STEM News Archive
Middle School Science Symposium
Long Beach Middle School featured an array
of scientific findings and explorations during its annual Science
Symposium on Nov. 24. The research work of sixth-, seventh- and
eighth-graders was on display throughout the building for guests to view
and learn from.
The students worked individually, with partners or in small groups to
created visual exhibits that outlined their hypotheses, experiments,
observations and conclusions and explained their discoveries to
spectators.
The young scientists explored topics that were of interest to them.
Eighth-grader Dominick Cieleski, who plays lacrosse, tested which brand
of lacrosse ball travels fastest. His study revealed that the Brine
variety carried the most speed. Evin Tacata and Evan Tacata, also in the
eighth grade, conducted an experiment on black holes and the force of
gravity — a subject that had sparked their curiosity. In a project
involving snails, seventh-graders Louise Dattolico and Lucia Tomicick
found that the creatures preferred the color orange to green after
feeding them carrots. Eighth-grade students Matthew Amato, Anthony Doall
and Jack Rand were surprised to see that water had a quicker
evaporation rate than rubbing alcohol despite its higher density, and
seventh-graders Maleiah Wells and Mairead Powers determined that coffee
had the greatest effect in their investigation of caffeine’s impact on
plant growth.
The Science Symposium and the work that went into it supported the
International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program by focusing on student
engagement, student-centered learning, and inquiry-based projects and
explorations. Students extended and deepened their knowledge as they
attempted to answer their own questions through the scientific method.
They also demonstrated the IB Learner Profile traits of being inquirers,
knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded,
caring, risk-takers, balanced and reflective.
BOE Names District Science Director
The Long Beach Board of Education has approved the
appointment of Dr. Deborah Lovrich to the position of Curriculum
Director of Science, Technology and Engineering, effective July 1. She
replaces James Engeldrum, who filled the position as an interim for the
2013-14 school year.
Dr. Lovrich comes to Long Beach from the North Shore Central School
District, where she served as director of secondary STEM. Prior to her
appointment at North Shore, she served for five years as the director of
math, science, technology, business education and art for the Miller
Place Union Free School District. Among her many accomplishments in a
professional career spanning more than 30 years, Dr. Lovrich has served
as a science teacher at Miller Place High School and Selden’s Newfield
High School, an adjunct assistant professor at the University at Albany
and Dowling College, a visiting scientist at Long Island Jewish Medical
Center, a principal investigator and research assistant professor at
Stony Brook University and a statistical analyst at Albert Einstein
College of Medicine.
Dr. Lovrich holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Adelphi University
and a Ph.D. in psychobiology from Stony Brook University. She also
completed post-doctoral research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
Dr. Lovrich has made numerous presentations for the Long Island Science
Education Leadership Association, and has been published in The Science
Teacher, School Science Review, the Journal of Clinical and Experimental
Neuropsychology and numerous other professional journals.
“Because of my wide range of experiences, I feel that I can offer a
unique perspective on issues in this new era of education,” said Dr.
Lovrich. “I look forward to the possibility of working with the
educators and families of the Long Beach Public Schools.”
High School Science Symposium
Students in the Long Beach High School science research program gathered to celebrate their achievements and present their research to family and friends at their annual science symposium.
This year, there was much to celebrate. At the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair, Jake Kritzberg, Andrew Luisi, Arielle McManus, Chandler McMillan and Jamie Morgenstern earned honorable mention and special prizes.
At the Intel Division of the New York State Science and Engineering Fair, Arielle, Chandler and Jamie earned second-place honors and received the NOAA Taking the Pulse of the Planet award. Junior Monica Lee earned honorable mention. In the Nebula division, the freshman team of Kelly DiResto and Jessica Marcote received a third-place award. Freshman Melissa Baldeo received honorable mention. In the Andromeda Division, Jacob Kaplan earned second place in his division and Erica Combs, Alexandra Kapilian, and Jonathan Kapilian earned third Place in the their division.
Arielle, Chandler and Jamie also qualified to compete in the New York State Science Congress.
Alexandra, Jonathan, Mary Sabedra and Jordan Torregrosa all received merit awards at the Molloy College Science Fair.
A total of 41 students in grades 9-12 participate in the science research program at Long Beach High School. Through classroom instruction in their freshman and sophomore years, students learn the key ingredients of the scientific method, present oral and written presentations, develop their research and writing skills, and practice lab safety. Juniors and seniors participate in independent study research. Students enter their research projects in local, regional and international science competitions.
