STEAM research for all Opportunity X is a student-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing science research opportunities to underrepresented and low-resource groups across the world. OUR WORK What We Do SCHOOL PROGRAMS We partner with middle schools with underrepresented students. We start research programs (provided cost-free) at these schools to educate students about STEM and guide them through the entire research process. WORKSHOPS Through our school programs and workshops, we guide our students through their own research projects, which they present at our annual Opportunity X Science Fair. SCIENCE FAIRS At each school program, we hold weekly after-school research workshops, where we lead fun experiments and teach our students the fundamentals of conducting research. What we do IMPACT 1000+ research workshops 20+ school programs 16 state branches About Us We are a team of high schoolers who have a passion for giving back to the community by inspiring younger students to pursue scientific research. LEARN MORE "My favorite part is going up on stage during the Synopsys award ceremony and the judges pronouncing my name and then everybody clap for me because of the hard work my partner and I did. Opportunity X helped me develop more strategies on how to solve the problems in science." ​ - Ashukem Adrienne Taku Student @ River Glen ​ See more testimonials from students, parents, and educators! Sponsors CONTACT Contact Us Want to join our team? Have any questions? ​ Email us at main.opportunityx@gmail.com ! ​ Like our Facebook page ! ​ Instagram: @opportunity.x ​ Donate to Opportunity X! All donations go towards supporting our research programs. Success! Message received. Send

SCHOOL PROGRAMS Conducting science research can change students, as they gain important problem-solving skills and appreciation for the knowledge they learn in the classroom. At Opportunity X, we believe that all students should have access to the resources and materials necessary to complete their own research projects, regardless of their socioeconomic background. ​ To promote interest for science, we partner with local middle schools that have a high percentage of socioeconomically challenged students. We organize and lead weekly research programs at these schools, guiding a group of 15-30 students through the science research process. Our ultimate goal is to be able to help students participate in the annual Opportunity X STEM Research Symposium. ​ Over the years, we have had 27 school programs in 16 state branches. AL A. Mario Loiederman MS Montgomery County, MD 2023-2024 OS Odessa Shannon MS Montgomery County, MD 2023-2024 KH KIPP Heritage San Jose, CA 2023-2024 CSI Campbell School of Innovation Campbell, CA 2023-2024 FG Fairgrounds Middle School Nashua, NH 2023-2024 WO White Oak MS Montgomery County, MD 2022-2023 CSI Campbell School of Innovation Campbell, CA 2022-2023 HG Heights Elementary School Lee County, FL 2021-2022 DE Delaine Eastin Elementary School Alameda County 2021-2022 KE KIPP Heartwood San Jose, CA 2021-2022 E Eastern Middle School Montgomery County, MD 2023-2024 RSC Rockville Science Center Montgomery County, MD 2023-2024 KE KIPP Heartwood San Jose, CA 2023-2024 SH Sacred Heart School Saratoga, C A 2023-2024 AL A. Mario Loiederman MS Montgomery County, MD 2022-2023 H Helms Middle School West Contra Costa County, CA 2022-2023 KE KIPP Heartwood San Jose, CA 2022-2023 B Burnet Middle School Austin, TX 2021-2022 M Morrill Middle School San Jose, CA 2021-2022 RG River Glen School San Jose, CA 2020-2021 MV Montgomery Village MS Montgomery County, MD 2023-2024 WO White Oak MS Montgomery County, MD 2023-2024 M Morrill Middle School San Jose, CA 2023-2024 WCC West Contra Costa El Cerrito, CA 2023-2024 MV Montgomery Village MS Montgomery County, MD 2022-2023 KH KIPP Heritage San Jose, CA 2022-2023 RG River Glen School San Jose, CA 2022-2023 MV Montgomery Village MS Montgomery County, MD 2021-2022 AE ACE Esperanza Middle School San Jose, CA 2021-2022 NM Newport Mill MS Montgomery County, MD 2023-2024 P Patapsco MS Howard County, MD 2023-2024 S Summerdale Elementary School San Jose, CA 2023-2024 SM Sylvia Mendez Elementary School Berkeley, CA 2023-2024 RC Roberto Clemente MS Montgomery County, MD 2022-2023 M Morrill Middle School San Jose, CA 2022-2023 CR Creekside Middle School Castro Valley, CA 2022-2023 KH KIPP Heritage San Jose, CA 2021-2022 AC Ave Crux Program San Jose, CA 2021-2022

MISSION STATEMENT Our vision is to bring science research opportunities to underrepresented groups by sharing our knowledge of STEM with middle school students in our community. With an increased exposure and experience in research, students can develop a passion and take their careers in a direction they never imagined.​ MEET OUR TEAM

Ave Crux (In Partnership with Saint Francis High School) October 2020 - May 2021 Opportunity X representatives: Pujita Tangirala, Katelyn McGuigan, Stella Bronzini, Rohit Khorana, Sudeepthi Ravipati Sponsoring Teacher: Sean O'Neill Semester 2 Week 1 - Rate of Dissolving Students explored the concept of surface area and chemical reactions through this project. By dropping alka seltzer tablets in water both as whole, half, and crushed, the students were able to see which tablet dissolved the fastest. Students also learned about the scientific method. Week 2 - Potato Battery Students learned about series and parallel circuits as well as Ohm’s law through this experiment. By using wires to connect an LED to a potato, students were able to make the LED light up! Students also learned how to write an effective research question. Week 3 - Archimedes Squeeze Students explored the concepts of buoyancy, density, mass, and volume. By compressing aluminum foil balls to different diameters, they were able to see how to make the ball float and sink. Students also learned how to research scientific principles. Week 