Middle-School Science Project Finalists Honored At Smithsonian - Artículo Breve

Hispanic Times Magazine, Dec, 1999

At a time when studies indicate that children lose interest in science as they get older, Discovery Communications, Inc., (DCI) announced the top winners of the first annual Discovery Young Scientist Challenge.

Chosen from a field of 40 finalists from around the nation, were three winners -- Kevin Kuhn, age 13, of York, Pennsylvania, who won the first prize worth $10,000; Naveen Sinha, age 14, of Los Alamos, New Mexico, whose scholarship totals $5,000; and Bryan Lemus of Miami, Florida, age 14, who took 3rd place with a $3,000 scholarship.

The awards ceremony was held at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. Mr. Kuhn's project was entitled, "Is St. John's Wort safe for your heart?" Eighth grader Sinha's project highlighted "Sound Applications of Interference." "Monocot Versus Dicot" won third place for Mr. Lemus.

The Discovery Young Scientist Challenge (DYSC) is a national contest for middle school students. The finalists had an unprecedented "behind the scenes" opportunity to work with world-renowned Smithsonian scientists in their research laboratories using the National Scientific Collections.

All forty finalists enjoyed an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington; and the students were judged on their individual written and visual communication skills, leadership skills, problem-solving abilities, and collaborative skill, as well as oral presentations of their projects.

Science Service, Inc., a partner in the science challenge, was founded in 1921, and is a highly respected nonprofit organization advancing the cause of science. For more information about DYSC, including a complete listing of the names of all forty finalists, visit the DYSC website at www.discoveryschool.com/dyse.