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Hi Adah,
I am so glad you posted those resources. Engaging our young women in science is a personal passion of mine.

A few years ago my students were asked to view and give feedback on a website that was being developed specifically for young women that were interested in Engineering. The site is now available to students/parents/educators and well worth a visit.

http://www.engineeryourlife.org/ is chocked full of interactive engineering links as well as interviews with 'real' female engineers.

I'm looking forward to hearing other ideas.
Alyce

As a science major graduate from a women's college, I think that we should try to promote science careers within these institutions, by reaching out through professional organizations like the NSTA. Here is a link to education resources for women: http://www.womenscolleges.org/colleges/bycollege.htm Also, creating a science club just for girls might create an interest in science careers in secondary schools. Maybe the NSTA advisors could organize a special forum with resources for women or women's health issues in science. Funding more scholarships for girls and mentoring are other pathways for bringing more women into science careers.These are just a few ideas...I'm sure that we can come up with many more. Terry Houghton

Try this link for some interesting material http://ethemes.missouri.edu/themes/1655

There are now lots of women's professional organizations for science fields. They were very well represented in the huge Science Festival on the Mall, and can be found thorough it's web resources. Someone should make a email contact list! And email it to everyone - or post it at NSTA!

James Yes indeed One of my favorites is the Society of Women Engineers http://societyofwomenengineers.swe.org/

The American Chemical Society is very active in promoting woemn chemists In August there was a summit on Women chemists of color http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN&node_id=1166&content_id=CNBP_025089&use_sec=true&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=2286fa3e-e057-4c6d-a489-ccbfa5ada8fd and http://womenchemists.sites.acs.org/

Here are a few more sites Girlstart is a non-profit organization created to empower girls to excel in math, science, and technology. Founded in 1997 in Austin, Texas, Girlstart has quickly established itself as a best-case practices leader in empowering, educating, and motivating girls to enjoy and become more proficient in math, science and technology. http://www.girlstart.org/ Braincake from Carnegie Mellon The Girls, Math & Science Partnership's mission is to engage, educate, and embrace girls as architects of change. Working with girls age 11 - 17 and their parents, teachers, and mentors, we draw organizations, stakeholders, and communities together in an effort to ensure that girls succeed in math and science. http://www.braincake.org/ Girls go Tech http://www.girlsgotech.org/girls_go_tech.html Techbridge http://www.techbridgegirls.org/ Great Science for Girls http://www.greatscienceforgirls.org/ Gems Clubs http://www.gemsclub.org/ National Girls Collaborative http://www.ngcproject.org/

Hi Adah, I just built a collection of resources, mostly free NSTA Journal articles, that focus on robotics. And then I thought that I would peruse the forums and happened upon this topic which is so dear to my heart. One way of encouraging girls to get more involved with science is to offer them project-based learning. This may be accomplished within a topic that is being studied or as a stand-alone project. I always had projects integrated within my physics courses and encouraged teachers that I mentored in middle school to also include hands-on tinkering for all of their students. Building things and more importantly going through the engineering process is vital to encouraging young women to consider science and engineering as courses of study. It is also good to provide opportunities for young women to explore the lives of our women scientists, past and more importantly those women currently involved in cutting edge research. The Sally Ride Institute also provides many resources for how to entice young people into engineering and science fields. But before I sign-off, let me share a classroom story. Students built and designed CO2-powered cars from Boy Scout Derby kits and a young lady who designed a car that just wowed every boy in the class and that swept the competition among 5 classes of students went on to graduate school and is an engineer and designer of vehicles. She was one of the quietest and most unassuming young ladies in the class and WOW, she 'bulldozed' all of the males in the class, many of whom thought that they had the winning car in their hands. This young lady smiled and accepted the subsequent adoration of the opposite gender with quiet grace. I have a photo of her entry somewhere in my archives. We should all share classroom stories to encourage other teachers to lead young ladies into projects. I also had the first all-female physics olympiad team at a local university and the team was featured in a national paper. Patty

Here is the url for Sally Ride's Institute -- check out the two KAM activities, too. https://www.sallyridescience.com/for_educators/institutes NASA also has engineering-oriented programs to encourage girls into STEM programs. Patty

Robotic Collection for Middle and High School (10 items)

The Scoop on Moon Dirt (Integrate this: Robotics and Env. Sci.)