4 - pH testing Students learned about acids and bases. By measuring different liquids on the pH scale, they were able to test their hypotheses. Students also learned about independent and dependent variables. Week 5 - Elephant Toothpaste Students learned about chemical reactions through a fun demonstration: a mixture of yeast, hydrogen peroxide, and soap that produced a small explosion. Students also learned how to write a hypothesis. Week 6 - Straw Rockets Students explored concepts of aerodynamics and air pressure. By experimenting with different sized straws, students learned about thrust, drag, lift, and push. They also learned how to write out an effective procedure. This week, students also chose their projects for the Opportunity X Science Fair and began working on them. Week 7 - Fingerprint Analysis Students analyzed patterns in their fingerprints and compared it with their peers. They also learned about how to collect data and the difference between quantitative and qualitative data. Week 8 - Pepper’s Ghost Illusion Students made their own hologram using principles of reflection and light. Week 9 - Spectroscope Students learned how astronomers analyze light. Using a diffraction grating, they were able to see a continuous spectrum from a light source. Week 10 -Membranophone Students learned about wavelength, amplitude, and frequency by making their own musical instrument out of a glove, straw, water bottle, and rubber bands. Week 11, 12, & 13 - Science Fair Preparation Students worked on their slides and did practice presentations in class to prepare for the Virtual Opportunity X Science Fair. Semester 1 10/10/2020 Material Kit Distribution Around 25 material kits were put together for the Ave Crux program. Pujita and Mr. O'Neill conducted a drive through material pickup at Saint Francis High School. 10/11/2020 Graphite Circuits This week, students learned about various types of conductors and insulators. They also learned how batteries work and the different types of circuits, like series and parallel. They were able to put this in action by drawing their own circuits using graphite, which is a strong conductor. These circuits were able to light up LEDs. This was a demonstration of Ohm’s law, which the students were able to see in action by varying the thickness and length of their circuits. 10/18/2020 Hoop Gliders This week, students learned about the principles of flight, specifically how air resistance, gravity, lift, and thrust work together to make things fly. They were able to put this in action by building their own hoop gliders out of paper and straw. Students observed how their gliders flew and then made modifications to experiment with the flight path. Some students added extra hoops to increase lift while others added extra straws to improve on the structure. 10/25/2020 Dancing Ghosts This week, students learned about static electricity and the charges of atoms. They were able to demonstrate this by creating “dancing ghosts”. Students cut out tissue paper and used the power of static electricity to connect the positively charged paper to a negatively charged balloon automatically. 11/1/2020 Non-Newtonian Fluids This week, students learned about Newton’s law of viscosity and how it applies to certain objects. They observed how Newton’s law of viscosity was not present in our experiment. Students used cornstarch and water to create a substance that looked like a liquid, but acted as a solid. 11/8/2020 Balloon in a Bottle This week, students learned about air pressure. By poking a hole in a water bottle, they were able to observe how air pressure can keep a balloon inflated even when it is not tied up! They also were able to inflate the balloon by deflating the bottle. 11/15/2020 Optical Illusions This week, the students also learned about how neurons at the back of our eyes transmit information to our brain, and sometimes, this information is incorrect. Additionally, students learned about what optical illusions are, and why we are able to see optical illusions. They were able to put this in action by cutting out two squares of the same size, and drawing one part of a picture on one square, and the other part of the picture on the other square. After that, they put a pencil in between the two squares, and tapes the pencil to both the squares. Then, they spun the pencil as fast as they could and they witnessed both parts of the picture appearing as one. 11/22/2020 Kaleidescope This week, the students learned about reflection and how the number and angles of mirrors impact how we see these reflections. They also learned about the two important laws of reflection. By creating a triangular kaleidoscope using cardboard and reflective beads, they were able to observe colorful reflections! The scientific principles that the students learned were applied in real life through discussions about reflective materials. ​ 12/6/2020 Geodesic Dome This week, students learned how triangles form the strongest structures. Then, using straws and tape, they built structures based off geometric tesselation. ​

