Fellow Tomomi Suwa and Sandy Breitenbach’s AP Biology Students recently travelled to Grand Valley State University to present their 2011-2012 research projects. Here’s the scoop from Tomomi…
April 25th was a big science day for 14 students from Plainwell high school. They each presented a poster on their independent project at the Michigan High School Math and Science Symposium at Grand Valley State University. Among 40 other presenters from Southwest Michigan schools, the students from Plainwell represented their school very well.
These students are from Mrs. Sandy Breiteinbach’s AP Biology class and since last September, I’ve been working closely with them to go through the entire process of science including picking interesting questions, designing an experiment and analyzing the data. They each came up with creative projects such as the effects of spotted knapweed on native plant species, differences in decomposing rates between organic and conventional fruits, and the potential effects of watermill pollution on invertebrate organisms in the Kalamazoo River.
At first, they looked nervous about presenting their work in front of other high school students and teachers. But they quickly warmed up and seemed to enjoy the experience. I was very proud to see them complete their independent project and to share their findings to their peers. I think the Math and Science Symposium brought the year of independent projects to a successful close. Congratulations!
