Aldama Elementary Wins $1,000 in 'Loh Down on Science' Contest

After 10,000 years of living with humans, are dogs smarter, dumber or the same? Does Barack Obama share a 17th-century answer with Jane Austen, Vice President Dick Cheney or Beyonce? Which one of the following is not a real invention?: A chocolate-powered fan; a soft cheese that exudes fertility pheromones; a fan that runs on pee.

Those were some of the 1,437 questions that a group of students at Aldama Elementary School answered in an online science competition for which the Aldama Parent Teacher Association won a $1,000 cash prize Thursday.

The prize, in the form of a check, was given to Aldama Principal Paula Cordoba by the well-known radio personality Sandra Tsing Loh, who organized the quiz, named after the syndicated Loh Down on Science radio show she has hosted since 2005.

Aldama was among 34 schools across California and beyond that participated in The Low Down on Science contest. The quiz, launched in April, revolved around a single science question daily whose answer was revealed the following day.

The winning school was judged not on the basis of how many questions its students answered correctly but rather how many contestants from a particular school “played” the question on a given day. Each contestant who clicked a question earned a point for his or her school.

Of the 650 “players” in the contest, 165 were from Aldama—the maximum number from any school. An entire sixth-grade class from Aldama participated in the contest.

“The idea was to encourage students to have a conversation about science,” Loh told Highland Park-Mount Washington Patch at Thursday’s award ceremony at Aldama. “The questions were written to be tricky, fun and thought-provoking.”

The Aldama PTA will donate the $1,000 prize to the school. “The purpose of that money is to buy some sturdy tables and stools for the science room in the 2013-14 school year, Principal Cordoba said.

“Having Aldama win the contest is incredible news,” the principal said. “We’re just having a ball.”

Click here to access The Loh Down on Science website as well as to read more about the Aldama victory.