Young Scientist Challenge Incorporates STEM From Discovery Education and 3M

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Cooperatize for Discovery Education. Compensation will be received for this post all opinions none the less are 100 percent my own.

Students from all over the world apply themselves year round to be the best in their respective studies. Discovery Education and 3M aim to reward those students who study science especially STEM related scientific studies.

What is STEM? STEM EDUCATION is a new movement in American Education to help teachers and their students understand how the academic disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics impact their world and prepare them for the workforce of tomorrow.

STEM is multi-discipline based, incorporating the integration of other disciplinary knowledge into a new whole. Technology helps us communicate; Math is the language; Science and Engineering are the processes for thinking; all this leads to Innovation. Learning in a STEM environment compels students to understand issues, distill problems, and comprehend processes that lead to innovative solutions. They can learn to lead the way to innovation; learning today to make a better tomorrow.

Discovery Education is the global leader in standards-based digital content for K-12, transforming teaching and learning with award-winning digital textbooks, multimedia content, professional development, and the largest professional learning community of its kind.

3M and Discovery Education recently hosted the Young Scientist Challenge. 

They named 11-year-old Gitanjali Rao from Lone Tree, Colo., the winner of the 2017 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge. Gitanjali is working to develop Tethys, a sensor-based device that can detect lead in water. It is faster than other current techniques. Tethys is portable and easy to use and implements less expensive equipment for testing making it a more cost effective approach. Gitanjali hopes to solve the water contamination crisis and decrease long-term health effects from lead exposure. 

A seventh-grader at STEM School and Academy, Gitanjali competed along with nine other finalists. The top finisher Gitanjali received $25,000 and the title of "America's Top Young Scientist". The other nine finalists received $1,000. The second, third and fourth place finalists in addition to the $1,000 received a trip to a taping of a show on Discovery's family of networks. The fifth through tenth place winners each received a $1,000 prize and a $500 excitation gift card. It is a huge achievement to be a finalist let a lone to be the winner! (Finalists also received various other 3M and Discovery Education prizes.)

Finalists work directly with a 3M scientist for the past three months to develop their innovations as part of a unique summer mentorship program. Gitanjali was paired with Dr. Kathleen Shafer, a 3M research specialist who develops new plastics technologies for use in real world implementations. 

Each of the students collaborated with some of 3M’s leading scientists! The scientists provided guidance advancing their ideas from a theoretical concept into a physical prototype. Together, the 3M mentors and finalists shared their passion for science, reviewed the scientific process and worked virtually through pre-assigned objectives, with resources and support provided by 3M and Discovery Education. 

During the final competition finalists presented their inventions to an esteemed panel of 3M scientists, school superintendents and administrators from across the country. In addition to presenting their prototypes, the ten finalists paired up to compete in two additional challenges through which they combined multiple 3M technologies to solve a real-world problems.Discovery Education and 3M developed the Young Scientist Lab, an interactive portal filled with engaging activities and standards-aligned teaching tools, anchored by the award-winning annual Young Scientist Challenge. 

The Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge has awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in student prizes, paired students with world-renowned scientists to give them real-world insights and delivered much-needed science resources to millions of students, teachers and families across the country. Winners have even been featured in Forbes magazine’s annual “30 Under 30” list, spoke in front of members of Congress and attendees at the United Nations, met the President of the United States, and demonstrated innovations on national television programs such as ABC World News Tonight, Fox & Friends, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

The annual premier competition recognizes scientific thinking and curiosity in students grades 5-8. This is especially important because studies show these are the years when interest in scientific studies for these ages begin to decrease. This is a means and an incentive for the children to encourage them to dream big and to further their studies. Participants can dream up a solution to an everyday problem that ultimately could reshape and improve the way we live our lives. Pretty amazing!

Find out more about the 2018 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge and to learn more about registering for this years event, go visit the Young Scientists Lab.

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