Science Club Newsletter IN THIS EDITION:

 Welcome to the
November 2020 Second Edition!

 Riddles, Jokes,
and Puzzles

November Edition  Articles written by

students
Welcome to the November edition of our monthly newsletter! We hope you
take a look at our selection of science related topics! Thank you for your  An Interview with
submissions!
a Mathematics
For quick updates on club events and meetings please follow our Instagram: Student
@whs_scienceclub_ or our Facebook page: WHS Science Club 20-21
 Citations/Sources
Additionally, if you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to reach
out to scienceclubwhs@gmail.com.

~ Science Club Officers

Do you enjoy
drawing?

Are you
interested in
creating logos?

If yes, Science
Club is looking
for a new logo!
Requirements:

 Must be a science
related design
A photo of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope of Carina Nebula --- isn’t it cool?
 Must include
“Science Club”
somewhere in the
design
Quick info about us: Science Club meets on most Tuesdays/Wednesdays. The
club itself consists of 2 sections: Science Fair and Community Outreach. Those in  Can be drawn by
Science Fair utilize the club to get information and advice for participating in the hand or digitally!
regional and state science fairs. The Community Outreach aspect of the club
focuses on spreading STEM throughout Westborough. Incentives such as the If interested, please contact
Science Club Newsletter are a vital part of this! scienceclubwhs@gmail.com
Riddles, Jokes, and Puzzles
Answers can be found below!

Science Word Search Words:

1. What kind of chemical hates to be a
follower?
2. What is the loneliest of all physics
concepts?
3. What did the fox scientist name his
laboratory?
Beaker, Biology, Chemicals,
Chemistry, DNA, Elements, Energy,
Experiment, Life, Organism, Physics,
Planets, Science, Taxonomy,
Technology

4. What did the angry electron say when it

was repelled?

5. Did you hear the one about a chemist

who was reading a book about helium?

Submitted by Zoe Z.

Answers to the riddles:

1. Lead

2. The singularity

3. Den-sity

4. Let me atom

5. He couldn’t put it down

Science Articles Written by Students
The Science Behind Teen Brains
By: Zoe Z.

You might be a teenager wondering why your feelings can get very intense and overwhelming at times.
Or you might be a parent wondering why your child is behaving the way they are. Fear not! This is, as
shocking as it may seem, normal behavior for a teenager.

Our brains are continuously developing, from when we are a child all the way up to early adulthood.
Scientists have discovered that there is a part of the brain that controls many reactions which include
fear and aggression. This part is called the amygdala and it develops when you are younger, which
explains why teens would experience these feelings much quicker and stronger than an adult would.

Furthermore, another section of our brain that develops later in our lives is called the frontal lobe. As
this part develops, people think more before they act. Since this section of our brain progresses as we
become older, teenagers tend to have quick reactions in situations that they are in which is why they
can change emotions quickly.

Decision making is affected by the prefrontal cortex which is located in the frontal lobe and usually
develops very slowly. The prefrontal cortex lets the brain know important information that can impact
the decisions people make. However, since the prefrontal cortex matures slowly, it will take time for
people to know what decisions are right or wrong.

Finally, another very important reason why teens don’t make the most mature decisions and are
sometimes moody is because the brain releases a chemical called dopamine. Dopamine is released when
people feel happy or good about something. For example, if someone got a new phone, they would feel
very happy and dopamine would be released. This can also be the reason why adolescents have so much
eagerness to receive something positive.

Because teens’ brains are still developing, it is perfectly normal for teenagers to act in a way that might
not be understood by some adults. Now you know why!

You can easily change the formatting of selected text in the document text
by choosing a look for the selected text from the Quick Styles gallery on
the Home tab. On the Insert tab, the galleries include that are designed to
coordinate with the overall look of your document. You can use these
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document
 An Interview with a Statistics Student
This interview was conducted by Science Club. The interviewee is referred to as “M” and the
interviewer is referred to as “I”.

I: Hi! Thanks for sharing your experience as a Statistics student with us! Please introduce
yourself!

M: Hi, I’m Meghma Banerjee. I am a senior at UMass Amherst and one of my majors is mathematics
with a statistics concentration.

I: Great! What interests you about the major? Why did you choose it?

M: That’s a very good question. stats is a pretty new in the concentration among math and there is a
lot still to be discovered about it. There is a lot of research opportunity that I drew me towards this
subject. Along with that, stats, is a very applied part of math which you can use in day to day life. It’s
cool to put a quantity on intuitive process using stats processes (such as predicting the future).

I: Can you describe, briefly, what being a stats major consists of?

M: For stats you need to understand basic math. You’ll learn higher level and complex math, but you
should understand core concept of the mathematical world to have a strong foundation to build on for
statistics. You go from basic calculus to 3D calculus and this is what basically sets you of for stats.
It’s still an evolving aspect of math that can be used in almost every major. You need to have a good
understanding of stats concepts to understand majors in the world. In my opinion, a part of stats is
that you will actually have to use intuition and emotions in a way to analyze, forecast and create
accurate models.

I: What advice would you give to anyone considering to major in mathematics?

M: I would say that it definitely sounds very intimidating but once you realize the concepts it is
really cool because you can relate it to anything you want. Asking questions to professors always
helps, as well as doing/creating new things by using concepts in different ways always helps to better
your understanding of the subject.

I: That’s great advice. What would some possible jobs be as a statistician? The major seems
very flexible.

Continued on next page.

M: There is a lot of analytical growth that you can apply in a stats major. I think it’s always good to
have another major in the background; I have economics. When I apply to jobs I get a variety of
opportunities. The very cool thing about having stats as your major is that it allows you to mold
yourself in anywhere. You could be a market analyst or a biostatistical analyst. You can shape stats
in any way you want to.

I: Wow so this is a really versatile field! Can you explain one of your projects that you did?

M: I’ve been working with Covid-19 data this year in a grad level class. I’ve been forecasting what
parameters would help decrease the infection rate in a population. It’s a very interesting topic
because there is so much coming out in the news about the virus itself every day. It’s also cool to
analyze how many factors play into it determining something like this. There are many variables to
consider in a project like this: people’s beliefs, people’s abilities to follow rules, etc. What’s interesting
is that all of these are qualitative parameters are parameters that we don’t think about while looking
at data. So it’s cool to get a chance to do that.

I: Where do you get such data from? Especially for something as recent as Covid-19?

M: The most reliable place to get data is from the World Bank website or Covid specific websites.
Covid-19 tracking by the Atlantic is also a good source. I’m using these databases for my project.

I: Oh that’s nice to know. What are some final words you’d like to share?

M: For me, stats has been really eye opening. If you’re interested in learning about how the world
functions from a mathematical standpoint, stats is definitely something to consider. I have done
many concentrations in mathematics (such as pure math, applied math, and even the teaching
concentration) but nothing attracted me to anything as much as stats! I would encourage everyone to
pursue this as there is so much more to be found—it’s an evolving field. If you want to talk more with
me about statistics or mathematics you can contact me at mbanerjee@umass.edu

I: Thank you!
Citations/Sources
The Science Behind Teen Brains
Aacap. Teen Brain: Behavior, Problem Solving, and Decision Making, 2016,
www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/The-Teen-Brain-Behavior-Problem-
Solving-and-Decision-Making-095.aspx.

Mascarelli, Amanda Leigh. “The Teenage Brain.” Science News for Students, 3 Dec. 2019,
www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/teenage-brain.

“ Brain Map Frontal Lobes.” Queensland Health, The State of Queensland (Queensland Health), 12 Sept.
2013, www.health.qld.gov.au/abios/asp/bfrontal.