Carmel High School

The Effect of Chronic Media Multitasking on memory and academic performance

  Technology has become a ubiquitous part of our lives. However, there is a limited understanding of how technology affects people. Media Multitasking is using TV, the Web, radio, telephone, print, or any other media in conjunction with another. With an increased surge in technology, media multitasking has become increasingly prevalent. In a study by Uncapher et al (2016), it was concluded that chronic media multitasking can impact working memory, the part of memory responsible for holding short term information. However, it remains unknown how chronic media multitasking effects academic performance.

  Rose plans to focus on the effects of chronic media multitasking on students. It is expected that chronic media multitasking will correlate with lower working memory and therefore lower academic performance. Rose plans to gather data first through a working memory test, followed by a survey. The survey will assess various aspects of an individual’s technology habits. Including their daily cell phone usage, habits with technology when working, and frequency of media multitasking. 

  Rose is a sophomore in Carmel High School. Aside from Science Research, her favorite class is English because she likes to write. Rose also enjoys playing the piano, tennis, and running track. In her spare time Rose draws, paints, and reads. When Rose is older, she hopes to further pursue science and become a doctor. 

The Psychosocial Effects of Food Allergies on Adolescents

  Approximately one in every thirteen children has a food allergy, according to Food Allergy Research & Education. A food allergy is the immune system’s adverse reaction to a food, resulting in symptoms including difficulty breathing and anaphylaxis. Along with these serious physical effects, there may be significant psychosocial impacts. Allergists tend to solely focus on the symptoms of a physical reaction, neglecting to acknowledge the ways in which adolescents can be negatively affected as far as their mental health. Also, adolescents without food allergies may not be aware of the mental impact food allergies can have on those who have them. Limited studies have analyzed adolescents’ psychosocial health in the high school setting.

  The purpose of Ariana’s study will be to analyze how having food allergies impacts adolescents, specifically in the high school setting. All participants must be attending high school. Adolescents with at least one food allergy can participate in the experimental group, while adolescents with no allergies can participate in the comparison group. She will create an online survey with a series of statements that participants will be asked to rate. She anticipates that her results will support her hypothesis that food allergies negatively affect adolescents psychosocially. She hopes that the results of her study will bring more attention to the negative impacts food allergies may cause, such as a lack of confidence and feelings of inclusion while in school. 

  Outside of science research, Ariana is an honors student. She plays violin and is a member of the Tri-M Honor Society. At home, she likes to spend time with her family. In the future, she plans on attending medical school and becoming a doctor.

The Effects Various Environmental Conditions have on Coyote Movement

  Coyotes have been inhabiting urban areas recently, which has caused alarm for many people. They are similar in appearance to wolves, except coyotes have a narrow muzzle, large ears, slender build and are relatively small. Coyotes have been found to live in various parts of cities, from parks and cemeteries to even baseball fields. They are omnivores, meaning they eat fruit and vegetation as well as meat. Telemetry is the process of transmitting information through the atmosphere. GPS Telemetry can be used to find out important information about animal movement. It is unknown how certain variables affect coyote movement. Cara would like to learn more about this topic.

  Cara will be studying the effect environmental factors have on coyote movement through the Wildlife Technician Program at Mianus River Gorge in Bedford, New York. She will be studying how moon phases and snow depth affect coyote movement. She will also be collecting data to determine which season coyotes travel the farthest in the daytime. Cara will be using information gathered by GPS Telemetry collars on urban coyotes to collect data on coyote movement, under these environmental conditions. She expects coyotes to move faster during a new moon, slower when snow levels reach approximately five inches and farther during the day in the spring and summer. Cara would like to learn more about urban coyotes and how these different environmental conditions affect them.

  Cara is an honors student and a member of the Italian-American Club at Carmel High School. She is also part of the Wildlife Technician Program at Mianus River Gorge in Bedford, a three-year research program in the natural sciences. In her free time, Cara enjoys playing the piano, reading, listening to music, and spending time with her family and friends. Cara is considering a career in science.

Does the addition of sulfates in New York City, influence the amount of sunlight and radiation coming to and back from space?

  Modernization and industrialization have drastically changed society. More than 4,000 NYS residents are diagnosed with melanoma annually. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun is the number-one cause of skin cancer. Over the last century the climate has risen 0.74°C. Plumes of industrial aerosols, typically sulfates from coal power plants and carbon from vehicle traffic, rise from cities such as New York. More cities mean more factories which leads to more CO2 in the atmosphere. If there is no action being done trying to take some of the CO2 out or counter-act it then the climate is going to keep rising and the effects of global warming like more harmful UV rays which will lead to more skin cancer, will keep becoming a more relevant problem. There is no real research on the effects of sulfates on cities, so that is where William found his research plan.