Molloy College Science Fair Honors
Long Beach High School students Alexandra Kapilian, Jonathan Kapilian, Mary Sabedra and Jordan Torregrosa received merit awards at the 12th annual Molloy College Science Fair on April 12. Sophomores Alexandra and Jonathan worked as a team on a project titled “The Effect of Population Density on Carbon Emissions per capita: A Regional Comparison between Manhattan and Nassau County.” Jordan, also a sophomore, presented research titled “The Effect of Beach Erosion on a Barrier Island’s Sustainability from Hurricane Damage.” Mary, who is a freshman, presented research titled “The Effect Negative and Positive Affirmations Have on Test Scores.”
The fair is presented each by the Molloy College biology, chemistry and environmental studies department to support and encourage the advancement of science and technology for students of all ages and abilities.
NYS Science Congress Qualifiers
The Long Beach High School team of Arielle McManus, Chandler McMillan and Jamie Morgenstern qualified to compete in the New York State Science Congress at Brookhaven Memorial Laboratory on May 31. The Long Beach Middle School team of Emily McDonnell and Lauren Bulik also qualified to compete.
The high school team will be presenting their research project titled “Can Varying the Amounts of Polyvinyl in Hydrogels and Varying the Contact Time Between Hydrogel and Ion Solutions Lead to Increased Absorption of Nitrates and Phosphates?” They conducted their research as part of the high school science research program. The middle school team will be presenting their project titled, “The Effect that Cleaning Agents Have on the Oxygen Production of a Banana Plant.” They conducted their research as part of the middle school science fair program.
The New York State Science Congress was established by the Science Teachers Association of New York in 1950 as a means to stimulate interest and proficiency in the sciences.
Science Research Awards
Long Beach High School students earned 10 awards at two regional science fairs in March.
At the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair on March 15, five students took home prizes. Juniors Jake Kritzberg and Andrew Luisi earned honorable mention in electrical and mechanical engineering for their project, “Evaluating the Utilization of Resistive Wire for Deicing Modern Composite Airplane Wings.” They also received the Yale Science and Engineering Association Award. The senior team of Arielle McManus, Chandler McMillan and Jamie Morgenstern earned honorable mention in environmental management for their project, “Can Varying the Amounts of Polyvinyl in Hydrogels and Varying the Contact Time Between Hydrogel and Ion Solutions Lead to Increased Absorption of Nitrates and Phosphates?” They also received the Women Geoscientists Award and the Stockholm Water Prize. In addition, they were offered membership in the Association for Women Geoscientists and received an invitation to enter their project in this year’s World Water Week competition in Stockholm.
On March 24, seven students competing in the New York State Science and Engineering Fair earned awards. In the Intel Division, the team of Arielle McManus, Chandler McMillan and Jamie Morgenstern received second-place honors in environmental management and also received the NOAA “Taking the Pulse of the Planet” award. Junior Monica Lee earned an honorable mention in microbiology in the Intel Division for her project, “The effects of artificial and organic pesticides on the diversity and viable titer of common soil microorganisms.” In the Nebula Division, the freshman team of Kelly DiResto and Jessica Marcote received a third-place award for their project, “The Effect of Simulated Acid Rain on the Predation of Redheaded Pine Sawflies on the Red Pine Tree” and freshman Melissa Baldeo received honorable mention for her project, “The Effect of Different Hand Sanitizers on the Growth of Staphylococcus epidermis.
LBMS Science Symposium
As part of a tradition spanning 40 years, the Long Beach Middle School science symposium continues to provide students with an opportunity to become actively involved in hands-on scientific research. As part of their coursework, sixth-graders completed classroom projects, while seventh- and eighth-graders completed individual or team projects, giving them a taste for the challenges that await them in the high school science research program, IB program, and other college-level science courses.
The science symposium gives students the opportunity to learn the skills of a scientist by performing their own scientific investigations. The emphasis of these projects was on inquiry, discovery and proper use of the scientific method. Students used their technology skills in the computer lab, exploring principles of biology, earth science, chemistry and physics as they developed their research topics. Teachers instructed them in the proper development of data tables and graphs, and were available to assist them every step of the way as they conducted the experiments, gathered and analyzed data, and drew their final conclusions.
During the public presentation for parents on the evening of Jan. 28, students had the opportunity to share their discoveries and demonstrate what they had learned. Later this spring, 28 seventh- and eighth-grade students will enter their projects in the Long Island Science Congress, and also in the SSP/BroadCom MASTERS, a national science, technology, engineering, and math competition for middle school students.
