celsius) for 25 minutes. Once time was up, all of
the soufflés were taken out of the oven. A ﬁve minute timer was started as soon as all of
the soufﬂés were removed. The height above the rim of the ramekin was recorded. The
height of the ramekin was Afterwards, every 30 seconds, we recorded the number of
soufﬂés that had fallen below the rim of the ramekin. The rim of the ramekin was 4.5

centimeters high. Usually, we started recording roughly a minute or a minute and a half

215

after they were all taken out because we had to spend time measuring how high each
soufﬂé had risen over the top of the ramekin. We did this so we would be able to see how
the soufﬂés fell over time. On Tuesday, October 31, we all worked together to make the
soufflés with two eggs in the base. This batch had 12 soufflés. Afterwards, we made the
batch with three eggs in the base. This also made 12 soufﬂés. Mary and Josh had to leave
before the data could be taken for these soufﬂés. Lorene measured them and recorded the
time for them to fall alone. Later, on November 5, we made the batches with zero, one,
and four eggs. The batches with zero eggs and one egg only had encugh batter to make
10 soufﬂés. The batch with four eggs, however, had enough batter to make 15 soufflés.
We all worked on each of these together. To analyze our data, we used the number of
soufflés that deﬂated and converted to percents (to prevent disagreements in data between
the different batches). We graphed the percent of soufﬂés still inﬂated over time (equal to
or above four centimeters) for each batch.

301.10:

The control for this experiment was the batch of soufﬂés with zero eggs. The
resulting data (see Figure 1) matched the expected results, which were that few or no
soufﬂés would puff up past 4.7 cm. Therefore, all of the soufﬂés were below the deﬂation
line (edge of ramekin) before the ﬁve minute mark (see Table 1), which was when data

collection for a batch ended.

216

 

Figure 6
The batch of zero eggs served as the control. As expected, all soufﬂés deﬂated as
soon as they were removed from the oven (before data collection).

 

 

Time v. The % of Inﬂated Soufﬂés with Zero Eggs

 

Time (sec)

% Of Inﬂated Soufﬂés

 

0

 

30

 

60

 

90

 

120

 

150

 

180

 

210

 

240

 

270

 

 

300

 

OOOOOOOOOO

 

 

Table 1
No inﬂated soufﬂés

 

 

The batch with one egg exited the oven with 90% of the soufﬂés above the edge (4.7
cm high) of the ramekin (see Fig. 2). However, after ﬁve minutes only 10% were still
above the edge (see Table 2). This set of soufﬂés had the most puffed soufﬂés of the

entire study but it also deﬂated the fastest.

217

 

 

 

Figure 7
The soufﬂés puffed the most of any group directly out of the oven but deﬂated the
quickest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time v. The % of Inﬂated Soufﬂés with One Egg
Time (sec) % Of Inﬂated Soufﬂés

0 90

30 90

60 80

90 80
120 70
150 70
180 60
210 40
240 30
270 30
300 10

 

 

 

 

 

Table 2
One egg soufﬂés had the highest percent of puffed soufﬂés but had the least after 5
min

 

 

The soufflés with two eggs, which was the number prescribed by the recipe, came
out of the oven (see Fig. 3) with 83% inﬂated soufﬂés, and after 300 seconds, 58%
were still inﬂated (see Table 3). This batch had the most stability of any within this
experiment.

218

 

Figure 8
The soufﬂé batch created by recipe was the most stable

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time v. The % of Inﬂated Soufﬂés with Two Egg
Time (sec) % Of Inﬂated Soufﬂés

0 83

30 83

60 83

90 83
120 83
150 75
180 75
210 75
240 67
270 67
300 58

 

 

 

 

Table 3
The batch with two eggs had the least change in percent of inﬂated soufﬂés over the
ﬁve minute time period

 

 

With three eggs, the soufﬂé batches had similar results as the two-egg batch (see Fig.
4). The only signiﬁcant difference was that the three-egg batch deﬂated faster and
more often than the other batch. However, both have the same percent of inﬂated
soufﬂés after ﬁve minutes (see Table 4).

219

 

 

Figure 9
The batch with three eggs had similar results as the two eggs but came out of the
oven with more deﬂated soufﬂés

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time v. The % of Inﬂated Soufﬂés with Three Eggs
Time (sec) % Of Inﬂated Soufﬂés

0 83

30 83

60 83

90 83
120 67
150 67
180 58
210 58
240 58
270 58
300 58

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 4
The three-egg batch decreases in percentage signiﬁcantly at one point but then appears
to level off

 

 

The ﬁnal group of soufﬂés consisted of four eggs. This set deﬂated at a rate similar to
the two-egg group. Although, the starting percent of soufﬂés (right out of the oven)
began lower than the bunch with two eggs. Therefore, it had a low percent of inﬂated
soufﬂés after 300 seconds (see Table 5).

220

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time v. The % of Inﬂated Soufﬂes with Four Egg_§_
Time (sec) % of Inﬂated Soufﬂes

0 67

30 6O

60 47

90 47
120 40
150 40
180 33
210 27
240 27
270 20
300 20

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 5

Although the batch with four eggs decreased in percentage at the same rate as the
batch with two, this batch started with a lower percent than all the others (except the
control) so the ending percent is lower.

 

 

Discussion:

The results did not support our hypothesis. Also, the results did not support our
null hypothesis. The relationship between eggs and the time for deﬂation did not show a
direct or inverse correlation. Instead, the data showed a bell curve. The time the soufﬂés
stayed inﬂated increased as the number of eggs increased until there were two eggs. Then
it began to decrease. With no eggs, none of the soufflés rose. Then with one egg, the
soufﬂés rose very high, but fell very quickly. With two eggs, a decent amount of the
soufﬂés rose, and they fell slowly. The soufﬂés with three eggs were not much different.
They had the same beginning and ending amount of risen soufﬂés, but they fell slightly
earlier than the two egg soufﬂés did. Finally, the soufﬂés made with four eggs, had little

soufflés rise. They also fell somewhat slowly.

221

 

 

The Relationship Between the # of eggs and the % of
Inﬂated Souffles —~—
—0— 0
'0 100 30
.3 60
80

E —x— 90
3 60 + 120
E 40 —0— 150
1’.’ 20 _._ 130

0

°\. 0 —-— 210
o 1 2 3 4 —‘— 240
Number of Eggs 270
300

 

 

 

 

 

This graph shows the relationship between the number of eggs and the percent of
soufﬂés remaining inﬂated. Each line represents one time period at which the number of
soufﬂés still inﬂated was recorded. This graph shows the bell curve relationship between
the amount of eggs and the time it takes for them to deﬂate. Therefore, both our
hypothesis and our null hypothesis were incorrect.

Conclusion:

Mainly, we found that as the number of eggs increases the time increases for the
soufflés to stay inﬂated increases, up to two eggs. After two eggs, the time for deﬂation
decreases. The more eggs you have the more stable the soufﬂé is, but the more eggs there
are the denser it is as well. If there are too many eggs, the soufﬂé is too dense to rise well.
If there are too little eggs, then the soufﬂé is too unstable to stay risen. This creates the
bell curve. For future experiments, we could replace eggs with water when we change the

number of eggs used in the recipe. This would keep the volume the same for each batch

222

of eggs. We also could have used a conventional oven instead of a convection one. This
would be consistent with the recipe, and it would cause the heat to rise from the bottom
inside the oven. If we were to do the experiment again, we could have left the white
chocolate out of the recipes. This would stop their interference with the rise of the
soufflés. Controlled studies such as this remove many variables ﬁ'om affecting the
outcome of the experiment. The entire environment is in our control. This helped our
experiment because we could control the environment to make it the same in each batch.
There were no signiﬁcant differences between each batch. However, when dealing with
living things, controlled experiments may not be the most convenient. If we were to
control the environment of a living thing, they would be interacting with an environment

that is not natural.

223

Works Cited

. Corriher, Shirley O. Cookwise. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 1997.

. “Dictionary: soufﬂé.” Answers.com. 2006.November 14, 2006.

<http://www.answers.com/topic/soufﬂ>

. Swanson, Heidi. “The Madame’s Soufﬂe.” 101 Cookbooks; Exploring Cookbooks

One Recipe At a Time. February 14, 2006: 34 pars. November 14, 2006.
<http://www. 101cookbooks.com/archives/00 1 3 16.html>

Chu, Michael. “Recipe File: Dark Chocolate Soufﬂé.” Cooking For Engineers.

February 2, 2006. November 14, 2006.
<http://www.cookingforengineers.com/recipe.php?id=160&title=dark+Ch
ocolate +Soufﬂe>

. “Glossary.” Glutenﬁeeda. November 14, 2006.

<http://www.glutenfreeda.com/glossary.asp>

. “What and Where is Cream of Tartar.” OChef November 14, 2006.

<http://www.oche£com/933.htm>

. “Planet Science Dinner: Cheese Soufﬂe.” Planet-Science. November 14, 2006.

<www.planet-science.com/text_only/outthere/diner/meals/soufﬂe.html>

. “The Science of the Soufﬂé.” November 14, 2006.

<http://gorgeoustown.typepad.com/le-

culinaﬁa/2006/O3/the_science_of_.html>

224

Appendix G: Science 111, Student Example
Learning the Wii: Zelda: Twilight Princess and Learning
Review of Literature

Video games, in general, are known to be able to teach and to develop a wide
array of cognitive skills. Also, previous studies show that access to computers like at
schools, public libraries, etc. — not the ownership of the computers or video games -
increases cognitive development} making it possible to test for development in a lab with
both people who own game systems and those who do not.

Cognition itself consists of multidimensional visual-spatial skills, of which, video
game players (VGPs) normally have a higher skill level than those who are non-video
game players (NV GPs).3 However, VGPs only perform better on visual tasks speciﬁc to
the video games that they play. Although VGPs perform better on those skills, it takes
repeated practice for hours4 (this requirement makes it possible to include those who play
very little video games to be included into the NVGPs category for testing). Those visual-
spatial skills include reading visual images as representations of three-dimensional shapes
(representational competence),3 spatial visualization,4 a large ﬁeld of vision,5 enhanced
allocation of spatial attention over the visual ﬁeld,3’6 greater attention capacity,‘5 the
ability to retain mental maps,3 quick visual searches, better target location, faster
responses, and greater efﬁciency at minding targets.5 Studies show that video games
caused the increased spatial abilities since VGPs have no inherently better attentional
skills or superior hand-eye coordination than NVGPs.6

Even though VGPs do not have inherently better visual-motor skills, hand-eye
coordination is required. Thus, multitasking and making connections is needed for doing
well with video games, especially action video games. As a result, VGPs can multi-task
and think on multiple levels more efﬁciently than NVGPs.3’ 7’ 8 This multitasking leads to
the ability to take in multiple, interconnected information“ 8 and process it quickly to
make decisions.3’ 7 By swiftly analyzing data, VGPs have an increased ability to process
information over time.6 In other words, they learn faster. VGPs, though, learn through
inductive discovery, which is, in video games, deducing the rules from playing rather
than reading the instructions and understanding complex systems through
experimentation.” 7 Through the combined effects of learning quickly and inductive
discovery, VGPs can create strategies for overcoming obstacles that they come across in
their games.7

With the information gathered, it is hypothesized that VGPs will perform better
than NVGPs as the two groups learn how to play Zelda: Twilight Princess, an action
game. Also, within the VGP group, those with experience in action-type video games will
perform better than those who do not have the same knowledge.

225

Methods

Participants

This study used data from 20 students at Grand Rapids Catholic Central (GRCC).
Nine were VGPs (people who played action video games for more than one hour a week
for the past six months) and eleven were NVGPs (people who never played video games
or played less than one hour a week for the past six months). The tested VGPs had never
used the Wii. The participants were sophomores and juniors enrolled at GRCC. There
were ten females and ten males. The participants completed a preliminary survey to
determine their eligibility and past video game history. Also, all were asked to abstain
from caffeine during their day of testing in order to prevent inﬂated results.

Measures

Video Game Performance

Performance on video games was measured via the time necessary to complete a
speciﬁed level in Zelda: Twilight Princess. The level required participants to take the role
of the main character Link and herd goats into a barn on a horse. This particular game
was chosen because the game was the only action game for the Wii at the time that the
study was designed. The Wii was chosen as the game system because the new format of
the controller helped to level the playing ﬁeld between VGPs and NVGPs (V GPs would
have been used to the format of a standard controller). The shorter the time needed to
complete level, the better the performance at the video game. None of the participants
required more than ﬁve minutes.

Procedures

In order to participate in the study, participants were advised to complete a
consent form and a preliminary survey to determine whether they would qualify for the
study. The basic questions asked included whether or not they had ever played a Wii, and
stating the length of time that they played a video game.

Participants were asked to refrain ﬁ'om caffeine during the day of testing in order
to prevent exaggerated results. The time that it took the participant to complete the level
was recorded with a stopwatch.

Each participant saw a proctor play the game for about thirty seconds before the
proctor gave the Wii Remote and Nunchuck to the participant. Then, the participant was
given instructions to walk toward a horse and speak to a character in the game. No help
as to how to move, get on a horse, etc. was given. Next, the actual timed portion of the
test began as the participants began to herd goats into a barn. When ten goats were herded
into the barn, the timing and the test ended.

Testing of the participants happened over a four-week period for four days a
week. Each participant was tested for a total of 10 minutes or the time required to

226

complete the speciﬁed level, and two students were tested per day. The remaining days
(one Monday of each of the four weeks) were to make up for any missed days if the
participants could not make their appointments for various reasons or scheduling
constraints.

Statistical Analysis

Averaging the time for each VGP and NVGP group. The category with the lowest
mean time had a better overall performance with the action video game Zelda: Twilight
Princess for the Wii.

In order to determine whether or not players with an action video game history
performed better, a box-and-whiskers graph was utilized. Within the graph, the group
with the lowest median, ﬁrst quartile, and third quartile performed the best.

