Research Project Authorization

Dear Parents,

Our juniors and seniors are working hard with their scientific research projects. The students projects and research plans have been approved by the New Hampshire Science and Engineering Expo review committee.

We are now beginning experimentation. Four of projects need student volunteers to begin their research. All of the research will be done during study halls. We are requesting three study halls to be designated to the three research projects between now and the end of January. The last project will be done during the scientific research class with grade 11 and 12 only. All surveys will be done anonymously. Your student’s name will not appear anywhere in the testing. Also, I will be supervising all the projects at all times.

These students cannot conduct their experimentation without parent permission.

Would you please sign this e-permission letter so our students can begin testing their hypothesis? After this letter is signed, we will then asked your student if they are interested in participating.

Thank you so much for helping with scientific research.

God bless, Mrs. Monique Niemaszyk

Below is a brief description of the four projects:

1. Multitasking: This interesting survey will be conducted by Catriona Fahey and Yosefina Sheppard. They will be given a brief (easy) math sheet. The student will complete the math sheet once without distractions, and a second time while wearing headphones and listening to music. Question: Does listening music while doing homework affect a student’s academic performance?

2. Cell phones and driving: This popular problem will be surveyed in a fun way, and the testing will be done by Simon Ouellet. Simon will instruct your student to play Mario Kart (Wii) once with without distractions and then again with distractions. The distraction will be a cell phone. While your student is playing the game the second time, my cell phone will near them. Simon will call the phone, the student will put it on speaker phone, and answer a series of questions while trying to “drive”. The scores from the two games will be documented. Question: Does talking on a cell phone affect driving?

3. Correlation Between Relative Pitch and Age, Gender, or Musical Backgroud: This unique study in the science of mathematical surveys involves singing. This experiment will be conducted by Anna Mark and Julianna Rival.  Your student will be asked to sing a series of notes. The data will be collected using a chromatic tuner.The results will be put into a survey to see if there is pattern among age, gender or musical background.

4. The Immune System and Memory Cells in Relation to Miller-Fisher Syndrome: A Survey of Educational Research and Learning Styles: This science project will involve and a survey on different styles of learning by teaching the topic of the immune system and memory cells in relation to Miller-Fisher Syndrome. This topic will be taught with a hand-out followed by a brief quiz. Then the same topic will be taught with a hands-on model of the immune system and memory cells followed by the another brief quiz.The results will be put into a survey to see if there is a difference between the two styles of learning and who is affected. The students volunteers will only be from grade 11 and 12. This research is being conducted by Cecilia Gillis and Glenda Guepy.