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Club Officers: Esraa Ahmad, Reem Ahmad, Tuyet Linh, Rouaa Ahmad, and Saif Youssif

Planting Time - Spring has sprung

Advisor Mr. Creamer takes the Club Members up to the 4th Floor Roof Deck (and Swimming Pool) to get the seed pots some warmth and sun.

Tomatoes, green peppers, hot peppers, coming soon....

These little seeds will be available for planting in just a few weeks.

Club members rejoice at finishing the Spring plantings.

Why is Mr. Creamer always smiling ?

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The Classical Science Club had a busy November exploring the native plants of Lynn Woods. The Club walked to the forest after school to survey and gather a variety of mosses that grow in the woods. The group found over five varieties that differ in color, texture and surface substrate. Lynn's mosses belong to the group called bryophyta. These are non-vascular plants that do not have true roots or leaf structures. Many need shade and take chemicals needed for life from the air and environment allowing them to grow on rocks or soils too acidic for other plants. These plants are one of the first "succession pioneers" meaning they return first after a forest fire or other deforestation event. These plants return minerals to the soil for the next succession of plants. The science club maintains a moss terrarium of Lynn Woods species in Room B312 . Come and check it out!

It may not even be winter and the Classical Science Club is already gearing up for its Spring tomato and pepper sale! The club voted to create its own compost this year. A group of club members gathered after school to don protective eye wear and wield power tools! The compost bin has two sections that will rotate composting through the winter and spring. The club has ordered hundreds of red wriggler worms to begin eating our food scraps and turning them into beautiful and vitamin-enriched compost. The worms live in a special mixture of socially ordered natural soil with no commercial pesticides or herbicides or fertilizers and a layer of newspaper and leaves. Club members drilled holes into the bin to let water drain and aerate the soil, and cut newspapers into strips. The soil was broken up and moistened to allow for the worms to have "fluffy" substrate to get around. The compost bin is covered with a lid to keep the moisture in and prevent worms from drying out. Each week apple cores and orange rinds and the like will be buried into the soil for the worms to enjoy and then we will enjoy the fruits of their labors in our healthy and strong plants.

The Classical Science Club kicked off its second Scientist Lecture series on Friday, October 15th. This year's first speaker was Dr. Matthew Mattozzi, a microbiologist from Berkley who is now working at Harvard University. Prof. Mattozzi enlightened us about how his team is using specially bio-engineered bacteria to clean up toxic chemical spills and create alternative energy.

In attendance were science club advisor Mr. Creamer, Mr. Grove and Mr. Spiers' biology classes, Environmental Club advisor Mr. Winchester's Marine Biology class, and Ms. Lander, Ms. Rosenthal, and Ms. Ellis' Applied Chem classes. The Science club invites scientists from area universities to speak about cutting edge topics in science. Last year the club worked with these teachers to sponsor talks by an applied physicist from Harvard and Schlumberger Inc., two astrophysicists from MIT, an astronomer from BU, and two deep sea divers from the North Shore. In addition the club helped to host a visiting scientist invited by another faculty. We hope this lecture will be the first of a number of interesting speakers who come to visit Classical and teach us about cutting edge science happening in Massachusetts!

Dr. Jenny Smythe was invited by the Science Club and club advisor Mr. Creamer to address students in the Science Club and Classical's science classes. The Classical Science Club was reformatted this year to introduce students to scientific careers and current topics in science.

The student club officers and thirty members put together a survey of disciplines that the students wanted to have scientists address and the initial results showed an interest in physics and women in science. Science Club officer Maho Dzebic drafted an invitation letter to Physicist Dr. Jenny Smythe.

A native of Huntsville, Alabama, home to the US rocket program, Dr. Smythe graduated from Princeton with a degree in Electrical Engineering and earned her PhD in Applied Physics from Harvard University at the age of 28. She now works as a research scientist for Schlumberger International in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In addition to science club members, students from Mr. Creamer's biology class, Ms. Lander's chemistry class, Mr. Spiers and Grove's physics classes and Mr. Winchester's marine biology class attended the Q&A. Topics covered included preparation for college, careers in physics and engineering, her current research interests, the current state of women in science, and some interesting tid bits about physical laws and phenomena including particle and wave duality, electromagnetic waves, and differences in quantum and Newtonian physics.