With the semester coming to a close for local schools, students are getting ready to write final exams and deliver final project presentations.
To wrap up his Biology 20 class, Travis Cummings, with St. Timothy’s School, chose to have his students create final projects relating to how the forces of evolution through natural selection are changing the human race currently and how it will shape its future. The students presented their projects in a symposium format on June 8 for evaluation.
“This isn’t the first research project this class has done, we do projects like this all the time, but it’s the first time in this format. Their research skills are pretty good, but you always have to change things up and give them new challenges,” Cummings said.
Cummings gave the students a relatively loose set of guidelines for the projects so as to not limit their creativity. Project topics spanned from what genetic engineering will look like in the future, how empathic behaviour has changed throughout history, and what would happen if Earth colonized Mars, and beyond.
Though the students were given two weeks to complete their projects, Jessica Tinholt, used it as an opportunity to present her research and findings for a project she’s been working on outside of school.
“I did my project on bluebirds. For the past six years, my grandfather and I have been studying these birds … We check the nests about once a week,” Tinholt explained.
Her project contained various components such as the ratio of bluebirds to tree swallows in the area, why bluebirds’ eggs are blue, and more. Though the project has been time-consuming, it’s a passion for Tinholt.
“I got involved because I like biology and bluebirds and seeing how everything interacts and doing field work was really cool. I eventually want to work as awildlife biologist,” Tinholt explained.
Other students drew inspiration from careers their parents had chosen - Kristine Borsa’s mother has a career in the health care industry so she and her project partner, Coral Kopp, chose to expand on that.
“We chose to do this because my mom’s in health care and we thought it was an interesting topic considering we have an increasing population and this is going to become more of a staple in our society,” Borsa explained.
Their project looked at evolutionary biology and how it’s affected by modern medicine.
“For example, over-sterilized environments can lead to a person having more allergies or a weaker immune system. They can also be more susceptible to different diseases,” Kopp said.
Overall, most students agreed the project was more enjoyable than writing a final exam. Some used it as an opportunity to explore potential career opportunities while others saw it as a learning experience about an interesting topic.