Both of these methods of analyses helped to reduce the effects of outliers in data.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table l: NVGPs v. VGPs Time
NVGPs (s) VGPs (s)
69.072 50.555
72-291 56-804 Table 2: NVGPs v. VGPs B&W
77.399 67.15 NVGPS(S)VGPs(s)
103.495 109-19 First Quartile 77.399 61.977
113 119-604 Median 128.401 119.604
128-401 125-014 Third Quartile 241.054225.4765
174-369 199-509 Minimum 69.072 50.555
183-748 251-444 Maximum 479.952 269.565
241.054 269.565 Range 410,38 219.01
298.878 IQR 163.655 163.4995
479.952
Average 176.514455 138.7594

 

 

 

Results

Non-Video Game Player and Video Game Player Performance

As shown in Table 1, VGPs had a better average time than the NVGPs. Although
there were more NVGPs than VGPs, the data was consistent in each group so it is likely
that any additional data would have minimal effects on the results. In fact, the gap in the
execution of the given task between the two groups and the range of data in each group
was large enough to allow a slight difference in the amount of data in the data set.

227

Within the box-and-whiskers graph (Figure 1) and data (Table 2), VGPs had a
lower time in the ﬁrst quartile, median, and third quartile than the NVGP. Also, the
interquartile range of both group was only about 1.5 tenths of a second apart, which
means that both sets of data are equally consistent when outliers in data are eliminated.

Action Video Game Player Performance

The collected data was further analyzed to yield the data in Table 3, which was
then used to create Figure 2. When the data from the VGPs who had never played action
type video game was eliminated, the performance of the group greatly improved. All data
analyses dropped, except for the minimum time, which remained the same. This group of
individuals performed better than the VGPs as a whole. This revealed the fact that those
without experience with action video games worsened the times of the VGPs when the
group was analyzed as a unit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 3: Action Video Games
NVGPs (s) VGPs (8)
First Quartile 77.399 56.804
Median 128.401 114.397
Third Quartile 241.054 125.014
Minimum 69.072 50.555
Maximum 479.952 251.444
Range 410.88 200.889
IQR 163.655 68.21

 

 

 

228

Discussion

All of the analyzed results ﬁ'om this study showed that VGPs learned faster at
how to play a new action game than do those without any prior video game experience.
Also, VGPs who played action type video games, which for example, involve racing and
shooting, prior to the study generally performed better than those without the same
opportunity. The average and median of the VGPs were lower than the NVGPs.

When the results were analyzed for action VGPs, the action VGPs had a smaller
ﬁrst quartile, median third quartile, and IQR than the VGPs without an action game
background. Because these major data points are consistent in supporting the same group
as the better performer, the data supports the hypothesis.

Conclusion

Created to discover the rate at which video game players learn, this study
uncovered the video game players’ increased ability to learn at a new game. However,
further research is needed to fully utilize this ﬁnding. Future studies could seek to
determine the particular elements of a game that cause this increase rate of learning and
then place those characteristics into an educational game to enhance learning in the
classroom.

Acknowledgements

First of all, thanks to all of those who participated in this study. Also, thanks to
Grand Rapids Catholic Central, especially Mr. Tom Maj and Mr. Andy Moore, and Dr.
Mark Gostine for allowing studies like this one and all others in the Research Seminar to
happen. Finally, thanks to Robert Carnpaeu for loaning his Wii for ﬁve weeks in the
name of science.

References

1. Steinkuehler, Constance A. Cognition and Literacy in Massively Multiplayer Online
Games. 4 (2005).

2. Li, Xiaoming & Atkins, Melissa S. Early Childhood Computer Experience and
Cognitive and Motor Development. Pediatrics: Oﬂicial Journal of the American
Academy of Pediatrics. 113,1715 (2004).

3. Prensky Marc. Has “Growing Up Digital” and Extensive Video Game Playing
Affected Younger Military Personnel’s Skill Sets?. I/IT SEC (2003).

4. Subrahmanyam, K., Greenﬁeld, P., Kraut, R., & Gross, E. The impact of computer
use on children’s and adolescents’ development. Applied Developmental Psychology.
22,7-30 (2001).

5. Dingfelder Sadie F. Your brain on video games. Monitor on Psychology. 38, 2, 20
(2007)

6. Green, C. Shawn & Bavelier, Daphne. Action video game modiﬁes visual selective
attention. Nature. 423, 534-537 (2003).

7. Prensky, Marc. Digital Game-Based Learning. ACM Computers in Entertainment. 1,
1, 1-4 (2003).

8. Johnson, Steven. Your Brain on Video Games. DISCOVER. 26, 7 (2005).

-229-

Appendix G: Science III, Student Example
The Effect of Temperature on the Corrosion of Copper

Introduction

This was an experimental study on the effects of temperature on the corrosion of
copper. Corrosion is a state of deterioration in metals caused by oxidation or chemical
action [5]. Because corrosion occurs when the material is exposed to oxygen and oxygen
was present in all tests, I concluded that corrosion should happen in each test.
Furthermore, the more corrosion should appear in the higher temperature due to
collisions of high energy molecules. Ferric chloride (F eCl3) and sodium chloride (NaCl)
were used to speed up the process of corrosion [2] [3]. FeCl3 increases the amount of
iron and therefore increases the amount of corrosion. NaCl reacts with the water and
works as a catalyst to speed up the reaction. To measure corrosion, the copper was
weighed in grams before and after testing [1]. Also, a visual description including
percent of copper corroded and pictures of the corrosion were recorded.
Methods

Testing was performed four times over a sixteen day period. A copper strip in air
acted as the control. Three covered jars were ﬁlled with 800 mL of water, 14g of F eC13,
and 6g of NaCl. Three 15x1 .2cm strips of copper were weighed separately and placed in
separate jars. The ﬁrst jar labeled A was placed in an incubator kept at 65°C. The
second jar labeled B was placed in a room temperature cupboard kept approximately at
20°C. The third jar labeled C was placed in a reﬁ'igerator kept at 10°C. Two sets of three
jars were tested on the ﬁrst eight days followed with two more sets in the next eight days.
A visual description was recorded after seventy-two the ﬁrst time and every twenty-four
hours for the next ﬁve days. At the end of the experimentation period, each copper strip
was and weighed. The second measurement was subtracted from the ﬁrst to get the total
corrosion.
Results
Cycle One

The ﬁrst two jars in the incubator, A1 and A2, corroded completely at the end of

cycle one. The corrosion began immediately and continued constantly. Al went from 4

-230-

grams to O and A2 from 4.2g to 0. Visual observations were recorded in table 1.1. The
jars in room temperature, BI and B2, gradually turned a lighter color. In the end, both
samples showed a little corrosion at the top of the strip [table 1.2]. B1 started as 4.5g and
corroded to 3g and B2 3.7g to 2g. The jars in the refrigerator, C1 and C2, did not show
visible corrosion, except for some thinning towards the end of the cycle. C1 measured
corrosion from 4.6g to 3.4g and C2 from 4.5 g to 3.2g.
Cycle Two

In the second cycle, the jars in the incubator acted differently. A3 showed
signiﬁcant corrosion immediately and fully corroded by the ﬁfth day. A4 also showed
signiﬁcant corrosion immediately, but at the end of the cycle, only a little more than half
of the strip was corroded [table 2.1]. A3 corroded from 3.6g to O and A4 ﬁ'om 5.1 to 2.2.
B3 and B4 acted the same in cycle two as in cycle one with only some visible corrosion
at the top of the strip [table 2.2]. B3 corroded from 4.4g to 2.9g and B4 from 4.5g to
3.1g. The ﬁnal jars in the refrigerator, C3 and C4, did not show any corrosion [table 2.3].
C3 showed a slight bending and went from 4.2g to 3.4g. C4 displayed a build up of
chemicals on the top of the strip and went from 4.2g to 4g.
Discussion

Results in both cycles supported my hypothesis. The most corrosion was in the
highest temperature and corrosion was present in all tests. A1, A2, and A3 fully corroded
[graph 4.1]. A4 only corroded half way, but this could possibly be due to the fact that the
A4 copper strip was at least a gram heavier than the other three strips. If the test was
carried out further, the strip would have corroded rationally in accordance to the other
samples. The ‘after’ measurements for the B jars showed correlating corrosion to the
‘before’ measurements [graph 4.2]. The correlation was also similar in the C jars [graph
4.3].
Conclusion

In conclusion, corrosion occurs more in higher temperatures. Possibilities for
further testing include more jar tests for more accurate information or a longer cycle time

to observe full corrosion in each jar. Also, temperature could be better regulated.

-231-

Results

Cycle One: A1 and A2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date Observation
4/16 Bending, stratiﬁcation,
shorter, thinner
4/17 Further corrosion
4/18 “
4/19 Signiﬁcant deterioration
4/20 Shorter strip
4/23 Fully corroded
4/24 “
Table 1.1

Results
Cycle One: B1 and 32

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date Observation

4/16 No change

4/1 7 “

4/18 “

4/19 Lighter color, layers start to separate

4/20 “

4/23 Some visible corrosion at top

4/24 “

Table 1.2
Results
Cycle One: C1 and C2
Date Observation
4/16 No settling, no visible
corrosron
4/17 “
4/18 “
4/19 “
4/20 Thinner strips
4/23 No change
4/24 “
Table 1.3

-232-

 

 

Results
Cycle One

 

0300c)

 

Test Cycle One:4l13-4/24

Graph 4.1

Results
Cycle Two: A

Date A3 observation A4 observation

5/7 Lighter color, signiﬁcant Lighter color, signiﬁcant
corrosion corrosion

5/8 Small copper piece on Half of piece left. Light
bottom. not fully corroded color

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5/9 “
5/10 “ "
5/1 1 Fully corroded Slight more corrosion
5/14 " “
5/1 5 “ “
Table 2.1

-233-

Results

 

 

Cycle Two: A
Date A3 observation A4 observation
5/7 Lighter color, signiﬁcant Lighter color, signiﬁcant
corrosion corrosion

 

5/8 Small copper piece on Half of piece left. Light
bottom, not fully corroded color

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5/9 “ “
5/10 “ “
5/11 Fully corroded Slight more corrosion
5/ 14 “ “
5/1 5 “ “
Table 2.2
Results
Cycle Two:B1 and 32
Date Observation
5/7 No change
5/8 “
5/9 “
5/10 Lighter color, layers start to separate
5/11 “
5/14 Some visible corrosion at top
5/1 5 “
Table 2.3
Results
Cycle Two:C1 and C2
Date Observation
5” No corrosion or stratiﬁcation
5/8 No change
5/9 “
5/10 “
5/1 1 Lighter color
5/14 CS-slight bending, C4-build up of FeCl3
5/15 “
Table 2.4

-234-

 

Results

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cycle Two
6.
9
r 5
a 4
m Iaarore
s 3
lAfter
2
1
0
A3 A4 134 c3 c4
Jar
Gnmh42
Overall Results
6 e
5 4
2
3_ DBefore B1 32 as 34
IAfter
2— 6
1 4
2
o 1’ I.
A1 A2 A3 A4 0

Gnmh43

C1 C2 C3 C4

-235-

Appendix H: Lessons in Experimental Ethics

Ethics-1
AIM: How and why did ethical concerns become so important in research?
Materials/ Format: Tuslegee and Milgram readings

After reading the Tuskegee handout, have students discusss the following questions:

1. What ethical issues are raised by this case?

2. The men in the study were purposely misinformed about the goal of
the study. The Nuremberg Code and Belmont Report both state that
researchers should obtain informed consent ﬁom research participants.
What do you think is meant by the term informed consent? What
would the Tuskegee researchers have had to do in order to obtain
informed consent?

3. If the researchers had obtained informed consent(by making sure
participants understood the purpose of the study and the potential risks
involved), would you have any additional ethical reservations about
the study? (coercion due to a status imbalanced between the researcher
and participants, coercion due to the men’s poverty had payment for
participation or other monetary incentives been offered.)

Next, have students read the handout on the Milgram experiment and discuss the
questions:

1. While no one was physically harmed by the Milgram experiment, it is
considered the prototypical example of an experiment that could cause
participants psychological harm. What harm could participants be reasonably
expected to experience as a result of this study?

2. Did the Milgram participants give informed consent? Why or why not?

How could you alter the design of Milgram’s study and/or add ethical

safeguards to reduce the risk of harm to the participants’ involved?

S”

Summary: What do the Tuskegee and Milgram studies tell us about the need for ethical
guidelines in research?

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study*
Syphilis was a widespread but poorly-understood disease until shortly after the turn of the
century. Many cases were incorrectly diagnosed as syphilis, while in other cases patients
who would now be recognized as victims of the disease were missed. As the etiology of
the disease was better understood, it became increasingly urgent to understand its long-
term effects. The early treatments that predated the discovery of penicillin involving the
use of such poisons as arsenic and mercury were dangerous, and sometimes even fatal.
Thus, it was vital to learn about the likelihood that the disease itself would result in

-236-

serious or mental disability in order to make sure that the potential beneﬁts of treatment
exceeded the risks.

A discovery that the incidence of the disease was higher among African- Americans than
among whites was attributed by some to social and economic factors, but by others to a
possible difference in susceptibility between whites and non-whites. In 1932 the PHS
decided to proceed with a study in Macon County. The speciﬁc goal of the new study
was to examine the progression of untreated syphilis in African- Americans. Permission
was obtained for the use of the excellent medical facilities at the teaching hospital of the
Tuskegee Institute and human subjects were recruited by spreading the word among
Black people in the county that volunteers would be given ﬁ'ee tests for bad blood, a term
used locally to refer to a wide variety of ailments. Thus began what evolved into “The
Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male,” a project that would continue
for forty years. The subject group was composed of 616 African-American men, 412 o
whom had been diagnosed as having syphilis, and 204 controls.

The participants were never explained the true nature of the study. Not only were the
syphilitics among them not treated for the disease—a key aspect of the study design that
was retained even after 1943 when penicillin became available as a safe, highly effective
cure—but those few who recognized their condition and attempted to seek help ﬁ'om
PHS syphilis treatment clinics were prevented from doing so.

