After a long journey of designing projects, collecting data, and finally rehearsing their presentations, the students of LHS were finally ready for the 24th Annual Science Research Symposium on Wednesday, May 29. The Science Research Symposium allows research students to present their research projects to the Lynbrook community. “We hold Symposium each year to show off the projects we have worked hard on all year,” explained junior Kate Santoli. Junior research student Simon Yu agreed and said, “This event is one that the community looks forward to every year and demonstrates the talent throughout the research program.”
To kick off the night, the Senior Class of researchers led the researchers, family, friends, and staff in the Pledge of Allegiance, appreciation speeches, their respective project presentations, and a “Research Recap Montage.” After this portion of the night, attendees left the auditorium and headed to the gym for presentations. During this part of the evening, attendees walked around the gym and listened to the students’ presentations, observing the seas of posters that the researchers had worked diligently on. Yu commented, “My favorite part of [Symposium] is the senior montage. The senior montage always puts a smile on my face and makes me realize the connection I have with my fellow researchers. The montage always contains funny moments and tells a story in itself.” Each grade also had an opportunity to take photos with props in the photo booth, enjoy a snack, and even take a look at fellow researchers’ projects. As exclaimed by freshman Lyla Gaffoor, “My favorite part of Symposium was when we were in the gym, and we were able to look at everyone else’s projects. It’s amazing to see how many different areas of science were studied.”
After the gymnasium section of Symposium is the classroom presentation where students are broken up into groups with a senior researcher leading their room in order to present their project to their parents and other guests. The students had a myriad of scientific projects, from microplastics to stars in space. Gaffoor’s project was titled, “The Effect of Exposure to Electromagnetic Waves on the Amount of Transferred Microplastics.” “My project investigated the ongoing issue of microplastics and how they can go into food, specifically baby food,” Gaffoor detailed. On the other hand, Santoli investigated “The Effectiveness of Social and Monetary Rewards vs. Punishments in a Learning Paradigm.” “I had participants complete a learning test on the computer while being given different types of incentives to determine which combination of incentives is most effective in improving procedural learning,” Santoli expressed. Yu investigated a special category of star that contained an extremely small amount of metal. “One such example of this type of star, however, contained an extremely high amount of calcium,” Yu explained. “By investigating many different variables such as temperature and reaction rate, I was able to find certain conditions that created the best replica of calcium. By working with my mentor, we will continue to find the source of calcium in this star,” he furthered. Many students felt as though their presentations went well. “I felt prepared and had fun presenting my project after working hard on it this year,” Santoli shared. Yu also agreed: “My presentation went well overall. It was really interesting listening to everyone’s presentations and seeing the hard work everyone put in.”
