Student-led Research Highlights

by Ben Caudill and Hannah Chesson

At Massanutten Regional Governor's School, student-led research is a large part of the curriculum. The students curate their projects based on many categories to choose from. They can acquire help from their research teacher, chosen mentor, and peers. Students can work independently or in a group. These projects are developed year-long hypothesizing, writing research papers, conducting experiments, and coming to a conclusion. Students choose a specific topic and question at the beginning of the course. Following real-world procedure, they further that goal; and in some cases publish that research. There is no limit to what the students can investigate! We have compiled some of the main aspects students can expect to focus on: Environmental Science, Engineering, Humanities, Agriculture, Education, and Astronomy. The following research projects embody the MRGS Spirit!

Environmental Science:

Custom Constructed Carbon Dioxide Scrubber 

2018-2019

Madison Nichols (Central High School) and John Richardson (Spotswood High School) created a prototype of a carbon dioxide purification system. With their method, they are able to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store the condensed gas. They were able to successfully create a new CO2 scrubbing method and progress to the ISEF national science fair in Las Vegas! They have now patented the invention and are pursuing similar fields in California and Massachusetts.

Engineering:

Development of a Magnet Based Measuring Instrument for Electrons

2016-2017

Courtny Cushman (Spotswood High School) had the goal to measure electron concentration in semiconductor electrical components. She worked with Dr. Costel Constantin, a professor at James Madison University, to develop her system. To measure these concentrations magnetic fields would be generated and the waves would be measured for their strength to determine the concentrations. Courtny, with the aid of Dr. Costel Constantin, developed her unique magnetic instrument and the calculations to articulate the data collected from this tool of science! 

Humanities:

Jeslyn Liu’s project investigated the effects of the Supreme Court on societies’ progress. She conducted surveys, followed previous data trends, and studied the effectiveness of the Supreme Court. Her research then allowed her to come to a conclusion which could help the betterment of society.

Agriculture:

Creation of an Efficient Food for Horses

2021-2022

Michele Mickelwait (Central High School) saw to develop a safe, affordable, and an easily produced barley based feed. Many horse owners have some level of difficulty supplying the fragile diets and copious amounts of food for the animals. Michele researched and developed a simple and well detailed method to produce an efficient and compact food cube. 

Education:

Nathan Hearne researched which activities could improve or inhibit cognitive functions in high school and college students. His hypothesis was that students who participate in athletic, musical, and exercise activities would have the best scores on the cognitive tests, and students who didn’t participate in any activities would have lower scores. He used a sample composed of Rockingham and Bridgewater students and concluded that his hypothesis was incorrect, there were no major differences in the data.

Astronomy:

Testing the Ease of Detection of H2O in Megamasers

2021-2022

Note. The image featured is of a Megamaser.

Will St. John (East Rockingham High School) found that there were inconclusive results about detecting megamasers in our galaxy, but the theory retained a promising basis. Megamasers are celestial bodies that emit large amounts of energy in microwave emissions. They can be used to gauge distances and galactic locations of interest. The previously mentioned studies that Will had found, suggested a relationship between water maser emissions and extremely powerful similar sources of energy which were compared to black holes. Will spent his research year learning multiple programming languages to effectively analyze this intriguing data and hopefully validate this incredibly important discovery.