3 Beijing students win intl science prize

Three students from Beijing won this year’s Bill Bryson Prize, an international award launched by the UK’s Royal Society of Chemistry and backed by the award’s namesake and his publishers.

The prize is designed to recognize and encourage excellent science communication in schools.

The students, Angela Fan, Anna Ricks and Rachel Wang, and their teacher, Pamela Rawson from the International School of Beijing, won the prize for their video and song titled How Does Science Keep Us Healthy.

The award ceremony was held on Nov 26 at the British ambassador’s residence in Beijing.

“Because science is not applied, communication is a very important part. That is why this particular prize is so interesting, because it is not only about science, it also shows that children really communicate about it,” said Sebastian Wood, the British ambassador to China, at the ceremony.

The competition, which began in 2006, is open to students worldwide who are 5 to 18 years old. The contest seeks science communication works, including videos, podcasts, posters, cartoons, songs and poems, and is granted to one winner outside Britain every year.

This is the second time that students from China won the Bill Bryson Prize. In 2011, two students from the Affiliated High School of Peking University received the honor.

Next year’s Bill Bryson Prize will receive entries from January to March 2014.

Bill Bryson is a best-selling American author on science. His book A Short History of Nearly Everything has been translated into Chinese and is popular among young students.