Science Research Projects First Place: "Best barrel length for a spring powered nerf blaster?" by Ayush Rao, Alexander Lee from Hercules Middle School, Hercules, California Second Place: "The effects of acid rain on plants" by Benjamin Speck from River Glen School, San Jose, California Second Place: "Electromagnet Experiment" by Tuan Le from Kipp Heritage, San Jose, California Third Place: "Leaf Chromatography - Finding Pigments in Leaves" by Revanth Pingali from Morrill Middle School, San Jose, California Third Place: "Fun in Electrochemistry!" by Pallavi Chakravarthy from Morrill Middle School, San Jose, California Third Place: "Which papertowel can absorb faster" by Harsimran Kaur from Hercules Middle School, Hercules, California Special Award - Most Creative: "Making waves" by Dhruvi Shah , Pavani Gajre from Morrill Middle School, San Jose, California Special Award - Best Scientific Thoughts: "The Effect of Atrazine on Earthworms" by Alyson Dai from Detroit Country Day School, Beverly Hills, Michigan Special Award - Best Presentation: "Fire Extinguisher" by Adhvay Jagadeesh from Morrill Middle School, San Jose, California Honorable Mention ​ Damla Uludağlı Alfa School, Ankara ,Turkey Jude Gatchalian Hercules Middle School, Hercules, California Darsh Doshi Hercules Middle School, Hercules, California Kayden Wong, Akshadha Babu C. Morrill Middle School, San Jose, California Sai Shri Sujitha Nallapati Morrill Middle School, San Jose, California Joshua Tavares ACE Esperanza, San Jose, California Bryan medina Ave Crux, Mountain View, California Sarah Garcia, Natalia Espinosa Ave Crux, Mountain View California April Mestas Ave Crux, Mountain View, California Samantha Lao Kipp Heritage, San Jose, California ​ Science Exploration Challenge First Place: "COVID-19 Loss Of Smell" by Suhas Krishnamurthy from Morrill Middle School, San Jose, California Second Place: "Investigation of the gravitational field strength at different heights" by Isaac Cheok, Ooi Jing Shun, Ong Xuan Kai from School of Science and Technology, Singapore Second Place: "What Causes The Seasons" by April Mestas from Ave Crux, Mountain View, California Third Place: "Black Holes" by William Hobbs from Hercules Middle School, Hercules, California Third Place: "Investigation of the caffeine curve for different grind size of coffee beans" by Angel Phan Li Hui, Dayanita Saminathan, Galistan Anastasia Nathasha Phatthra from School of Science and Technology, Singapore Third Place: "Investigation of the freezing time on the texture of cooked porridge" by Adam Hirzan Bin Abdul Samad, Awba Hein, Soo Jia Guo Caleb from School of Science and Technology, Singapore Special Award - Most Creative: "Innvestigation of the effect of different cooking oils on the strength of a homemade biodegradable plastic" by Farah Mei Lynn Karl Daruwalla, Rachel Ho, Jin Qin Yue from School of Science and Technology, Singapore Special Award - Best Scientific Thoughts: "Measurement of the speed of sound" by Ang Jayden, Yong Hao Rong, Jarel Foo from School of Science and Technology, Singapore Special Award - Best Presentation: "How music affects the growth of plants" by Avaneesh Balaji from Michael Collins Elementary, Schaumburg, Illinois Honorable Mention ​ Trez Winn Brookland Middle School, Henrico VA Mosi Muyundo Brookland Middle School, Henrico VA Eesha Jain Odle Middle School, Bellevue, Washington Catalina and Santiago Lopez Buchser Middle School, Santa Clara, California Eng Ze Rui, Ahmad Rizky Alkiano, Jax Sutrisno School of Science and Technology, Singapore Alyssa Tan Huey Yi, Ridha Fathima Nowshad, Nicole Sim Rui Shi School of Science and Technology, Singapore Aiden Ong Xuan Rui, Tan Yi Heng Ethan, Lim Xi Ian School of Science and Technology, Singapore Liu Yanzhao, Chia Wei Yang Wayne, Ng Swee Eng Rachel School of Science and Technology, Singapore Sarah Foo Zhi Ning, Vijaya Bhargavi School of Science and Technology, Singapore ​ ​

Itliong Vera-Cruz Middle School Oct 2019 - May 2020 Opportunity X representatives: Jasmine Wang, Lucy Gong, Kevin Sheng Sponsoring Teacher: Ms. Lisa Mata ​ We are very excited to announce our new partnering school Itliong Vera-Cruz Middle School in Union City, California. ​ 10/22/19 Week 1, First Meeting We introduced Opportunity X to the students, and outlined our plan for the year. We did a short experiment - skittles melting in water, students observed warm water and cold water melted skittles differently and came to their own conjecture of the theory behind the phenomenon. ​ ​ 10/29/19 Week 2, DIY Ice Cream ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 11/05/19 Week 3, Apple ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 11/12/19 Week 4 Growing Borax Crystals Jasmine introduced her classmate Shikha to Opportunity X, And Shika said that she would be interested in helping out! We gave examples of crystals, explained what a crystals was, and went over some terms related to different solutions(ex: saturated). Then the lab for growing crystals commenced. Mrs. Mata offered a bigger plastic beaker, which is why some students made two sets of borax crystals. We stored extra supplies that can be used for next time in a cabinet. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 11/19/19 Week 5, Slime ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 12/03/19 Week 6, Biomimicry ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 12/10/19 Week 7, Cleaning Penny ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 12/17/19 Week 8, Invisible Ink Jasmine introduce why lemons and milk are used in this experiment. Briefly talked about pH. Talked about oxidation and ways to prevent oxidation, such as using wax or a layer of paint. Then on to the experiment. The results were shown, not not clearly, but this can be explained by the fact that the lemon juice used was not 100% lemon juice. There were other chemicals added. As for milk, since it was process before getting sold in the store, some carbon compounds could be neutralized or removed.The experiment was relatively quick, however, questions and reviewing concepts took up some time. For snacks, brought hot coco and some candy canes! ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 1/07/2020 Week 9, Extracting Strawberry DNA ​ ​ 1/14/2020 Week 10 ​