High School Students Take Flight
Students in the aviation/aerospace class at Long Beach High School put their knowledge to the test when they clocked their first hour of flight time at Nassau Flyers flight school at Republic Airport. Each student was able to man the controls of a single-engine recreational aircraft with a certified flight instructor by his or her side. After eight weeks of study based on the Jeppeson/Sanderson ground school textbook, the students were more than ready to take that first important step toward completing the 50-70 hours of supervised flight time required to obtain a private pilot’s license.
Several Long Beach students have gone on to careers in aviation after completing the aviation/aerospace course. Long Beach High School is one of the few high schools on Long Island to offer an aviation class. The course has been offered at the school for more than 40 years.
MUST Night at West School
West School students
invited their parents to join them for a fun night of math and science
discovery at Math Uniting Science and Technology Night, better known as
MUST. Using games and hands-on activities, participants were invited to
explore the wonders of chemistry, meteorology, architecture, computing
and statistics.
Families explored a host of scientific and
mathematical principles by creating xylophone-like music with glasses of
water, making tornadoes in a bottle, creating their own funny putty,
playing card games, creating tangrams and glyphs, and designing 3-D
models of buildings from around the world. At a math carnival in the
cafeteria, clever carnival games such as a ring toss and a roulette
wheel helped students test their skills at counting and adding. In
between sessions, students visited the estimation stations, trying their
hands at estimating the number of gumballs, candy bars and stickers in
containers lining the hallway. Those who came closest to the actual
number walked away with the contents of the container at the end of the
evening.
MUST Night serves as just one example of the Long Beach
School District’s ongoing commitment to engage parents as educational
partners, working together with teachers and administrators to help
every child master the skills he or she will need to be successful in
school and in life
Marsh Cleanup and Study
On the afternoon of Oct. 5, more than 70 volunteers gathered at the Nike South Shore Environmental Center in Lido Beach dressed in work boots and heavy gloves for a post-Sandy salt marsh cleanup. Hofstra University students and professors teamed up with Long Beach High School students and staff, the Town of Hempstead Department of Conservation and Waterways, and the All Hands Volunteers to remove mounds of debris from the fragile coastal marshland on the northern shores of the Long Beach barrier island.
But this cleanup, which was funded by Hofstra University through a $75,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, was more than an afternoon of feel-good volunteer work. The grant provides funding for high school and college groups to conduct continued studies and cleanups, monitoring the ongoing effects of their work on the flora and fauna of the marsh. Hofstra biology professors Jason Williams, Maureen Krause and Russell Burke are in charge of leading the cleanups and study of the 35-acre section of coastal salt marsh.
“The project coordinators are very thankful for all the hard work by the student and community volunteers that made this initial cleanup such a success.” said Williams. “We especially appreciate the efforts of the All Hands Volunteers who were able to supply tools and expertise that allowed us to remove some of the bigger debris that we may not have been able to handle otherwise.”
Some of the two dozen or so Long Beach students who took part in the cleanup were science research students who will be compiling data for research projects tracking the recovery of the marsh. Also involved were students in the International Baccalaureate Environmental Systems class who were eager to put their classroom knowledge to work in a real-world setting. Other volunteers were members of the National Honor Society, Key Club and the IB diploma program who felt a need to do something meaningful to help their community on its road to recovery.
As residents of a barrier island, all of these high school participants were well aware that keeping the salt marsh healthy is vitally important to providing an extra line of defense against future flooding. The cleanup also presented the Long Beach students with a unique opportunity to collaborate with Hofstra students and professors, as well as environmentalists from the Town of Hempstead Department of Conservation and Waterways and other volunteer groups.
"It was so encouraging to watch the high school students work side-by-side with the Hofstra students and adult volunteers,” said James Engeldrum, the district’s director of science, technology, and engineering. “Whether they were hauling mud-covered planks or laying out transects for a research study, they were all working toward a cleaner environment for everyone to enjoy."
The Long Beach School District has always made use of the South Shore Environmental Center as a resource for hands-on environmental education, starting with an annual third-grade unit of study at the marsh and continuing through high school, where a large number of science research students conduct studies aimed at improving the local environment. In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, environmental stewardship has become an even greater priority for the district.
The local community has also been supportive of the district’s efforts to foster environmental education. Centre Millwork of Long Beach generously donated tools and supplies to help the district rebuild the storm-damaged boardwalk leading out into the marsh.