  William’s goal is to use the climate model to determine does the addition of sulfates in New York City, influence the amount of sunlight and radiation coming to and back from space. In the study William would be using a climate model called RRTM, which deals with the amount of solar radiation that hits the Earth and the amount bouncing back into space. Some variables included: Amount of CO2/CH4, stratospheric height, what surface the models projected on etc. He also wants to input aerosols to see the effect of them on concrete since most buildings are made of concrete. Another goal of his is to use the model to figure out how much radiation is lost when the sulfate is injected. The excepted results would be a decrease in solar radiation hitting the Earth and more of it bouncing back into space. 

  When William is not in school, he likes to play lacrosse, bowling and go fishing. William enjoys going on hikes and going swimming. William also enjoys acting. William is very excited to be a part of the science research program at his school.

The Effect of Climate Change Driven Temperature and Precipitation Changes on Lyme Disease Cases in New York State

  Although climate change is a frequent topic in today’s media, many do not realize the severity of this impending issue. Climate change may seem like a future problem, but it is already affecting the Earth’s environment in a plethora of ways. Since temperature and precipitation are affected by a changing climate, disease patterns may also be shifted. Lyme disease, spread by ticks, primarily in the northeast United States, is susceptible to changes in rain and temperature. It is important to predict how this vector borne disease will be impacted by climate change, as it affects millions of people each year.

  Rebecca plans to use the Model for the Assessment of Greenhouse-Gas Induced Climate Change/ Regional Climate Scenario Generator (MAGICC/SCENGEN) to predict how temperature and precipitation values in New York State will change in future years. She then plans on using data bases from the Center for Disease control and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association to determine the link between Lyme disease cases and the temperature and precipitation levels at which they occurred. By studying these results with MAGICC/SCENGEN’s results, Rebecca hopes to predict how Lyme disease cases patterns will change in future years in New York State.

  Outside of Science Research, Rebecca enjoys running on the Track and Cross-Country team here at Carmel High School. She also enjoys creating art and playing her viola with her school orchestra. Rebecca is also part of the Interact Club at CHS, and enjoys helping her community to the best of her ability.

The Effect of Stride Length when Manipulated by Different Factors, Such as Pace and Music, on High School Students

  Generally, 60 million people run in the United States each day. A good amount of these runners experiences some form of injury. One of the main causes of injuries results from using the wrong form. Running form can be explained as the way a person runs. Everybody has a unique running form along with the infirmities that come with it. By correcting running form, it lessens the chance of injury and betters the overall performance whether running for a race or just for fun.

  The goal of Sebastian’s project is to help the running population of the world. The purpose of his experiment is to determine if stride length changes when running at 5,000-meter race pace, 100-meter race pace, and running with music. To fulfill the goals of his project, he will have the participants run a series of distances, while running at 5,000 meter pace and 100 meter pace. First he will calculate the ideal stride length of the participants. He then will have the participants run while listening to modern pop music. After, Sebastian will begin to calculate the distances of the participants stride lengths during each of the experiments. For his results, he hopes to accept his hypotheses.

  Sebastian is a hard-working and determined person. He strives to be at the top and he never gives up. He takes all honor and AP classes during school. He loves to socialize with people and make new friends. Besides school, Sebastian is a very athletic person and a member of the varsity cross country, and track and field teams. He likes to go on runs on weekends and looks at the scenery on the local bike trail. Lastly, Sebastian likes to play the saxophone in his free time and is currently in wind ensemble at Carmel High School.

The Correlation between Lactose Intolerance and Coronary Heart Disease, Breast Cancer, and Obesity

  Multiple studies have claimed to have found a link between dairy consumption and diseases such as coronary heart disease, breast cancer, and osteoporosis (Berner, 1993; Parodi, 2005; Bannan et al, 2005 and Barnard et al, 2005). It has also been shown that an increased intake of dairy can lead to an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and diabetes. Lactose intolerance is the inability to digest lactose, a component of milk and other dairy products. Although diagnosed all over the world, lactose intolerance is most common in east and central Asian countries. Olivia’s study aims to find a correlation between lactose intolerance and diseases such as coronary heart disease, breast cancer, and osteoporosis in countries around the world.
  The main purpose of Olivia’s study is to determine if the recent findings regarding dairy intake are constant in a large correlation study. She hypothesizes that there will be a weak indirect correlation between each of these diseases and dairy intake. Through the use of multiple databases, Olivia will evaluate the relationship between the numbers of cases of lactose intolerance and the number of cases of these diseases in different countries.