Morrill Middle School September 2018 - May 2019 We are so excited to a school program at Morrill Middle School, one of our three new schools this year! In our weekly after-school enrichment program, led by team members Cynthia, Bowen, and Andrew, we will teach students the different facets of science and research. In addition, we will conduct many exciting science experiments (such as extracting DNA from strawberries and making ice cream)! Most importantly, we will mentor students through their own science fair research projects from start to finish. This year, we have 12 active students participating in our program, and 4 students who plan on attending the Synopsys Science Fair Championship in March. We are also planning to organize and host a Morrill Science Fair, which all our our students will participate in! ​ Club advisors: Mr. Nathan Laing, science teacher Ms. Elsie Carrillo, science teacher Mr. Thomas Carroll, principal BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT: September 6, 2018 At Morrill's annual Back to School Night, we held a booth for our club (Science Fair Club). We talked to interested parents and students about our club and held sign-ups for those who were interested. In addition, we also handed out flyers. ​ WEEK 1 (September 18, 2018): 1st Meeting!!! At the first club meeting, we (Cynthia and Bowen) introduced ourselves, our program, and had the students themselves. We went over what science fairs are, specifically the Synopsys Science Fair and the Morrill Science Fair, which we plan to hold at the end of this year. Then, to get the students thinking about science, we played a fun science trivia game in which we asked estimation questions such as "How long does it take for sunlight to reach the Earth?" and "Which planet has the most moons?". The students played this game in teams of 3, and had 30 seconds to collaborate and discuss before providing a final answer, and the team with the highest points at the end received extra prizes! Everyone got snacks and candy at the end of the meeting. Parents were invited to attend this meeting as well. WEEK 2 (September 25, 2018): Brainstorming 1 We started to brainstorm possible project ideas. On the board, we listed a specific scientific field - for example: Healthcare, Sustainable Energy, Coding, Food Science, or Environmental Engineering. For each field, we held an open-ended discussion about possible problems and feasible solutions. As the students discussed, many of them got extremely excited, and it was really interesting to see everyone's point of view. We had such long and fascinating discussions that we only finished about half the topics. WEEK 3 (October 2, 2018): Brainstorming 2 We finished brainstorming ideas for the rest of the topics, then the students cut and organize their paper idea diamonds. They reorganized the topics so that their favorites were at the top of the diamond., and the topics which they were least interested in were near the bottom. WEEK 4 (October 8, 2018): Shiny Penny Experiment For our first experiment of the year, we conducted the Shiny Penny Experiment! After introducing the concepts of acids and bases and the pH scale, as a class, we formed a experimental hypothesis. For the experiment, we used 5 solutions: lemon juice (which the students squeezed from fresh lemons!), vinegar, salt water (kosher), salt water (fine), and pure water (as a control). Each student received 2 dull pennies, and placed their pennies the two solutions which they believed would be the best cleaners. Most of the students chose either lemon juice or vinegar, and none chose water. After five minutes, the students took out their pennies from the solutions. The students generally concluded that the lemon juice was the most potent cleaning solution, with vinegar second. The students got to take home their 2 clean and shiny pennies! Before After WEEK 5 (October 16, 2018): Brainstorming 3 The students received their own lab notebooks for brainstorming ideas, and for recording their project methods and results in the future. We then recapped our previous meetings, especially the penny experiment and what they learned. We had them write down 3 ideas in 5 minutes, then we discussed what each of the students had written down. Finally, we went over what topics they were most interested in in their idea diamonds. Week 6 (10/23/18): Strawberry DNA experiment We started off with a short activity of Plickers to see how much the students knew about DNA. We then prepared the experiment by giving each of them a graduated cylinder, cheesecloth, plastic bag, and some other materials. Each table group made their own “extraction buffer” so they could share. Then, they crushed a strawberry in a resealable bag, adding some extraction buffer along the way. Using the cheesecloth and funnel, they filtered the strawberry mixture into a graduated cylinder. They used a bamboo skewer to pull out the DNA after adding some alcohol above the strawberry mix. Week 7 (10/30/18): Synopsys Workshop Each student used their laptop or one of the school’s Chromebooks to fill out the online application forms. Then, they started writing their ideas for the project proposal in a document. We used a shared Drive folder for each student’s Synopsys project. Week 7 (10/30/18): Synopsys Workshop Each student used their laptop or one of the school’s Chromebooks to fill out the online application forms. Then, they started writing their ideas for the project proposal in a document. We used a shared Drive folder for each student’s Synopsys project. ​ ​ Week 8 (11/6/18): Experiment Planning/Notebooks We spent this session focusing on planning for the students’ experiments. They wrote down their materials, procedure, and basic sketches in their notebooks. We discussed with each student about their project. ​ Week 9 (11/13/18): Ice Cream Experiment We prepared the ice cream experiment. Each student got two Ziploc bags, and we filled one with milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. The other bag was filled with ice and salt. After going outside, the students shook their bags and the mixture started to cool, forming into ice cream. We gave them plastic spoons to eat the ice cream they made. At the end, we wrapped up the experiment with a short round of Plickers questions relating to the experiment.

