Honors Science Research Program

Program Overview

The award-winning Honors Science Research Program is intended for high school students who are highly self-motivated, curious, and scientifically minded. Its purpose is to provide an opportunity for students to engage in science as a process, become innovators, develop communication skills, work with scientific mentors, and participate in competitions.

As a part of the program, students will develop skills necessary to be successful in scientific research, be able to identify good experimental design from poor ones, and become aware of the need for scientific advancement for the good of mankind.

The program launched in 2010 and has sent over 40 students to the State Science Fair and 11 to the International Science and Engineering Fair.

Program News

Westminster Students Designated as National Hispanic Scholars by College Board
10/6/2021
Westminster students Annalise Garrido ’23, Isabella Gonzalez ’23 and Frank Carlos Torres ’22 have earned recognition from the College Board as National Hispanic Scholars. Students eligible for this award have a GPA of 3.5 or higher and have excelled on the PSAT/NMSQT or PSAT 10 or earned a score of 3 or higher on two or more AP Exams.
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Melanie Deville ‘22

A dedicated vocalist and Irish dancer, Melanie uses her talents in both competition and performance. She’s performed in Florida’s All-State choir for the past four years, and this year, she received a State Championship award in Irish Dance. Melanie pursues her passion for science through the study of novel advances in Aerospace Propulsion for Science Fair.

Project Title: Visualization of Two-Dimensional Rocket Motor Flow Using Schlieren Photography
This project utilized a unique visualization method to observe and compare the flow through standard nozzles and aerospike nozzles.

Awards and recognition: South Florida Science and Engineering Fair Regional Competition - Superior; State Science and Engineering Fair of Florida - Finalist; International Science and Engineering Fair - Finalist.
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Peter Frometa '22

Peter is as passionate about the game of baseball as he is about math and science. He hopes to use his success in applied analytics to one day lead a sports organization and maximize its potential.

Project Title: The Effect of Multiple Variables on the Likelihood of High School Seniors being drafted in the MLB

This project utilized a classification algorithm to predict the likelihood of a high school senior being drafted by a Major League Baseball team. Using a combination of statistics including fastball velocity, infield velocity, outfield velocity, exit speed, and running speed, this model was able to achieve an accuracy of 91% when compared against historical data.

Awards and recognitions: South Florida Science and Engineering Fair Regional Competition -Superior, State Science and Engineering Fair of Florida – Finalist
Annalise Garrido ‘23

An avid soccer player and violinist, Annie also uses her talents to serve at her local church.

Project Title: The Effects of Differing Concentrations of Berberine on Parkinson's Induced Drosophila melanogaster.
Drosophila melanogaster expressing the Alpha synuclein mutation were exposed to varying concentrations of berberine, a natural supplement derived from berry extracts. Results of mobility assays in both larval and adult flies revealed that Increasing concentrations of berberine increased mobility, suggesting that the extract decreased the symptomology of the mutation. These results suggest that berberine, may be able to ameliorate the symptoms of Parkinson’s in those who suffer from this debilitating disease.

Awards and recognition: South Florida Science and Engineering Fair Regional Competition - Superior; Office of Naval Research Naval Science Award; State Science and Engineering Fair of Florida - Finalist.

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Isabella Gonzalez '23

Isabella is a well-rounded student athlete who also serves on Student Council and on the Leadership Community Service and Clubs Committee. She is passionate about acting, tennis, research, and working to serve others.

Project Title: The Effect of Copper Upon the Growth of Agrobacterium Tumefaciens

Varying concentration of copper nanoparticle suspensions were applied to cultures of Agrobacterium tumefaciens, a disease that causes tumor growth in plants. The applied copper did not significantly reduce the number of Agrobacterium tumefaciens colonies at the concentrations used, suggesting that copper suspensions are not an effective treatment for this disease in plants.

Awards and recognition: South Florida Science and Engineering Fair Regional Competition - Superior; State of Florida Science and Engineering Fair - Finalist.
Manuela Londono '23

Science and Math are Manuela's favorite academic courses.

Project Title: The Effects of Ozone on Chlorella.

The main objective of the project was to test if ozone could lessen the growth of chlorella. This experiment was inspired by the Red Tides of Florida and ozone was tested as a possible supressor.

Awards and recognitions: South Florida Science and Engineering Fair Regional Competition - Superior; State Science and Engineering Fair of Florida – Alternate
Dante Martinez ‘22

An aspiring digital artist and engineering student, Dante hopes to pursue a career in developing Virtual Reality applications for education.

Project Title: The Effect of Increasing Sensory Modalities on Retention Rates

This project compared the effectiveness of using Virtual Reality (VR) to teach cardiovascular physiology to that of traditional teaching methods. Students that studied using the VR lesson had significantly higher normalized learning gains and retained more information over a 4-week period than students that studied using the more traditional methods. These results suggest that (VR) is an effective teaching method and supports further development of educational software that utilizes this platform.

Awards and recognition: South Florida Science and Engineering Fair Regional Competition - Superior; State Science and Engineering Fair of Florida - Finalist; International Science and Engineering Fair - Finalist.
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