by Muaz Reza

At Science Academy, all 7th and 8th graders participate in our Science Fair. For some, it is an exciting scientific endeavor and a chance to showcase their knowledge on a specific topic. For others, it serves as simply another assignment, albeit one that has multiple working parts and spans a semester. No matter the outlook, all write their reports, bring their lab notebooks, and make their trifolds for their presentations. Then, after 8th grade, most put Science Fair behind them, glad they never have to look at a poster board again.

However, participating in Science Fair as a high schooler can be deeply gratifying and rewarding. For one, the stakes are much higher. Millions of dollars worth of scholarships, grants, and aid is given out to high school researchers. Veterans and experts of different fields are drawn to young researchers, and companies often come to large-scale Science Fairs to seek them out. Practically, doing research in high school is often easier. Compared to middle school, high school gives you extra time to find out what you’re interested in. This makes the process of research and presentation much more enjoyable and less tedious, driven by true passion rather than just fulfilling an assignment. In addition, all high school entrants participate not only in the school’s Science Fair, but also the Los Angeles County Science and Engineering Fair at the Shrine Expo Hall near USC, which is a memorable and valuable experience.

The following are interviews conducted with Science Academy high schoolers who made the choice to participate in Science Fair, both at our school and at the county level. The discussions were centered around these questions:

What is your project, and what specific field of science does it fall under?
How did you choose the topic to do your research in?
Do you have any tips for novice researchers wanting to get into research?

Brian Shin, 9th Grade

My project, which falls under the Biochemistry field, was aimed at extracting polyphenolic compounds, which are known in the medical field to have antibiotic effects, from berries, then testing their efficacy against E. coli via the Kirby-Bauer test. Essentially, I used a solvent-based extraction procedure to extract polyphenols, such as anthocyanins, then tested how well they inhibited bacterial growth by growing a plate with bacteria and dropping disks dipped with polyphenolic extracts. What we should see, after incubating the plates overnight, are rings of bacterial inhibition around the disks.

I chose the topic of antimicrobial compounds from berries because berries were both fairly cheap and widely available, and they are supported by literature in the field to contain a high amount of polyphenols. As a kid, I was always interested in biochemistry and the medical field. I chose a project in biochemistry because of my interest in this field. Another factor that influenced what field I wanted to do my project in was the fact that my mentor has a background in biochemistry.

For novice researchers wanting to get into research, I strongly advise conducting a literature search on Google Scholar or PubMed, so that you can obtain academic journals and papers to base your experiment on. If possible, find a teacher to work with and develop an experiment, conduct a successful literature search, and discuss directions and goals for the project. When picking a project, do an experiment in a field you are comfortable with—if you’re doing an experiment in a field you dislike or feel uncertain about, you won’t have fun conducting the experiment, and then you won’t be able to accurately and effectively present your proejct in front of the judges.

Jeremy Kim and Hailey Choi, 11th Grade

Our project is titled "Man Overboard!", and it falls under the field of social science. In this experiment, we were observing what kind of decision people will make when they are faced with a morally challenging situation within a social setting. Essentially, we gathered test subjects into groups of 5 and put them in a difficult situation where they would hypothetically need to either face a high risk of "dying" or “sacrifice” a member within the group. It was a really fun experiment, and we got to see how kind (or how evil) people actually are!

I chose this topic after reading a book over the summer called Thinking Fast and Slow by Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman. Kahneman did lots of research and experimenting on cognitive biases, which are psychological shortcuts that humans use, and their positive and negative effects. Hailey was also interested in psychology through a summer program that she attended, so we decided to work on this project together due to our shared interests.

One thing I would tell novice researchers is to not be afraid of conducting a “bad” experiment. During the research and experimenting process, Hailey and I encountered lots of obstacles, such as not gathering enough test subjects, which led to poor data collection. To be honest, I really wasn't excited to present our work at the fair, but when it was time for the judging process, I was able to learn a lot from many of the judges who gave us very good feedback for our research. So even if you think your idea isn't as good as everyone else's, don't let that stop you from taking that first step. Put your idea out there and treat each failure as a stepping stone for your growth!

The Los Angeles County Engineering and Science Fair (LASEF) took place at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on March 9, 2025. Here are the awards our very own Science Academy STEM students won at LASEF:

Hailey Choi, Jeremy Kim — Recognition in the Behavioral/Social Science, Sr. Division
Joelle Tsao, Reyang Pelkyi — Third Place in Biochemistry/Molecular Biology, Jr. Division
Muaz Reza — Honorable Mention in Earth/Space Sciences, Sr. Division
Ryan Lee — Third Place in Earth/Space Sciences, Sr. Division
Judah Maman, Arie Maman — Honorable Mention in Engineering Applications, Jr. Division
Atharva Shimpi, Jeron Leonard — Second Place in Materials Science, Jr. Division
Jackson Rutner — First Place in Materials Science, Jr. Division
Xavier Rowe — Recognition in Mathematics and Computer Science, Sr. Division
Aiden Rav-Noy, Isaac Sapire — Recognition in Mathematics and Computer Science, Sr. Division
Geonhee Lee, Harshini Manikandan — Recognition in Physics General, Sr. Division
Brian Shin — Recognition in Biochemistry/Molecular Biology, Sr. Division

We congratulate all our middle and high school students who participated for being such great representatives of our school by competing at the county level!

Congratulations, Supernovas!

Watch the full LASEF award ceremony here: https://youtu.be/8_YoTEMYwJE?si=mt1plnloz2xSVNvZ