Teenagers Are Changing The World

Could you make a difference through science? A group of these girls came up with a brilliant idea and won the Google Science Fair...

Here are five ordinary girls who have made the world a better place; they're winners of the Google Science Fair (which is way cooler than it sounds).

I've never heard of it before.

Let us tell you more! Google encourages anyone between the ages of 13 and 18 to identify a problem and come up with their own innovative solution to that problem. You could invent Forever Flavor gum and take it to the science fair if you're driven crazy by losing the flavor of your chewing gum!

This is an awful example since most of the entries are good for everyone, not just gum-chewers, but you get the idea.

I am not an A-student, and I am still young. My humanities skills are limited...

Elf Bilgin

is 16 years old and lives in Istanbul, Turkey. Because plastic is a huge problem for the environment, because it releases toxic gases into the atmosphere, and it's hard to recycle (you can only make more plastic).

So Elif put on her thinking cap and came up with a pollution solution: bioplastics!

She read somewhere that starch can be used to make bioplastics, so she set off on a search for starch. When she discovered starch in banana skins, she bought enough bananas to make a gorilla jealous and began experimenting. The results of Elif's experiments were often too hard or too soft, but eventually her hard work paid off, and she was able to create bioplastic within her own home!

Ciara Judge, Emer Hickey, and Sophie Healy-Thow 

Are three Irish girls interested in biology and gardening. A particular type of bacteria (called diazotrophs, fact fans!) stimulated certain vegetables' growth when they were 16 years old. In an effort to aid the global food crisis, the three girls wondered if they could use that bacteria to encourage crops to grow in soils that are notoriously difficult to cultivate.

What they discovered? Plants treated with those handy diazotrophs grew 70% faster. Just imagine what Sophie, Emer and Ciara's discovery could do for the global food industry! Oh, and our stomachs!

Ann Makosinski

While she lives in Canada, Ann has many friends in the Phillipines (frustratingly, not all of them are named Phillip). Ann started thinking of ways to help one of her friends who complained his family couldn't afford electricity. However, how could she generate free electricity?

Ann pondered, cogitated, wondered, ruminated, and then realized that she herself was producing thermal energy! Using only the thermal energy from the human hand, Ann created a torch that doesn't require batteries. Voila!

How about you?

Have these stories given you any ideas? If so, you still have time to submit your entry to the 2015 Google Science Fair through the end of May.

Your project could make a difference to people's lives all over the world if you are on our list of world-changers and general clever clogs! Additionally, you'll get your own YouTube video made like these guys did.

Here's a handy 6-step guide to get you going (this is the first time we've given you homework):

1. Fill out the Google Science Fair application
   
2. Discuss ideas with your science teacher and ask for any information you need.
3. Keep investigating! You can find a lot of information online.
4. Develop a hypothesis. ‘How can I solve this problem?’’’
5. Experiment and perfect your idea
6. and join the fair (the Google one, not the travelling circus)!

We hope we've inspired some future inventors to leave us a comment with their idea (don't worry, Lee won't steal it)!