This past January, 15 upper school students at BASIS Independent McLean (BIM) competed in an internationally recognized science fair run by Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair(ISEF). The event here at BIM a few weeks ago was the first in many events required to proceed to more advanced levels, at the regional, state, national, and, for some participants, international competitions. Competitors compete through many levels to reach nationals and then internationals. ISEF distributes to each participating school a certain number of spots based on its population.
To find out more, we interviewed Dr. Fisher, the Honors and AP Biology teacher here at BIM. Fisher is the main teacher establishing and running the program, and she had the opportunity to be one of the three judges deciding on which projects would move on to regionals. When we asked Fisher about what determines if a project makes it through, she noted, “Science fair is about using something original, but 99% of the kids wonʼt do something original. What science fair is about is using the scientific process to explore something you’re interested in…I think what students sometimes do is they use a board, kind of like a presentation board… science fair isn’t about this. Itʼs not about everything we know. It’s about, ‘I have this one question about something I donʼt know, and then hereʼs how I answered that question.ʼ” In essence, Fisher states that the judges want to see the process, how the students thought through their question and what experiments they decided based on that question. Information and thought process isnʼt the only key part of a studentʼs project, itʼs the communication. She also told us that “a big part of science is communicating what you learn so that other people can benefit from it and learn from it. And so putting the effort into a presentation board that really communicates your idea well is also important.” She believes that science fair allows students to truly understand what Science is, especially research. Everyone can learn and read from a textbook, thatʼs not what the judges are looking for. It’s about your ability to creatively think of a solution to a problem and design a way to do it. For example, Fisherʼs PhD thesis was done in a three-week period, yet the four and a half years before and after supported that specific moment. On a fundamental level, science fair teaches students what science is in the actual world, how it isnʼt just knowledge based, but includes creativity, trial, and error.
When students sign up for a science fair, many hope to test an idea or explore an interest. Here are four impressive projects among the many displayed at the fair.
“Utilizing Immune Cell-Derived Particles to Prevent Cancer Immune Escape,”
Eric’s project, “Utilizing Immune Cell-Derived Particles to Prevent Cancer Immune Escape,” was created from his love for cancer biology. He began his work in mid-October and spent hundreds of hours researching and building his project entirely by himself. His research examined M1 macrophage-derived exosomes, small vesicles secreted by your body’s immune cells, as a platform for CD47 immune checkpoint blockades and chemotherapy delivery, which both help to slow cancer. He evaluated whether these immune particles could help treatments target tumors more effectively. Because exosomes are bio-compatible, the ability of a material to perform its intended function within a living system without eliciting adverse, toxic, or injure host responses, and can penetrate tumor tissue quickly, they may improve how cancer drugs are delivered. Eric emphasized that this field is still developing, so his project serves as an early evaluation of this process rather than a final cure.
“DARPIN-OTULIN Interaction Studies to Evaluate Binding Efficiency for Designing Novel Treatment Strategies in Alzheimer’s Disease”
Aishu Babu’s project, DARPIN-OTULIN Interaction Studies to Evaluate Binding Efficiency for Designing Novel Treatment Strategies in Alzheimer’s Disease, came from a personal place. After her grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s a few months ago, Aishu wanted to research methods to stop the disease from worsening. She spent hundreds of hours on her research, which started near the beginning of the school year. Her project focused on how DARPins, Designed Ankyrin Repeat Proteins, bind to a protein newly connected to the production of TAU, a protein which contributes to Alzheimer’s progression when misfolded. By studying binding efficiency, she explored ways to regulate TAU and potentially slow or stop the disease. Like Eric’s topic, her research is also based on new and developing science.
“Modeling Human Trust and Compliance with AI in Dynamic Simulated Tests”
How much do you trust Artificial Intelligence? Have you ever thought about it? We never had until we aw Riya Prabhuʼs project. Riya was interested in creating a concept and testing it with advanced methods, which led her down this path. In her words, “AI is really prevalent now and we need to figure out in different contexts what factors lead to trust and, if trust is blind especially, when the decision to follow AI or not in professional settings can have life-impacting consequences.” Her journey began in early November. Through the next months, Riyaʼs findings and poster began to take form. To start her experiment, Riya created a hypothesis which led to a total of six based hypotheses. To test her hypotheses, Riya created a simulation model for six simulations factorial based condition assignment models which she then sent out to 75-80 participants. From her poll, she ran statistical tests like Anova (a statistical method used to compare the means of three or more groups), which led to her conclusion. Connecting to this science fair project, Riya is interested in systems engineering with applications to human-machine collaboration, especially in fields that are centered around high-risk operations. She uses her Science Fair Project as an introduction to systems engineering and cognitive systems in robotics to further her education. While interviewing Riya, her true passion and excitement for her topic shined through, along with the clarity and concision of her description. Riya recommends Science Fair to anyone with a passion in a specific field, to show their efforts and publicly display their results.
“A Biology Based Hydrophobic Deep Eutectic”
When was the last time you drank from Starbucks? Did you ever think about how that coffee was produced and what labor went into your delicious drink? But Shaurya, Brandon, and Jack wanted to find a better way to produce their favorite coffee and energy drinks naturally, efficiently, and ethically better for our world. When interviewed, Shaurya Thakker, noted “I’ve always had a love for caffeine ever since fourth grade. We started to realize that caffeine production is a huge problem that many people donʼt know about.You think about Starbucks but donʼt think about what happens before your coffee at Starbucks, how it got there. You donʼt think about the people in South America who suffer in coffee farming. 90% of our coffee comes from Africa, specifically East Africa, yet we donʼt even think about it.” About 48% of coffee workers in Africa are children aged 5-17, and almost 100% of all workers live in poverty. Shaurya, Brandon, and Jack couldnʼt be bystanders anymore; they wanted to take action. Their Science Fair Project was HDES, “A Biology Based Hydrophobic Deep Eutectic.” In essence, HDES is a solution for sustainable caffeine extraction. Compared to the current coffee production, HDES is an ethical way to extract caffeine without risking cancer and exposing people to neurotoxins. According to the team’s research, HDES produces 33% less harmful, toxic substances compared to traditional caffeine farming techniques, and is better for the brain and the body. HDES is cheap, affordable, and reusable which allows for way less waste. In 30 minutes alone, HDES can produce 250ml and once in stock, you can buy it very easily because it is able to be mass produced on a large scale. Their product was published in a research article. Brandon in particular wants to go into a biochemical field, which is shown in his passion for HDES.
