The Search for America's Next Top Young Scientist is Underway in Washington, D.C.!
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 10.22.07
Well, according to one of the candidates to be America’s Next Top Young Scientist, everyone in Louisiana is named Kenny Boudreaux! Or at least that’s what he quite humorously pointed out when he found out who I was, as he studiously tapped away on his laptop here at Discovery’s Young Scientist Challenge in Washington, D.C.
As I pointed out recently, this year’s Next Top Young Scientist is going to be a green one; and the search is definitely focused on looking for great young science communicators. Kids who can help others like themselves appreciate and understand science and the environment, with the kids in contention being among the sharpest scientific minds in the country at the middle school level. As you might expect they’re definitely a blast to watch in action. Working in teams to solve challenges, and moving themselves towards their share of the $100k that’s up for grabs in scholarships and prizes…
Take the “Carbon Footprint Challenge” as a perfect example. Within minutes of being presented with the challenge here at the University of Maryland the first group had already gotten down to work, assigning tasks, choosing a leader, and finding out how they were going to tackle this leg of the contest.
That meant finding out what the term carbon footprint actually meant, and how they could enable others to understand it via the example of things like a cheeseburger in their own radio-style podcast.
Of course, they’d already beaten out over 2000 fellow contestants nationwide just to earn the right to be here, and with the top 40 of them here at the final competition it should be fun to watch over the next couple of days.
Stay tuned!
via:: Live at Discovery's Young Scientist Challenge!
