Applied Academics with Annie

An ongoing column by Teen Editor Annie Shao


When I felt my mouth and tongue burning after eating copious amounts of fresh pineapple, I panicked. What if I am allergic to one of my favorite foods? When will the tingling stop? As a biochemistry student, I guessed the burning might have been caused by natural acids in the fruit, but nature had me fooled. [read more...]
Even nerdy science majors like me enjoy a nice nail color. But when it’s a nail polish infused with science, we love it. My friends bought me a bottle of magnetic nail polish for my birthday so, I decided to do a manicure and a mad scientist experiment at the same time. [read more...]
At the end of my Rocks and Ropes class caving field trip, my classmates and I lit up a dark room with candy. [read more...]
Last spring, I graduated from Memorial High School. I will be starting my first semester at the University of Wisconsin-Madison this fall, where I hope to study biochemistry and microbiology. One of my most memorable high school moments, a group demonstration in AP Chemistry class, might have given me a good taste of what I’ll learn about in a college chemistry class. [read more...]
People who eat oatmeal die sooner than people who do not. [read more...]
Last semester, I was the teacher’s aide in an Advanced Placement (AP) Biology class. My former teacher Ms. Cindy Kellor assigned me all sorts of odd jobs: cleaning up after labs, organizing the science department’s chemicals and supplies, and filing. I truly enjoyed being an aide; it was such a great experience that it was not even dampened by a case of escaped cockroaches. [read more...]
Every student loves a half-day. Especially in high school, we really appreciate a break. But there is a downside to half days: getting hungry in the class that’s usually just before lunch, regardless of the time. [read more...]
The other day, as I do almost everyday, I walked into my calculus class. A student wrote on the whiteboard “What is the plural of octopus?” Immediately, the whole class discussed this noisily. “It’s octopi, definitely,” or “it might be octopuses, but octopi sounds right” could be heard. [read more...]