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The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

Researchers are discouraged to publish negative results
because these findings are often considered less impactful and undervalued by journals. Over 85% of published papers arrive at hypothesis-affirming conclusions.

Highlighting the positives in negative results

by Jonathan Xue and Isabella Lo November 23, 2024

Science is rife with failure. The scientific method dictates that researchers should observe, hypothesize and experiment often, revisiting and revising the process each time unexpected results arise. Yet...

Upper school chemistry teacher Andrew Irvine assists Arturo Vilalta (10) with the paper chromatography lab. Students determined which M&M flavors contained yellow #5 using chromatography.

Honors Chemistry students sweeten science with M&M chromatography

by Ashley Mo, Assistant STEM Editor March 8, 2024

Honors Chemistry students conducted a paper chromatography lab using colored dye from M&Ms to determine which flavors contained the synthetic food dye Tartrazine, also known as “Yellow #5,” over...

Jason Shim (10) observes a beaker while participating in the AP Chemistry lab. Students in the classes created aspirin during a lab from Oct. 6 to Oct. 10.

Chemistry classes create aspirin for lab

by Andrew Liang and Kinnera Mulam October 19, 2022

Students in upper school chemistry teachers Dr. Mala Raghavan and Dr. Casey Brown’s Advanced Placement (AP) chemistry classes created aspirin during a lab from Oct. 6 to Oct. 10.  On the first day...

Upper school chemistry teacher Dr. Mala Raghavan helps Jacqueline Soraire (11) light the Bunsen burner during the lab on Wednesday. Advanced Placement (AP) Chemistry class for juniors and seniors conducted their first experiment of the year on Wednesday.

Chemistry class completes first in-class experiment

by Kinnera Mulam, Co-STEM Editor September 20, 2022

Upper school chemistry teacher Dr. Mala Raghavan’s Advanced Placement (AP) Chemistry class for juniors and seniors conducted their first in-class experiment of the year on Wednesday during periods two...

Bobby Costin (11) drops solid yeast balls into a graduated cylinder of hydrogen peroxide. Honors Biology students participated in a lab on Thursday and Friday about different enzyme properties.

Biology classes discover properties of yeast through enzyme lab

by Edward Huang, Co-STEM Editor September 20, 2022

Honors Biology classes experimented with yeast on Thursday and Friday in upper school biology teachers Eric Johnson and Michael Pistacchi’s classrooms to study the effectiveness of enzymes on different...

Nilisha Baid (12) pours out the contents of a volumetric flask into a sink during an experiment as her lab partner, Vaishnavi Murari (12), looks on via Zoom. Six out of the seven students in Honors Analytical Chemistry participated in the Nov. 21 in-person lab.

Honors Analytical Chemistry students conduct in-person lab over Thanksgiving break

by Lucy Ge, News Editor December 1, 2020

With her hair tied back and safety goggles on, senior Nilisha Baid carefully lets some solution out of the buret and into an Erlenmeyer flask on Nov. 21 as part of an on-campus Honors Analytical Chemistry...

Students from New Zealand toured the Harker campus today during a visit organized by Harker's wiSTEM club. The students were here on a ten-day visit, touring major attractions in and around the Bay Area.

New Zealand students tour Harker for a day

by Arushi Saxena, Global Editor April 16, 2019

A group of students from New Zealand visited the Harker campus on Tuesday and toured classes, participated in lab activities, and socialized with Harker students. The students, all girls, all attend various...

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