Science Research Students Present at Terra NYC Semifinals

Charlotte Maloney and Karen Zevelev present their project, “Social Influence on Teenage Spending,” at the finals on March 22 at NYU. *Photo: Charlotte Maloney and Karen Zevelev*

By DORIS CHEN and YUEHAN DAI

Nineteen Midwood students showcased months of independent research at the Terra NYC STEM Fair on March 1 at Stuyvesant High School, with 12 groups being part of the semifinals and one group making it to the finals.

Seniors Charlotte Maloney and Karen Zevelev went on to present their project “Social Influence on Teenage Spending Habits” at the finals on March 22 at NYU and placed third in the Behavioral and Social Sciences category.

The Terra NYC STEM Fair is an annual science and engineering competition, part of the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair. The competition started off with 600 projects throughout all five boroughs. The semifinals narrowed the field down to 300 projects, and in the finals there were only 100.

While the projects are student-led, Ms. Stacy Goldstein, the science research coordinator, helped with monthly check-ins, going over students’ projects and giving feedback.

Students have been preparing since their junior year by working with the Irondale Theater Ensemble, professors at Brooklyn College or other schools, and their research teachers.

For students competing at this level, “It’s a testament to the hard work they do and the countless hours that they put in,” said Ms. Goldstein.

Maloney and Zevelev worked with Ms. Goldstein and Ms. Susan Katzoff to explore how peer influence shapes teenage spending habits, inspired by trends they observed within their school community.

“We started to question whether there was a possibility that we’re being influenced by society – our peers, friends, and classmates. Was that what was encouraging these spending habits?” Zevelev said.

“I was seeing people in school wear Golden Goose [a shoe brand] and wondering why they would choose a shoe that looks dirty but is so expensive,” Maloney said.

To investigate this, the pair created two sets of Google forms, one including promotional videos made by student actors and one without. They compared responses to measure how social influence affected teens’ willingness to purchase certain products.

“There’s a heavy correlation between how you’re influenced and how much you would spend on a product,” Maloney said. “It was really interesting to realize.”

Their results showed a strong connection between peer influence and how much teenagers are willing to spend.

Seniors Haley Chen and Kalok Huang, who worked with senior Max Shi from Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School and Professor Domenec Paterno at Brooklyn College on their project, “Development and Optimization of Manganese Chloride Tetrahydrate Combined with Propanamide Deep Eutectic Solvent for Capacitor Applications,” were amongst the semifinalists.

Their project explored alternatives to common lithium ion batteries, since lithium can cause electronical pollution. Their alternative, a deep eutectic solvent, was affordable and biodegradable.

The organic molecules used in the solvent were manganese chloride tetrahydrate and acetamide and propanamide. They combined these molecules into ratios and mixed them together, set up the melting points, and left them alone once melted.

They tested several ratios until each file looked clear and viscous, then used Electrical Impetus Spectroscopy to measure conductivity; from that they could determine the activation energy.

“Trying to figure out what ratios worked and didn’t took the longest time,” said Chen.

“Haley stayed late, to around 8 p.m. after school,” Huang said. “It was definitely a lot of work and effort.”

Luckily, their experiment did well in the test. “We feel like it could be the future of replacing lithium batteries, which would definitely remove a lot of electronic pollution,” said Huang,

To help students improve their presentation skills, Midwood partnered with the Irondale Theater Ensemble, bringing in acting coaches.

“They’ve helped us learn how to distill the information,” Ms. Goldstein said. “We want students to explain it so people understand the importance of their work.”

The organization’s first workshop taught students about loosening up, that it’s okay if mistakes happen, and learning how to move on. The second focused on coming up with hooks, and the third covered tone and body language, how to emphasize the most important concepts in simpler terms, and tips for staying calm.

One of the acting coaches told Huang to “be calm and be free, because at the end of the day, you know what you did with all that time and effort.”

This is far from the end of this year’s excitement in the science department, as students now look forward to May’s annual Science Fair in the annex.

Working on projects, experiments, and presentations for Terra NYC and other competitions “can be challenging at times, but it’s also very rewarding,” Ms. Goldstein said.