Welcome to My STEM Portfolio

Hello, my name is Blaire Miran and I am a student at the Roland Park Country School in Baltimore, Maryland. I have participated in STEM as a freshman, sophomore and junior during high school. In my freshman and sophomore years, I participated in the STEM classes. In the first 1A class, we were working on the science and technological aspects of STEM with a focus on science. Then, in the 1B class, we were working on the engineering and mathematical aspects with a focus on engineering. In the 2A class, we were observing the math and technological aspects of STEM. Finally, in the final section of STEM we worked with the engineering and science aspects of STEM. In my junior year independent research project, I was working with concrete to try and research to find the strongest mix possible. For my summer internship between my sophomore and junior years, I worked in the lab at Kaufman Products helping to research how the lithium carbonate additive affected the strength of concrete in the short term. This is a compilation of my best works throughout the STEM classes.

STEM 1A

Short Term Memory Paper.html

The purpose of this project was to research how a distractor affected a persons short term memory. In our project, we viewed how the distraction of a person counting down affected the same person trying to order the layers of a burger. We found that the more layers a burger had, the less likely the people were to order the layers correctly. To see the full paper, click the above link.

Testing the subjects

Seasonal Change Poster.html

The purpose of this project was to research how the changing of seasons affected some environmental process. Our project looked at how the amount of available sunlight affected the amount of small animals that would visit our enclosure. Our data showed basically no correlation between the amount of sunlight and the amount of footprints seen. To see the full poster, click the above link.

Setup for the testing site

STEM 1B

Clay Mask Paper.html

The purpose of this project was to research how different materials affected the overal look, texture, and purpose of a clay mask used to exfoliate the face. Our mask used the ingredients sand, altoids, aloe vera, distilled water, glycerin, and Fullers Earth clay. The mask ended up fulfilling all of the requirements. To see the full paper, click the above link.

egg drop paper.html

The purpose of this project was to protect an egg from breaking as it fell from 100 ft to land on a hard surface. Our project used a paper bag, a plastic water bottle, bubble wrap and packing tape. After multiple revisions, the egg did not break when it was dropped. To see the full paper, click the above link.

Package for the egg to drop in

STEM 2A

comparing_geometries.html

The purpose of this paper was to be a compliation of the work we had completed that semester on the three basic types of geometry. My paper compared each of Euclids five postulates to each of the different geometries. To see the full paper, click the above link.

Rubik's Cube.html

The purpose of this project was to further research one of the topics we had studied in our STEM class that semester. Our project was on the Rubik's Cube. We overviewed how to solve the Rubik's cube and information about Erno Rubik. To see the full powerpoint, click the above link.

STEM 2B

Extracting Aluminum.html

The purpose of this project was to extract aluminum from common products used in our school community because aluminum is very hard to process. Our project was removing aluminum from a breakfast sandwich wrapper, with which we had much success as the aluminum was only held to the paper with a small amount of glue. To see the full paper, click the above link.

Packaging project.html

The purpose of this project was to create a package that could hold 88 mL of sunscreen that another group was creating. Our package used a plastic bag, cardboard, duct tape, wax paper and foil. To see the full paper, click the above link.

The final package