OPPORTUNITY X NEWSLETTER RECENT ISSUE

KIPP Heartwood Middle School September 2017 - May 2018 At our pilot program, KIPP Heartwood Academy in East San Jose, we led a weekly after school enrichment where we came together with students every Tuesday to build upon students' scientific curiosity and perform scientific experiments. Throughout the entire year, we led 15 students in conducting their own research projects. While KIPP had never sent any students to the Synopsys Championship Science Fair, this year, we were able to mentor and guide a student who participated in the Synopsys fair. He designed and developed an app that individualizes learning to each user, and used the other students as human feedback for his project. In addition, we did several awesome experiments, like filtering dirty water into significantly clearer water using simple cheap methods, harnessing the power of the sun with just tape and a box to heat water, and modeling the solar system. Overall, the students were able to expand their scientific horizons and discover STEM subjects that interested them. ​ ​ Photos from KIPP Heartwood 2017-2018 (scroll for more): See more photos of KIPP Heartwood 2017-2018 here .

River Glen Middle School August 2018 - May 2019 We are so excited to start the Science Fair Club at River Glen Middle School. Alice is leading the weekly science program at this bilingual immersion school in San Jose. We teach students scientific method through a series of intriguing science experiments and help students start their own science research projects. This year, four students from River Glen competed in the prestigious Synopsys Science and Technology Championship in March 2019, and all four have won Special Awards. Five students presented their science research findings at the inaugural Opportunity X Science Fair in May 2019. ​ Club adviser / sponsor: Ms. Kendall Bell Opportunity X Representative: Alice Feng Photos (scroll for more): See more photos of our 2018-2019 River Glen program here . WEEK 1: Sept 5, 2018 Strawberry DNA Come join us to extract DNA from a strawberry! Every living thing has DNA, even strawberry. Today we used a simple method to extract DNA from strawberries. Strawberries have 8 copies of DNA in one cell, so it’s the easiest to get DNA from. The workshop started with a short lecture on DNA and DNA extraction by Alice, and ended with everyone taking home a test tube of strawberry DNA. WEEK 2: Sept 12, 2018 Shiny Pennies Today we used vinegar to clean dirty pennies. Alice brought lots of dirty pennies. We added vinegar, waited and waited. The pennies turned out shiny! Then we put brand new bolts into the solution that was used to wash the pennies, guess what, they turned green. After the experiments, Alice explained the theory behind and encouraged the student to try different acidic solution at home, such as lemon juice, with varying acidity and see how the outcome changes. ​ WEEK 3: Sept 19, 2018 Tech Challenge Day Today is our Tech Challenge Day! We worked in groups of three. Each group is given 10 items: pencil, sponge, hanger, paper clip, plastic box, aluminum foil, tape, cardboard box, newspaper and wood stick. But each group can only use five the objects to build a freestanding structure that is as tall as possible and can balance an orange on top. One team takes a shortcut, they hang their structure from the rooftop, of course their structure is the tallest and they got really nice prize! Other teams build their structure from the floor or desk. Some can stand for a while, some collapsed. But everyone had lots of fun. We also talked about why they chose what they choose, and how to improve their design next time. Following the challenge, Alice gave the student one paragraph to read, and asked them to come up with science related questions from reading this simple paragraph, for example, why does basketball bounce? The team with the most questions got really nice prizes. WEEK 4: Sept 26, 2018 Grow It Yourself Mushroom Material We have been waiting for this day for a month! Our mycelium (muschroom) GIY (Grow It Yourself) kits finally arrived. Alice brought three kits - Aspen, Hemp, Kenaf. These are three different substrates, possessing different physical properties (weight, strength), so the mycelium material will be different once grown. To our surprise, one bag may be expired as it was packed on Jan 18! Today, our job is to rehydrate mycelium from the GIY kit, give it nutrition, and wait for mycelium to regrow. The kit already contains dehydrated mycelium, once rehydrated with water and flour, mycelium will regrow. It’s very important to disinfect hands, gloves and all container, as mycelium is very prone to mold contamination. We put the rehydrated filter bags into the closet under the sink, so they can grow quietly without sunshine and disturbance. We will come back in two weeks! WEEK 5: Oct 10, 2018 Grow It Yourself Mushroom Material Continued After two weeks, all of our mycelium bags have turned white, and there is lot of condensation inside the bag, meaning mycelium is alive, growing and breathing! We worked in groups to make mycelium planters and bricks. Most students prefer planters as they are more useful. The students took extra care to disinfect their hands and containers so that mycelium won’t get contaminated. WEEK 6: Oct 24, 2018 Grow It Yourself Mushroom Material Continued We worked with the students to study their mycelium planters and bricks. The students brainstormed the quantitative and qualitative properties of their own mycelium bricks. Alice brought home the mycelium containers and baked them so that mycelium will stop growing. WEEK 7: Oct 31, 2018 Halloween Halloween!!!! The kids got candies and goodie bags. They got their cooked mushroom containers back. All of their mycelium planters