The Scientific Mentor
By Becky Rodia, Senior Editor

Amid the poster sessions.

The Cornell Science Challenge, at first glance, looks like many other science fairs. Seventh graders from East Side Middle School in New York, NY fill the Olin Hall at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, patrolling the perimeters of the tables on which their poster sessions are set up, waiting for someone to linger long enough so they can issue an invitation: "Would you like to hear about the effects of light and moisture on mold growth?"

It's true we learned a lot about mold, as well as other science topics during our visit to the sixth annual Cornell Science Challenge last April, but what makes this day of poster sessions truly special are the three months leading up to it.

Science and imagination. Beginning in January, mentors (usually graduate students, but sometimes faculty members, laboratory technicians and post-doctorate fellows join the fun) from Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, The Sloan-Kettering Institute and Rockefeller University visit seventh grade science classes at East Side Middle School on a weekly basis to guide students through the creation of a science project.

In 2003, there were 28 groups of four to five kids each. Each group's mentor ensured that the group's project had a sound rationale, while encouraging the students to let their imaginations run free.

East Side Middle School seventh grade teacher Alicia Pilgrim talks with students after their presentations.

And run free they did. Within the framework of the scientific process (designing and testing a hypothesis, designing experiments, analyzing the results of those experiments), the kids came up with projects that focused on topics in biology, chemistry and physics, including things that were of special interest to middle schoolers. The project titles often say it all. In recent years, projects have included, "Put On the Beat While the Hamsters Eat: The Effect of Music on Food Consumption," and "Beanados: The Effect of Tornados on Plant Growth" (the tornado effect was achieved with a blender).

After three months of developing their projects under their mentor's guidance, the groups met to compete in the Cornell Science Challenge, where the posters they created to showcase their findings were judged in several categories. Awards were given for Best Presentation, Most Creative and, of course, Best Scientific Method.

Finding mentors. Want to start a mentoring program for your students, but you don't know where to begin? Dr. Sara Glickstein, one of the founders of the Cornell Science Challenge, recommends contacting potential mentoring organizations via their public relations office, or their community outreach office, if they have one. If you have a biomedical institution or university in your area, you can try asking professors to be mentors, but you may have the best luck approaching graduate students for mentor positions.

Mentor Jeremy Seto sets up an experiment for the seventh graders visiting his lab.

Sara pointed out that an initial "no" may not be a "no" for the entire institution. Try a different department or contact person. "Keep asking until you find someone who's receptive to the idea," she said.

Making plans. Once you have an initial contact who has agreed to be your mentor coordinator, invite him or her into class for a single visit and, after that visit, discuss planning a long-term program. The Cornell Science Challenge has developed a time line: the mentor coordinator and the middle school science teacher meet in May or June to set a date for a planning meeting to take place that autumn.

At the autumn meeting, exact dates are set for the mentors' classroom visits and the after-school meetings of the mentors and teachers. Then it's time for your mentor coordinator to recruit mentors from within his or her organization. Sara Glickstein noted that it's helpful to hold a "mentor training session," in which mentors learn what to expect from the students, and what their own role will be.

Step by step. During each Cornell Science Challenge mentoring session, groups work on an assigned topic. There's also time allotted for working on their Cornell Science Challenge projects. Outside of the classroom, students have access to their mentors via phone, e-mail and even visits to the mentor's laboratory.

The kids do all the work on their projects. The mentor is there to give advice on finding relevant research materials, suggest keywords for online searches and generally keep the project on track – a track that includes the following steps

1. Brainstorm project possibilities, get to know your mentor.
2. Choose project and make hypothesis. Work on research plan.
3. Finalize research plan and conduct research.
4. Analyze data.
5. Finalize data analysis and begin working on results and discussion.
6. Complete results and discussion, begin working on final report.
7. Complete report and work on constructing poster session.

On the day of the big science fair, the groups of students take turns presenting their poster sessions in Cornell's Olin Hall and visiting their mentors' laboratories for hands-on activities with high-tech equipment. On our visit to the Cornell Science Challenge, it was clear that in both Olin Hall and the labs, excitement and learning were running high.

February, 2004, Vol.34, No.5