Note: Team roles and the number of subject directors are tentative and may change as the season is finalized. Write It Do It is listed as tentative for this season.

Subject Area Hub

Inquiry & Scientific Reasoning

The intellectual backbone of a championship team. Master classical cryptanalysis speed-cracking, mathematical experimental designs, and high-precision spatial communication.

Tentative Leadership: 1 Subject Director

Welcome to Bronx Science Inquiry

Inquiry is the division that separates the top-tier schools from the rest of the field. Here, we don't study a singular scientific domain; instead, we study the scientific method itself. We learn how to think, analyze, and communicate with flawless, mathematical precision.

Whether you're breaking advanced matrix ciphers, designing an entire scientific experiment from a random box of household materials in under 20 minutes, or writing step-by-step spatial blueprints that allow your partner to construct a complex 3D model sight-unseen, you are building the ultimate analytical cognitive habits. These skills map directly to university research methods, discrete mathematics, and computer science paths.

Subject Lead Expectations

Administer timed full-length practice exams and mock experimental design trials.
Safely manage, categorize, and transport experimental materials.
Train members in discrete mathematical calculations and cryptanalysis patterns.
Maintain comprehensive grading rubrics and provide constructive feedback loops.

Events & Study Focus

Select tabs within each event card to explore descriptions, topic lists, textbook pathways, and practice links.

Codebusters

Team of 3

A high-velocity cryptanalysis race. Apply modular arithmetic, frequency analysis, and pattern recognition to decrypt complex monoalphabetic and polyalphabetic ciphers under a tight timer.

What You'll Learn

To crack substitution ciphers using letter frequency profiles.
How modular arithmetic underlies classical cryptosystems.
How to compute matrix determinants and modular inverses.
To divide labor across a 3-person sprint team for peak speed.

Big Questions

How can you utilize the Kasiski examination to mathematically determine the key length of a Vigenère cipher?

How does modular multiplicative inverse recovery ($a^{-1} \pmod m$) restrict your key choices in Affine ciphers?

Monoalphabetic Substitution

Frequency & Pattern Analysis

Aristocrats & Patristocrats: Decrypting 1-to-1 letter substitutions (with or without spacing/punctuation) using frequency graphs, double-letter guides, and common word patterns (cribs).
Xenocrypts: Cracking Spanish monoalphabetic substitutions using Spanish letter frequencies (e.g., high-frequency 'E', 'A', 'O', 'S') and accent configurations.
Baconian & Atbash: Structural decoding of bilateral binary-style Bacon ciphers and simple mirror-alphabet Atbash.

Polyalphabetic & Mathematical

Advanced Modular Ciphers

Modular Arithmetic Ciphers: Solving Caesar, Affine ($E(x) = (ax + b) \pmod{26}$), and Hill Ciphers (utilizing $2 \times 2$ and $3 \times 3$ matrix operations, determinants, and cofactors).
Polyalphabetic Ciphers: Decrypting Vigenère ciphers using key placement grids and tabular structures.
Transposition Ciphers: Navigating Rail Fence, Pollux/Morbit Morse conversions, and RSA Public Key fundamentals (prime selection, totient, modular exponentiation).

Standard Textbooks

Elementary Cryptanalysis: A Mathematical Approach

Abraham Sinkov

Standard Mathematical Cryptography

Cryptanalysis: A Study of Ciphers and Their Solution

Helen Fouché Gaines

Comprehensive Solving Techniques

Related College Courses

Discrete Mathematics Number Theory Introduction to Cryptography

Toebuster

Standard, high-speed interactive online Codebusters solver practice engine

Puzzle Baron's Cryptograms

Infinite generated Aristocrats to train pattern recognition speed

Rumkin Cipher Tools

Clean, comprehensive encoding and decoding visualizers

Experimental Design

Team of 3

Given a box of random materials and a prompt, design, conduct, statistically analyze, and write up a complete, rigorous scientific experiment in 50 minutes.

What You'll Learn

To structure hypotheses around independent & dependent variables.
To procedurize step-by-step experimental instructions.
To apply basic biostatistics (means, standard deviations, range, trends).
To evaluate experimental limitations, biases, and future extensions.

Big Questions

How can you distinguish random experimental variability from a statistically significant treatment trend with minimal trial repetitions?

How do confounding variables introduce systemic bias into your design, and how can they be structurally mitigated?

Formulation & Execution

Designing the Test

Hypothesis Logic: Structuring testable "If... then... because..." statements linking a singular independent variable to a measurable dependent variable.
Procedural Detail: Drafting highly detailed, repeatable sequential instructions, defining control groups, and incorporating safety/ethical protocols.
Data Bookkeeping: Designing multi-trial data tables, tracking correct units, calculating averages, and graphing boundaries.

Statistical Analysis

Data Evaluation

Calculations: Calculating sample means, ranges, percentages, and standard deviations to assess data spread and reliability.
Graphing Standards: Choosing correct axes, scaling intervals, plotting data points, and adding linear or non-linear lines of best fit.
Error & Reflection: Distinguishing random human errors from systemic experimental limits, and proposing concrete future modifications.

Standard Textbooks

Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods

John W. Creswell

Standard Research Methodology

Related College Courses

Research Methods Applied Statistics Experimental Physics Lab

Bozeman Science

Clean breakdowns of experimental variables, controls, and hypothesis logic

Crash Course Statistics

Learn variance, standard deviation, and data distributions

Write It Do It

Team of 2 (Writer/Doer)

The ultimate test of clear communication. One partner writes detailed text instructions of a complex, hidden structure; the other partner builds it using only those written words.

What You'll Learn

To establish unambiguous absolute and relative spatial coordinates.
To construct step-by-step checklists under tight time restrictions.
How to interpret written blueprints literally without making assumptions.
To develop unified abbreviation codes and terminology standards.

Big Questions

How can you write instructions that prevent your partner from falling into three-dimensional mirror symmetry traps?

What is the mathematical threshold where adding descriptive adjectives starts to slow down your partner's construction speed?

The Writer's Strategy

Blueprinting & Terminology

Spatial Reference Frames: Defining a static origin point and using clear, absolute coordinate directions (e.g., "positive z-axis", "pointing towards you") instead of ambiguous relative terms.
Standardized Taxonomy: Cataloging complex build components (Lego, K'Nex, craft stems) using standardized terminology (dimensions, color, texture).
Step Sequencing: Structuring instructions so foundational components are anchored before complex sub-assemblies are layered on.

The Doer's Strategy

Literal Construction

Literal Interpretation: Suppressing the urge to assume what the model "should" look like, and strictly following the literal written words.
Verification Checks: Constantly verifying spatial angles, layer orders, and connection points against preceding instruction steps.
Time Management: Budgeting building speed to ensure complex final steps aren't rushed due to initial hesitation.

Recommended Standards

Technical Communication

Mike Markel

Standard Guidelines for Spatial Clarity

Related College Courses

Technical Writing Spatial Communication Instructional Design

TED-Ed Communication Guide

How spatial reference frames and literal vocabulary affect listener actions