Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –
Teaching a neural network to answer a thousand questions, researching superbugs, determining a person’s chronotype using a DNA test, and recognizing lies using speech markers—this and much more was done by Moscow schoolchildren who participated in the project “In the center of science”. Based at the capital’s universities and leading research clusters, high school students, under the guidance of experts, implemented ideas in the fields of biology, ecology, chemistry, physics and linguistics, conducted experiments, and then presented their results at conferences.
We tell you how the project helps students take their first steps in science, feel like real researchers, and decide on their future profession.
Diving into Science
The project “In the Center of Science” opened last year. More than 15 thousand people took part in it: over 10 thousand high school students, as well as teachers and young scientists. The project, which united the efforts of schools, universities and scientific centers, provided Moscow students with the opportunity to engage in research activities based on modern laboratories and testing grounds, consult with the best mentors, develop their own projects and defend them before the expert community.
For several months, schoolchildren attended specialized clubs, festivals, lectures, master classes, and scientific and experimental courses. They mastered advanced research methods such as microscopy, electrophoresis, 3D printing, data collection and analysis, and modeling of physical and biological processes. Young chemists studied the rate of metal corrosion and prepared a protective solution, physicists created bionic prostheses on a 3D printer, biologists performed DNA sequencing, and ecologists developed ideas for preserving the environment. Professional hackathons were organized for teachers, and meetings of the Young Scientists Club were organized for aspiring researchers.
The schoolchildren presented their projects at internal conferences and city events. And the capital’s scientists told about cutting-edge discoveries in Moscow Palace of Pioneers, where three large lectures, a large-scale festival of natural sciences and the Moscow Science Festival were held in February.
How words reveal deception
Eleventh-grader Alexandra Gatilova from School No. 1238participated in scientific and experimental courses in linguistics. She conducted a study dedicated to identifying lie markers in oral speech. Together with her team, the schoolgirl modeled a situation, interviewed dozens of respondents, analyzed the data and presented the results in the form of diagrams.
“The linguistics courses were held at the Higher School of Economics. For two months, we studied theory and conducted research. Each group had its own topic; ours was working on a project to identify markers of lying in oral monologue speech. The goal was to find out whether it is possible to understand when a person is lying based on certain words. To do this, one part of the respondents was asked to imagine that they were late for a meeting with a friend because the bus did not arrive on time. And the other part was asked to lie that the reason for being late was a delayed bus. Then we deciphered the monologues using a special application and loaded the results into a table, highlighting the matches,” says Alexandra Gatilova.
While working on the project, the schoolchildren discovered the following patterns: truthful respondents more often used polite expressions and words with a softened negative meaning than those who lied. For example, they said about the bus that it was delayed, not late.
“We managed to detect lie markers in 70 percent of respondents. We presented the research results, presented in graphs and tables, at a scientific conference. This development can be used in forensics, training psychologists, for analyzing texts using artificial intelligence in various Telegram channels. We plan to continue working on the project in the next academic year,” says the schoolgirl.
Alexandra Gatilova is also making progress in learning English and Chinese. In the future, the girl wants to become a linguist and teacher.
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The neural network will answer the questions
Participant of the conference “Engineers of the Future” and winner of the Moscow Pre-professional Physics Olympiad Lev Lezhenev from School No. 1434— the author of a project based on artificial intelligence for a large retail chain. Together with his team, the tenth-grader created a website that optimizes the work of the retail employee support service.
“Together with other participants in the project dedicated to artificial intelligence, I spent a week developing a program that would answer questions. After a theoretical course conducted by students from leading Moscow universities, we created an Internet service and built into it a neural network with a database of ready-made answers. In the format of text messages, the company’s employees could find out how many times a month their salary is accrued, how to receive maternity benefits and other important information. In total, the database included answers to about a thousand questions,” says Lev Lezhenev.
Before presenting the finished project at the conference, the schoolchildren made the necessary economic calculations. For the development, the children received an award from the customer company.
“Theoretically, such a model can be implemented at any enterprise. In the future, we want to continue working on the project and create a server that will allow us to enter a wide variety of data. I consider the “In the Center of Science” program to be very useful: it gives the opportunity to expand and deepen school knowledge, applying it in practice. In the future, I want to become a programmer, and this experience is very important to me,” the high school student shares.
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Owl or lark
The students worked in modern laboratories, collected and analyzed data, and modeled physical and biological processes. Ninth-grader Anastasia Levchenko from School No. 947participated in scientific and experimental courses on chemistry and biotechnology. She studied how the structure of DNA is related to a person’s biological predisposition to a particular chronotype (sleep and wakefulness regime).
“The two-month courses were held at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology. The participants in the experiment were schoolchildren from our and neighboring streams and teachers. After they answered questions about their daily routine, we took a scraping of their buccal epithelium – cells from the inside of the cheek. Then, using an amplifier (a device for conducting a polymerase chain reaction), we isolated DNA from these cells. The nucleotide chains were examined under ultraviolet light and the results were compared with the information from the questionnaires. A thin strip of a pair of nucleotides corresponds to the lark chronotype, a thick one – an owl, and two stripes indicate that their owner belongs to the mixed chronotype of a pigeon. The results coincided with the answers of the study participants by 95 percent. Such tests will help people plan their routine taking into account biological characteristics,” explains Anastasia Levchenko.
The schoolgirl also extracted essential oils and hydrolates (water solutions) from tangerine peel, mint and dried rose petals, and determined the content of chlorophyll and other pigments in different parts of plants. Earlier, she became a prize winner of the municipal stage of the All-Russian School Olympiad in Ecology.
“In the new academic year, I plan to participate in the “At the Center of Science” project again, to do other research. This is a very good base for schoolchildren, there is an opportunity to work with advanced laboratory equipment under the guidance of specialists, to implement their ideas,” says Anastasia Levchenko, who has dreamed of connecting her life with medicine and becoming a surgeon since childhood.
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Research superbugs
How bacteria develop in kefir and how resistant they are to modern antibiotics was studied by ninth-grader Artem Reutsky from School No. 1558, winner of the Moscow School Olympiad in Biology and English.
“During the scientific and experimental courses on biotechnology, we studied superbugs. This is the name given to microorganisms that have developed resistance to antibiotics during their development. First, we collected theoretical information, then we planted cultures to grow bacteria. The study was conducted on samples of kefir from different manufacturers – we added bacteria and a paper disk soaked in antibiotics to each, and then immersed the samples in a thermostat. After a week, colonies of superbugs resistant to drugs grew in some kefir samples,” says Artem Reutsky.
The schoolchildren’s project confirmed the scientific hypothesis that antibiotic-resistant bacteria can develop in fermented milk products, so food technologists need to pay special attention to production. The students presented the results of their research in the form of diagrams at an internal scientific conference.
“This was my first serious research. It’s great that there is an opportunity to work in a well-equipped laboratory, to gain practical experience. Now I want to get into the summer camp of the project “In the Center of Science”, and in the future – to become a virologist and create a vaccine against the human immunodeficiency virus,” the schoolboy shares.
In the new academic year, the project will continue to expand: the number of courses and clubs will increase, new areas will appear, and the mentoring format will develop. Registration for the summer visiting scientific school is now open, and professional competitions, hackathons, and festivals await schoolchildren in the future. You can find out more and register at website.
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