The nature of the study was certainly not withheld from the nation’s medical community.
Many venereal disease experts were speciﬁcally contacted for advice and opinions. Most
of them expressed support for the project. In 1965, 33 years after the Study’s initiation,
Dr. Irwin Schatz became the ﬁrst medical professional to formally object to the Study on
moral grounds. The PHS simply ignored his complaint. The following year, Peter
Buxton, a venereal disease investigator for the PHS began a prolonged questioning of the
morality of the study. Bothered by the failure of the agency to take his objections
seriously, Dr. Peter Buxton contacted the Associated Press, which assigned reporter Jean
Heller to the story. On July 25, 1972 the results of her journalist investigation of the
Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male were published. The response to
Heller’s revelations was broad-based public outrage, which ﬁnally brought the Study to
an immediate end.

*The description above was excerpted from onlineethics.org
(http://onlineethics.org/edu/precol/clgssroom/cs3.htrnl)

-237-

The Milgram Obedience Experiment

After WWII a Yale psychologist named Stanley Milgram became fascinated by people’s
willingness to harm other people just because they were ordered to do so. He ran a series
of experiments that explored obedience to authority.

Participants were recruited from all over New Haven, CT. When they arrived, they were
greeted by an experimenter and another man who was supposedly another subject but
who, in reality, was a confederate of the experimenter. Participants were told that the
study was on learning and, in a rigged drawing, they were assigned the role of teacher
while the confederate was assigned the role of learner.

The confederates were then led to another room where they were strapped to a shock
generator. The participants’ job was to administer a memory test to the confederate and
give him a shock each time he gave an incorrect answer. The shocks began at 15 volts
and increased to 450 volts. The shocks on the panel were labeled: slight, moderate,
strong, very strong, intense, extreme intensity, danger: severe, XXX.

As the shocks increased in strength, the confederate yelled out in pain, began to demand
that he be let out of the experiment, and eventually fell silent, giving the impression that
he had lost consciousness. If participants expressed hesitation to continue, the
experimenter would tell them a sequence of four stock responses (e.g., “the experiment
must continue”). Many participants exhibited signs of stress (e. g., sweating, pacing)
during the experiment. The experiment was over once the participant gave the highest
degree of shock or refused to continue.

The results of the experiment were surprising to Milgram and shocking mun intended) to
society at large. Nearly two-thirds of the participants delivered the maximum lever of
shock, a level that would have killed the other person. NO SHOCKS WERE
ACTUALLY ADMINISTRATED, AND NO ONE WAS PHYSICALLY HURT.

After the experiment the participants were debriefed. That is, the true purpose of the

experiment was explained to them. They were introduced to the confederate and given
the opportunity to ask any questions they might have.

-238-

Ethics-2

AIM: What is important to include in a code of ethics?

Format: Divide students into groups. Give the groups half the period to creater their own
Code of Ethics, a list of 5-10 rules to encourage ethical research. Use the second half of
the period to allow the groups to present and discuss the various codes.

Discussion Questions:

1.
2.

3.

4.

Do the groups’ codes protect against psychological as well as physical harm?
Would the groups’ codes allow the problematic Tuskegee and Milgram
studies/

Would the groups’ codes allow for medical research to test a new treatment
for a deadly disease that might have signiﬁcant side effects?

How do the codes deal with research on animals?

Summary: What are the most important facets of a code of ethics?

Ethics-3

AIM: What are the major ethical issues in doing research?

Format: Discussion

Questions:

1.

Ethical research protects the rights of human participants. The Nuremberg
Code (see handout) was an early description of these rights that followed the
abuses of WWII. The more recent Belmont Report distills ethical concerns
into three major issues involved in using human participants (see handout).
The principles it discusses underlie the US. federal laws that regulates
research on humans. To what extent and in what ways did the Tuskegee and
Milgram experiments discussed earlier violate these principles.

Ethical research limits the dangers to animal subjects. The handout lists some
of the major guidelines for research that involves animals Despite these rules,
some people believe it is unethical to do research on animals, particularly
vertebrates, because they are sentient beings and are unable to consent. What
are the advantages of using animals for research? Do the potential beneﬁts
outweigh the rights of the animals?

Ethical research involves reporting accurate data. There have been cases
where researchers reported data that did not exist, failed to report all their
data. What might cause researchers to be tempted to report inaccurate data?
Why is it important that researchers repot their data accurately?

Ethical research does not endanger the welfare of the researchers. What are
some of the possible dangers involved in conducting research and what steps
can we take to minimize them?

Summary: What are the major ethical issues involved in doing research?

-239-

The Nuremberg Code
1. The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential.
This means that the person involved should have legal capacity to give consent; should be
so situated as to be able to exercise free power of choice, without the intervention of any
element of force, ﬁ'aud, deceit, duress, over-reaching, or other ulterior form of constraint
or coercion; and should have sufﬁcient knowledge and comprehension of the elements of
the subject matter involved, as to enable him to make an understanding and enlightened
decision. This latter element requires that, before the acceptance of an afﬁrmative
decision by the experimental subject, there should be made known to him the nature,
duration, and purpose of the experiment; the method and means by which it is to be
conducted; all inconveniences and hazards reasonably to be expected; and the effects
upon his health or person, which may possibly come for his participation in the
experiment.
The duty and responsibility for ascertaining the quality of the consent rests upon each
individual who initiates, directs or engages in the experiment. It is a personal duty and
responsibility which may not be delegated to another with impunity.
2. The experiment should be such as to yield fruitful results for the good of society,
unprocurable by other methods or means of study, and not random and unnecessary in
nanue
3. The experiment should be so designed and based on the results of animal
experimentation and acknowledge of the natural history of the disease or other problem
under study, that the anticipated results will justijy the performance of the experiment.
4. The experiment should be so conducted as to avoid all unnecessary physical and
mental suffering and injury.
5. No experiment should be conducted, where there is an apriori reason to believe that
death or disabling injury will occur; except, perhaps, in those experiments where the
experimental physicians also serve as subjects.
6. The degree of risk to be taken should never exceed that determined by the
humanitarian importance of the problem to be solved by the experiment.
7. Proper preparations should be made and adequate facilities provided to protect the
experimental subject against even remote possibilities of injury, disability, or death.
8. The experiment should be conducted only by scientiﬁcally qualiﬁed persons. The
highest degree of skill and care should be required through all stages of the experiment
of those who conduct or engage in the experiment.
9. During the course of the experiment, the human subject should be at liberty to bring
the experiment to an end, if he has reached the physical or mental state, where
continuation of the experiment seemed to him to be impossible.
10. During the course of the experiment, the scientist in charge must be prepared to
terminate the experiment at any stage, if he has probable cause to believe, in the exercise
of the good faith, superior skill and careful judgment required of him, that a continuation
of the experiment is likely to result in injury, disability, or death to the experimental
subkwt
[ “T rials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals under Control
Council Law No ", Vol.2, pp. 181-182. Washington, DC: US. Government Printing
Ofﬁce, 1949.]
Available online at: http://www.med.umich.edu/ethics/Nuremberg/NurembergCode.htrnl

~240-

The Belmont Report (1979)
Three basic principles involved in conducting ethical research are: the principles of
respect of persons, beneﬁcence and justice. The job of the Institutional Review Bond
(IRB) is to examine proposed research to make sure that human participants will be
treated ethically in line with these principles.

1. Respect for Persons- People should not be forced into research and should
understand what the research will involve.

2. Beneficence- The goal of research should be to do good- - to better the

individuals involved and/or the larger society. In the pursuit of this good, every
effort should be made to protect participants from harm.

3. Justice- Neither the costs not the beneﬁts of research should fall on only some
parts of the population.

The entire Belmont Report is available at
http://ohrp.dhhs.gov/humansubjects/guidance/behnont.htm

Some Ethical Principles Guiding Research on Animals

All research involving animals must ﬁrst be reviewed by an institutional care and use
committee ( IACUC). The members must include a veterinarian.

Whenever possible, alternatives to using animals (e.g., tissue studies, computer
simulations) should be used.

The number of animals used should be limited to the minimum that will allow a valid
conclusion

Everything feasible must be done to ensure the animals; humane treatment

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Ethics — 4
Aim: To apply ethical principles to speciﬁc research proposals.

Format: Divide students into groups. Give each group 15 minutes to discuss the three
research projects described on the hangout and recommend changes/ask for more
information in order to approve it. Use the rest of the period to discuss the answers as a
class. Some of the issues that you should expect to come up are:

A-Zoe and the impact of sexually explicit television

-Because participants are minors and the topic is a sensitive one, the researcher would
need to get parental consent. Alternatively, Zoe could work with an older population or
could show the students clips from primetime shows that are deemed appropriate for their
age.

-Zoe needs to debrief her participants alter the experiment in order to prevent the clips
from having any long-lasting, negative effects on the participants.

-Zoe needs to make clear to her participants that their participation is voluntary and that
they can withdraw from the study at any time for any reason.

B- Dr. Mortimer’s new Alzheimer’s drug

-Because the participants are elderly and unwell, they are also unable to give informed
consent. Therefore, Dr. Mortimer also needs to get consent ﬁ'om their relatives.

-Dr. Mortimer must monitor the participants’ health over the course of the year rather
than take a baseline measure and return a year later. If the drug is found to be harmﬁil to
participants, the study should be discontinued immediately.

-Conversely, if, before the year is out, it becomes obvious that the drug is helpful, the
experiment should be ended and the participants in the placebo group given the
opportunity to take the drug.

C- Lorenzo’s rat learning study

-A veterinarian must certify that the two types of food are sufﬁciently nutritious and
unlikely to harm the animals.

-One hundred animals is more than Lorenzo needs for his research to be valid. The
experiment could be done with one-third that number. It would be possible to use even
fewer animals if the experimenter counterbalanced.

-In all likelihood, Lorenzo would not be permitted to keep the animals in his basement
but rather would need a controlled laboratory environment at a university.

-Cats can live for 15-20 years. After a year-long experiment, it would be entirely
unethical to put the animals to sleep.

Evaluation: Before reviewing the answers in class, collect one copy of the handout ﬁrom
each group to grade.

-242-

Apply Your Knowledge

Directions: Each of the following research proposal involves ethical issues. With your
group you will act as the IRB/IACUC to identify how the proposed study would need to
be changed and /or what additional information you would need to know in order to
approve it.

A.Zoe wants to study the impact of watching sexually suggestive/explicit television on
people’s attitudes toward sex. She plans to test ninth graders because she believes they
are still young attitudes enough to be highly impressionable. She will solicit volunteers
to come after school. Half will be assigned to watch one house of Sex and the City clips
that focus on sex, wile the other half will view an hour of clips from the same show that
deal with non-sexual topics. After watching the t.v. shows, all participants will ﬁll out a
questionnaire about the attitudes toward sex.

B. Dr. Mortimer has invented a new drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease. He proposes to
go to local nursing homes to ask residents who suffer from Alzheimer’s if they would
like to be in his study. Half the people would be assigned to get the new drug and the
other half would be assigned to get a placebo. Dr. Mortimer plans to take baseline
measures of the people’s health before they begin the treatment and return one year later
to test for changes.

C. Lorenzo wants to see if premium eat foods will improve the animal’s performance on
a learning task. He proposes to get 100 young animals from local shelters and to the
house them in his lab. Half will eat the least expensive cat food on the Markey, while the
other half will eat the most expensive. Every week for one year the cats will be given the
same task — essentially an obstacle course with a food reward at the end — and the time it
takes them to complete it will be timed. AT the end of the experiment, the cats will be
put to sleep.

~243 -

Appendix I: Presentation Peer Feedback Rubric

RATING SHEET FOR PRESENTATION OF AN ARTICLE

Rater Name:

Date: Topic:

Presenter Name:

 

 

Rating Scale: 4 = excellent; 3 = good; 2 = fair; 1 = unacceptable

 

Inrtoduction:

Captures the audience’s interest. Clearly
introduces the main idea or purpose of
the presentation.

 

Review of the Literature:

Indicates an adequate search of
periodical literature. Presents references
in logical order. Shows a ‘funnel effect’.

 

Problem Statement or Hypothesis:
Clearly states a problem and/or
hypothesis.

 

Methods and Materials:
Shows a concise and reproducible series
of steps.

 

Results:
Results are easily understood. Visuals
are accurate, clear, and effective.

 

Discussion:

The results are well explained. There is a
clear statement of whether the
hypothesis is proven.

 

Conclusion:

' summarizes the presentation. It
relates to the stated hypothesis or
problem. It is clearly and concisely
stated.

 

 

Delivery:

The presentation is well organized. The
presenter is comfortable with the topic.
The presenter uses appropriate voice,

eye-contact, posture, and body lanﬂge.

 

 

 

 

 

—244-

Appendix J: Data and Analysis Part I Questionnaire

Entrance/Exit Survey: Methodology
Research Seminar

For each of the seven goals, please rank your ability level on a scale of 1 (the worst) to 5
(the best).

I. USE OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

II.

III.

Stating a research problem
Generating hypotheses
Stating hypotheses
Testing hypotheses
Design an experiment
Execute an experiment
Building theories

seweww~

1 2 3 4 5
SCIENTIFIC THINKING
1 . Drawing conclusions based on data
2 . Indicating future research that the present
completed research suggests

12345

CONDUCTING LITERATURE SEARCHES

1 . The use of the intemet to ﬁnd/retrieve scientiﬁc information
2 . The use of the library network to retrieve desired

journals
3 . The review of all pertinent literature to determine the

present state of knowledge in the topic of research
1 2 3 4 5

CONDUCTING AUTHENTIC EXPERIMENTATION

1 . Experimentation which addresses the hypotheses

2 Experimentation which is reproducible

3 . Experimentation which has appropriate controls

4 Experimentation which is complex, compound, and
state of the art

12345

-245-

V. WORKING WITH DATA

 

1.
2.

