by  Montana Miller

Editor-in-Chief

            “I can’t keep moving on unless I know what’s going on” exclaimed sophomore James Detweiler. Detweiler’s comment exemplifies the dedication to full understanding found in the Advance Science Research class. Advance Science Research sounds like a course that you might find at CalTech or MIT, but it is actually a thriving class at LGHS making headway in the local science community. Formed at the beginning of this year, Advance Science Research is seeing impressive results as the students prepare for Synopsis, the upcoming science fair in San Jose.

            As a class of 18, the course works like an independent study period. Students work individually or, in senior Keltan Lawler and Adam Gramling’s case, in partners on the same project throughout the year. The only requirements for the class are participating in “Journal Club” and submitting projects to Synopsis. Journal Club’s main aim is to acclimate students to report style writing and contemporary science. Students select a topic to research and do a write up. They then find Scientific Journals that relate to their subject and write a final essay encapsulating the ideas they researched. These journals are not a part of their main projects, but are just a way to get them familiar with the organization of scientific writing.

            So what are some of the exciting things happening in this class? Detweiler has been working on growing algae to eventually use to make biofuel, and Lawler and Gramling have been researching the extraction of oil using paramagnetic particles.

 Motivated by the catastrophic BP Oil Spill in 2010, Gramling and Lawler began research their junior year along with Thomas Chu in order to find more efficient ways to clean up the ocean. Once Lawler and Gramling joined the Advanced Science Research class however, they delved even further into their project. They decided to experiment with paramagnetic particles using mostly trial and error and spent six weeks formulating their idea at the beginning of last semester. All of the work they do is in class using materials and a budget provided by Mrs. Messenger, the advisor of the class. “I wish the materials were more sophisticated,” revealed Lawler, who sometimes feels his project would benefit from the use of a college laboratory with more advanced equipment. “But we work with the setting that we have.” Lawler also feels that a better background of biochemistry knowledge would help everyone in the class, but feels the addition of a biochemistry class to LGHS’s class list is “unlikely” due to its inherent rigor and lack of student enthusiasm.  Lawler and Gramling continue to work on their project as they look forward to Palooza, a practice science fair in February, and eventually “Synopsis” on March 7.

Detweiler, on the other hand, has been working individually since August on the algae lipid production system in order to discover under which conditions algae produce the most amount of lipids and are therefore the best candidates for biofuel. “This is the future,” stated Detweiler in his discussion of biofuel. “This is what will fuel our cars in the future” he said passionately. “I have a mentor at NASA,” revealed Detweiler “and I sometimes work in her lab.” Detweiler’s mentor is also working on algae lipid production, but on a much more advanced level. “People at NASA work in the lab seven or eight hours a day, whereas we only have class for 90 minutes every other day.” Detweiler revealed that with his busy schedule, which involves baseball, violin, leadership, and other academic classes, he feels that his research could use some more attention. “I should probably get on that,” he laughed, when asked if he was prepared for the upcoming science fair. However, responsible, punctual, and extremely intelligent, Detweiler is sure turn to judges heads at Synopisis. 

Lawler and Detweiler both agreed that they enjoy the class, but consider it stressful as well. Detweiler also noted that “It’s dead silent in the classroom, and I work well in chaos. Music and background noise make me think better.” He is, however, grateful that he has time allotted to research a topic in which he displays interest.

“It’s a really good experience,” stated Lawler, who looks forward to science research next year in college. Neither Lawler nor Detweiler plan to further their research in their specific topics after this year, but are both happy that they got the chance to freely experiment with them.

Adjustments may be made to the curriculum next year, but as far as an available free space to research independently, Advance Science Research will remain as a class next year as well. With a significant budget and a plethora of materials, Advance Science Research is the perfect class for anyone with a researchable idea. As far as its success, students are happy with the development of their projects and look forward to competitions in February and March.