  Olivia is a sophomore at Carmel High School. She is an honors student, a runner on the Carmel cross country and track teams, class president, and a participant in many extracurricular activities and clubs outside of school. Olivia aims to participate in the National Honor Society and Carmel High School mentor program as an upperclassman.

Proximity to a Hazardous Waste Landfill and the Occurrence of Preterm Births in the Lower Hudson Valley Region     

  Hazardous waste landfills have been an increasing concern to not only the environment, but also human health. When leachate, the liquid that drains out of landfills containing material disposed at that site, diffuses through the protective covering surrounding the landfill, it can consequently contaminate surrounding groundwater, soil, and air. Through these routes, dangerous toxins can enter the bodies of unsuspecting residents and bring about adverse health effects. Additionally, pregnant women are particularly susceptible to the adverse health effects.  Rauch et al. (2012) and Malik et al. (2004) have focused on how a mother’s distance to a landfill can cause congenital diseases in the newborn. However, limited research has been conducted to understand how the proximity to a landfill can impact the occurrences of preterm births. Being the leading cause of death in infants, premature births are a major public health issue, which has been linked to environmental factors, throughout the United States.

  Michelle will be conducting a study to verify whether or not there is a correlation between the proximity to a landfill site and the occurrences of preterm births in residences in the Lower Hudson Valley region. She plans to study residences surrounding landfill sites in Orange, Dutchess, and Rockland counties and collect the preterm birth data of these sites using epidemiological sources such as the CDC, WHO and local records from these counties. Overall, if a correlation is found, this study could raise awareness of the dangers of landfill mismanagement and hopefully raise the standards for landfill maintenance and planning.

   Aside from science research, Michelle spends her time playing the violin, mandolin, guitar, and ukulele. Additionally, she enjoys drawing and painting as well as traveling, volunteering and swimming. She is also a member of the Science Club, Interact Club and Symphony Orchestra within the school.

Under what conditions is algae production for biofuels most efficient and cost effective?

  The world is currently facing an energy crisis. Due to the limited supply and the negative environmental impact of non-renewable energy sources such as fossil fuels, it is imperative to find a more environmentally friendly alternative energy source. One possible source is algae, which are a diverse group of aquatic organisms that can conduct photosynthesis. If algae can be utilized, it could have a positive impact on the environment. It may decrease greenhouse gas emissions and impact climate change. However, algae cannot compete with non-renewable sources unless it is economically viable. Therefore, a cost effective and efficient strategy for algae production must be developed.

  Sandy will evaluate the conditions under which algae production is most efficient, cost effective, and other possible avenues to reduce costs for algae cultivation. To carry out the study, Sandy will complete a meta-analysis, which is a statistical analysis that combines the results of multiple scientific studies. Journal articles will be sourced from reputable websites and must include at least five key words. The articles will be organized with a summary form and added to a database. In order to analyze the data collected, Sandy will use qualitative coding, where the main ideas of each article will be used and compared to each other in order to find an overarching theme.

  Outside of Science Research, Sandy enjoys playing tennis, drawing, and playing the violin. She is involved in a variety of extracurriculars including Varsity Tennis, Interact, and French club. Sandy also enjoys spending time with her family and friends.

Genetic Engineering on Sickle Cell Anemia (a Meta Analysis)

  Sickle Cell Anemia is a genetic disease affecting many citizens in South America and Africa. Sickle Cell Anemia is caused by an inheritance of abnormal hemoglobin production thus causing the red blood cells to fatigue and form into a sickle shape. For those affected by the disease, they experience extreme pain and numerous medical altercations for the patient including fatigue, dactylitis (swelling and inflammation of the hand and feet), bacterial infection, sudden pooling of blood in the spleen and liver, along with lung and heart injury. Currently, there is no cure for the disease. However, there are many methods of treatment.

  Sierra’s project will focus on the evaluation of genetic therapy for treatment to prevent pain and other severe effects of the disease. In this meta-analysis study (or an examination of data from a number of independent studies of the same subject, in order to determine a new overall trend), data from different treatments such as pluripotent cells/iPS cells, stem cells and direct insertion of engineered hemoglobin will be compared with one-another. The results will be taken from numerous data-bases of clinical trials. The treatments will be tested on effectiveness of lowering the number of sickled cells, cost effectiveness and availability. With the outcome of the study, it is expected that the direct insertion of hemoglobin will be the most effective however, it will be the least cost-effective treatment.

  Outside of Science Research, Sierra enjoys playing sports such as volleyball and fencing. Another one of her interests is playing guitar and singing in Rock Club. She also preforms at open mic nights on weekends with her band.