STEM Mass Media

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Event Details

Description

In response to an annual theme, participants use written and verbal communication skills to convey a news story in both a video broadcast (preliminary round) and a digital written format (semifinal round). Participants must demonstrate a strong understanding of journalism etiquette and the common practices of the field of mass media.

Mentor

Arihant Soni (arihant.soni@s.stemk12.org)

Mr. Beamer (david.beamer@stemk12.org)

Career Cluster

Communications Technology

Theme or Problem

Headline: Scientists link human right-handedness to walking upright and brain evolution

Background:

Most humans favor their right hand, but scientists have long debated why this pattern is so common across cultures. Unlike humans, other primates do not show the same strong population-wide preference for one hand. A new Oxford-led study published in PLOS Biology suggests that human right-handedness may be connected to two major steps in human evolution: walking upright on two legs and the expansion of the brain. Researchers analyzed data from 2,025 individuals across 41 species of monkeys and apes, using evolutionary modeling to compare possible explanations for handedness, including tool use, diet, habitat, body size, social behavior, brain size, and locomotion. Their findings suggest that as early human ancestors became more fully bipedal and developed larger brains, right-handedness became increasingly common. The study also raises new questions about why left-handedness still exists and whether similar patterns of limb preference in other animals may have evolved in comparable ways.

Prompt:

Based on the following headline, develop a news broadcast that includes an introduction of the headline, a summary of the information in the news story, and an explanation of potential future implications of the highlighted work.

www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1128472