Katelyn Monostori Senior Project Proposal

A.Summary

I plan to do my senior project on scientific accountability, specifically as it relates to climate and

data science. This is a topic that has always interested me, as I feel we as a society are striving

further and further away from true objective facts, and more towards polarizing themes. I feel

that in policy making, we need to first understand the scope of the issues facing us, and we can’t

do that without honest and real scientific research; therefore, scientists need to be held

accountable to producing true and accurate data. On the other hand, the scientific data does

nothing when it is not taken into account; therefore, the government also needs to use true and

accurate data when making their policy decisions.

The questions that are guiding my research are as follows:

● Is there a true need for a law regarding scientific accountability, or is trying the

cases as simple negligence enough?

● Should we mandate that the government follows through on evidence found

through credible research, and if so, how would that law read?

● How do we distinguish between a scientist committing blatant purposeful acts of

falsification, and a scientist making a mistake in the course of an experiment?

● How do we increase public awareness of scientific research, and create end the

“fake news” culture?

For my project, I plan on first going to different elementary and middle schools

and hosting a class on the importance of integrity in science, and the way to produce an

experiment with credible results. I will then invite the children to a free science fair, where they

can showcase what they’ve learned, and be able to compete for prizes as well as see a multitude

of booths and fun experiments, such as making and discussing the science of slime, to make sure
we spark an interest for science in the next generation. Throughout the course of the science fair,

there will be presentations explaining the issues that are currently facing the scientific

community, such as lack of funding and respect for research, and I hope to have scientists come

as guest judges who can interact and inspire the competitors. The students will also be given a

pamphlet of information on the issues facing the scientific community, and the ways they can

begin to help, as well as information on how to determine if an experiment has been conducted

correctly. When leaving the fair, I hope to have participants sign a petition asking the

government to listen to scientific research, then reach out to my local representatives with the

petition and ask them to pledge to be informed in their policy making and to look to science

when making laws. I hope to host the fair at a large venue such as the new ODS or anywhere

with an open space and separate rooms. The fair will be organized with the help of my project

sponsor, Ms. Barbara Besal, who will be able to help me network through her connection to

Destination Imagination, as well as provide materials for the experiments and demonstrations at

the fair. I’m also hoping to reach out to a local scientific organization for donations of prizes at

the tournament. The success of my project will be evaluated by the attendance at the fair, the

quality and integrity of the projects at the fair, and the petition signatures and pledges collected.

B. New Skills, Enhanced Skills, Areas of Growth

New Skills-

● Organizing and hosting events

● Networking and fundraising

Enhanced Skills-

● Teaching and presenting

 ● creativity in planning

● Organizing volunteers

Areas of Growth-

● Staying on top of email and communications

● Planning ahead of time and not procrastinating

● Entertaining large groups

C. Marketing Plan/ Facilities/ Audience

For my project I would need a large area with multiple rooms, potentially a school or recreation

center. I will advertise by going to several local middle schools and talking to the science classes.

I will also reach out to those teachers and see if they would be willing to provide extra credit to

their students, or if the fair could be somehow incorporated into the already existing curriculum.

The fair will be a competition with a prize for the winner, and I’m hoping the competitive

element will help to generate interest for students whose teachers can not or will not offer extra

credit. The audience for my project will be middle school aged children, as they are the future of

our country, as well as their parents who will be attending the fair and hearing the guest

speakers, and the congressmen and women who will be receiving the petition signed at the fair.

D. Project Steps
 Preliminary Find and secure a venue, reach out to middle schools and speak to the 5
Steps classes, create a google form to sign up, secure speakers and judges, hours
draft emails and phone calls, decide on the prize, create a social
media presence for the event.

Midway Steps Confirm venue, remind participants of the event, create an agenda for 3
the competition, confirm speakers and judges, secure materials for the hours
demonstrations, secure volunteers to run the fair, create a pamphlet of
information to provide to the participants on the issues facing science.

Later Steps Confirm participants, check all equipment at the event, remind judges 10
and speakers of the event coming up, create a plan for set up, find a hours
camera for event photos, create signs for the event, depending on
participation level - purchase light snacks or create a plan for lunch,
make a sign in sheet and a petition, print certificates for the
competitors and purchase a trophy for the winner, secure a consent to
photograph form, create a survey for participants.

Follow Up Clean up and reset the venue, send thank you notes to judges, 2
speakers, and volunteers, post the event images online, analyze hours
survey responses, prepare for panel.

Total 20
hours

E. Project Documentation

I will document my project in the following ways:

● Photos and videos from the event

● Detailed Journal

● Saved email correspondence

● Phone log for calls

● Copy of the flier

● Copy of informational pamphlet

● Testimonies and survey responses from the participants

● Scanned sign in sheet

 ● Scanned petition sheet

● Receipts from purchasing awards and materials

● Copy of the agenda

● Copy of speech

● Screenshots of the social media presence

F. Project Justification

This project is significant because it will hopefully incite a love for science in the younger

generations, as well as educate them and their parents to the struggles faced in the professional

science world, and to hopefully garner support in government for these issues. Especially in this

environmentally significant area- due to our location near the Chesapeake Bay- it is important to

ensure this community stays educated and up to date on the current environmental science. This

project would be an opportunity for growth, as I have never organized an event before, and it

would require a lot of planning and organization. This would also allow me to grow because of

the nature of the issue I am addressing; although the issue is a bipartisan one, it does have

partisan elements. As I will have no idea of the beliefs and affiliations of the attendees of the

science fair, I would need to structure my project in a way that is persuasive to people from all

backgrounds, which is something I have struggled with in the past.

G. Project-Paper Connection

My project will focus on raising awareness for the issues discussed in my paper, as well as

attempt to provide a solution for some of the critical issues I’ve identified. One of the questions
my paper will focus on would be what laws can be put in place to stop acts of falsification in the

science world. Through focusing my fair on accurate science, I would hope to teach our future

scientists that the importance lies not in the result, but in the experiment itself, and that if your

experiment doesn’t give you the result you’re hoping for, you have still learned something. My

paper asks the question of what can be done on the governmental level to ensure scientists are

being listened to, and I’m hoping to begin solving that issue as well, through the petition

signatures asking government officials to pledge accountability to science. Finally, one of the

questions in my paper will be how we can begin to end the “fake news” culture that can often

surround scientific research, and through the guest speakers, presentations, and information

given out at the fair, I will hopefully teach the participants and their parents about the importance

of utilizing science to make decisions, and to think critically about information that has been

presented, rather than just dismiss information as real or fake based on pre-existing beliefs.

H. Academic Honesty

I understand that any academic dishonesty by me on any part of the project will result in failure

of the Senior Project and forfeiture of the Legal Studies Seal on my High School diploma.