and bricks grew so well, there is not a single contamination case, Alice is so proud of the students, as they followed instructions precisely and disinfected their hands and utensils as instructed. Otherwise, mycelium can easily get contaminated by other green/yellow/black fungus. Only one planter has a hole on its bottom as there were not enough mycelium materials there. All other planters are in good shape and ready to serve a plant. WEEK 8: Nov 14, 2018 Synopsys mode We are in Synopsys mode!!! Today Alice introduced school science fair and Synopsys science fair, the deadlines for Synopsys, and what need to be done before the deadline. She got the emails of all the students. Every two students teamed up, we have 7 teams total. Each team created a google folder and a document to keep track of their ideas. Most students said they ‘may’ attend synopsys and school science fair. The students all put some ideas in their “idea” doc, but Alice feels in order to get into Synopsys, the projects need to be a bit more involved. So she hand selected 40 more ideas from sciencebuddies, that she thinks fit into the students’ interest, knowledge and budget level. WEEK 9: Nov 28, 2018 Synopsys projects finalized Today is quite a success. We finalized on five projects, three of them are to be submitted to Synopsys, and two of them will go in Opportunity X Science Fair only. All the projects are team projects, with two to three team members each. The students got lots of inspiration from sciencebuddies and came up with their own projects. Alice gave the students more details of Synopsys science fair, and how to fill out the applications, and other logistics. WEEK 10: Dec 5, 2018 Planning for Synopsys We welcomed two brand new members to join our science research club today. We will have three Synopsys projects and three Opportunity X-only projects. Alice helped the Synopsys teams filled out their page 1 applications and printed them out. Other teams continued working on their ideas of the projects -- writing proposals. We are onto a good start. The plan for the following weeks are: Dec 12: filling out page 2-8 of the application, let parents sign. Jan 9: review proposals Jan 16: review proposals and check application package. Jan 23: before Jan 23, mail all the packages. WEEK 11: Dec 12, 2018 Filling out Synopsys applications Today’s session is the last one of the year. The two Synopsys teams are busy filling out page 2-8 of the applications today. And they did it! The forms are being sent home so their parents can sign it. The teams also spent time on writing the proposals. They have some really promising and fun ideas. We will keep it a secret for now. See you all in 2019! WEEK 12: Jan 9, 2019 Working hard on Synopsys applications We are almost done with Synopsys application today. The two Synopsys teams are writing Detailed Research Plan today. They filled in much of the details. Alice will review the research plan during the week. A couple of more students join the club meeting today, they must have heard of the rewards of doing Opportunity X science fair. They started immediately on searching up science fair ideas. WEEK 13: Jan 16, 2019 Synopsys projects in action - Sideway Plants There is a storm today, but most of the students are still coming to attend the club meeting. Bravo!!! Alice has helped the students revise their detailed research plans during the weekend, and the applications look good and ready to be mailed!! ​ During today’s meeting, Alice spent 30 minutes explaining the concepts involved in the two Synopsys teams’s projects - Water On Water, Sideway Plants vs Right Side Up Plants, hence most of the club would know what’s going on and they can broaden their views on how to carry out their own science experiments. ​ Then the whole club started helping the Sideway Plants team plant their seeds. There are six types of plants being planted: basil, blue lake bean, radish, spinach, forget-me-not flower, alyssum flower. We planted the seeds into two germinations trays, each tray has 18 cells, so each type of plants occupy three cells in each tray. One tray is the UP tray, one tray is SIDEWAY tray. ​ The kids spent about 45 minutes planting the seeds. There is quite a lot of soil everywhere, so they spent 10 minutes cleaning up. Looks like no one in the club ever planted anything, so let’s hope the seeds will germinate and sprout next week. Next week we will start on the Water On Water project. WEEK 14: Jan 30, 2019 Water on Water After two weeks, all the plants are growing so well! All of them have sprouted. The radish grows the fastest. At a glance, the UP tray does grow better than the SIDEWAY tray. Frankie and Jorge measure the height of all the plants and wrote down the measurement on their lab notebook. ​ Our second group kicked off their project too. We have six identical bottles(10oz each) made of hard clear plastic, so each time, we can do the same experiment three times simultaneously, i.e. collecting three samples. In two large 30oz containers, we put water, salt, food coloring. The two containers have different salinity and colors (red and blue). Then we pour the salt water from the 30oz container into three 10oz bottles. Then we flip one blue colored bottle onto one red colored bottle and see how do the salt water mix. Some discoveries: If the bottle on the top has higher density, then it flows down and mix with the bottom bottle. If the bottle on the top has lower density, then it barely mixes with the bottom bottle, i.e., the water just float on top We finished four sets of test today, will need to continue next week. Other students are still searching online and deciding on their own projects to prepare for OpportunityX science fair. WEEK 15: Feb 6, 2019 You scream, I scream, we all love ice cream. GOOD NEWS: