Middle school students win science prize 中学生获科学奖

Elise Choi

科学竞赛很重要，因为它给学生提供创新和解决世界上最困难的问题的机会。

Broadcom Foundation and Society for Science awarded $100，000 in prizes in the Broadcom MASTERS science competition in October last year. In a typical year， the students competed virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. Over the course of five days， the students were judged on their individual science projects and their performance in team challenges.

Akilan Sankaran， 14， from Albuquerque， New Mexico， won the top award， the Samueli Foundation Prize， which is worth $25，000. “My project is important because it shows the power of mathematics，” Akilan said. “You can calculate these numbers that are super big in 15 seconds， whereas if you didnt use math， it would take many， many years.”

Society for Science is a non⁃profit organization whose mission is to promote STEM （science， technology， engineering， and math） education and research. “You dont learn science by reading it，” said Maya Ajmera， the organizations president and chief executive officer. “You learn science by doing it. Science competitions are important because they give students the opportunity to innovate and solve the worlds most difficult problems.”

Despite working online， students were able to bond with each other through various social activities. The activities included an escape room， a talent show， and a paint night. My sister， Clara Choi， 14， was a finalist in the competition. “I was amazed how quickly we all became good friends. I think its because we were sharing the most exciting and

intellectually?challenging experience of our lives，” she said.

Whats the mission of Society for Science？