By DEBORAH E. LANS
GERMANTOWN—The infiltration of microplastics in the Hudson River Watershed. The effect of diet on ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). The use of Transdirect Current Stimulation for depression. The relationship between screen time and memory.
These heady topics are among the areas of research being conducted by sophomores, juniors and one senior who are members of Germantown High School’s Science Research program whose projects were recently presented by the students to a group of professional mentors, parents and classmates.
Senior Sophia Erling wanted to research an area of local importance. She was aware of studies of the presence of microplastics in local plants and farm soils but saw that there was a void: studies of their presence in the water and sediment of local tributaries of the Hudson River.
Microplastics are the tiny fragments, beads and particles that result from the degradation of plastics. For example, clothing made of polyester contains plastics and every time we wash an item made with polyester it sheds microplastics. Microplastic fragments break off when we twist the cap off a plastic water bottle. Tires shed fragments as a car travels. Heating and preparing an infant’s formula in a plastic bottle releases millions of microplastic particles into the liquid.
Microplastics are in our cosmetics, take-out coffee cups, bags and much more, and they find their way into our air, water and soil and thus into the foods we eat, the air we breathe and the water we drink.
The Science Research program, sponsored by SUNY Albany since 1994, is a three-year class that allows students to learn scientific research techniques. Students completing the course earn not only high school credits but also 12 college credits, and they gain skills in reading scientific articles, conducting academic and field research, and the art of oral and written presentation.
Each student, once (s)he has identified a topic, is required to identify and recruit a mentor—a professional in the student’s chosen area of research who helps to define the research and construct a field research project. At Germantown, the class teacher, Dale Strong, works with the students as well, and the students discuss their progress with the group as a whole, which helps to hone the topics and research.
After her search for a mentor (who can literally be located anywhere in the world) Sophia found Maija Niemisto, who currently works with the New York State Water Resources Institute, which is part of Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and who (among other things) spent 10 years working with Hudson River Sloop “Clearwater” living on and teaching about the Hudson.
After extensive research about microplastics and sampling techniques, Sophia designed a study to test water and sediment from six tributaries of the Hudson River, diversified to represent rural environments like the Stockport Creek in Stockport and Roeliff Jansen Kill in Linlithgo and urban ones, like the Posten Kill Creek in Troy and Fall Kill Creek in Poughkeepsie.
She conducted the study during the summer between her junior and senior years. The results surprised her. While, as expected, microplastics were found in all the sediment samples and all but one of the water samples, the highest particle count in water came from a rural location—the Stockport Creek. The highest count in sediment also came from a rural location—the Roeliff Jansen Kill.
The health implications of human ingestion of microplastics are only beginning to be studied, but scientists believe the consequences include respiratory illnesses, cancer, the disruption of the endocrine system and gastrointestinal ailments.
Sophia plans to attend Montana State University next year, which is known for its research programs, on a premed track. She will continue her work by learning about the health effects of microplastics.
Deandrea Edwards is just finishing her first year (as a sophomore) in the Science Research program. She was diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) when she was eight and is formulating a topic that will consider the effect of the foods we eat on ADHD.
ADHD, a neuropsychiatric disorder, affects more than 7 in 100 children and 5 in 100 adults. Studies read by Deandrea have seen that a person with ADHD has an altered gut microbiome compared to “neurotypical” (non-ADHD) control subjects. The gut microbiome consists of the various microorganisms that live in our digestive tracts.
Among the questions that Deandrea is considering for further study: what is the difference in the effect on the gut microbiome of an infant’s being breast fed or formula fed and is there an effect on the development of ADHD? Does Red 40 dye (a synthetic food dye common in dairy products, sweets and beverages) affect the gut microbiome, setting up children to suffer from ADHD?
Deandrea expects to conduct some 90 hours of research into these areas this summer. Once she finds a mentor (she is on the hunt now), she expects to refine her topic and design a research protocol.
The students in the class credit their teacher, Dale Strong, with creating a fun, collaborative and challenging setting in which to grow their skills. In turn, Mr. Strong, who is retiring this year, credits the students with having the initiative to pursue topics that interest them, the persistence to find a mentor, slog through mountains of paperwork, and hone reading, analytical and presentation skills to a high level.
Fortunately for Germantown, another teacher will continue the work of the Science Research program and, in Mr. Strong’s words, “open students’ minds to topics they would never explore in other science classes.’’