- User Uploaded Resource

Podcast: Robotics Engineering: Big Toys, Big Fun: Video of Rover Airbag

- Podcast

Real World Robotics

- Journal Article

View All 10 Items

I, like Adah, and some others have always had an interested in encouraging young women to go into STEM-related careers. Actually, that was the topic of my dissertation. I also created a Women In Science club when I was teaching at a high school. We met after school once a month and had various female science professionals come in and interact with the group, sharing their experiences and training with the girls. One year, the university sponsored a career day where they had a number of different sessions--each a different science profession--with female professionals explaining what they did in their professions. I managed to get a bus and took all our girls to the university that day so they could attend the various career sessions that they were interested in. I did have one young woman eventually elect to go into that field (too long ago to remember the specifics) that she heard about that day. When I was at a middle school another teacher and I had a reception for the girls who did well academically and did well in science each spring. We'd have punch and refreshments for them and a guest speaker (female in a science profession, of course) during the morning classes. It made them feel special. I think it is so important to verbally encourage girls and plant the seed of a career in science. I always consciously tried to be a role model for my students also. Kathy Sparrow

As an addendum, the high school where I taught in Ohio was where Judy Resnik had graduated. [She was killed in the Challenger explosion in 1986.] So there was a legacy at the high school to begin with. And the middle school I mentioned was right next door.

Adah, I very much agree with you. Children need to be encouraged in elementary school that science is an option for them. Had I taught elementary, I’m sure I would have had similar activities for the young girls. In my elementary science pre-service classes, I always have the students visualize and then draw a scientist. It never ceases to amaze me how ingrained the white male, crazy-hair scientist with test tubes keeps reappearing in their drawings. Then I tally the characteristics the entire class has. Always the majority of students still have this stereotype view of a scientist. This activity really opens my students’ eyes to the stereotypes that even they have. We’ve had some good discussions on what they can do in the classroom the present alternatives to the “typical” scientist. They are the ones that will be in the elementary classrooms next influencing the view of science and scientists. I found a great powerpoint (I don’t remember the source) of a slide show contrasting stereotypical views of scientists with multiple slides of different scientists (race, gender, ethnicity) engaged in different types of science work that I show them after our discussion. Kathy Sparrow

Hi Everyone - Great topic and some wonderful resources posted. Thanks! Let's not forget the critical importance of role modeling and mentoring. I'm sure that having terrific female science teachers goes a long way to motivate young women to dream that science careers are possible for them. I've taken groups of female students to local "Women in Science" events and this has been very motivating for these students. An observation - where is the input and comments from our male colleagues in this dicussion thread? Hope some of our male educator colleagues chime in soon with their valuable input, insights and teaching techniques to increase motivation for science learning in female students. How can we all best motivate young women to love science and succeed in science careers? Dorothy Ginnett

Kathy -

Could you share that images of scientists Powerpoint with me via e-mail too? Thanks!
It sounds like it would be fantastic for opening a discussion with students about the contributions of women and minorities in science.

Dorothy Ginnett

I teach 6th grade science...the age the "yuk!" is what the girls say about science. I have an engineering background and when I was in college there were almost no girls at all in the science courses. Since then things have been changing, however-little things that teachers do in the classroom can make a huge difference. I have animals that the students are allowed to handle. But, my animals are snakes, lizards, mealworms, and hissing cockroaches, not the cute furry ones. I have found that if I can encourage and get my girls to handle these anemals, their love of science grows and remains throughout their highschool years. I believe it is the "societal pressure" that causes the girls to say yuk and stay away from science. Once they are past the "yuk factor" they allow themselves to consider science as a cool subject. I have been doing this for several years now and this teeny-tiny encouragement HAS made a significat difference in the number of girls that say they like science. We even have a "How Many Cockroaches Can You Put On Your Head" contest every Spring. The girls won the last two years with more that 18 roaches at one time nesseled on their heads. When the other girls see that girls are as "tough" or tougher than the boys, it's down hill from then on. So, I feel that just plain-old off the wall encouragement that is nongender related will have positive effect in getting more girls into STEM related fields. And, yes it does start EARLY in a students career.

