Three International School of Beijing (ISB) students have recently won the top prize in an international competition for science communication.
Eleventh graders Angela Fan, Anna Ricks and Rachel Wang were awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry’s annual Bill Bryson Prize for their video "Vitamins" which cleverly addresses the function and even atomic weight of various vitamins.
The prize, established in 2005 with royalties offered by the well-known American expat author, is awarded annually to students who demonstrate excellence and creativity in science communication.
The song starts out casually with a teenage slacker tone: "So we heard you wanted us to figure out how science keeps us healthy and up and about, and we were like ‘what’?" But it quickly turns sophisticated, deftly combining entertainment value and scientific facts in a style reminiscent of Tom Lehrer’s Classic The Elements or They Might Be Giants’ Meet the Elements.
The 11th graders’ submission was one of hundreds entered in this year’s competition, in which students were asked to address the question: "How Does Science Keep Us Healthy?" Students were not restricted to any medium.
The Bill Bryson Prize started in 2005 when the organization sent copies of Bryson’s book ‘A Short History of Everything’ to all schools and colleges in the UK. Bryson responded by donating all the royalties from these sales to establish the award.
The ISB students and their teacher Pamela Rawson were recognized for their achievement at the British ambassador’s residence in Beijing yesterday.
Their video can be viewed on Youku here and Youtube (accessible only via VPN in China) here.
Photo: screen grab of video
