SCIENCE RESEARCH PROGRAM

TrinityPawlingScienceResearch

Science Research is a 3 year program that gives Trinity-Pawling students the opportunity to participate in the community of scientific research and scholarship as part of their high school experience. Through this process, students find and study several journal articles, eventually choosing one which they will present. The focus of their presentations is to outline the research process (i.e. the scientific method) and how it was conducted in the students’ chosen articles. Students may contact the authors of the articles for suggestions on future research that they themselves may undertake, or in some cases seek mentorship. The final component of this process involves students taking on an original piece of research under the guidance of their mentor and classroom teacher. Using technology and computer software, students conduct statistical analyses and present their findings to their class, school district, regional, and statewide symposia. During junior and senior years, students may elect to take the course for college credit for a total of up to twelve credits at the State University of New York.

The symposium at Trinity-Pawling on May 25th was attended by Leonard Behr, the coordinator between the University at Albany and the schools participating in the Science Research High School program. The symposium included a presentation by Jake Pong, a sophomore from Hong Kong. Through his project, he researched the prevalence of asthma and the correlation with exposure to pollution and geographic location. Also presenting was Leo Chen, a student scientist from Shanghai, China. Chen’s research delved into astronomy, an area that he has had interest in since he was a young boy. “The Science Research program provided me with a systemic and supporting background for my research. There are so many things that seemed impossible for me to achieve, but with the help of Mr. Gray and my own effort, I have already found a topic that I am interested in, in the field of Astrobiology, which is the detection of exomoons,” Chen says.