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Linda DeKort’s advanced biology class has long undertaken projects that take them out of the classroom. Now, students’ work will take them even farther — to Salt Lake City, Utah.
Ten students from Flathead will participate in the Inter Mountain Junior Science and Humanities Symposium for three days in Salt Lake City. They are among only 50 official delegates from Montana who have been accepted.
“It’s a good opportunity, and if one of us gets chosen to give an oral presentation, it’s a good scholarship opportunity,” said junior Michael Greig. “It makes me feel honored that we’ve been chosen, but I think that we worked harder than the other students in Montana. We’ve put in the effort and dedication.”
In order to be accepted to the seminar, students must write papers on their yearlong projects in advanced biology and send them to the Davidson Honors College at the University of Montana.
Last week students made final revisions and additions to their papers and sent them to Salt Lake City.
The students will be informed Feb. 1 which categories they will participate in at the symposium.
Advanced biology students use live subjects for their bio projects, studying everything from pigments in plants to water quality and algae in Foy’s Lake to chicken’s noses to frogs injected with human hormones.
“I think it’s a great idea,” said senior Dave Beekman. “It’s a great way to see what applying science is like.”
All students are raising African clawed frogs from fertilized eggs as a required class project, but they do individual projects as well.
Juniors Katie Briggs and Serena Atkinson are doing a joint project on Stoner Creek on Blacktail Mountain. They will try to find out if the caddis fly population is impacted by logging in different parts of the creek. They are also studying the water quality for impact on the fly.
“We’re expecting that we’ll have to do the best we can,” said Briggs. “Hopefully our presentations will get us some scholarship money.”
Other class projects include:
• chicken imprinting
• the effects of UV-B rays on the pigments of plants
• injecting frogs with human hormones to make them reproduce
• the frog population in Foy’s Lake
• sestodes in Flathead Lake fish
Final results for the students’ projects won’t be available until later in the year. |
