Léman Celebrates All Things Science During 2022 Science Week

April 21, 2022

Last week was the inaugural Science Week at Léman! During this celebration of all things science, the Upper School community participated in assemblies, guest speakers and science quizzes. Upper School students kicked off the celebration with a video featuring Upper and Lower School students, faculty, and staff singing their version of Tom Lehrer's song "The Elements," which you can enjoy here. 

Following the video viewing, students participated in a "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" style Science quiz. The competition was stiff but the ultimate winner was 12th grader Max Glass. 

On Wednesday every Advisory from Grade 6-10 competed against the other Advisory groups in the Grade in the Great Big Science Quiz.  Some of the questions were:

1. In what part of the body is the gastrocnemius muscle?

2. Native to NY state, is the Eastern Rattlesnake venomous, poisonous, or both?

3. What is Tim Berners-Lee famous for creating?

4. Why do scientists take a mean of a set of results?

Answers: 1. The calf, 2. Venomous only, 3. The internet, and 4. To reduce the effect of random errors.

The big event of the week was the Science Fair which saw 8th graders present research and investigative findings on the topic of their own choosing.  Topics ranged from hovercraft optimization, social media parallels with other forms of addiction, and much more.  Research projects by 7th graders and Data Analysis projects by 6th graders were also on display. Upper School students, faculty and staff, as well as Lower School students visited the science fair and had the opportunity to speak with participants about their projects. 

Twenty-six students from Grades 10-12 attended a talk by guest speaker Dr. Nicolas Spyrou from the Icahn Mt Sinai hospital who spoke about his experiences as a doctor and a medical researcher. 

Students asked questions about studying medicine and how to approach topics scientifically.  He also spoke to the 8th graders after the Science Fair where the winners of the Science Fair were announced.

The top prize was awarded to Michael Douglas and Lucas Paulino for their rigorous and scientific approach in their study into which baseball bat material (metal or wood) will result in the most successful batting.

In 2nd place was awarded to Karolina Ladenheim for her work on investigating how different wavelengths of light affect the rate of growth of plants.

In 3rd place was awarded to London Potter for her fascinating study on what makes bath bombs dissolve faster.

Congratulations to all the students who participated!