both our Synopsys projects are accepted!!! Congratulations! ​ Today Alice and the students make their own icecream. The ingredients include: milk, half and half, vanilla extract, sugar. We also need ice cubes and salt. We mixed the ingredients in a sandwich-sized ziploc bag, then put the smaller bag into a large ziploc bag filled with icecubes and salt. Then we shake, shake and shake the large bag for 10 minutes. And we have icecreams! ​ The theory behind ice cream making is salt lowers ice’s melting point, so that when ice melts, the temperature is lower than 0C, which is needed for the mixture to turn into ice cream. We also need to keep shaking the bag, to break up ice crystals, hence ice cream will taste smooth. After ice cream making, we continued the Water on Water project. WEEK 16: Feb 13, 2019 Synopsys posters Making posters. Today both Synopsys teams started working on their poster slides. Alice created a sample poster for each group, so they know what should be included in the poster. The two groups filled in their data, added details and did more online research on the theory behind their projects. WEEK 17: Feb 27, 2019 Synopsys rehearsal The two groups spent more time on their poster slides. Alice reviewed each slide with them and went through the theories, how they collected data, how they drew conclusions. In the end, each group rehearsed their speech. Meanwhile, two more groups are working on their opportunity X projects. They are working on water quality and prism. WEEK 18: Mar 6, 2019 Microscope exercise Alice printed the slides in color for the two groups, and they glued the slides to the poster board. The posters look really nice!! And the two groups did one more rehearsal with more teachers presenting and asking questions. They did really well and got a few inspiring ideas from the teachers’ questions. Meanwhile Alice also brought her microscope and pre-made slides for the other students to see things under a microscope. WEEK 19: Mar 14, 2019 The 60th Synopsys Science and Technology Championship Today is the day! The two groups did exceptionally well! They answered judge’s questions with a lot of confidence. ​ Great job Ava, Ashukem, Francisco, Jorge!! WEEK 20: Mar 20, 2019 Opportunity X Science Fair Projects We first discussed what happened at Synopsys and the kids are very excited to attend Opportunity X Science Fair in May. Alice introduced the other two groups’ projects to the entire club. The club discussed how prisms reflect light and make rainbow; and what can be tested for water quality. The prism group has completed their science experiments, Ken is doing a great job organizing his team and the projects. We also discussed what experiments to do in the next few club meetings. WEEK 21: Mar 27, 2019 Growing Crystals! We used Borax, pipe cleaners, hot water, glass jars to make crystals. First Alice explained the procedure and theory behind crystal growing. Then, we used pipe cleaners to make nicely shaped decorations. Then we heated one cup of water in microwave for two minutes and pour into the glass jar that is filled with 4 tablespoons of Borax. Last, we put the pipe cleaner into the jar, make sure it doesn’t touch any part of the jar. Crystals will grow overnight! WEEK 22: April 7, 2019 Synopsys Science and Technology Championship Award Ceremony Both our projects won awards at this most prestigious science fair in the country for their creativity, complexity and impact to the world. Congratulations to Ava, Ashukem, Francisco, Jorge!! We also want to thank Alice and Ms. Bell for their dedication which makes the success possible. WEEK 23: April 17, 2019 Fruit and Vegetable Battery & Water Quality Project We used fruit and vegetable to make battery today. Alice introduced the theory behind voltage, current, resistance, battery, circuit, series connection or parallel connection. The students learned to draw their own circuit. Then they formed two groups. They were given the same supplies and compete to see which group generated the most voltage or current. ​ Afterwards, we worked on the Water Quality project. The girls have collected quite many bottles of water from different lakes or river, and they tested various attributes of the water. WEEK 24: May 1, 2019 SLIME!!! Slime! Today’s club activity is super fun. We are going to make SLIME! But before we begin, we have to know the theory behind slime making. Alice showed the students the physical property of glue and how Borox acid transform glue into sticky yet flexible slime. Then the students started making slime out of glue and Borox powder. Even though they followed the recipe precisely, some of the slime were not looking or feeling good, either too sticky, or too stiff, or too watery. Hence the students used their own judgement to add other ingredients or tried different temperature water to make it work. The students were really doing serious experiments to make the best slime. In addition, they added glitter, form balls, shaving cream to create all sorts of funky slime. They were all very happy with their end products. WEEK 25: May 8, 2019 Opportunity X Science Fair Projects From this week, we will work on writing powerpoint slides for the two Opportunity X fair projects - Prism and Water Quality. Ben is so motivated and has worked so hard after school that he has already finished his powerpoint slides, and now he is refining his presentation. Shayla and Marbella have successfully collected all the water quality data from quite many bottles of water they collected across many lakes and rivers; their persistence is so impressive and their projects are pregressing fast too. WEEK 26: May 15, 2019 Opportunity X Science Fair Projects Poster and Rehearsal There are only one and half week left before our inaugural Opportunity X Science Fair. The students