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Each participant presented his findings to six of the nearly 90 judges — ranging from college professors to industry professionals. Their job: to select the winners of scholarships, cash prizes, summer fellowships and other corporate-sponsored awards. The prizes will be awarded at a separate ceremony May 1.
The two-day event, coordinated by District Science Coordinator Dr. Nicholas Tzimopoulos, was a chance for students to display their talents before their parents, administrators, teachers and community members. Public officials such as Freeport Mayor William Glacken and Margaret Martinez Malito, executive director of the Nassau County Youth Board, also came out to support the students.
"The science fair is an outstanding way for the public to become aware of the extraordinary work of the students whose range of projects are very sophisticated and require a high level of techniques and equipment in order to pursue their investigations," said Dr. Eric L. Eversley, superintendent of Freeport Schools. "The sophistication of the students’ research indicates that it’s only a matter of time before the district has achieved its first Intel winner."
With clipboards in hand, the judges perused the aisles and interviewed students. For many ninth-graders, the experience was their first attempt at presenting scientific findings before a judge. For seniors, it was the culmination of four years of work that, with each academic year, was taken to a higher level.
Freshman Tiffany Rodriguez was eager to explain her project entitled, "Does Diet Effect Learning and Memory?" What she discovered was, "If the diet of a mouse is restricted, its ability to learn and memorize a maze will be easier and faster than that of a mouse with a non-restricted diet," she said. In her future research, she intends to isolate carbohydrates and protein to see how they effect memory ability.
Equally fascinating was freshmen Brandon Murgatroyd’s and Steven Rowan’s project, "How Does Music Effect Fine Motor Skills?" By having participants draw mirror reflection images while listening to rock, hip-hop or no music at all, the students were able to determine that those who listened to rock music made the least amount of mistakes on their drawing, concluding that listening to music can enhance concentration while performing fine motor skills. The students plan to build on their research by trying to determine which gender performs better under which type of music.
In contrast, upperclassmen such as senior Charles Lamar, who recently won first place in the Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP) competition in Albany, sought to find whether levels of excreted mercury in head hair could be used as an accurate indicator of Autism Spectrum Disorder. His preliminary experiments showed that non-autistic volunteers were better able to excrete mercury through their hair follicles than were autistic volunteer participants. His findings support the hypothesis that autistic people develop the disorder, in part, not because they were exposed to mercury, but because they were unable to excrete it as efficiently.
"FHS has some of the best young scientific minds on Long Island," said Freeport High School Principal Kimberlee Pierre. "They will have every door of opportunity open to them because of their hard work and dedication here."
Dr. Eversley added that the ongoing program, "requires rigorous research to meet the intellectual needs of our students who have a high aptitude in science and kids whose interest in science has grown because they are able to do the work that scientist do — and they can do it at Freeport High School." However, he said, "We continue to need resources to support our students’ research during the summer, to support their participation in out-of-state science competitions and to get science equipment so they can pursue their science research."
Freeport Public Schools is a diverse, innovative district on Long Island’s South Shore serving about 6,750 students in grades Pre-K through 12. The district and its eight schools take pride in having the region’s only magnet schools of choice, a longstanding and award-winning classroom English/Spanish Dual Language Program, and a high school where students excel in competitions that include the regional Academic Challenge, Odyssey of the Mind and Future Problem Solving International. The district’s New Visions School of Exploration and Discovery has been named a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education for its high student performance and engaging curriculum.
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