The Townsend Harris Science Research sequence is designed to provide our highly motivated students with the knowledge and skills to compete in the Intel Science Talent Search Program and other prestigious events such as the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, and Siemens- Westinghouse, and Otto Burgdorf Competitions among others. Approximately 100 students are engaged in Science Research during any one year. Students have the option of remaining in the program for the full three-year sequence, or leaving after the second or third semesters. Approximately 20 seniors are engaged in Intel level research each year.

Science Research 1 and 2 is a laboratory oriented course of study that introduces our students to the methods and processes of the scientific method and trains them to think critically. The curriculum for this first year teaches students to design and conduct controlled experiments and use appropriate statistical tests to analyze and interpret their data. The papers they write documenting their work incorporates charts and graphs that are informed by their understanding of statistical analysis. Students are trained to use variety of equipment ranging from digital optical microscopes and Eppendorf pipettes to running gels on our DNA electrophoresis equipment. Emphasis is placed on reading and critically evaluating both peer research and the research of renowned scientists in professional journals. At the conclusion of their first year in the program, our students design and conduct an original project. A laboratory report on this project that includes background research and data analysis is written in accordance with the guidelines established by the New York Academy of Sciences. These papers are submitted to the New York City Science, Mathematics and Technology Fair the following fall.

In the second year of the program, our students are guided in the process of finding an outside research mentor based on their individual interests. Most students gain placement in laboratories under the auspices of these mentors early in the second year of the program. From this time on students split their time between meetings with their high school advisors and their work with their research mentors. As part of their preparation for designing their independent research project, students conduct extensive reviews of the relevant literature and keep annotated bibliographies of their review. Students spend increasingly more time with their mentors during this year and devote the summer between eleventh and twelfth grades to completing their project.

Both second and third year students are scheduled with a block of time at the end of the school day to facillate their time in the lab and to allow time for the requisite library research. In their senior year, in addition to continuing their work under the auspices of their outside mentors, the students are guided through the process of writing their 20 page research paper by a team of in-school advisors from the Science Department. Additional assistance is often provided by members of the Math and Humanities Departments as well. Students are taught how to present their research findings in a poster presentation in front of committees of outside experts in their field.

Our comprehensive Science Research sequence has demonstrated its success in developing in our students the ability to write and present scholarly papers based on their independent research.