Young Scientist Bootcamp

Description

What it is A seven-week virtual bootcamp for motivated students ages 10–18 who want to move from loving science to actually doing it. Most students who say they love science have never done real research—this track walks them through the full arc of scientific work: asking a question, forming a hypothesis, designing a study, gathering evidence, and communicating findings, ending in a capstone presentation. The schedule (7 weekly sessions) What is science, actually? What makes a scientific question, and why real research isn't as linear as textbook science. Asking a good question: turning broad curiosity into a testable hypothesis, plus literature searching with Google Scholar, PubMed, and peer-reviewed papers. Designing the study: variables, controls, confounders, sample size, experimental vs. observational design, and research ethics. Evidence and data: what counts as evidence, data collection, descriptive statistics, reading graphs, and recognizing bias and error. Communicating science: building a science fair poster, structuring a five-minute talk, and fielding judges' questions. Project workshop: students present progress in small groups and get instructor and peer feedback to refine their work. Presentation competition: each student gives a seven-minute presentation with judging questions. Top projects earn Distinction certificates and priority access to follow-on mentoring for competitions. What students walk away with A research project + path for science fairs and competitions like Regeneron ISEF and Genius Olympiad, or toward submission to the International Journal of High School Research (IJHSR). What parents should know No prior research experience is needed; the bootcamp is built to take students from curiosity to a finished project. It's cohort-based and virtual, so students learn alongside peers in live weekly sessions. A free intro session is available first, so students can get a taste