As elementary school students, we cherish our parents’ appreciation of our work and look forward to presenting our school work to friends and families. However, as we get older, oftentimes these opportunities either occur less frequently or not at all. Clinton students are constantly creating insightful projects that they put a great amount of work into, but often don’t get to share this work with their families. Luckily, on October 30th of this year, the upper grades science department hosted their first ever Collaborative Science Project (CSP) science fair.
The Halloween themed “Spooky Science Fair”, during 7th and 8th period, invited families and friends from other grades to admire the 11th and 12th grade IB student’s Collaborative Science Projects. The CSP is an interdisciplinary partner project part of the IB science curriculum. By the end of the process, awards were given to the winners for both 11th and 12th grade students.
The CSP is a collaborative partner project that attempts to investigate real world issues using the scientific method. The project is interdisciplinary, meaning that the student must connect their project to biology and another field of science. Students commonly connected their work to physics or chemistry. 11th graders were required to investigate research or conduct an experiment based on one of three themes: Science of the UN (UN Sustainable Development Goals), Science of the Olympics, Science in the Park, and a bonus was Science of Superheroes! On the other hand, 12th grade students were expected to find an already conducted study, discuss its findings, and connect their project to Science of the UN.
Students compiled their research into well decorated poster boards, and 11th graders were required to have some sort of model/visual to compliment their work.
Ms. Carballo noted that “the science fair was not a requirement for the CSP. It was a way that [students] could showcase all the work [students] put into the CSP”.
She also shared, “I do think the science fair was a success, I would love to hear what students think are some improvements for next time, but I think it was pretty successful for the first…It’s always something I dreamed of doing in my teaching career.”
She also claimed the best part about the science fair was the variety of questions which were driven by and reflected student interest.
Similarly, Lila Jassen, a senior and 1st place winner of the science fair, expressed that, “I think the CSP was a great opportunity for IB Bio students to focus on a topic they are truly passionate about. I think the collaborative aspect of it was great because in the real world no scientist works alone.”
Lila personally really enjoyed the project and research aspect of it, highlighting that being able to pick a topic that mattered to her made the science fair such a success.
Lila and her partner Claire Cowing, “studied heavy metal exposure in tampon brands and what we found was incredibly concerning. The research…found levels of heavy metals in all the tampon brands tested. We also learned about some of the disastrous effects that heavy metal exposure can have on the body. So really being able to share that research with friends, family classmates was important to us.”
An anonymous eleventh grader commented, “I enjoyed the CSP project… I also thoroughly enjoyed dressing up for the fair…However, I do feel that because there was so much freedom, there should’ve been more chances to confer with the teacher one on one to ask questions and make sure that you’re in a good place regarding time.”
As this project was very independent, to a lot of eleventh graders this felt unfamiliar, but the project was a good opportunity to get a taste of the IB and the IA as Ms. Carballo noted in an interview. Nonetheless, the CSP was also unique because it allowed students to pick something that excited them to share with others at the science fair while dressed in confidence-boosting business casual.
Another anonymous eleventh grader commented, “I thought the CSP was really fun…and I liked showcasing my work to my friends and family”.
The project may have been a lot of work, but it gives students pride and motivation in their work when they can show off their detailed poster boards and research.
Students’ hard work was also appreciated through awards. The IB Biology teachers announced winners of the science fair to students on November 8th, awarding first through third place and many honorable mentions (as shown at the bottom of the article). The winners were chosen by the science team (Ms. Raid, Ms. Carballo, and Ms. John) as well as staff who came to the science fair and voted. Ms. Carballo said they will announce the winners again via email, and they may receive school swag and possibly extra credit.
Overall, the CSP was a great opportunity for 11th graders to get a taste of the IB and a nice way for students to showcase work they were interested in. The project was mainly self-guided, and therefore many students found it challenging and slightly frustrating. However, it is important to recognize how lucky students are to get the opportunity to have a science fair, as prior students did not get to experience the same event. Regardless of the grade or the results of the science fair, hopefully all students will remember the project with at least some bit of happiness!
Congrats to the CSP winners!
11th Grade:
(1st) Julian Chin and Lola Lang
(2nd) Helen Horn and Jack Barillaro
(3rd) Rita Dong and Maile Machado
Honorable Mention: Ellis Howe and Emma Chen, Lauren Hsu and Arielle Deodath, Riley Aptaker and Maya Millender, and Olivia Lasner and Hudson Caradonna
12th Grade:
(1st) Lila Jassen and Claire Cowing
(2nd) Natsumi Frenette and Esmirna Vidal
(3rd) Gabriela Nuñez and Mathilda De Champeaux
Honorable Mention: Kate Stanely and Juliet Eisenstadt, Sarah Lopez and Ruby Patterson, Ella Basha and Yash Bhattacharya, Sammy Shnayder and Bailey Witt, Althea Michals and Banjo Dobbie, Jordan Goldberg and Hannah Jiang, Aster Richardson and Ariana Harper, Maeve Hannert and Ruby Costa, Ali Bruder and Miu Okamoto, Namdol Tenzing and Camila Escamilla
