For some students — and even some teachers — summer can mean the accumulation of mental cobwebs. But that was not the case for at least two rising WW-P seniors, who attended the intensive, three-week Governor’s School in the Sciences at Drew University. Nor was it the case for one WW-P Board of Education member — a college mathematics professor — who took advantage of the summer break to probe the mysteries of ancient Chinese mathematics and science.
The students at Governor’s School — part of a group of 85 chosen from more than 300 applicants — were Sophia Liu of High School South and Aastha Chokshi of North. Chokshi wrote the following description of her summer at the Governor’s School:
“The classes were not the typical science classrooms that you would see in school. For instance, in the impossibilities with the ruler and compass class, we learned how to construct a 17-gon starting with just 2 points, a ruler and a compass; we also proved that the 7-gon is impossible to construct with a ruler and compass. The class required us to use geometry, algebra, trigonometry, and number theory concepts.
“The cell biology and cancer course focused on the molecular processes and controls that help prevent cancer in a normal cell and how accumulated mutations can disrupt the controls and lead to cancer. We also examined the ways in which cancer is detected, how various treatments work to stop the spread of cancer, and how scientists go about developing drugs to fight cancer.
“In the Concepts of Chemical Bonding class, we examined the bonding patterns in many different chemical compounds and how the conventional bonding theories don’t fit the patterns observed in the compounds. We looked at the more sophisticated approach using the molecular orbital theory to describe bonding within all compounds.
“In the lab course on organic chemistry we looked at the effects of chemical structure on the properties of organic compounds. We also observed a variety of organic compounds and used a variety of lab techniques that involved using a spectrometer, vacuum filtration, and many other techniques. In the labs, we observed the chirality of ibuprofen in Advil, made silly putty from glue, isolated cholesterol from gallstones, etc.
“My team project was on biochemistry. Our project was titled: Computational Modeling of Varying Nucleophile Activity on the RNA Cleavage Transition State. As a team, we looked at the effects of changing the environment on rate constant and activation energy of RNA cleavage, which may eventually serve as a potential treatment for cancer as well as viral diseases such as HIV.
“The team project was different from most other projects. During the last week at governor’s school, we would spend the entire day with our team, working on the paper and presentation which were to be submitted on the last day. The team projects at NJGSS are set up by team project leaders, who are usually professors. We then design our own experiments as well as follow other preset experiments. By the end of the governor’s school, each team puts together a paper and a slideshow. The team project helped us get experience researching in the scientific field, which we don’t usually get in high school.
“We also had many social activities including dances, a career day in which we met NJGSS alumni who are currently working in different fields related to science and business, a college fair, and a talent show. I performed a bollywood dance in the talent show.
“One key event was when the most recent Nobel Prize winner in physics, Dr. Adam Reiss, came to talk to us about his research. In fact, he was a NJGSS 1987 alumnus himself and currently works as a professor and researcher at John Hopkins University. We also got to hold his Nobel Prize. It was a unique experience to hear him speak to us about his research on the accelerating universe which earned him the Nobel Prize.
“He told us that as of now we only know what’s there in 4 percent of the universe. The rest of it is Dark Energy, about which people know very little. We had many more speakers to talked to us about their research and their work. One especially interesting talk was on the Mathematical Analysis of Romantic Love in which love and pleasure were analyzed using calculus techniques. Other talks included one on Particle Physics, one on Parasitic Diseases, and on Passwords and Computer Science.
“NJGSS offered us a chance to work closely with university professors, which in itself was an amazing experience.”