Collecting data

Organizing data

a) Using graphs

b ) Using charts

c ) Using tables

(1) Using ﬁgures

Storing data

Analyzing data

a) Conducting statistical analyses

Interpreting data analyses

a) Distinguishing valid from invalid
Interpretations of data

12345

VI. PARTICIPATING IN THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY

1 .

2.

3 .

Locating professors and professionals to serve as
mentors

Contacting professors and professionals to serve
as mentors

Working with professors and professionals

12345

V I I . WRITING A SCIENTIFIC PAPER

1.
2.
3.

Writing a research abstract

Using economy of language

Writing a scientiﬁc paper which includes:
a) Review of the literature

b ) Statement of purpose (or hypothesis)
c ) Methods and materials

d ) Results
e ) Discussion of results
f) Conclusions

12345

-246-

Appendix .I: Data and Analysis Part I Data Results

In the charts below, each of the seven goals is treated independently. This data is gleaned
ﬁom all 17 members of the pilot year of the research program.

Sophomore Year in Program

 

Goal # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

 

Pre-Pilot 2.25 2.5 2.0 1.63 2.25 1 1.4
Year

 

Post- 4.25 4.4 4.5 3.75 4 4 3.9
Pilot
Year

 

 

% 89 75 125 131 78 300 182
Increase

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 5

Junior Year in Program

 

Goal # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

 

Pre-Pilot 2.3 2.9 2.14 1.86 2.3 1.3 1.14
Year

 

Post— 4.3 4.6 4.6 4 3.9 4.7 4
Pilot
Year

 

 

% 87 60 114 115 69 265 251
Increase

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 6

All Students

 

Goal # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

 

Pre-Pilot 2.27 2.67 2.1 1.7 2.27 1.13 1.27
Year

 

Post- 4.3 4.47 4.53 3.87 3.93 4.3 3.9
Pilot
Year

 

 

% 89 67 119 128 73 281 207
Increase

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 7

-247-

 

 

 

Appendix K: Data and Analysis Part II Student Response

Student: A

Year in School: Junior

Date of Interview: September 2006 (Pre-test) and June 2007 (Post-test)

Science Perspectives
1. Do you read books or articles about science? If yes, please describe which
ones and how often you read them.

Pre-test: I read articles/books about science usually only for school purposes. That
means once a day on whatever topic we covered in class.

Post-test: I deﬁnitely read articles and scientiﬁc journals. The entire year I have
focused on nutrition and its eﬂects on the body.

2. Do you talk about science with your friends? If so, what exactly is the content
of your discussion? What speciﬁc topics?

Pro-test: I talk about science with my friends if something is really big in the news
or again if it deals with homework. An example may be the bird flu or
Pluto not being a planet anymore.

Post-test: When I talk about science with my friends, it is usually my research
buddies. We talk about our latest ﬁndings on our topic or just something
in general that we know they would appreciate.

3. Have you ever been to a science museum? Please be speciﬁc with dates. Did
you initiate the visit, or did someone ask (or demand) that you go with them?

Pre-test: I have been to a science museum. I went to the Museum of Science and
Industry in Chicago about 5 years ago. I also went to the Smithsonian
museums including the Museum of Natural Science about 3 years ago. My
parents suggested these museums, and I thought that they sounded
interesting and wanted to go.

Post-test: I have been to the science museum in Chicago a few years ago. My
parents asked if it would be something that I ’d want to do, and it deﬁnitely
appealed to me.

4. Do you have a science related hobby? If so, what is it?
Pre—test: I do not have a science related hobby.

Post-test: I would have to say that my science related hobby would be the research
class. I actually enjoy reading up on my topic outside of class.

-248-

5. Are you, or have you ever been, involved in a science club? Please give
speciﬁcs.

Pre-test: I have not been involved in a science club, but during junior high I wish I
would have been able to join the science Olympiad team.

Post-test: I have not been involved in a science club even though I really wish I
would have done Science Olympiad.

6. When you surf the intemet, do you frequently visit science—oriented sites? If
so, please list.

Pro-test: I do not frequently visit science oriented sites.
Post-test: I visit the science news website or Google something on my topic.

7. What are your top three favorite TV shows?

Pre—test: Survivor, The Cosby Show, and anything on the Food Network.
Post-test: Survivor, Mythbusters, and anything on the Food Network.

8. Do you regularly watch the news? Read a newspaper?

Pro-test: I usually watch the news a few times in a week, and I skim the headlines of
the paper and anything that sounds interesting I will read.

Post-test: I occasionally watch the news and only read the articles that interest me
in the paper.

9. Do you like to cook or bake? If so, what exactly intrigues you about cooking
or baking? Do you always follow the recipe?

Pre-test: I love to cook and bake. I love the fact that diﬂ'erent ingredients taste
diﬁ’erent when separate, but when added together, one can make a
fantastic dish to eat, with a completely different ﬂavor. I usually follow
the recipe, but it is always fun to add whatever you want or what you think
would go well with all the ingredients.

Post-test: I love to cook and bake. The idea that different components can be put
together to make something completely diﬂ’erent and delicious intrigues
me. I do not always follow the recipe; sometimes I just like to add a little
of my own ideas to the mix.

10. Do you have a science related toy (telescope, chemistry set, etc.)? If so,
please name.

Pre-test: I do not have a science related toy.
Post-test: I do not really have any science related toys.

-249-

11. Do you like to try to ﬁx things that are broken? If so, please give a speciﬁc
example.

Pre—test: I do like to try and fix things that are broken. An example would be that I
just recently replaced a door knob and lock that was broken on one of our
doors.

Post-test: I do enjoy trying to fix things. Again, it is a sense of accomplishment of
making something out of a bunch of pieces that I ﬁnd fascinating.

12. Do you like to tear things apart that aren’t broken? If so, please give a
speciﬁc example.

Pre—test: I do not like to tear things apart, but I do like to put things back together.
Post-test: No, I do not really like to break things.

13. Are you considering a career as a scientist?

Pre-test: I am considering a career as a scientist, speciﬁcally in the medical ﬁeld.
Post-test: I am considering a career in medicine.

Experimental Methodology
1. Why did you take this class?

Pre—test: I took this class because I love science. Science is my favorite class and I
thought this would be a great opportunity to be surrounded with others
that felt the same way I did.

Post-test: I took this class because I have always really liked science. It has always
come pretty naturally, and I wanted a class where I could study whatever
interested me the most, which is exactly what this class is.

2. What image comes to mind when you think of a researcher? A scientist?

Pre-test: A researcher is someone who is passionate about a certain topic and
wants to learn as much about his topic as possible. I can see a researcher
being someone who tests using experimentation and a computer to ﬁnd the
information they need. I see a scientist being someone in a lab, testing out
diﬂerent theories to try and prove what they believe is right.

Post-test: When I think of either of these occupations, I think of men or women
studying something they are passionate about. They start with a very
general topic and work their way to a specific idea. They then perform
numerous experiments to try and support a hypothesis.

-250-

3. What are your strengths and weaknesses as a scientist?

Pre-test:

Post-test:

My strengths are my dedication and love for science. I do not mind
looking up information, and I love to learn. My weaknesses are sometimes
I draw blanks as of how I should proceed when researching a certain
topic. I always think it can be hard to get started, but once I have started,
I go all out to learn as much as possible.

I think my strengths include the fact that I am a hard worker and a
dedicated person. I keep to what I have started and I am not afraid to go
out of my way to get the job done right. I am also very passionate about
what I study. My weaknesses would have to include procrastination and
sometimes not using my time as well as I can during the class. I am
always able to accomplish my work, though.

4. Why might it be difﬁcult to describe a “typical” researcher?

Pre-test:

Post-test:

It would be difficult to describe a typical researcher because they are all
different. They all research diﬂerent topics, they all go about their
research in different ways, and they are all looking for diﬂerent results.
It is diﬁ‘icult to describe a researcher because every researcher is
diﬁferent. A researcher could be in a lab all day, running experiments or
at home looking up numerous journals on the computer. There are so
many diﬁ’erent aspects to being a researcher that to have a “typical ”
researcher would be almost impossible.

5. Einstein once said that his success was due to 1% inspiration and 99%
perspiration. What do you think he meant, in terms of scientiﬁc
experimentation?

Pro-test: I think he meant that results come from hard work and determination.

Post-test:

One has to be willing to work, to experiment, and to truly want what he or
she is trying to ﬁnd. An idea is not that hard to come by, but the work to
research this idea and truly understand it can prove more diﬂicult.

I think that this means that a lot of experimentation is in the experiment
itself Yes, it is great to come up with a great idea, but the experiment is
needed to support it. The background research, forming of the hypothesis,
and running an experiment to get the results and make conclusions is what
gives off success.

6. In movies, we often see the image of a scientist randomly mixing chemicals to
come up with a “eureka” type of discovery. Is this realistic? Please explain.

Pre-test:

I believe that there is such a thing as a eureka discovery, but I do no think
that one can come across it in so little a time. These discoveries take time
and tons of research before they can become realistic.

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Post-test: I guess anything is realistic. Some types of great discoveries, though,
don 't exactly always happen like this. I do think, though, that scientists
can spend numerous days or even weeks stumped on one idea when all of
a sudden it hits them. The answer seems so obvious and clear. Mixing
chemicals to get this result would be very rare; this would more come with
reading and hard core thinking.

7. How does a researcher develop an experiment where the conclusion will be
reliable?

Pre-test: The researcher must do multiple, multiple tests and use different
conditions before the conclusion can be reliable.

Post-test: The experiment has to take into account many different variables. T o
perform one experiment and look at the results to make a conclusion is not
suﬂicient. Also, the data set has to be quite large.

8. What does it mean to do statistical analysis of experimental data?

Pre—test: Statistical analysis of experimental data means to test how accurate and
consistent the data from one ’3 tests really are.

Post-test: This simply means to put the information you have obtained into a graph
and ﬁnd values such as mean and median. This way, it is easier to
interpret the results.

9. When designing an experiment to determine the pattern of heredity of
different characteristics in fruit ﬂies, what kind of variables could be tested?
What kind of statistical analysis should be done, and why?

Pre-test: Different variables would be: size, weight, color, appetite, favorite foods.
The statistical analysis should be to see the average say weight or size to
see how consistent and accurate one ’s tests were.

Post-test: Some diﬂerent variable would include dijferent ages of fruit ﬂies, diﬂerent
environments, different diets, and even male and female. Finding the
average of the data would be the key.

10. When designing an experiment to test the quality of a river, what kind of
variables could be tested? What kind of statistical analysis should be done,
and why?

Pre—test: The variables could be: pH level, different minerals/chemicals in the
water. The statistical analysis could maybe include testing a diferent
river to compare and contrast one ’s results.

Post-test: Diﬂerent variables could be the spot of the river, temperature,
surrounding vegetations, how strong the current is, location in the city,
how deep the water is. Again, ﬁnding the average would be the key to
determine the best results for the experiment.

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ll. Distinguish between causality and correlation in experimentation.

Pre—test: The causality shows the results of the experiment and the correlation
determines how the results compare and contrast to other experiments.

Post-test: Causality is basically just cause and effect: this happened so that
occurred. Correlation shows how two diﬂerent variables are similar or
related, but one does not cause the other.

12. What is the purpose of a control in the experimental method? Distinguish
between a control and a variable in an experiment.

Pre-test: The purpose of a control is to make sure that the experiment is under the
conditions one needs to obtain the results one wants. A control is
something that stays the same throughout the experiment, and a variable
changes with time to yield different results.

Post-test: A control always gives you something to compare your results with. For
example, if one was testing how different liquids reacted with an object, it
would be good to have a neutral liquid like water to compare it to. By
only testing with variables, the results would not have anything to be
compared with.

Exit Interview
1. How/why did you choose your topics of research?

I chose my topics simply by what I found most interesting. There were
certain topics that I could not stand to read, and others that I could not
read enough about.

2. Why, do you think, our school offers this program? What beneﬁts does the
program provide that other classes don’t?

This school offers this program to satisfy the needs of those students who
are in need of answering their questions. This program allows students to
set their own deadlines, and pick their own curriculum. It keeps the love
for science alive and really allows for some awesome experiences and
diﬂerent learning environments.

3. What speciﬁc skills have you learned?
I have learned how to conduct and come up with my own experiment. I
have learned about different types of experiments, how to graph the

results. I have also learned how to work well with others, meet my own
deadlines, and manage my time to accomplish everything that I need to.

-253-

What could be done to make the program better?

I think starting as early as possible will make the program better. It was
hard this year to cram everything in, but overall, the more prepared and
aware the incoming students are, the better.

If you are a junior, do you feel ready/prepared to start on your summer
research project?

I do feel that I am prepared. I know that I do not know everything that
will happen or understand every single concept, but I think that my mentor
and summer project will help me with that. I am apprehensive and excited
to start my project. I know that all of my hard work and research over the
year will deﬁnitely pay off

What skills/knowledge do you feel you are lacking that would better help you
run a high level research project?

I think that just plain old experience. I have not worked with too high tech
of equipment or really been put in a situation of running a high level
project. I know the methods and procedures, I just need to experience
everything ﬁrst hand.

If you are sophomore, do you feel ready/prepared to design your own high
level research project?

N/A
What speciﬁc aspect of the program do you feel is the best?

I love the fact that the student can decide what he or she wants to
research. All other science courses require one to learn a specific, set
curriculum. I believe that this class allows students to pursue their own
interests, answer their questions, and potentially come up with stunning
results.

What speciﬁc aspect of the program do you feel is the worst?

I do not like that the deadlines can be switched so easily. I completely
understand when someone has no way of meeting it and it must be pushed
back. It just seems that throughout the year, so many deadlines
continuously got pushed back. This class entails a LOT of work, and for
all of it to be completed, people must stick with the original deadlines.

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10. How do you feel about the grading system (grades awarded based on
deadlines and work, not on paper grades)?

