Students of the 7th, 8th and 9th year of the College of Basic Education Sacred Heart of Mary of Rio de Janeiro (CSCM-RJ) – Marie de Sacre Coeur are participating in the Fair Virtual Science and running for place in the Brazilian Fair Sciences and Engineering (FEBRACE). It is an important national fair organized by the University of São Paulo. In it, works of research and scientific initiation will be evaluated and selected by the jury of scientists, experts in different areas of knowledge.

The students of the CSCM-RJ are working the themes of their research through technological tools. Among them, the creation of a low-cost thermal cap to combat hair loss caused by chemotherapy, a channel in youtbe to clarify myths about vaccines that cause disease and an application to check the likelihood of genetic diseases.

The trio of 9th graders, Julia Brasil, Beatriz Reis and Gabriela Mandelli, is developing her research from swimming caps and caps used in beauty salons for the service of lights. For the creation of the prototype, they used two caps, among which a gel is applied. In the inner part, a towel is in contact with the scalp. Before being used, the cap needs to be stored in the freezer so that the gel can get cold and thus act in the fight against hair loss.

The purpose of the cap is to cause a vasoconstriction of the blood capillaries that irrigate the bulb of the hair roots. Vasoconstriction is the opposite of vasodilation, caused by the treatment of chemotherapy, which causes capillary wires to fall. Information about the cap and how to use it will be made available to the public through online communication actions such as texts and photos on the site and explanatory videos on YouTube. The intention is to make the idea available to anyone who is interested, so that the person himself can make his cap. “We noticed that there are researches of industries and scientists wanting to patent this type of project. However, our differential is easy access and low cost, since the caps made available in the market for this purpose are very expensive. “- revealed the students.

Alexandre Cunha, José Moisés Fortunato and Leticia Moura, 8th grade students, are developing an app to check the possibilities of genetic diseases, based on the family history analysis. The user fills out an in-app questionnaire and, in response, receives an award with the probability of loading those genes or not. The result is based on the investigation of each person’s genealogical tree.

It is known that breast and bowel cancer are examples of diseases that have genetic components. In this sense, the students responsible for the project explained that the app is intended to inform people about the chances of future scenarios, so that they can prevent themselves in advance, since nothing replaces the routine exams. “This type of subject, in most cases, is contextualized by adults. When we young people come and talk about it, we will certainly reach a younger audience. Although it is a serious matter, the language is young to young. As the goal is prevention, our interest is to get people to experience this experience in our app as soon as possible. “- said the students.

Students Leonardo Gomes and Pedro Monteiro, 7th grade, are building a YouTube channel on vaccines and myths. They are recording videos to make people aware of sources of research, lies and truths about different types of vaccines. “Does the HPV vaccine cause disease?” And “Myths about the Yellow Fever vaccine” are examples of topics covered by the students on the channel. One of the main goals of this project is to alert people about the real purpose of vaccines, which is to prevent diseases and not cause them.

The science teacher and coordinator of the academic school, Mônica Coelho, explained that the incentive to research and development of scientific projects is very important for the formation of the students, especially when we think of their entry into higher education. “Scientific activity has its essence based not only on creativity and imagination, but also on collective discussion, exchange of information and ideas, and verification of its quality, according to national criteria. Along with the research and use of technological tools, the students are preparing a monograph. In addition to the theoretical foundation, we even work on the ethical aspects of copying and pasting content. The project is an incentive to research. ”