For the entirety of first semester, two different groups of students worked diligently to showcase examples of their prowess in different fields of science. One group, students that are taking Advanced Science Research (ASR), focus on conducting scientific research. After research is finished, they compose a professional-level poster to present at the Science and Engineering fair in early March. The other group of students, ones that are taking Advanced Technology Projects, work on developing fairly complex examples of the ability of computer coding.

On Dec. 5, both groups of individuals simultaneously presented the projects they’ve been working on. From the ASR group, research like Manipulation of Light-Dark Cycle and Frequency of Light on the Bioluminescent Dinoflagellate Pyrocystis Lunula and Inhibition of E. coli Growth with a Peptide Derived from BamA was presented. From the Advanced Technology Projects group, projects like ATLAS: A Convolutional Neural Network Powered Self-Driving Car and Dumble: The Keyless Door was observed. For both groups, these projects represent several months of dedicated work. US Science teacher Kate Lockwood, who is also the Advanced Technology Project teacher, thoroughly enjoys observing the work that her students create.

“It’s a super fun class to teach because the projects are very different and require many different types of background knowledge and technical knowledge, things that the kids don’t know and I sometimes might not know either, so we get to learn together,” Lockwood said.

Beth Seibel-Hunt, the ASR advisor, also enjoys leading her students into the unknown.

“Helping guide them [students] into a spot where they can do something feasibly in our lab [is my favorite part of ASR]. And, if they can’t do it in our lab, I helping them get a mentor,” said Seibel-Hunt.

Final and polished versions of the projects exhibited on Dec 5 will be available to see at the Science and Engineering fair in early March.