I agree 100% with the grading system. I think that one should take pride
in the work they accomplished and what they have researched. I do not
think that it matters if there might not be a comma where necessary or if
the format is a little oﬁf There is always room for improvement. This
class is completely based on how far you want to take it. You can do as
much work or the least amount of work as you want. The students ’
dedication and continuous research and hard work should be enough to
earn the grade.

11. Has your interest in science been changed by this experience? If so, how?

My interest has been changed. I now appreciate what researchers go
through every day so much more. There is so much thought and hard
work and amazing stuﬂ involved in research. But after all the hard work,
reading, background research, running the experiment, and supporting
one ’s hypothesis....now it doesn ’t get much cooler than that. I used to like
science merely because [found it interesting. It was a once a day class
that I looked forward to. Now, it feels normal to go home and look up the
latest info in the science community or read up more on my topic.

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Appendix K: Data and Analysis Part II Student Response

Student: B

Year in School: Junior
Date of Interview: September 2006 (Pre-test) and June 2007 (Post—test)

Science Perspectives

1. Do you read books or articles about science? If yes, please write (describe)
about which ones and how often you read them.

Pre—test:

Post-test:

Most of the books I read for pleasure are somehow related to science. I
go through a book or so a week, depending on my schedule. Among my
favorites: Sinclair Lewis 's Arrowsmith (I love how medical research is
described as “pure science, ” while medicine is regarded as a vocation for
the uncreative), Bill Bryson ’s A Short History of Nearly Everything (this
was just interesting in the scope of topics it covered), Brian Greene ’s The
Fabric of the Cosmos (I loved having my brain hurt while reading it, and I
started using physics principles in daily conversations for a week), Steven
Levitt ’s Freakonomics (though this is more economics, it was really cool
how it viewed the world diﬂerently), and Malcolm Gladwell ’s Blink (I
think that thinking about thinking is just interesting). In terms of articles,
I like keeping up with the latest science news. I have two science news
modules on my “My Yahoo ” home page (which I visit a few times daily),
one from the Associated Press and one from the New York Times. I am a
huge fan of Discover magazine and read it from cover to cover as soon as
I get it. I even bring it to school to read.

I read quite a few science related books last summer, listed in my pre-
assessment. I read Discover magazine quite often, though our subscription
has expired, and I follow science news as best I can online. I’d say I

probably spend about an hour a week total just reading up on news in
drﬂerent ﬁelds.

2. Do you talk about science with your friends? If so, what exactly is the content
of your discussion? What speciﬁc topics?

Pre-test:

Post-test:

My friends don ’t like me talking about science because they generally
have no idea what I’m talking about. However, when I just start talking
about science to one of them, it’s usually about a current piece of news
that might interest them. For example, stem cells have come up once
(brieﬂy). Really, though, I don ’t have anyone I can talk to about science.
I only talk science with my friends from research. I help out the AP Bio
kids quite often when they have a question about a topic, but generally my
science conversations are limited to research kids (with whom we talk
about our own projects) and a good unnamed friend of mine who 's simply
brilliant enough to understand what [ ’m talking about without really
knowing much of the science behind it.

-256-

3. Have you ever been to a science museum? Please be speciﬁc with dates. Did
you initiate the visit, or did someone ask (or demand) that you go with them?

Pre-test:

Post-test:

The Field Museum in Chicago is the closest I have ever come to going to a
“science ” museum. I ’m usually the one that asks to go and am also the
one who has to be dragged out at the end of the day. I can ’t be speciﬁc
with dates because [frankly don ’t know, but for the sake of statistics every
other Thanksgiving would be pretty close.

Nothing besides the Field Museum in Chicago, and then I ’m usually
dragged out of the door by my family. We go there once every few years.

4. Do you have a science related hobby? If so, what is it?

Pre-test:

Post-test:

I have a habit of standing out on my driveway on clear nights and ﬁnding
constellations. I guess you could count reading about science as one of
my hobbies, too.

Does sailing count as physics? If so, then yes. If not, then driveway
stargazing is about it.

5. Are you, or have you ever been, involved in a science club? Please give
speciﬁcs.

Pre-test:

Post-test:

I ’ve been involved in Science Olympiad since 6'” grade with a break in 8“
grade because I lived in another state where it wasn ’t offered. That would
be 4 years total. In 7“ grade, I received two medals at Regionals: a 3rd
place in “Reach for the Stars ” (Astronomy) and a 5th place in “Weather
or Not ” (Meteorology). That year at States, I won 5 'h pace in Meteorology
again. I haven ’t won any medals since, but I have had a big role in
organizing our team here at Catholic.

0fcourse- I’m a F irst-degree nerd. I participated in Science Olympiad
during 6'” and 7'” grade, winning two medals at Regionals (Astronomy and
Meteorology) and a 5'” place at States (Meteorology). I then joined the
team here at Catholic and won 3 medals at Regional competition this year
without studying or even knowing what my events were about going into
them (Epidemiology, Genetics, and a general science knowledge event).

I actually think our epidemiology medal was for creativity. Case in point-
my partner and I made up this elaborate model of the spread of mumps.
We decided that it was a bacteria, with viral strain as well (borrowed from
what we knew about meningitis), was spread through bodily ﬂuid contact
(borrowed from what we knew about mono), and the outbreak occurred in
the beginning of April because the incidence was highest among people
ages 18-24 and since the incubation time of mumps is 2-4 weeks, the
infection time would correspond with many colleges' spring breaks.

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6. When you surf the intemet, do you frequently visit science-oriented sites? If
so, please list.

Pro-test: Yes, I visit science related sites pretty frequently. In addition to the two
modules I had mentioned before, I frequently visit MIT Admissions,
arXiv. org, and Public Library of Science.

Post-test: I wouldn ’t say that I frequent any scientiﬁc site besides
scholar. google. com. Over the last 6 months, my web traﬂic has generally
shifted towards college admissions sites, unfortunately.

7. What are your top three favorite TV shows?

Pre-test: I really don ’t watch TV all that much because most of it is garbage.
However, I will drop everything to watch “House. ” If I have to pick two
others, I enjoy “That 70 ’s Show” and “CS1” as well.

Post-test: I don ’t watch TV enough to have a favorite 3. “House ” is honestly the
only one worth listing.

8. Do you regularly watch the news? Read a newspaper?

Pre-test: I read the newspaper almost every afternoon when I get home (comics
first, then news). As stated in the previous question, I don ’t watch TV very
often, so no, I don ’t watch the news very often either.

Post-test: I listen to NPR more than is healthy for the average teenager and keep up
on world news, mainly for Debate purposes.

9. Do you like to cook or bake? If so, what exactly intrigues you about cooking
or baking? Do you always follow the recipe?

Pre—test: I absolutely love to bake. T o be honest, I like it because the end product is
usually very enjoyable and the process is relaxing. I do think the fact that
almost the entire thing is a chemistry experiment is cool, but it ’s not the
main thing I ’m thinking about when I ’m making cookies, for example. The
main thing on my mind would be how good they ’re going to taste when I
pull them out of the oven. While I might follow the recipe the ﬁrst time I
make something, from that point on I like to play with it to see if I can
make it better.

Post-test: I love baking- the most intriguing thing about it is certainly the end
product. Granted, the science is cool, but I honestly don ’t think about it
when I have the smell of brownies wafting through the kitchen. I follow the
recipe the ﬁrst time around, then tweak it to fit my personal preferences
the second time.

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10. Do you have a science related toy (telescope, chemistry set, etc.)? If so,
please name.

Pre-test: My family has a telescope. That ’s about it.
Post-test: No.

11. Do you like to try to ﬁx things that are broken? If so, please give a speciﬁc
example.

Pre-test: I love to fix things myself The only speciﬁc example I can think of would
be toying around with my bike when the gears stopped shifting and the
thing was generally falling apart.

Post-test: Absolutely- I love tinkering with old bikes (I ﬁxed the gears on mine),
fooling around with computers in general, and the like.

12. Do you like to tear things apart that aren’t broken? If so, please give a
speciﬁc example.

Pro-test: I also like to pull perfectly good stuﬂ apart just to put it back together.
The most recent example would be opening my calculator to see the
inside.

Post-test: Yes, much to the chagrin of the unfortunate owner. I can ’t think of an
example off the top of my head, but I do remember taking apart my alarm
clock when I was younger.

13. Are you considering a career as a scientist?

Pre-test: I am absolutely considering a career in the sciences. Actually, I ’m almost
positive that that 's the ﬁeld I ’m going into. I’d like to be a research
scientist and earn a doctorate in Molecular Biochemistry. I think my
brain would get bored if I didn ’t stay on the leading edge of science.

Post-test: Claro que si. I ’m going to focus on getting into college ﬁrst, though- one
thing at a time.

Experimental Methodology
1. Why did you take this class?

Pre-test: I took the Research Seminar primarily because I love science and would
like to pursue a career in research. By taking the Research Seminar in
high school, I ’ll be able to be a step ahead of my peers from other schools
and, because I know the methodology, will be able to land an awesome
undergraduate research position early in college (hopefully MIT). Also,
taking this class will hopefully help me get into RSI (the Research Science
Institute) at MIT next summer. There, I ’ll be able to perform research
with MIT scientists as my mentors for six whole weeks. At the end, I ’11
then get to present my ﬁndings. RSI would also help me ﬁne-tune my

-259-

research so that I can enter it into the Siemens- Westinghouse Science and
Technology Competition senior year.

Post-test: I want to go into research and earn a PhD- this class was perfect in
aﬂording me the opportunities to give me a leg up in my ﬁeld before I ’d
even graduated high school.

2. What image comes to mind when you think of a researcher? A scientist?

Pre-test: When I think of a researcher or a scientist, I imagine a brilliant and
somewhat eccentric person. They bend over a microscope to study a slide
and then go back to their office to pour over recent journals and lab notes.
After some more thought, they head back to the lab to run a few more
experiments, “just in case. ” This person is not unaccustomed to failure,
welcoming it as an avenue to eventual success. Above all, they are
determined, creative, and thoroughly in love with their work.

Post-test: When I try to come up with a manifestation of my idea of a “researcher, " I
imagine a single, aging red haired woman sitting in an arm chair in her
living room pouring over the latest journals in her ﬁeld at 2am in the
morning when her peers are sound asleep dreaming of their
grandchildren. It would be depressing if it didn ’t actually sound so
comforting. I picture scientists as sleep-deprived grad students with
gloves and goggles on and a micropipette in hand, painstakingly
measuring out the necessary samples.

3. What are your strengths and weaknesses as a scientist?

Pro-test: My greatest weakness and strength is my hate of failure. I simply cannot
accept being wrong. In a way, this may cloud my thinking so that I am
unable to see other viewpoints or possible causes. On the other hand, it
will also drive me to ﬁnd an answer (assuming there is one). Another
weakness/strength would be the fact that I am extremely self—critical. I
become discouraged easily when something doesn ’t work out; however, it
also means that I continually push myself to a level of perfection. Finally,
my greatest strength would be my absolute love for science. Unlike other
subjects, I enjoy doing work in it and am willing to do whatever it takes to
succeed in it. As a scientist-in-training, I love what I do.

Post-test: Strengths: intelligence, curiosity
Wealmesses: extremely short attention span, tendency to procrastinate

4. Why might it be difﬁcult to describe a “typical” researcher?

Pre-test: Dijferent types of people research dijferent things. While they all share a
love for their subject and an innate sense of curiosity, they are normal
people that diﬂer in outside interests, work habits, and family life.
Describing a “typical ” researcher would be like describing a “typical ”
human being. It ’s impossible.

-260-

Post-test:

Research in diﬂerent areas entails diﬂerent methods and demands upon
each researcher, and different personal temperaments are better suited to
diﬂerent working environments. For example, someone who would not
enjoy working with people and thus performing clinical studies might
greatly prefer the individualized work of a lab.

5. Einstein once said that his success was due to 1% inspiration and 99%
perspiration. What do you think he meant, in terms of scientiﬁc
experimentation?

Pre—test:

Post-test:

While inspiration is admittedly vital to scientific process, it means nothing
if it is not tested continually and reﬁned to the point of perfection. In
terms of the actual work involved in successful scientiﬁc experimentation,
inspiration is only the kick that gets the ball rolling. The rest is brute
persistence in proving your idea.

Scientiﬁc discovery begins with a great idea; however, great ideas hold no
merit in science unless they can be proven. A typical scientist ’s career will
be less than 1% inspiration- much of the rest will be spent in devoting
their lives to proving his or her idea correct.

6. In movies, we often see the image of a scientist randomly mixing chemicals to
come up with a “eureka” type of discovery. Is this realistic? Please explain.

Pre-test:

Post-test:

Any scientist that would randomly mix chemicals on a regular basis would
not have a job. Thus, the Hollywood conception of a scientist is totally oﬂ
the mark. Scientific discoveries more often result from controlled
experimentation and years of persistence. However, it would be nice if the
“eureka ” moment was common. Cancer would be cured by now.

No- if it were, we ’d have a cure to cancer and numerous dead chemists. As
stated above, the majority of a scientists ’ career is labor of love in the lab.

7. How does a researcher develop an experiment where the conclusion will be
reliable?

Pre-test:

Post-test:

A researcher would design a controlled experiment to result in a reliable
conclusion. Let ’3 call our researcher Bob. First, Bob should have a
hypothesis, stating what he thinks will happen and what must occur if his
hypothesis is to be proven. Next, he ’11 need to design a procedure that is
reproducible. He should specify a control group and a variable. He
should repeat his experiment numerous times carefully recording his
results. Then, he should perform a statistical analysis of them; this just
gives his results meaning. At this point, he can see if his hypothesis was
supported or not, and can draw a nice reliable conclusion.

As many variables as possible must be eliminated, and suﬂicient
experiments must be performed to rule out other conclusions and/or
causations of the given conclusions.

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8. What does it mean to do statistical analysis of experimental data?

Pro-test: Doing a statistical analysis of experimental data means interpreting the
data so that it proves or disproves the hypothesis. Basically, it gives the
raw data meaning. Fro example, this could mean ﬁnd the average of the
set of seeing if the data as a whole increases or decreases. My personal
favorite from AP Biology would be the Chi-squared test.

