Activities Organized for a
Multi-Year Science/STEM Research Program/Club

1st year activities

• 1st quarter

  • Course structure and class rules

  • Brainstorming potential research areas and topics

  • Activities to teach how to use online search tools for basic and advanced information and articles

  • How to use search tools and searching skills to problem solve and “think outside of the box”

  • Mastering PowerPoint/Slides, Word/Docs, Excel/Sheets

  • How to read, “dissect”, summarize and explain general and advanced (journal) articles

  • How to design a small-scale project, create a research plan, apply for IRB/SRC approval, carry out the project, present the project

• 2nd quarter

  • Mastering vocabulary within a chosen area of research

  • How to present basic information via PowerPoint/Slides in a chosen area of research

  • Creating a poster to teach basic information in a chosen area of research

  • Mastering advanced information/related research in a chosen area of research

  • How to present advanced information/related research via PowerPoint/Slides in a chosen area of research

• 3rd quarter

  • Continuing to master and present advanced information/related research

  • Reaching out to local (or national) professionals in the chosen area of research (often the authors of related research articles) to secure a “mentor” that can help to guide a project and/or an internship

  • Anticipating basic questions and how to answer them for presentations

  • Determining what you know and what you don’t in a chosen area of research

  • Anticipating challenging “nightmare” questions and how to answer them for presentations

  • Creating a poster to compare and contrast related research information

  • Writing a summary (review) paper of all learned so far

• 4th quarter

  • Preparing a poster to present publicly that highlights:

    • Background information

    • Related research

    • Gap in current literature (Problem Statement)

    • Goals for upcoming research project

    • Hypotheses with justifications

    • Intended methodology

    • Related results from similar research projects (and how they may differ from the intended project)

    • Potential importance and application of upcoming research project

    • Conclusion (summary)

    • Future Research (what would the phase 2 be)

  • Planning for the upcoming summer research project (if that is the model that your school program follows/wishes to follow)

  • Present intended research at end-of-year symposium

2nd year activities

• 1st quarter

  • Course structure and class rules

  • Analyzing winning vs. non-winning papers

  • Writing the full research paper based on the spring/summer/fall research project after insight is gained on how to write a student research paper

  • Peer review of papers

  • Re-writing papers based on peer review

• 2nd quarter

  • Register for Regional Science & Engineering Fair

    • Submit all forms, research paper and abstract  

  • Register for International Genius Olympiad

    • Submit all forms, research paper and abstract  

  • Analyzing aspects of winning research posters

  • Creating a research poster to present in science fairs/competitions including:

    • Introduction/Background

    • Related research presented in a “funnel” that leads to the “gap” in the current knowledge

    • Problem Statement

    • Goals

    • Hypotheses with justifications

    • Methods

    • Results/Analysis/Discussion

    • Conclusion/Application

    • Future Research (what are the next steps and why)

  • Peer review of posters

  • Revising of posters based on peer review

• 3rd quarter

  • Preparing for presenting in competitions by:

    • Anticipating basic questions and how to answer them for presentations

    • Determining what you know and what you don’t in a chosen area of research

    • Anticipating challenging “nightmare” questions and preparing answers

    • Anticipating challenging questions  that may be asked but are not directly related to the project

    • Presenting to peers, teachers, parents, local professionals

  • Presenting at local, regional and state competitions

• 4th quarter

  • Presenting at local, regional and state competitions

  • Evaluating areas for improvement regarding:

    • Presenting at science fairs/competitions

    • Phase 2 of the project or preparing on a different project

  • Working on the Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS) application essays

  • Helping 1st year students to prepare for their end of year presentation and upcoming research project

  • Preparing for the 2nd summer of research

  • Present phase 1 of research and intended research at end-of-year symposium

3rd year activities

• 1st quarter - Enter the Regeneron Science Talent Search

  • Research Paper

    • Write/Update the full research paper based on the spring/summer/fall research project

    • Peer review of papers

    • Re-writing papers based on peer review

  • Application and Essays

  • Request for recommendations and transcript

• 2nd quarter - Science Fairs/Competitions

  •  Junior Science and Humanities Symposium

    • Research Paper and Abstract re-formatted for JSHS

    • Scientist, Teacher and Student “certifications”

    • Create PowerPoint to present at JSHS and practice to peers, teachers, parents, local professionals, mentor.

  • Regional Science & Engineering Fair

    • Submit all forms, research paper and abstract  

• 3rd quarter - Science Fairs/Competitions continued

  • Regional Science & Engineering Fair

    • Create Poster to present at Science & Engineering Fair and practice to peers, teachers, parents, local professionals, mentor.

• 4th quarter

  • Organize and help to run the end-of-year symposium

  • Serve as peer-judges to help the younger student prepare for their public presentations

  • Create a tri-fold brochure to highlight their research project for display in the school and district offices

  • Host and present at the end-of-year symposium