Science Fair Season
Twelve Kids, a Robot Named Scorch . . . and What It Takes to Win
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
This is the engaging true story of kids competing in the high-stakes, high-drama world of international science fairs. Every year the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair brings together 1,500 high schoolers from more than 50 countries to compete for over $4 million dollars in prizes and scholarships. These amazing kids are doing everything from creating bionic prosthetics to conducting groundbreaking stem cell research, from training drug-sniffing cockroaches to building a nuclear reactor. In Science Fair Season, Judy Dutton follows twelve teens looking for science fair greatness and tells the gripping stories of their road to the big competition. Some will win, some will lose, but all of their lives are changed forever.
The Intel International Science & Engineering Fair is the most prominent science fair in the country, and it takes a special blend of drive, heart, and smarts to win there. Dutton goes inside the inner sanctum of science fair competitions and reveals the awe-inspiring projects and the competitors there. Each of the kids -- ranging from a young Erin Brokovich who made the FBI watch list for taking on a big corporation, to a quietly driven boy who lives in a run-down trailer on a Navajo reservation, to a wealthy Connecticut girl who dreams of being an actress and finds her calling studying bees, to a troubled teenager in a juvenile detention facility, to the next Bill Gates--take readers on an unforgettable journey.
Along the way, Science Fair Season gives readers a glimpse of America's brightest young minds and shows how our country is still a place for inventors and dreamers--the "geeks" our future depends upon.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Dutton (Secrets from the Sex Lab) reveals the minds and hearts of the students driven to excel in high school science fairs. The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) is the "Super Bowl of science fairs," where students present experiments in high-stakes research like nuclear fusion and genetic engineering. Participants have the chance to win money, college scholarships, and the attention of scientific heavyweights, from elite universities to NASA and the National Institutes of Health. Dutton introduces us to 12 brilliant students and explores their drive to excel. Garrett Yazzie invented a solar-powered heater to keep his family warm. Katlin Hornig thought that interacting with horses could help stressed-out cops like her father. Ryan Patterson's single-minded tinkering with robots led to a groundbreaking glove that could read and translate sign language. Dutton alternates stories of science fair legends with those of six finalists brought together at the 2009 ISEF, revealing their vision, determination, and courage as well as the important role of supportive mentors. This saga is sure to entertain and enlighten parents, teachers, and anyone who longs to peer into the creative forces that drive the world's youngest scientists. Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball's