In many ways, Gitanjali Rao is an ordinary 11-year-old, lively and chatty, yet her scientific spirit makes a huge difference. Last month, she 1 the top prize at the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge for her invention.
What 2 Gitanjali's work was that her city faced a water emergency with too much lead in its water. "The idea didn't 3 to me until I saw my parents try to do water tests. The test strips may show inaccurate results, which weren't very 4 ."
She recalls. She then searched for suitable materials with continued efforts and 5 found that carbon nanotube（纳米管） sensors can be used to sense chemicals. Gitanjali 6 to build a small blue housing using the 3-D printer at her school with computer chips and a battery inside. A free app, which Gitanjali designed under 7 from her computer science teacher, gives instant 8 and sends the data to a linked phone through an attached device.
The process of designing her project wasn't always 9 , though. Kathleen Shafer, a scientist paired with Gitanjali as her teacher in summer, 10 along the way. In the award ceremony, Gitanjali also 11 her parents with constant support and 12 to try "crazy ideas". Gitanjali received $25, 000 to further develop her program along with the great 13 of winning the contest. According to Shafer, who 14 Gitanjali, "she shows a lot of motivation to solve 15 issues through science".
