Cold Spring Harbor Summer Science Research Program Promotes STEM Investigation

Students in the Cold Spring Harbor Central School District, with an interest in scientific research, further enhanced their research skills by participating in the district’s summer science research program. This unique opportunity, started by district science teacher Jaak Raudsepp, has been made available to students each summer for more than eight years.

This year’s program was offered under the direction of the district’s K-12 Director of STEM Kim Libertini and teachers Martin Colucci and Melissa McLees from the CSH’s department of mathematics, Jack Healy from the CSH’s career and technical education department and Fred Feraco a science research teacher from Walt Whitman High School.

“This program offers students the opportunity to build upon their skills and enables them to connect their passion in other subject areas to their academic pursuits in science research,” said Libertini.

Students in grades 9-12, who are enrolled in a science research course in the fall of 2021, were eligible to join this five-week program from July 5 through Aug. 6.

Approximately 20 students participated building upon their research skills and awareness of subjects including “The Ins and Outs of Social Science Studies” where students created surveys, analyzed statistical data and reported their findings; “Coral Reef Propagation and Investigations” where students studied marine biology and coral fragmentation; “Food Computers and the Future of Agriculture” using coding, circuits and robotics; and “Experience Engineering Innovation” where students collaborated using their engineering and building skills along with 3D printing to solve real-world problems through invention and innovation. The purpose of this program is to connect science research with a wide array of disciplines and seed ideas for projects that can be pursued by research students during the academic year.   

Photo captions:

1-2: Students enrolled in the Cold Spring Harbor Summer Science Research Program visited Walt Whitman High School to obtain coral samples used to conduct research as part of the program.

3: Students working in the district’s Experience Engineering Innovation summer science research program used Autodesk Inventor 3D Computer-Aided Design software to design their research models that were then 3D printed on the Makerbot Replicator II.   

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Photos courtesy of the Cold Spring Harbor Central School District