The three winning songwriters - Becky Ferreira, David Newman and Monty Harper - are all non-scientist professionals with a keen interest in marrying science with music to educate and motivate young learners in science frontiers.

Based in New York City, Ferreira is a freelance writer for such science and technology publications as Popular Science, New Scientist and Wired, in addition to being a musician and standup comedian.  

In penning her winning entry, Ferreira says she was thinking about the disconnect in science and math education that exists today for many American elementary students. "There's a prevailing attitude that these fields are, at best, hard or boring. It's a serious problem because kids are naturally fascinated by the grandeur of science - they are obsessed with dinosaurs, space, marine biology, animal behavior and technology. They love honesty, they love to be challenged and they love to ask questions. I Want to Know was my humble attempt to ignite that sense of wonder in the next generation." 

Assisting Ferreira with the singing and harmony on the song were her friends Lucy Carson, Jessi Cimafonte and Molly Schulman.  Click here for more information on Ferreira and her music.

Newman, a professional baritone classical singer who teaches voice at James Madison University, lives in rural Virginia and writes children's science songs in his spare time. Newman's I Want to Sing About Science cleverly and succinctly illustrates the arduous process involved in scientific research by taking listeners through how bacteriologist Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin and how astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus arrived at the theory that proved the Earth and other planets revolve around the Sun.  "I love a challenge, which this song certainly was," says David with a laugh, "because I had to fit a lot of factual information in a short amount of time and make it interesting. But I also love the feeling of creativity and discovery as the song emerges." 

The song was inspired by the name of a website ("Sing About Science") created by two songwriting friends of his, Greg Crowther and Wendy Silk. For more information on his other works visit this link.

Harper's Super Scientist is an edgy, rock-oriented tune inspired by Oklahoma State University microbiologist Marianna Patrauchan and her work to decode the chemical language that bacteria use to talk to one another when they form biofilms. "Her work is very tedious and time consuming, but she is very dedicated and motivated about doing it, partly because it may end up saving lives," says Harper.

In reflecting on what initially inspired him to enter the contest, Harper, a professional songwriter based in Stillwater, OK, where he specializes in science songs for children, sums up the spirit of the Festival when he says, "I'm fascinated by the process of science and I love learning and motivating others about this process. It's also clear to me that science is humanity's best chance to come together and find solutions to the world's problems. How can anyone not be interested in that?"

Click here for more information on Harper and his music.

Congratulations to the winners, and a big thank you to the other top contenders and all who submitted!  

Grades 6-12 students compete for the chance to win $2000 (first prize) and a travel stipend to Washington DC to attend the festival. The winners are also honored in an awards ceremony, hosted by Bill Nye, as 

Our central theme, or driving question, is  how to "Save the World through Science and Engineering".  Students make a short video (30-90 min) that shows how  scientific discoveries and inventions can improve our lives and change our world, either right now or in the future. Enter by March 21, 2012.

In a free "must attend" event on Saturday evening, April 28 at George Washington University with Featured Authors from the Festival's Book Fair, these noted writers will explore how their work is re-invigorating interest in the sciences by encouraging youth to pursue careers in science and engineering, and by increasing science literacy among the adult public.

Titled "Science Stories in Society & School: Using Narrative to Bridge the Gap", this panel discussion, moderated by science advocate and film writer Sean Lawrence Otto (author of Fool Me Twice:Fighting the Assault on Science in America), includes an introduction by Festival Featured Author Robin Cook,  the physician who helped bring a shift in the understanding of medicine through his science fiction literature starting with Coma in the 1970s; and will be followed by fellow Featured Author panelists: Theodore Gray, co-founder of Wolfram Mathematica and pioneer in pictorial periodic tables; engineer and practical pyromaniac William Gurstelle; retired rocket scientist and author of October Sky Homer Hickam; award-winning history and science storyteller Joy Hakim; and physician, philanthropist and writer Pendred Noyce.

Join us from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. at George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium in Washington, DC in what promises to be a lively discussion (followed by a book signing) with these fascinating authors!

For more information, including ticket registration, visit this site. 

Lisa Randall, author of Knocking on Heaven's Door, studies theoretical particle physics and cosmology at Harvard University, where she is Frank J. Baird, Jr., Professor of Science. Her work has made her among the most cited and influential theoretical physicists today, and been featured in Discover, The Economist, Newsweek, Scientific American, and many top-ranked scientific journals. She has been included in Time's "100 Most Influential People" and Rolling Stone's "RS100: Agents of Change," and her first book, Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions, was named a New York Times "Notable Book" in 2005. 

Sheril Kirshenbaum is a research scientist with the Webber Energy Group at the University of Texas at Austin's Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy where she works on projects to enhance public understanding of science. She is the author of The Science of Kissing, which explores one of humanity's fondest pastimes and co-author of Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future with Chris Mooney. Sheril also hosts the popular blog Culture of Science, focusing on the interdisciplinary nature of understanding our world with great emphasis on the conservation of biodiversity.

Curt Stager is a paleoecologist, educator, and science journalist whose research over the last three decades has dealt with the climatic history of the northeastern United States, Peru, and Africa.  He has published numerous technical articles in journals including Science and Quaternary Research, has written extensively for general audiences in periodicals such as National Geographic and Adirondack Life, and regularly blogs on climate-related topics for Fast Company.  Since 1989, Curt has also co-hosted Natural Selections, a weekly science program that is produced and aired by North Country Public Radio.   His latest book, Deep Future: The Next 100,000 Years of Life on Earth, explores our amazingly long-term impacts on the climatic future of the planet and its inhabitants.  

Joe Palca is a science correspondent for NPR.  Since joining NPR in 1992, Palca has covered a range of science topics - everything from biomedical research to astronomy. In addition to his science reporting, Palca occasionally fills in as guest host on Talk of the Nation Science Friday. Palca comes to journalism from a science background, having received aPh.D. in psychology from the University of California at Santa Cruz where he worked on human sleep physiology.  With Flora Lichtman, Palca is the co-author of Annoying: The Science of What Bugs Us (Wiley, 2011).