Teen makes his mark on science world
Published: November 10, 2006
Fourteen-year-old David Cohn III has always loved science. One year, he built his own remote-controlled model car; the next, he made his own engine. He has been competing in — and winning — science fairs since the age of 6.
Now, the talented Poway teenager can add penning an award-winning essay at a nationwide science competition for middle school students to his accomplishments.
“If somebody told me that I was going to make it to the (Discovery Channel) National Science Fair Competition, I would’ve told them, ‘You’re joking.’ ” he said by phone this week. [Science Fair Success Secrets: How to Win Prizes, Have Fun, and Think Like a Scientist]
But that’s precisely what happened to David, whose father works for Scripps Healthcare and whose mother is a homemaker.
Victories at local and statewide science fairs this year were his springboard to national recognition.
It all started when David got permission from a Poway homeowner whose property borders a biological preserve to set up small plots of land, to observe the indigenous flora in wake of the deadly Cedar fire that burned 56 homes in Poway.
“Every three weeks for the past three years, I’ve been identifying plants, and seeing how they regrow,” said David. “I’m beginning my fourth year of study now and it’s been a wonderful experience.”
His botanical exhibits caught the attention of contest judges — and that of his science teacher at Rhodes School in Encinitas.
Though he won a $500 cash prize from the county fair and $5,000 and the Arnold O. Beckman Award from the state competition, the results of his experiments actually disproved David’s initial hypothesis.
“I predicted that the invasive species would flourish,” he said, “and just eliminate all the beautiful chaparral native plants species. The opposite ended up happening.”
David was nominated for the eighth annual Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge national competition in June. The Silver Spring, Md., event, near Washington, D.C., is held every year in the last week of October; it’s the nation’s preeminent science contest for students in grades five through eight.
Between June and September, the Discovery judges winnowed the field of 6,000 nominees to 400 semifinalists — and then culled that group to 40 finalists.
“It was an unbelievable experience,” David said of his week in Washington.
The science challenge divided students into groups by grade; the groups then squared off in age-appropriate scientific challenges, with topics ranging from such traditional standbys as chemistry to contemporary subject matter taken from today’s headlines, such as avian flu and Hurricane Katrina. [Hard Power: The New Politics of National Security]
When it came to the essay contest, in which finalists were asked to describe their dream science trip, David didn’t think he would win.
“I knew that all 40 finalists had very brilliant minds,” he said. “They all have exceptional communication skills, whether it’s writing or presenting to judges.”
But David’s communication skills proved exceptional as well, and the judges gave him the nod for his essay entitled “Hawai’i: A Scientific Paradise.”
“I would like to be a botanist but I haven’t really decided,” he said. “I’m interested in a lot of different things, like math, social studies, science of course, literature, and learning foreign languages.”
Since David netted a trip to Hawaii with his winning essay, he’ll at least have pleasant environs in which to ponder career choices.
In the meantime, he has memories of the intense and exciting Washington, D.C,. trip, a highlight of which was getting to visit the National Institutes of Health (though he still caught a cold on the flight back home).
In particular, he said, he remembers visiting the NIH’s Children’s Inn, a program for terminally ill children and their families.
“I helped them conduct science experiments and just further their learning in science,” David said.
He credited both his parents for his scientific ability and his writing aptitude.
“My mom gave me botany text books and plant guides,” he added. “She’s been great about driving me to the fire test site, and just general proofreading of my reports.”
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