Post-test: To statistically analyze data is to apply appropriate methods of presenting
data.

9. When designing an experiment to determine the pattern of heredity of
different characteristics in fruit ﬂies, what kind of variables could be tested?
What kind of statistical analysis should be done, and why?

Pro-test: I 'm really not sure what you would consider a variable in this experiment.
I know what you would DO, but...I mean, you ’d breed ﬂies with diﬁ'erent
traits. I suppose one variable could be eye color and another could be
wing shape. In terms of statistical analysis, though, if you were a biologist
you 'd know your ratios for autosomal and sex-linked patterns of
inheritance. You would then see if your numbers of ﬂies with diﬂbrent
traits (for example, red eyes vs. white eyes) matched any of the ratios (you
would have to do this for multiple generations). If so, you have your
pattern of inheritance.

Post-test: You could test eye color, wing structure, body color, the previously
mentioned three in relation to gender, etc. I still don ’t understand
different types of statistical analysis.

10. When designing an experiment to test the quality of a river, what kind of
variables could be tested? What kind of statistical analysis should be done,
and why?

Pre—test: Rivers generally have a ton of “stuﬂ” in them, so you could test for a ton
of variables. You could do E. Coli levels, sediment levels, and oxygen
levels just for a few examples. For this type of experiment, you would
deﬁnitely have to do multiple tests. You should take the average of all the
tests for a certain variable, which would give you a solid idea of that
aspect of water quality. This way, you account for differences on diﬂerent
days.

Post-test: You could test fecal coliform levels, algae levels, E. Coli levels, amount of
silt present, etc. I still don ’t understand diﬂerent types of statistical
analysis.

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11. Distinguish between causality and correlation in experimentation.

Pro-test: Causality indicates that one event directly results in another one.
Correlation, on the other hand, means that two events are occurring at the
same time and are related, but do not cause one another.

Post-test: Causality is when one factor in an experiment directly causes another;
correlation is when one factor merely occurs at the same time as another.

12. What is the purpose of a control in the experimental method? Distinguish
between a control and a variable in an experiment.

Pre—test: A control is an unaltered sample and serves as the basis for comparison in
an experiment. The variable is essentially what is being altered by the
scientist in the experiment.

Post-test: The control ensures that experimental procedures are working as
planned- any deviation from expected results on controls indicates that
something is wrong with the methodology. The control is the constant in
the experiment, while a variable changes throughout.

Exit Interview
1. How/why did you choose your topics of research?

I ’d always been interested in molecular biology, and I knew that that was
an area that I could certainly research as the range of topic is almost
endless. I began to focus on dijferent aspects of molecular biology I liked,
and then narrowed my topics until I was at extremely specific levels.

2. Why, do you think, our school offers this program? What beneﬁts does the
program provide that other classes don’t?

The tradition classroom simply isn ’t challenging for smart kids- we need
something above and beyond rote memorization that challenges us to think
and apply our knowledge to new and novel situations.

3. What speciﬁc skills have you learned?
The greatest skill I ’ve learned this year is how to prepare a literature

review- as long and as hard as it was, it really was beneﬁcial and has
helped my understand my own project better.

-263-

4. What could be done to make the program better?

Increase accountability- I don ’t like how meetings really dropped oﬂ
towards the end of this year.

Deadlines- It would be really useful to set deadlines for everything at the
beginning of the year and give out a calendar. Deadlines need to be non-
negotiable, especially if such long notice is given.

5. If you are a junior, do you feel ready/prepared to start on your summer
research project?

Y es- in terms of knowledge, I feel extremely prepared. However, I really
regret the fact that I have no wet-bench experience going into my
internship.

6. What skills/knowledge do you feel you are lacking that would better help you
run a high level research project?

Wet bench experience.

7. If you are sophomore, do you feel ready/prepared to design your own high
level research project?

N/A
8. What speciﬁc aspect of the program do you feel is the best?

Freedom of choice and independence- It ’3 nice to be able to work on what
you want when you want to, as long as you get the work done.

9. What speciﬁc aspect of the program do you feel is the worst?

Lack of accountability outside of paper deadlines- As our one-on-one
meetings dropped of this year, especially for juniors, I felt that we really
missed out on being held regularly accountable for work. In addition, [felt
that everyone (meaning, student, mentor, and teacher) wasn ’t always on
the same page because of this.

10. How do you feel about the grading system (grades awarded based on
deadlines and work, not on paper grades)?

I think papers should be graded based on Intel judging guidelines, and
work done in class should deﬁnitely play a role in the grade. Based on
this, I ’d probably have a B because I have the attention span of a gnat in
class and work much better away from distractions at home, but if
everyone had the extra incentive to use class time as work time instead of

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study hall time (allowing for more work time at home), the class as a
whole might be more productive. I still like my Intel idea much better,
though.

11. Has your interest in science been changed by this experience? If so, how?

Only strengthened.

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Appendix K: Data and Analysis Part II Student Response

Student: C

Year in School: Sophomore
Date of Interview: September 2006 (Pre-test) and June 2007 (Post-test)

Science Perspectives

1. Do you read books or articles about science? If yes, please write (describe)
about which ones and how often you read them.

Pre-test:

Post-test:

Yes, I do read magazines and articles about science. Every so often, I will
read articles online. Some of them are from Scientific American,
Discovery magazine, and NASA publications. I read them about once a
week I like Scientific American magazines and I read those about every
month or so, along with National Geographic.

Yes, I read many books and articles about science. I have read about 8

journals and 200 articles this year. I average about 3-4 articles a week.

2. Do you talk about science with your ﬁiends? If so, what exactly is the content
of your discussion? What speciﬁc topics?

Pre-test:

Post-test:

Occasionally I will talk about science with my ﬁiends. I mostly talk about
science with the kids in my science class, and we have the best
discussions, or with my dad. If I can 't ﬁgure out how something works or
why it does a certain thing, he supplies answers that satisfy me for the
time being. With my dad, we talk about mechanical stuff because I ’ll be
helping him ﬁx something, and with my mom we talk about the body and
health. These talks include what to do If you ’re sick or in an emergency.
No, I don ’t talk about science with my friends.

3. Have you ever been to a science museum? Please be speciﬁc with dates. Did
you initiate the visit, or did someone ask (or demand) that you go with them?

Pre—test:

Post-test:

Yes, I have been to a science museum. My favorite museum is the Museum
of Science and Industry in downtown Chicago. We go about once a year
since I was 7 years old. We may have skipped a year in between, but
usually we are avid science museum goers. The Field museum is always
fun and we go there about once every two years. I have been to the Grand
Rapids Science museum multiple times on school ﬁeld trips; in the fourth
grade we went to the Science museum multiple times on school field trips;
in the fourth grade we went to the Lansing science museum. Men I was
younger, I was brought there by my parents, but as I got older and began
to understand science, I was always the one who suggested we go.

Yes I go to the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry every year. I love
that museum and I find it interesting every time. I have initiated the visit
some years, and others it was brought up by other people.

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4. Do you have a science related hobby? If so, what is it?

Pre-test: My science related hobby for a while was Science Olympiad. Since that
has ended, I have begun to read more articles about science and the latest
news. The biggest science related hobby I have would be baking, which I
do 2-4 times a week. I have learned a lot from it and deﬁantly do not
regret my mistakes!

Post-test: Yes, my science related hobby includes working out and playing sports. I
ﬁnd it interesting to learn about the muscles that I use in athletics.

5. Are you, or have you ever been, involved in a science club? Please give
speciﬁcs.

Pro-test: Yes, I was involved in Science Olympiad for three years. I did enjoy it a
lot and I learned so much that has helped me in science classes. I
competed at the state level for two years and my eighth grade year; I got a
medal in “Awesome Aquiﬁer, ” which deals with the natural water
systems.

Post-test: Yes, I was involved in science Olympiad for three years at Immaculate
Heart of Mary grade school. We had a very strong team, and I medaled in
an event my 8'” grade year.

6. When you surf the intemet, do you frequently visit science-oriented sites? If
so, please list.

Pro-test: Yes, I frequently visit science related sites when I surf the intemet. My
favorite is SA.com and NASA. gov and AmericanChemistry.com has also
interested me. My passion is cars and what designs make them get better
gas mileage, go faster, or have more torque, etc.

Post-test: Yes, I frequently visit science related sites to see if any interesting articles
catch my eye. I enjoy discover and the Scientiﬁc American websites.

7. What are your top three favorite TV shows?

Pre—test: I don ’t watch television that much because I don 't have the time, but I like
Dirty Jobs on Discovery Channel, anything on the biography channel, and
also Mythbusters, which is also on discovery channel.

Post-test: A. Grey ’s Anatomy
B. Sports shows
C. Anything on Discovery

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8. Do you regularly watch the news? Read a newspaper?

Pre-test: I read or skim the newspaper almost every night and I watch the news
about once or twice a week.

Post-test: Yes, I either read the newspaper or watch the news for about ten minutes a
night.

9. Do you like to cook or bake? If so, what exactly intrigues you about cooking
or baking? Do you always follow the recipe?

Pre-test: I love to cook and bake. I think that the thought of enjoying what you have
produced is intriguing. What is also attractive is that other people usually
enjoy what you have made. No, I do not always follow the recipe. I think
that sometimes if you change the recipe depending on what you want, you
will get results that you will enjoy, but sometimes, other people wouldn ’t.

Post-test: I like to cook and bake because I ﬁnd that it pays of when I can see what I
have created. No, I don ’t always follow the recipe because in order to
learn some things, you need to step beyond the boundaries that you have
been accustomed to.

10. Do you have a science related toy (telescope, chemistry set, etc.)? If so,
please name.

Pre-test: I have a microscope that I got in the fourth grade and I have a chemistry
set that I received in the ﬁfth grade.
Post-test: Yes, I have a chemistry set that was given to me when I turned eleven by

my grandpa.

11. Do you like to try to ﬁx things that are broken? If so, please give a speciﬁc
example.

Pre—test: Yes, I love to fix things that are broken. More so, I love to ﬁgure out why
it broke, how you can fix it, and how to prevent it in the future.

Post-test: Yes, I love to fix things that are broken. Whenever the lawnmower or the
pool is in need, I am always the ﬁrst one to volunteer to help.

12. Do you like to tear things apart that aren’t broken? If so, please give a
speciﬁc example.

Pre-test: Yes. If there is a broken computer, I love to unscrew the cover and look
inside. Things that are big are more exciting and complicated than the
little things in my opinion. Smaller things lead to bigger things though!

Post-test: Yes, I like to tear pens or other small mechanical things apart just so I can
see how they work. I ﬁnd this very interesting.

-268-

13. Are you considering a career as a scientist?

Pre—test: Yes, I am seriously considering a career in science. I am particularly
interested in chemical engineering or medicine. I hope that this research
program can help me choose so that in college it will be easier.

Post-test: Yes, I am strongly considering a career in science. I am leaning more
towards engineering or medicine, but that could change.

Experimental Methodology
1. Why did you take this class?

Pre-test: I took this class because I want to be an engineer and I think that it will
help me get a jump-start on that. It also appealed to me because I enjoy
science.

Post-test: I took this class so that I could learn about a speciﬁc topic of my interest. I
love science and I thought that I would further that interest with this class,
and so far, I have.

2. What image comes to mind when you think of a researcher? A scientist?

Pre-test: When I think of a scientist, I think of a very smart person who works hard
at what they do to help the world and modify things. When I think of a
researcher, I think of the background guy who does everything but doesn ’t
get any credit, which he should.

Post-test: The image that comes to mind when I think of a researcher is an extremely
smart hard working person that loves what they do a lot. They enjoy just
looking up information because they know that it will lead to something
useful. The image that comes to mind when I think of a scientist is one that
uses the researcher ’s results to further it into something useful. I would
rather be on the scientist end because you are actually seeing where the
work goes and how it is being used.

3. What are your strengths and weaknesses as a scientist?

Pre—test: My strengths are that I have a math and science dominated brain and that
I can think without getting caught up in emotions. My weaknesses would
be my lack of artistry skills and my need to always be the best or win. My
competitive drive could end up being my strength if I guide it in the right
way.

Post-test: My strengths as a scientist include my ability to work well with others. I
can communicate well, and that is very much needed in the science ﬁeld
today. Another strength is my hard work (not settling for anything but the
best). My weakness is that I may rush through things sometimes that need
more thought and patience.

-269-

4. Why might it be difﬁcult to describe a “typical” researcher?

Pro-test: It may be difficult to describe the typical researcher because I don ’t
believe they get enough credit. They deserve a lot, and yet we never hear
of them on TV, getting prizes or awarded millions of dollars. Not many
people know how to describe them because they are not broadcast and
celebrated on TV or all over the paper.

Post-test: It is difficult to describe a typical researcher because they aren 't very well
known. Not too many people have met a researcher or know what they do
for a living, even though it can be very interesting work.

5. Einstein once said that his success was due to 1% inspiration and 99%
perspiration. What do you think he meant, in terms of scientiﬁc
experimentation?

Pre—test: I think that Einstein meant that you have to work hard to get to what you
want. You aren ’t just given success, you have to earn it. The harder you
work, the more appreciative and better you feel because it paid of and
you realize it. The inspiration part gets you started but the perspiration
part makes it happen.

Post-test: I believe that Einstein meant that success only comes ﬁ'om hard work If
you work hard (and do a lot of experiments) you will see success sometime
in the future. -

6. In movies, we often see the image of a scientist randomly mixing chemicals to
come up with a “eureka” type of discovery. Is this realistic? Please explain.

Pre-test: No, this is not realistic, because rarely you get a “eureka " discovery.
There are a lot of smaller discoveries that always lead to the bigger ones.
Yes, once in a while you will get a “eureka ” discovery and then, it is
realistic; usually there are always smaller ones that lead to the big ones.

