SRMS Students Win Statistics Contest
Four seventh grade students from Scotts Ridge Middle School won second place in a statewide contest sponsored by the Connecticut Chapter of the American Statistical Association (7th through 9th grade category). Guided by their math teacher Dr. Merryl Polak, students Selin Durmus, Sammi McLemore, Norah McNeece and Rachel Tomasetti received certificates and a monetary award for their team’s project, The Effect of Different Musical Genres on Heart Rate.
“I am so proud of this team’s hard work and dedication to their fascinating project,” said Dr. Polak. “The girls used a blood pressure cuff with an automatic pulse rate reading to get an accurate recording of their volunteer’s heart rate while listening to various genres of music. After collecting data from dozens of students, the team analyzed it, used box-and-whisker plots to present it, and summarized their findings on a poster. The girls worked beautifully together and completed this project on their own time.”
The team and their teacher were recently honored in an award ceremony held at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn. The project was automatically advanced to the American Statistical Association’s (ASA) national competition.
In an effort to promote math literacy, the Connecticut Chapter of the ASA sponsors this poster competition each year for students in grades K through 12. It encourages students to select and investigate a topic, gather and examine data from different points of view, summarize the data and present the results graphically. The contest is open to all students and groups. To learn more about the competition click here.
Pictured: (L-R): Dr. Merryl Polak – SRMS 7th grade math teacher – Selin Durmus, Rachel Tomasetti, Sammi McLemore and Norah McNeece.