Google has launched its second global online science competition for 13-18 year olds, known as the Google Science Fair.
More than 10,000 students from 91 countries submitted science experiments in the inaugural Science Fair in 2011 based around encouraging young people to ask a question that is of interest to them.
Google says science geniuses are not always A-grade students, and they encourage anyone and everyone who likes to ask questions to enter. The competition requires students – either individually or in a group – to conduct a scientific investigation into a ‘real world’ problem that interests them and to record the results and present conclusions.
Last year’s questions included: ‘Can I program a robot in English?’ ‘How does marinade affect carcinogen levels in grilled chicken?’ and ‘Can cancer treatment improve through building up a resistance to chemotherapy drugs?’
The winners, in three age groups (13/14, 15/16, 17/18) are judged by leading scientists and educators with 15 finalists invited to Google headquarters in Mountain View, California. Last year’s winners were also invited to the White House to meet President Obama.
Google says the Science Fair aims to stimulate intellectual curiosity, tenaciousness and ambition to use science to find solutions.
This comes at a time when there is an increasing call from scientists and educators to find ways to make science and maths education more interesting for students because of the significant decline in the number of people studying the subjects in post-compulsory education. (Motherpedia wrote about this last month). Earlier this month, President Obama announced an $80 million package to encourage greater interest in science education in the US and Australia’s Chief Scientist, Professor Ian Chubb, is due to present a report to the Australian Government on this issue next month.
The prizes on offer with the Google Science Fair include scholarships of $25,000 for the two younger age groups and $50,000 for the senior age group towards further education costs, a trip to the Galapagos Islands and internships at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, Google and/or LEGO. There is also a special Science in Action prize, sponsored by Scientific American which will reward the project with the highest capacity to make a practical difference to the lives of people in a group or community.
If you’ve got a curious young mind in your household, encourage and inspire them today. The Google Science Fair competition closes on 1 April 2012.
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