have learned a lot throughout the year on how to find science project topics, how to turn a science idea demonstration into a science fair project, how to collect data, how to write science fair slides, how to talk with judges, and how to speak confidently in public. This week, we continued on finishing the powerpoint slides. ​ WEEK 27: May 22, 2019 Opportunity X Science Fair Projects Rehearsal Ben, Shayla and Marbella completed their beautiful poster board today. All four groups rehearsed a couple of times. We are so ready for the upcoming Opportunity X Science Fair this Saturday!!!! ​ WEEK 28: May 25, 2019, 2-4pm, Opportunity X Science Fair at Alum Rock Branch Library, 3090 Alum Rock Ave, San Jose, CA 95127 Four San Jose schools are attending today's Opportunity X Science Fair. We have a total of more then 100 attendees, including students, parents, teachers, judges, key-note speakers, volunteers, reporters. We are so proud of the accomplishments River Glen students have made this year. ​

Boushall Middle School March 2021 - May 2021 Opportunity X representatives: Grace Lee Sponsoring Principal: Kiara Thompson ​ ​ 3/23 Our First Meeting We first introduced each other and played ice breakers. The material kits were not yet delivered, so we spent some time getting to know each other better and trying to learn about Opportunity X. We played “This or That,” and we discussed some of our favorite branches of science. The students were interested in the types of experiments, so we discussed which experiment we should do next week. ​ ​ 3/30 1st week Students made elephant toothpaste with soap, hydrogen peroxide, water, and dry yeast. The experiment was a blast, and everyone loved it. ​ 4/6 2nd week Students conducted the Dancing Ghost experiment. Although they had a difficult time trying to make the ghost look like an actual ghost, the experiment itself went well. ​ ​ 4/13 3rd week Students were excited to do the plastic milk experiment. They made milk into plastic using a microwave. They did an amazing job, and the experiment was successful. ​ ​ 4/20 4th week Students designed our DNA using pipe cleaners and learned important concepts of DNA. We learned the 4 bases and the structure of DNA, also the fact that we all contained genetic material. ​ ​ 4/27 5th week Students made iron for breakfast. They used cereal, magnet, and ziplock bags to extract the iron out of the cereals. ​ ​ 5/4 6th week Students made lemon volcanoes out of vinegar and lemon (or some sort of acid). This was one of the experiments that students enjoyed the most, and they loved observing the explosion. ​ ​ 5/11 7th week Students were introduced to the science exploration challenge and the science fair competition information, and they were able to get help to actually create experiments and researches on their own. ​ ​ 5/18 8th week Students conducted the soap-powered boat experiment by using soap, cardboard, and water. They were able to observe the boat as it propelled forward. ​ ​ 5/25 9th week This was our final meeting, and we wrapped our year with additional science fair information. Students reflected on our progress and how much we were able to accomplish the past year. Week 5 - Paper Chromatography Today we learned about capillary action, the mobile phase, the stationary phase, and solvents using paper chromatography. Students learned about natural examples of capillary action, what parts of the experiment were the mobile and stationary phase, and what the solvent was. They used a black marker and observed the many colors that came out once the solvent reached the ink.

Brookland Middle School March 2021 - May 2021 Opportunity X representatives: Grace Lee, Alice Feng, Nathaniel Johnson Sponsoring Principal: Todd Hickey ​ ​ 3/18 Our First Meeting We first introduced each other and played ice breakers. The material kits were not yet delivered, so we spent some time getting to know each other better and trying to learn about Opportunity X. We played “This or That,” and we discussed some of our favorite branches of science. The students were interested in the types of experiments, so we discussed which experiment we should do next week. ​ ​ 3/25 1st week Students made elephant toothpaste with soap, hydrogen peroxide, water, and dry yeast. The experiment was a blast, and everyone loved it. ​ 4/1 2nd week Students conducted the Dancing Ghost experiment. Although they had a difficult time trying to make the ghost look like an actual ghost, the experiment itself went well. ​ ​ 4/15 3rd week Students were excited to do the plastic milk experiment. They made milk into plastic using a microwave. They did an amazing job, and the experiment was successful. ​ ​ 4/22 4th week Students designed our DNA using pipe cleaners and learned important concepts of DNA. We learned the 4 bases and the structure of DNA, also the fact that we all contained genetic material. ​ ​ 4/29 5th week Students made iron for breakfast. They used cereal, magnet, and ziplock bags to extract the iron out of the cereals. ​ ​ 5/6 6th week Students made lemon volcanoes out of vinegar and lemon (or some sort of acid). This was one of the experiments that students enjoyed the most, and they loved observing the explosion. ​ ​ 5/13 7th week Students were introduced to the science exploration challenge and the science fair competition information, and they were able to get help to actually create experiments and researches on their own. ​ ​ 5/20 8th week Students conducted the soap-powered boat experiment by using soap, cardboard, and water. They were able to observe the boat as it propelled forward. ​ ​ 5/27 9th week This was our final meeting, and we wrapped our year with additional science fair information. Students reflected on our progress and how much we were able to accomplish the past year.