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Toy Challenge
Bringing Science to Life
By Kelly Burgess
Shannon McClintock, 15, of San Diego, Calif., won the grand prize in the 2004 Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge and became a poster girl of sorts for girls in science. She says that she didn't think she had any interest in science until she was required to compete in a school science fair. "I equated science with test tubes and not with things like structure and inventions," she says. "It was being put in a position where I had to use the scientific model in a real world situation that made me realize science is more than men in white suits with beakers."
Johnsen echoes McClintock's sentiments. "I never really thought that inventing a toy would be considered science," she says.
Although the ideas that the kids bring to the TOY Challenge are amazingly sophisticated and extremely creative, what has struck DiMartino has been the way the kids work together to achieve their goals. "It's amazing that at such a young age they can form these very effective teams and are willing to step back as individuals and let others take their turn as team representatives," she says. "The focus is the science aspect and that's important, but to see them become team members and public speakers at a level that many adults never achieve is mind-boggling."