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Hi, my name is Ava Drum and I am a student at
Roland Park Country School. I have participated in the STEM institute
program a since 9th grade year for four semesters. Freshman and
Sophomore year of high school I completed Stem 1A, 1B, 2A, and 2B.
During these two years, the topics we covered included science,
technology, engineering, and math. In Stem 1A and 1B, I completed
experiments that were associated with programming. My partner and I used
a computer program to design an experiment to test incentives on short
term memory. During this year my partner and I also programmed the Lego
NXT robot over simulated Mar's terrain. In Stem 2A and 2B, I completed a
variety of projects that were surrounded upon understanding puzzles in
math and engineering. Over the summer after 9th grade year I
participated as an intern at
Environmental Science Summer Research
Experience for Young Women. At the end of this internship I published a
paper describing the cause of the increasing levels of phosphorous
levels due to the flooding of the nearby stream. I participated in this
program again the summer after 10th grade year as a teaching assistant.
During my Junior year, I completed a Stem Internship where I studied
hearing in different locations around the school using a decibel meter
and three iPhone apps. I compared these apps with the decibel meter to
find the most reliable app for everyday people to use and become aware
of the dangerous noises around them. Lastly, in 11th grade Chemistry, I
was in a group where we researched and tested the effect of magnesium
chloride on concrete strength. We won the Miran Award for our proposal
from the ACI Maryland Chapter Concrete Awards.
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9th Grade Stem
Incentives
Effect on Short Term Memory
Short-term memory is the ability to remember information for a period of
time before it is forgotten or moved into long term memory.
The study shows if the incentive of getting a Kit-Kat has an
effect on a ninth grade student’s short-term memory.
The students were shown a series of letters and asked to write
them down after they left the screen.
This program is called SCRATCH. If the subjects did better on the
second portion of the letters, they would receive a Kit-Kat.
It was concluded that the incentive of getting candy does not
have an effect on a ninth grade student’s short-term memory according to
the information in the p-values and the r squared values. The reason for
this is not known and future research would need to be done to determine
why. |
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Environmental and Seasonal Change Effect on Dissolved
Oxygen amounts in the Stony Run River
This poster identified the effect of dissolved oxygen in
the Stoney Run River with changing temperatures. pH,
temperature, dissolved oxygen, and cloud coverege were
collected and graphed to find the effect they had on
eachother and programed on Scratch. Conclusions were
made and future works were written. |
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Mars
Expedition Simulation
The goal of the Mars Expedition Simulation was to write programs for the Lego NXT Robot to travel the terrain on Mars. As seen in the video, the
Mars terrain included mats, tape, and obstacles on the gym floor. To
navigate the gym floor, sensors were used in programs made in advance
like the touch, sound, light, ultrasonic sensors, and the right, left,
forward, and backward programs.
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10th Grade Stem
Illusion of Size
Illusion is deception, it can be showed in many different ways. In this
PowerPoint presentation, illusion of size will be depicted. Some
different types of size illusions that are covered include the
ebbinghouse, inner squares, jastrow, ames, and lastly the application of
people in illusions.
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7 Bridges of Konigsberg
PowerPoint and
speaking notes
For centuries mathematicians have pondered Euler's discovery of the
relationships between vertices, edges, and degrees, in the 7 bridges of
Konigsberg. It is impossible to cross all the seven bridges using a
Euler path which is a path that covers every edge of the shape only
once. This presentation describes the history and science behind 7
Bridges of Konigsberg.
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Packageing Sunscreen
The goal of this project was to create the optimum mixture of
benzophenone and oxy cinnamate according to the FDA’s legal limits and
to build the optimum protective and appealing packaging for 88 ml of
sunscreen. Testing and retesting of the chemicals benzophenone and oxy
cinnamate were conducted on sea fleas in order to find the safe amounts
of these chemicals in the sunscreen. Then a sunscreen container
prototype was constructed to minimize cost and maximize efficiency. |
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Harbor Pollution and Slide Notes
In this presentation, a product filtering system was built to
successfully separate the amount of road salt in water. My partners and
I were inspired by the Baltimore Harbor's containing of large amounts of
dissolved road salt, and we were driven by this real life application to
build and test a model of a filter.
Harbor Pollution and Slide Notes
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Science Classes
Soil Ecology
This experiment compares the population of
fungi to placement on a hill with varying erosion. The attached paper
includes a background, lab procedure, data and observations, and a
conclusion.
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Bottle Rocket
The attached paper describes the experimental design process of a bottle
rocket with the goal to have the greatest horizontal distance. Our
prototype consisted of two coke bottles, large fins, a nose cone, and
play-doh in the nose cone for stability. We learned that there was just
too much mass. Our next design had one coke bottle, smaller and more
aerodynamic fins, a nosecone, and play-doh in the nose cone. The overall
best trial was when the rocket went 73 meters with 600 milliliters of
water. From our results, we concluded that a bottle rocket that was
aerodynamic and had about 200 grams of mass with 600 milliliters of
water was the ultimate combination for the longest horizontal distance. |
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Effects of Magnesium Chloride with Weight on Concrete
The following experiment will address the impact of different
concentrations of Magnesium Chloride on concrete roads at
varying temperatures over time. The changing concrete mass,
increasing number of cracks in the concrete, and rebar
observations were discussed in this formal paper. This study
includes an abstract, introduction, methods, analysis, and
conclusion of our results.
We won the Miran Award for our proposal from the ACI Maryland
Chapter Concrete Awards.
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Summer Internship,
Environmental Science Summer Reaserch Experience for Young Women
The Influence of Stream Flow on the Moisture and Phosphorus Levels in
the Adjacent Soil
The element phosphorus is a critical component of living things,
providing the raw material for amino and nucleic acids. Therefore any
changes in its accessibility can have a significant impact on an
ecosystem. Consequently, we became interested in discrepancies in soil
phosphate levels observed in the E.S.S.R.E. 2015 Biota Survey. A 3x5
sampling grid was created and 15 soil samples15 centimeter deep and 2
centimeters in diameter were extracted at each location in the grid;
simultaneously, the stream location next to each row was tested for
phosphate using the Hach Aquachek Water Quality Test. All 15 soil
samples were then tested for phosphorous (ppm) using the LaMotte model
STH-14 test kit, and 15 samples were tested for percent moisture content
using the gravimetric method. Our results showed that that the distance
from the stream did have an effect on the amount of phosphorus but that
the moisture levels were not the most dominant factor in causing an
increase in the levels of soil phosphorus. For further studies on
phosphorus levels, we would examine the relationship between the plants
and the soil at the research site. We would test the phosphorus levels
in the plants as well as the adjacent soils to determine if it was the
uptake of phosphorus by plants that was affecting the levels of
phosphate in the soil.
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In School Internship
Noise Levels in Roland Park Country School with App
Comparisons
I became interested in noise levels within Roland Park Country
School because many students and teachers are surrounded by
noise and don’t know how damaging that noise could be. With
current technology that measures sound with decibel meters and
apps, people now have access to tools that can help them become
aware of harmful noises. I have two goals in this study. My
first goal is to determine the decibel levels of everyday sounds
within the school, and if these sounds are high enough to cause
NIHL (Noise Induced Hearling Loss) in children and teachers. My
second goal is to compare the sound readings provided by the
TacklifeR Decibel Meter and sound meters available on
the app store for mobile phones to discover the most reliable
app for preventing NIHL. The paper includes what was
discovered in this study.
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