Middle Schooler Places 2nd at LI Science and Engineering Fair
Possessing a strong work ethic, dedication, and a creative mind, Kate Weseley-Jones has excelled as a member of North Shore Middle School’s Science Research Club. Kate has dedicated a great amount of time and effort to her science research project, entitled A Graph is Worth 1,000 (Misleading?) Words, and it has paid off. Kate’s research project entailed several surveys in which she presented graphs to viewers focusing on how truncation of the y-axis on a graph affected how viewers interpreted the results of the graph. This phenomenon is seen often in the media where the aim is to mislead the viewer by misrepresenting the data or statistic being shown. Kate’s goal was to study how falsely advertising data or statistics could affect viewer interpretation of results.
Kate has participated in both the prestigious Long Island Science and Engineering Fair (LISEF) and the Long Island Science Congress (LISC). In order to participate in the science competitions Kate spent numerous hours both in and out of school planning and conducting her research, composing a research paper, running statistical analyses to determine the significance of her results, and creating a presentation for the competition’s judges. At the competitions, Kate had the opportunity to present her research to each of three judges.
Kate earned second place at the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair and is still awaiting the results from the Long Island Science Congress. Kate’s second place triumph allowed her the opportunity to apply to present her research at the Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering Rising Stars) national competition. Only the top 10% of 6th, 7th, and 8th grade participants are nominated to enter the prestigious national competition. Teacher Leader for Math & Science, Ms. DiMeola said, “Kate has been a pleasure to work with throughout the research process and I look forward to all that lies ahead for her.”
Article provided by Ms. DiMeola