Pupils In Edinburgh And London Win Native Awards 2016

Charlotte (aged 5), from Edinburgh, and Emma (aged 7), from London, are this year's winners of the Native Awards.

Launched in 2014/2015, the competition had more than 350 entries in 2015/2016. Two categories were considered - 'Best Sentence' and 'Best Drawing' based on a worksheet given to the pupils before the Native Scientist workshops. A total of 5 finalists for each category were selected by the founders Joana and Tatiana and the collaborator Carina Santos.

Votes from 18 members of the Native Scientist network made Charlotte's sentence the winner for the 'Best Sentence Native Award' and Emma's drawing the winner for the 'Best Drawing Native Award'.

Charlotte is an aspiring firefighter and emergency doctor. She attended a German Native Scientist Workshop. Upon knowing about the award, she confesses "I feel a bit proud of myself. I loved Native Scientist. The best was the experiment where we were mixing [solutions to see] different colours."

Emma, who attended an Italian Native Scientist Workshop, told us "I would like to be a biologist because I will study living organisms. [One of the] experiments was fantastic because the scientist extracted strawberry's DNA. I didn't know that strawberries had DNA!"

Prizes consist of a branded tote bag and the book “Outside” autographed by Maria Ana Peixe Dias. Our co-founder Joana says that "it's interesting to notice that both winners show a natural curiosity for the sky and the universe. Astronomy is the oldest of the natural sciences but there is still a lot to discover and understand. This year's sentence is a great representation of what a scientist mind is like - asking the simplest, sometimes obvious, questions and trying to find answers, for a greater understanding. It is with these questions and answers that we are able to build on previous knowledge and expand our understanding of the world."