Post-test: NO, this is not realistic. This is more of a dramatic characterization of a
scientist. Every scientist is not curing cancer or making some huge
discovery. They all have their jobs, and most of them are very speciﬁc,
where at the end hopefully lots of jobs put together can be a big
breakthrough, which makes is very “un-Eureka ” like.

7. How does a researcher develop an experiment where the conclusion will be
reliable?

Pre-test: A researcher can develop an experiment when the conclusion is reliable if
he has seen proof It ’s like he skipped a step and found out the results
worked, he now has to go back and ﬁll in the gaps with other conclusions.
This is sometimes easier because you know that you have reached it, the
only thing left is the little baby steps.

-270-

 

Post-test:

The researcher develops an experiment where the conclusion will be
reliable based on past studies and experiments. After learning proper
knowledge, they state a testable hypothesis, test the hypothesis, and record
large numbers of multiple data sets. They repeat the experiment to verify
results. They have to use information that others have used and base their
experiment of oﬂ that in order to get a reliable conclusion.

8. What does it mean to do statistical analysis of experimental data?

Pre-test:

Post-test:

Statistical analysis of an experiment is the taking down of stats and
recording them. This is usually done in the data and observations part of
an experiment. It helps reach a conclusion at the end of the experiment.
Statistical analysis means that you have to take data and observations and
use calculations on the data to interpret what you found. You have to
analyze your ﬁndings to the ﬁndings of others.

9. When designing an experiment to determine the pattern of heredity of
different characteristics in ﬁ'uit ﬂies, what kind of variables could be tested?
What kind of statistical analysis should be done, and why?

Pre-test:

Post-test:

The variables could be habitat, diet, gender, size, and hereditary genes.
They could note changes in the different variable in these then record.
The statistical analysis would use the differences and similarities.

There are many variables that could be tested. Some include habitat and
eating patterns; along with their spot in the community (are they alone or
how many fruit ﬂies are there?) You could base this statistical analysis on
the control group, which would have little, if any, variables. You would
analyze the ﬁndings of each and contrast/compare the two.

10. When designing an experiment to test the quality of a river, what kind of
variables could be tested? What kind of statistical analysis should be done,
and why?

Pre-test:

The variables in a river would be habitat, weather, living material, non-
living material (both in and out of the river), what feeds into it and what it
feeds into. The main variable would be what makes up the water; if it is
ﬁlled with ﬁsh or more algae. The statistical analysis should be based on
how all of the tests come back, either negative or positive. Your statistics
would be the notes and results of all the tests.

Post-test: The variables that could be tested are weather, pollution, activity in the

river, location of the river, etc. The statistical analysis that should be done
includes comparing the variable groups to the control groups and seeing
what is different or similar.

-271-

11. Distinguish between causality and correlation in experimentation.

Pre-test:

Post-test:

’

Causality is the cause and effect of an experiment; the “if then, then this. ’
Correlation is the relationship between two things. Scientifically, it is
when two or more attributes or measurements on the same group of
elements vary accordingly together. One is how they are diﬂerent, and the
other is how they have the same results.

Causality is when one variable directly aﬂects another variable in a
system. Correlation is when two events and/or variable simply happen at
the same time or at the same place, and scientists have to determine if they
are related. Newspapers mess up this all the time.

12. What is the purpose of a control in the experimental method? Distinguish
between a control and a variable in an experiment.

Pre-test:

Post-test:

A control in an experiment takes the lead and is the guidepost for the
experiment. The variable is there to affect the control to Show diﬂerence
between the two. The variable is something surrounding it and the
difference is noted. You need both to run a well organized and reliable
experiment.

The purpose of the control is to compare and contrast the control factors
to it. It is the most predictable out of all of the groups. A variable has
something added to it to make it different from the control. The point of
this is so that you can note the difference.

Exit Interview

1. How/why did you choose your topics of research?

I chose my topic in pediatric cardiology because [found it very
interesting. It is a problem that is important and it has a use in the real
world. You can see the results right before your eyes, and you are saving
someone ’s life, which is very cool.

2. Why, do you think, our school offers this program? What beneﬁts does the
program provide that other classes don’t?

I think that our school offers this program because we are a talented
student body that needed a more independent class. We also have the
materials and resources, which made it easier. This program oﬂers us
more freedom during the school day and it also allows us to get a jump
start on the work that we do in college.

3. What speciﬁc skills have you learned?

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I have learned how to write a business letter that sells me and I have also
learned a lot about how to design an experiment and write a paper based
on the ﬁndings. This will especially be useful when we have to design
experiments for our big project next year.

4. What could be done to make the program better?

T 0 make the program better, only a few small things could be done. It
needs to be more appealing to other kids, so that they are encouraged and
try out for it. Right now, I think that a lot of kids were scared of the
prospect of this class, and that is why they didn ’t attempt to even try. We
can do this by making more public what we do and how we do it. It

doesn ’t necessarily have to be bragging or anything. The freshmen classes
could be invited to see what we do for ten minutes during the research
seminar class period.

5. If you are a junior, do you feel ready/prepared to start on your summer
research project?

N/A

6. What skills/knowledge do you feel you are lacking that would better help you
run a high level research project?

I believe that we are not missing any skills to run a project. If we are
missing some, it is general knowledge that we just haven ’t gotten to in
high school yet. For example, because I haven ’t taken AP biology yet, I
don ’t know everything about the study of life. I also think that to be better
prepared we should ’ve have read for two years, instead of one. This is
almost impossible to do, but we would have been more literate in our topic
if we read twice the amount of articles and journals.

7. If you are sophomore, do you feel ready/prepared to design your own high
level research project?

As a sophomore, I feel ready and prepared to start my own project. I know
that I can always ask the advice of the ones ahead of me, and that is more
reassuring

8. What speciﬁc aspect of the program do you feel is the best?

The part of the program that I think is the best is the resources. We do not
let anything hold us back, and that is amazing. Money doesn ’t matter and
if we get a once in a lifetime opportunity, we are highly encouraged to
take it. You cannot ﬁnd this support or encouragement in any other class,
which is why that makes it so unique.

-273-

9. What speciﬁc aspect of the program do you feel is the worst?

The part of the program that I think is the worst is the independence. I
work better and achieve more when we get an assignment every night and
the teacher lays out what needs to be done for us. The independence in
this class is at an extremely high level, and it has been a challenge to
adjust. This independent work ethic, however, I will be able to take with
me to college, where it will be especially worthwhile.

10. How do you feel about the grading system (grades awarded based on
deadlines and work, not on paper grades)?

I think that the grading system is excellent. Everybody in the class works
hard, and if they do what is told and turn in assignments on the due dates,

then they are set.

11. Has your interest in science been changed by this experience? If so, how?

Yes, my interest in science has grown since the beginning of this program.
[ﬁnd myself wanting to read more and more and always thinking about
the future and my career in something in the science ﬁeld. This has
encouraged me to go into possibly medicine or engineering, because they

are useful areas that are what I enjoy doing.

-274—

Appendix K: Data and Analysis Part [I Student Response

Student: D

Year in School: Sophomore

Date of Interview: September 2006 (Pre-test) and June 2007 (Post-test)

Science Perspectives
1. Do you read books or articles about science? If yes, please write (describe)
about which ones and how often you read them.

Pre-test: No.
Post-test: [ often read articles that show up on Yahoo! News about new research.
Also, I do plenty of readings on tumor suppressor genes for Research.

2. Do you talk about science with your ﬁiends? If so, what exactly is the content
of your discussion? What speciﬁc topics?

Pre-test: No.

Post-test: I talk about science when I ﬁnd something really interesting. I ’m not
going to bore people with the correlation of pH and tree growth, but
turning things invisible is a cool science breakthrough.

3. Have you ever been to a science museum? Please be speciﬁc with dates. Did
you initiate the visit, or did someone ask (or demand) that you go with them?

Pre-test: No.
Post-test: I’ve gone to science museums for school ﬁeld trips and I thought they
were cool. I ’ve rarely bone by my own volition, though.

4. Do you have a science related hobby? If so, what is it?

Pre-test: No.
Post-test: No.

5. Are you, or have you ever been, involved in a science club? Please give
speciﬁcs.

Pre-test: I did Science Olympiad in 8’h grade. I competed in events involving
fossils, weather, the human body, and bottle rockets.

Post-test: I joined Science Olympiad in eighth grade. However, at the competition,
the weather was too bad to shoot our bottle rocket, and my partner went in
to take our test on ﬁtness too early, taking it alone without me. My only
other events were tests on fossils and meteorology, which I didn ’t ﬁnd
interesting.

6. When you surf the intemet, do you frequently visit science-oriented sites? If
so, please list.

-275-

Pre-test: No, but I go to logic puzzle sites like griddlers. net and websudoku. com
Post-test: I visit Yahoo! News and read interesting science articles.

7. What are your top three favorite TV shows?

Pre—test: America’s Got Talent, Survivor, and That 70 ’s Show
Post-test: The Office, Grey ’s Anatomy, and Inferno [II

8. Do you regularly watch the news? Read a newspaper?

Pre—test: I watch the news when someone else does, and I read the newspaper when
it ’s in front of me.
Post-test: I watch the news almost every night, but I don ’t read the paper that often.

9. Do you like to cook or bake? If so, what exactly intrigues you about cooking
or baking? Do you always follow the recipe?

Pro-test: Yes. I like using ingredients to make something new and diﬂerent. I
always follow the recipe.
Post-test: I don ’t really like cooking.

10. Do you have a science related toy (telescope, chemistry set, etc)? If so,
please name.

Pre-test: I used to play with a microscope, but I don ’t use it anymore.
Post-test: My grandma gave me a microscope a while ago, but I don ’t use it much.

11. Do you like to try to ﬁx things that are broken? If so, please give a speciﬁc
example.

Pre-test: I like to try to ﬁx small things like staplers and pens, but nothing huge.

Post-test: I love trying to ﬁx broken things. When a drawer doesn 't open right, I
look through it carefully to see what is blocking it. When my mom is
trying to use one of her many appliances and it doesn ’t work, I will always
take a look at it and give her my advice.

12. Do you like to tear things apart that aren’t broken? If so, please give a
speciﬁc example.

Pre-test: No.
Post-test: [ don ’t really like to tear things apart much.

13. Are you considering a career as a scientist?

-276-

Pre-test: Yes. I am thinking of something with medicine.
Post-test: Right now, I think I want to be a surgeon, which is in the science ﬁeld, but
my interests constantly change as do my goals.

Experimental Methodology
1. Why did you take this class?

Pre-test: I took this class because I want a career in math and science, and I
thought this would be a great start.

Post-test: I have always had a huge interest in science and I thought this class would
further that interest. I know I want a career in science, possibly a
surgeon, and [ know this class will help me to meet that goal, or possibly
change that goal to a more ambitious one.

2. What image comes to mind when you think of a researcher? A scientist?

Pre-test: I think of researchers as people who ﬁnd how things work. Scientists
ﬁgure out how to make things work.

Post-test: When I think of a researcher, I think of the scientiﬁc method and one
experiment leading to another. There are no shortcuts to research, only
hard work and well-designed studies. I see scientists more as more of
people who apply what researchers learn into new technologies or new
treatments.

3. What are your strengths and weaknesses as a scientist?

Pre—test: My strengths are my intellect and ability to remember information. My
weaknesses are my slow work habits.

Post-test: My strength as a scientist would have to be my hard work. I stay up
countless nights just to make my work a little bit better. I always have to
make every assignment the best it can be. My weakness would have to be
time constraints. Playing a sport every season and other obligations on
top of that make it hard to ﬁnd time for schoolwork, but I manage.

4. Why might it be difﬁcult to describe a “typical” researcher?

Pre—test: Researchers work in many diﬂerent ﬁelds so there isn ’t a “typical ”
researcher.

Post-test: There is no typical researcher. All researchers research new ideas and
technology. If they didn ’t, they wouldn ’t be researchers. All new ideas
are creative and unprecedented, making all researchers creative and
unprecedented.

5. Einstein once said that his success was due to 1% inspiration and 99%

perspiration. What do you think he meant, in terms of scientiﬁc
experimentation?

-277-

Pre-test:

Post-test:

You must work very hard. Hard work is almost all you need to be a good
scientist.

In science, you must be inspired to do your work Otherwise, why would
you do it? More important than that, however, is hard work Every new
theory is found through intense experimenting, testing, and retesting just
so it can be supported. You can ’t ﬁnd the cure for cancer in one
experiment, but only through countless experiments on all of cancer
ejfects, and all of the things that aﬂect cancer.

6. In movies, we often see the image of a scientist randomly mixing chemicals to
come up with a “eureka” type of discovery. Is this realistic? Please explain.

Pre-test:

No, scientists ﬁnd their theories slowly through observation and
experimentation.

Post-test: Scientific breakthroughs are usually not achieved through just one

experiment, but through countless experiments to support an idea, then
more experiments to see its possible implications.

7. How does a researcher develop an experiment where the conclusion will be
reliable?

Pre-test:

The experiment must be set so only one conclusion can be drawn. Any
more conclusions could have conﬂicting information.

Post-test: A researcher can get reliable conclusions only through lots of data in a

controlled environment. There must be tons of data to prevent one or two
outliers from ruining the ﬁnal result. Also, the atmosphere must be
controlled to the point that there is only one variable in the experiment.
Any more than one could cause confusion as to what brought about the
results.

8. What does it mean to do statistical analysis of experimental data?

Pre—test:

Statistical analysis is writing down quantities of qualities of any given
parts of an experiment.

Post-test: Statistical analysis of data is grouping data, ﬁnding averages, making

graphs, and searching for trends. Data must be processed in every
possible way to see every possible way that the variable in the experiment
aﬂ'ected the subjects.

9. When designing an experiment to determine the pattern of heredity of
different characteristics in ﬁuit ﬂies, what kind of variables could be tested?
What kind of statistical analysis should be done, and why?

-278-

Pre—test: The flies ’ wing size or color could be tested. The amount of each color ﬂy
should be written for every stage of offspring.

