The 2021 Brain Bee Competition national round received a grand closure as students from all around China met in a Zoom meeting to showcase their knowledge about the human brain. The individual round consisted of 60 multiple choice questions, and in the team round, competitors formed groups of 3-4 to create a poster to present. The Brain Bee tested the limit of these middle school students’ understanding of the human nervous system. This competition not only expanded students’ range of knowledge but also provided them with an opportunity to self-improve. It even gave them a glimpse into the field of neuroscience, a new and challenging world for most students.

Months before the competition, hundreds of students had sat night after night before their desks, immersing themselves in the book Brain Facts, trying to cram as much information as possible into their brains. Among these academics included three competitors from SHSID. Although the process of learning was long and tiresome, the results were satisfying. The three members of the team representing SHSID were Yassel from 6(10), Daniel from 7(5), and Katherine from 8(11). They won the gold, silver, and bronze awards respectively.

The parents and teachers were astonished by the abundance of knowledge students knew about the human brain. From psychological disorders to brain engineering, the participants knew an innumerable number of facts about the nervous system. Their research skills were not only swift yet efficient but also highly accurate. They managed to find information about everything they needed in a short period of time. This reflected the fact that the students who got promoted to the national round were the ones that were the most interested in neuroscience and had spent a lot of time studying it.

The topic for their poster was randomly assigned by picking a number from 1 through 35, and the topic they received was brain-computer interface (BCI). It was one of the hardest topics. However, the students used their knowledge about the human brain and a confident voice to produce a response which was highly commended. They ranked highly among the dozens of teams. Congratulations to these students!

(Written by Katherine 8 (11) Supervised by Rongzhang Hu Pictures by Ming Liu)