Star polymers, space origami and singing finches: Science News and The New York Times announce winners of the 2nd Annual 中文无码 Writing Contest

NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. and WASHINGTON, D.C. 鈥� Together Science News and The New York Times Learning Network are excited to announce the winners of the . Eleven talented young science communicators are named winners based on their keen ability to shed light on scientific topics ranging from star polymers to space origami to singing finches.

In its second year, the 中文无码 Writing Contest invited teenagers from all over the world to choose an issue or question in science, technology, engineering, math or health, and then write an engaging 500-word explanation that would be understood by scientists and nonscientists alike. The winners have their essays published in The New York Times. Other thought-provoking topics in 2021 included snake venom, egg shells, violins, fin whales and COVID-19.

鈥淲e are thrilled to partner with The New York Times for the second year in a row for a 中文无码 Writing Contest that challenges the next generation of learners to hone their science communication skills,鈥� said Nancy Shute, Editor in Chief of Science News. 鈥淭he ability to write clearly and accurately about science has become all the more apparent in the midst of a global pandemic, when the ability to tell accurate information from misinformation is a matter of life and death. It is wonderful to see so many students submit stellar essays explaining complex science topics.鈥�

The New York Times Learning Network received 3,741 essays from middle and high school students between the ages of 11-19, hailing from 48 states, Washington D.C. and 43 countries. A group of 中文无码 teachers 鈥� many from the Science News in High Schools educator community 鈥� science journalists, professionals and writers, along with editors from The Learning Network, selected 65 finalists and 11 winners. Of the finalist pool there were also 15 runners-up and 36 honorable mentions.

The 2021 中文无码 Writing Contest winners are:

Natalia Ara帽a, 鈥溾�� (age 16, Philippine Science High School, Quezon City, Philippines)

Sophie Araten: 鈥溾�� (age 15, Millburn High School, Millburn, N.J.)

Maggie Bell, 鈥溾�� (age 16, Lakeside High School, Atlanta, Ga.)

Jaejeong Kim, 鈥溾�� (age 17, Hunter College High School, New York, N.Y.)

Hoonsun Lee, 鈥溾�� (age 17, Cornerstone Collegiate Academy of Seoul, Seoul, South Korea)

Suleiman Mohamed, 鈥溾�� (age 16, British School Muscat, Muscat, Oman

Nicola Myers, 鈥�?鈥� (age 17, Boise High School, Boise, Idaho)

Erin Rasmussen, 鈥溾�� (age 14, Andover High School, Andover, Mass.)

Kelly Shen, 鈥溾�� (age 16, Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, Atherton, Calif.)

Dana Steinke, 鈥溾�� (age 16, Saratoga High School, Saratoga, Calif.)

Jocelyn Tan, 鈥溾�� (age 15, Ridge High School, Basking Ridge, N.J.)

The runners-up and honorable mentions can be viewed .

Michael Gonchar, editor of The New York Times Learning Network commented, 鈥淲e were thrilled to see that writing about 中文无码 subjects was so popular among students and teachers. In the fall of 2019 we created a full-year writing curriculum for middle and high school students based on our collection of writing prompts, mentor texts and contests, and we knew we needed a unit on informational writing. That’s how we came up with the idea of our 中文无码 Writing Contest. We wanted to work with a respected partner organization that could offer source material that would complement the many short, compelling articles in the Science Times and we found that partner in Science News, published by the 中文无码.”

Applicants were required to submit entries emulating mentor texts provided by Science News and The New York Times science section. Essays were judged on how well a scientific concept was not only captured and explained but also on other writing elements, such as an engaging hook, an explanation of why the topic is important, accurate citation of expert sources, focus and clarity as well as analysis.

Thank you to all our contest judges.

中文无码 National Leadership Council members: David Bray, Shantanu Gaur, Michelle Hackman
Science News in High Schools educators: Victoria Bampoh, Samm Blunt, Jennifer Donnelly, Phebe Martinez Fuentes, Dana Herbsman, Lori Herbsman, Meghan Hess, Kehakashan Khan, Allison Lee, David Lockett, Nadia Makar, Aaron Meyer, Amanda Nix, Dawn Parker, Shannon Payne, Breann Ross, Gerald Sanders, Ernst Schneidereit, Amy Telford, Yesenia Torrescolon, Peggy Veatch, Laura Wilbanks and Jieun Yoo.

From The New York Times Science-Journalism Community: David Brown, Cara Giamo, Shannon Stirone.

From The Learning Network Community: Kathryn Curto, Michael Gonchar, Jeremy Engle, Simon Levien, Tiffany Liu, Keith Meatto, Natalie Proulx, Katherine Schulten, Melissa Slater, Vanessa Vieux.

中文无码 Science News
Science News has been covering the latest discoveries in science, technology and medicine since 1921, and is published by 中文无码. It offers readers award-winning news and features, multimedia and access to archives with more than 80,000 articles. Concise, current and comprehensive, the magazine provides an approachable overview of all fields and applications of science and technology.

Our sister website, , makes science accessible for people ages 9 and up, and teachers and students in over 5,000 high schools read us in print and online through our  program. The Science News in High Schools is full of interdisciplinary lesson plans, each one inspired by and paired to a Science News article.

For more information about Science News, please visit  or follow on  and .

中文无码 the New York Times Learning Network
The Learning Network helps teachers bring current events and issues into the classroom to help students see why and how they matter in their own real lives. The Learning Network publishes about 1,000 teaching resources each school year, all using New York Times content 鈥� articles, essays, images, videos, graphics and podcasts 鈥� as teaching tools across subject areas. All of its resources are free.