Research Opportunities for Newberry High School Students
Program Description
The UF-HHMI GATOR Program provides an opportunity for rising senior high school students from Newberry High School (Newberry, FL) to become involved with life sciences research at UF, under the guidance of graduate mentors and faculty advisors.
In spring 2008, graduate students from UF will be visiting Newberry High School to showcase their research projects. Rising Seniors interested in working with one of the graduate students are invited to apply after the graduate student visits.
During summer and fall 2008, selected Newberry high school students will join small research teams lead by graduate mentors. During this time, they will be introduced, first-hand, to the practice of scientific research and scholarship. By doing discovery science, students can begin to gain important lab skills along with knowledge of research design and presentation.
The high school research experience will culminate in a poster presentation of their research at UF's Engineering and Science Fair, held in February 2009.
Overview of High School Student Schedule:
Early spring
Apply to the UF-HHMI G.A.T.O.R. Program, to work with particular graduate mentors. Postmark deadline is March 20, 2008.
End of spring (exact dates will be determined after students are selected)
HS Students will participate in two workshops held at Newberry High School. The first workshop will be organizational to explain program expectations, discuss the nature of science, and answer questions. The second meeting will be a three hour lab in which students will design and run a short experiment, take data, start a lab notebook, draw conclusions, and talk about pitfalls.
Summer
HS students will work 1 day every two weeks at UF with their research team. The precise schedule will be determined by the needs/opportunities of the research group and the HS student. The purpose of the summer is to build professional relationships among team members and let the HS student shadow his or her graduate and undergraduate mentors so that he/she can learn how the lab works and some of the techniques used there.
September thru February
High school students will conduct most of their research during this time. HS students will work primarily with the undergraduates on a research project that they can present as a poster at the UF Engineering and Science Fair in February.
In general, the G.A.T.O.R. Program prefers that science fair projects not be the focus during this research experience. Often HS students will be working on projects developed by their undergraduate mentors and the timing of project completion may not align with the science fair schedule. However, if the HS student wants to take their project to science fair after the project is completed, he/she should discuss this possibility with the research team.
Spring semester
All HS student participants are invited to attend a 3-credit class at UF called "Communicating Complexity in Science". College credit for the course is available. The class meets on Tuesday evenings from 5-8 pm.