Post-test: A variable such as mother carrying the gene vs. father carrying the gene
as it is passed to offspring could be tested. The number of flies total must
be counted and the number of ﬂies who show the gene would be recorded.
The ﬂies would be split by if their mother or father had the gene. Then,
the percent of flies that show the gene would be compared to ﬁnd a
significant difference between the groups.

10. When designing an experiment to test the quality of a river, what kind of
variables could be tested? What kind of statistical analysis should be done,
and why?

Pre—test: The presence of certain chemicals or materials could be tested.
Percentages of waste or other materials should be taken at different points
on the river.

Post-test: Variables such as temperature, pH, or proximity to a sewer drain could be
tested. There should be plenty of test sites along the river, and between
different rivers. Then, all the results should be divided according to
temperature, pH, etc. Results could be placed on a bar graph to observe
trends.

11. Distinguish between causality and correlation in experimentation.

Pre-test: Causality is when one thing causes another thing to happen. Correlation
is when two or more things happen together and never separately.

Post-test: Causality is when one occurrence is the reason something else happens.
If one thing happens, something else is sure to follow. Correlation,
though, is when two things just coincidentally happened together. There
may be no connection between the occurrences other than time.

12. What is the purpose of a control in the experimental method? Distinguish
between a control and a variable in an experiment.

Pre—test: A control is used to see the effects on a group without a changed variable.
A control could be a plant in normal soil. A variable could be a plant in
soil with fertilizer.

Post-test: A control is to ensure that the variable is causing the change. A control
has no variables changed so it is considered the normal case. The
variable then has one variable changed so that the one diﬂerent variable
must be the reason for any change in the results. The control is there to
compare to the variable group.

Exit Interview
1. How/why did you choose your topics of research?

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My ﬁrst article readings pointed me in all diﬂ'erent directions, but I
naturally turned to what I found most interesting. My current area of
research appeared immediately in those ﬁrst readings and it has stuck
with me since.

. Why, do you think, our school offers this program? What beneﬁts does the
program provide that other classes don’t?

I think that our school oﬂers this program to give students a better taste
of the life of a researcher. Experiments are not lined up for researchers
as they are for students in labs. This teaches students to design their own
experiments to ﬁnd answers to the questions they want answered.

. What speciﬁc skills have you learned?

I have learned much more about the ﬁner details of research. I know that
you need plenty of data. I used to consider plenty of data as about ten
cases, but now I know fifty times that is a more appropriate answer.

. What could be done to make the program better?

More deadlines could be set on the students. During the winter, the
sophomore students were pretty much on their own (juniors were
recruiting mentors) to do article readings on their topic. I know that
because there were so few deadlines, I slacked off a bit during this time. I
rarely worked outside of class. More deadlines could help the natural
tendencies of students to not work on their own.

. If you are a junior, do you feel ready/prepared to start on your summer
research project?

N/A

. What skills/knowledge do you feel you are lacking that would better help you
run a high level research project?

Most of the skills that must be known for such an individualized high level
experiment must be taught to you by a mentor. A student can not learn
how to perform polymerase chain reaction on cultures of cells, through
just article readings. He/she must learn it by doing it with a mentor. All
experiments are different, so each student needs different preparation.
That is why each student has an individual mentor.

. If you are sophomore, do you feel ready/prepared to design your own high
level research project?

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I don ’t feel too prepared to design my own experiment yet. There are still
countless procedures I must learn from my mentor just to learn how to do
an experiment in my ﬁeld. On top of that, my exact speciﬁc topic has not
yet been nailed down. I have a general idea of my area of research, but I
do not know what I will test. This summer, with the assistance of my
mentor, however, should change that and lead me to my experiment and
the ability to design it.

8. What speciﬁc aspect of the program do you feel is the best?

I think that the mentor recruitment is the best part of the experiment. First
of all, the student could not perform an experiment without a mentor.
However, I think the mentor idea gives the class a sense of mystery. The
student knows that if he/she slacks off and tries to just sneak by in the
class, they will not receive a mentor. This pushes the student to work hard
for a mentor. Also, the students compete with each other to get a mentor.

9. What speciﬁc aspect of the program do you feel is the worst?

The worst part of the program would probably be the time constraints on
the class that make it hard for the teacher to meet with students regularly.
These meetings are necessary to keep the students working and to ensure
that they are working in the right direction. However, next year with two
sections should solve this problem.

10. How do you feel about the grading system (grades awarded based on
deadlines and work, not on paper grades)?

The deadline grading system is good as long as there are a few more
deadlines to keep the students working. Basing grades on paper grades is
a bad idea. A good researcher with a well designed experiment may still
have failed results. They just must look at what happened and try to ﬁx it.

11. Has your interest in science been changed by this experience? If so, how?

This has given me much more respect for scientists. I used to think their
job was just like any other person ’s with a regular schedule. The only
diﬂ'erence is that they work in a lab. This class changed my whole view of
that. I ’ve realized that no research is ever so orderly. Some days you will
be done early and out the door at three in the afternoon. Other days, you
may have to work at your experiment constantly until two in the morning.
This gives research a different aspect than other jobs that are regular and
predictable. Researchers never know what they will ﬁnd, but they always
use what they do ﬁnd to guide future work

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Appendix L: Mentor Feedback for Future Planning

1. As of right now, you have committed to mentor a high school student through a
research project, without actually having worked with them. What set of skills do
you hope that they have?

Mentor A: It’s helpful for the students to have a basic idea of experimental design
methodology: generating a hypothesis, ﬁguring ways to test the hypothesis, data
collection and interpretation, and some ability to think through and rationalize less than
clear results. Exposing them to successful and not successful research studies and
pointing out design strengths and weaknesses through didactic sessions would foster that
basic understanding and knowledge. It took me a while as a college student to pick up on
those points because I had to learn on the job rather than through example. To me, sitting
and thinking is far more important than sitting and doing.

Mentor B: I hope that the student has interest, motivation, and guts. Interest, because
progress is made in science when someone asks the right question, or asks it in the right
way. Motivation, because there ’s too much drudgery in research to keep on going if
you ’re bored. And guts, because we can ’t be aﬁ'aid of breaking the instruments, even
though they may cost a lot of money; instruments are tools, and time is valuable, so we
think carefully ﬁrst, and then get our hands dirty.

Mentor C: The ability to work independently, a sense of enthusiasm, flexibility,
knowledge that it ’s acceptable to ask questions, ability to work well with others and be a
good representative in the community.

Mentor D: The most important skills are mental. I like to see a student with good
quantitative skills. They need to have had enough science that we can communicate
eﬂ'ectively. Technical skills (i. e. use of pipettes, running electrophoretic gels, growing
bacteria) are helpful, but are not really necessary. I am more interested in their having
the intellectual underpinnings for science.

2. The students learn basic research principles through discussions and the
implementation of two small research projects (observational and experimental).
Are there speciﬁc areas of research that you think high school students are
particularly weak and/or have a misleading perception?

Mentor A: Since I ’m new to teaching high school students, I 'm not sure that I can
address this issue conﬁdently. The experimental projects to me are more difficult to
comprehend and master. My guess also is that they have a harder time with research
design problem solving and understanding that not much in research is black and white,
mostly shades of gray (even though the protocols they see and design are black and
white). Focusing on the discussion sections of papers may help them understand in what
ways experimental design is limited and how infrequently deﬁnitive results are generated.

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Mentor B: I suspect that most high school students have a mistaken impression of what
constitutes “experimental error, ” and this is important because it clouds the way that
graduates — whether interested in science or not — think about what scientists do. When I
was in high school , I ’d measure something in the lab, and ﬁnd that I was oﬂfrom the
“book value ” by, say, [5%. I 'd have to think of excuses for my 15% mistake — usually,
my joke was that I had a [5% deﬁcient lab partner. I wish that students approached their
experimental work with the notion that something happened in their experiment, and it is
their job to explain what it was, rather than to examine what they did wrong. It ’s a
fundamentally different question, but a valuable one.

Mentor C: I think all students—including college students and often even college
faculty—have had very little experience with single-subject design and small N research.
This is not a fault of the students, as the research ﬁeld, in general, prefers large N
research. In the ﬁeld of autism and developmental disabilities it is common to conduct
studies with only a few participants to account for the difficulties in obtaining research
participants and the variability of the proﬁles displayed by these students. Additionally,
it can also be diﬂicult to understand the length of time that it takes to complete a
research study. It is not unusual for it to take 8—1 0 weeks to write an [RB (Internal
Review Board) proposal (including literature review and revisions), and then another
month or longer to obtain approval through [RB. Then, participants must be identiﬁed
and consent forms must be obtained. Data collection can also move quite slowly, as we
are often only able to obtain 1-2 data points per day for any of our participants since we
cannot remove them from the classroom for extensive periods of time. Collectively, these
factors result in a slow and tedious research process, but one that can also be very
rewarding.

Mentor D: I don ’t really have a sense of this.

3. I am considering teaching basic research lab techniques (electrophoresis,
centrifuging, etc.) to students before they work with mentor. However, I have
received feedback that the individual mentors would probably rather teach each of
their students with their own particular method. What are your thoughts?

Mentor A: [spent three years in a molecular biology lab at U of M. Some prior
exposure to bench top techniques would have prevented many failed experiments; I had

no hands-on experience before then. Never hurts to learn a way before learning the
mentor ’s way.

Mentor B: I ’d say that if you 're going to teach centrifugation, do it for its own value in
your class. We are going to have to start from the very beginning with our instruments,
and that ’s probably ﬁne.

Mentor C: Understanding the process of research is critical, so it would certainly be

valuable to have additional experiences, but I think the transfer of skills to my particular
ﬁeld would not be easy.

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Mentor D: I think that it is true that each lab does things its own way, so a student may
be perplexed when they join a lab and ﬁnd that the procedure that they have learned is
not the way that they are going to be doing things. On the other hand, I think that there is
value is performing lab techniques in your classroom. The students get an opportunity to
apply scientiﬁc principles at the bench prior to joining a lab. This will give them a more
sophisticated perception of new techniques that they will learn with their mentor. They
also learn manual dexterity at the bench in performing these techniques, even if the
details change when they join a lab. Even though I do not believe that a technical
repertoire is necessary for a student to wok with me, there is value in these prior
experiences. I think that it is simply important to let the student know that they will
encounter different ways of performing similar procedures and that it is best to perform
experiments in the manner that is established in the lab that they join.

4. What kind of statistical analysis would you like the student to have already mastered
before they work with you?

Mentor A: Very basic stats are enough to get started, i. e. .° one and two tailed t-tests and
understanding of conﬁdence intervals, p values.

Mentor B: Most of the statistics that we use in our research are things that we master in
graduate school, if then. It ’s not that it ’s so hard (it isn ’t), but it only comes up when we
have a large dataset for the ﬁrst time. Most physicists never learn formal statistics, but
just do what makes sense. This is perfectly satisfactory if one has good sense. I ’d say
that, for a high school student, it would be nice to have a sense of the difference between
a mean, a median, and a mode.

Mentor C: Once again, my research ﬁeld (autism and developmental disabilities) tends
to use fewer statistical analyses, but I think a basic knowledge of t-tests, ANO VA and
correlation would be helpful for any student engaging in research.

Mentor D: I use standard error of the mean and Student 's T -test. If a student is familiar

with performing these analyses, that is great, but I generally show students how to
perform these analyses.

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Appendix L: Future Modifications/Requirements for Incoming Freshman

Experimental Methodology Checklist
Research Seminar

1. Introduction to Research
A. What is research?
B. Basic and Applied Research Comparison
C. Scientiﬁc Method
Outline the steps
Narrowing the hypothesis
Designing controls
Selecting the sample size and/or number of replicates
Independent and dependent variables
Formulating and writing procedures
Collection and analysis of data
a. Collating data
b. Table design
c. Graphing
8. Conclusions and inferences
D. Review metric measurement
E. Students are given examples of poor writing and are asked to correct the
examples to make them clear and concise
F. Writing Laboratory Reports
G. Students learn how to use the library resources

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[1. Statistics

A. Basic statistical analysis

1. Students collect data regarding their test scores, coin ﬂips, birth dates, class
demographics, dart (plastic tip) scores, etc.

2. Mean, median, mode, range
3. Standard deviation

B. Beyond the basics
l. t-test
2. Chi square analysis

11]. Types of Investigations
A. Surveys

1. Students design and carry out a survey investigation

2. Students collate and analyze data

3. Students prepare a written report

4. Students prepare and present a poster

5. Use a rubric, similar to the one for assessment of the journal presentation,
and have the students grade each other

6. Grade all sections of the work — formation of questions, distribution
methods, sample size, data analysis, conclusions, discussion, presentation

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IV.

VI.

B. Field Observation
1. Students choose a situation and make observations in natural setting
2. Students manipulate one condition in the environment chosen above and

make observations

3. The results of the observations are compared

. Data is analyzed

5. Reports and/or posters are prepared and graded

C. Experimental

1. Students design an experimental to test a simple hypothesis

2. Students submit their procedures and data tables for approval

3. Students conduct their approved experiment

4. Reports and/or posters are prepared and graded

Basic Laboratory Techniques (Commercial lab kits are an easy way of
introducing laboratory techniques)
Laboratory Safety (Review)

Identiﬁcation of major equipment
Handling and mixing of chemicals

Use of MSD (Material Safety Data) sheets
Microscope use, slide preparation

Pipette and micropipette use
Centrifugation

Spectrophotometry

Aseptic techniques (microbiology)
Electrophoresis

Titration

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Applications

A. Current issues in science

B. Students design experiments to solve real-life problems and if possible carry out
these experiments

C. Critical thinking exercises

General Knowledge and Appreciation of Research

Invite speakers in from all ﬁelds

Field trips to local laboratories at universities, commercial industries, and
government organizations

Field trips to carry out ecological/environmental investigations
Behind-the-scenes museum trips

Students conduct simple experiments with elementary school students
Students design a science resource center or activities center

Students go to local science symposia and competitions ‘

Students read about a favorite research topic and present it to the class

FEQTFFHPO 9°?

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