Milton’s sixth annual Science Symposium will showcase advanced science students and their DYO (Design Your Own) experiments on Friday, April 29, at 5 p.m. in the Pritzker Science Center. For students enrolled in advanced biology, chemistry, physics and environmental science, discussing independent projects that they’ve pursued over the last several weeks is their culminating work.
“The Symposium offers advanced students a chance to showcase their work in an informal setting, inviting stimulating conversation between the students and the public,” says Julie Seplaki, science department chair. “These projects are the culmination of three or four years of inquiry-based science training at Milton, and evidence of the evolution and intellectual growth of young scientists, who are now prepared to tackle new and exciting challenges.”
Milton science faculty invited Juliana Rogoff (I) and David Jones (I) to be the Symposium’s keynote speakers. This year Juliana is enrolled in Advanced Biology and David is taking both Advanced Biology and Molecular Genetics.
On these projects, students work as individual investigators, in pairs, or in teams of three. The Milton scientists develop posters that describe their work, and they talk with faculty, friends and parents about their process and outcomes. Within the four discipline areas, student projects are wide ranging. Topics include:
- Fin regeneration in Zebrafish
- RNAi in Planaria
- Yeast fermentation and the Crabtree Effect
- Oysters as a possible bioremediation technique in coastal waters
- Effects of mycorrhizal fungi on plant growth
- Thin film interference: colors in soap bubbles
- Effect of sound viscosity of Oobleck
- Effect of monosodium phosphate concentration on the corrosion rate of iron
- Effect of varying concentration of a cerium IV cross-linker on the conductivity and drug delivery of an alginate hydrogel