The alternative middle/high school I teach isn't located in an area that professionals are eager to visit or present informational/motivational programs. I'm always on the lookout for DVD's, websites or materials that are current and engage our student population. The American Physical Society's Website has several links to obtaining free materials and information to encourage our young adults in pursuing a physics related career: http://www.aps.org/programs/women/reports/poster.cfm The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) also offers a free career DVD and informational poster. Visit: http://www.avma.org/educators/ Does anyone have other sites they could share to obtain supportive students materials? Enjoy your day, Alyce

Do you think certain teaching strategies are more successful with girls then others? Maybe girls don't enjoy science because of how science is presented in the classroom. Maybe there are some strategies which would make them appreciate science a little more. Please offer suggestions if you have any. Thanks

I found some good articles in the Learning Center that addresses the topic of sparking girls' interests in science. One article in particular provided a lot of research on gender equity in science - Perspectives: Finding a Place for Girls in Science. It provides some strategies for creating and promoting gender-inclusive science classrooms, too.

Kathy or Adah, could you post that powerpoint here, too? I would be interested in it as well. Thanks.

LeRoy asks,'Maybe there are some strategies which would
make them appreciate science a little more. Please offer suggestions
if you have any. Thanks.'
These two resources offer some suggestions:
I found an archived NSTA webinar that sounds like it might have some suggestions for igniting girls' interest in science (especially engineering) - it is called
Archive: Engineering Your Life: Spark Girls' Interest in Engineering February 3, 2010


I also found an free book chapter from Girls in Science: A Framework for Action The Chapter is entitled, 'The Triad Story - a Science Education Community Navigating Gender Equity. Pages 24 - 26 of the chapter provide some great graphics organizing specific teaching strategies to engage our girls. (It came up as pp. 38 -40 out of 61 when I downloaded the pdf.)
I am attaching my Girls In Science: Engendering Equity Collection that contains both of the above resources. I continue to be amazed at the quality, quantity, and diversity of the Learning Center resources!
I am getting so many great ideas from those of you who have shared how you engage our girl students in science. I can't wait to hear other ideas.

Girls In Science: Engendering Equity Collection (27 items)

Gender Matters

- Journal Article

Research and Teaching: Two-Dimensional, Implicit Confidence Tests as a Tool for Recognizing Student Misconceptions

- Journal Article

Attitudes and Interests Among University Students in Introductory Nonmajor Science Courses: Does Gender Matter?

- Journal Article

View All 27 Items

The NSTA home page has this great connection to some of the latest research data from Harvard on girls and STEM initiatives. The title of the article is: Harvard Brief Explores After-School STEM for Girls and the url is below: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/beyond_schools/2011/02/girls_the_new_there_is.html?qs=science it lists some interesting bulleted information for teacher-coaches to keep in mind when organizaing after-school STEM offerings for girls. Patty

I try to team teach as much as possible with astronauts, the jelly fish lady, nuclear chemists, soil biologists, professors from various colleges who offer a discussion on content via the web on topics we study in the classroom. Exposing students to both male and female experts might encourage all students to engage in a science field. I have a big screen so students get a life size view of the professional and presentation. I am able to pause an experts discussion and water it down for all students to understand when necessary. Some experts I enjoy are Dr. Jan Davis (NASA) as she helps us intoduce microgravity during our Baseball on the Moon study leading up to the world series in October. Another female astronaut gives a nice discussion in "From Undersea to Outer Space" where she introduces us to Dr. Dorothy Spangenberg, the jellyfish lady as we study the Coral Reef later in the spring when we try to "Understand Nemo". There is a nice article we use in soil science "The Soil Food Web of Dr. Elaine Ingham" from Worm Digest that explains the chemistry of compost and the value of compost organism balance. Apparently she helped save the strawberry fields in California some years ago with her study and knowledge.She helps us better understand soil when we do our Red Wiggler research and harvest worms as a year end project.:)

A discussion that may be of interest to those interested in supporting girls and women in science may wish to visit this upcoming discussion that is highlighted on the web http://www.chemistry2011.org/ and slated to be held on Tuesday Mar 1, 2011 Meet Online and explore the Future of Women in Chemistry and Science The web link is active if you wish to join in. ~ patty

by Adah Stock, Wed Nov 03, 2010 10:24 AM
How can we motive girls into a love of science?

Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend a symposium on encouraging girls in science careers. It was a great seminar that was filled with some fantastic information! Two areas that specifically interested me included a presentation by PBS regarding programs to encourage girls in engineering and computer science and an innovative program by UC Santa Barbara to target girls and latin@s in computer science.

Shyno Chacko Pandeya presented two programs spreadheaded by PBS to encourage girls in engineering and computer science. The first called Engineer Your Life targets High School girls. The website profiles female engineers and helps portray engineering in a positive light. The second program is called Dot Diva encourages girls to look for careers in computer science. This program asks girls 'what is your passion' and then identifies careers related to that passion within the computer programming field.

Diana Franklin, from UCSB, presented a summer outreach program that targeted girls and latin@s in the Santa Barbara area. To draw interest, the program was marketed as Endangered Species and Mayan cultural day camp. Within this framework, students learned computer programming in the SCRATCH Computer Language. The program looked to emphasize the end result of computer programming...i.e. the students learned how to make an computer animation about their endangered animal and play a computer version of mayan baseball. UCSB is looking to expand the program to include writing apps for cell phones.

It's always great to inspire students to look forward to STEM careers. This was a fantastic display of this inspiration in practice!

Maureen

I think the problem is that many young girls are not exposed to the right types of science. This then has lead to their lack of interest. All students should be exposed to as much science as they can be, this will excite them about the plethora of science topics available. I believe that girls need to be exposed and presented science in a way that is more appealing to them. I read in the article, Lessons in cosmetic surgery and ordering clothes online ‘will help turn girls to science’, ”Girls are more interested in studying subjects such as physics or IT if they are presented in a female-friendly way”. I have read in other forums that girls should be isolated from boys as they enter science classes. I do not believe this is the answer. Imagine a girls whose interest does not match that of other girls and a boy who is more interested in female topics than in male topics. So the solution might not be the separation of students into gender-specific groups, but something that takes into account the individual differences among students. The article I read went on to say that perhaps teachers and/or schools could offer science modules or groups dealing with the same concepts but presenting them in the content of different topics.

I think the problem is that many young girls are not exposed to the right types of science. This then has lead to their lack of interest. All students should be exposed to as much science as they can be, this will excite them about the plethora of science topics available. I believe that girls need to be exposed and presented science in a way that is more appealing to them. I read in the article, Lessons in cosmetic surgery and ordering clothes online ‘will help turn girls to science’, ”Girls are more interested in studying subjects such as physics or IT if they are presented in a female-friendly way”. I have read in other forums that girls should be isolated from boys as they enter science classes. I do not believe this is the answer. Imagine a girls whose interest does not match that of other girls and a boy who is more interested in female topics than in male topics. So the solution might not be the separation of students into gender-specific groups, but something that takes into account the individual differences among students. The article I read went on to say that perhaps teachers and/or schools could offer science modules or groups dealing with the same concepts but presenting them in the content of different topics.

There are several recent reports on this topic that are well worth reading. As been noted earlier in this thread, the culture at universities and colleges continues to be a problem. As a graduate student at Caltech, I was told that the standard had been lowered to admit women. When I interviewed at MIT, I was asked why an attractive girl wanted to work in a chemistry lab. As an employee, a low raise was explained by my not having a family to support. Once a year a group of ex-oil gals gets together here in Houston. All of us have similar war stories and those of us with daughters have tended to steer any interest in science toward healthcare and medicine. Here is a link to the AAUW report http://www.aauw.org/learn/research/whysofew.cfm

This report of from the Department of Commerce on the economic and social condition of women in America http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/Women_in_America.pdf This report is full of interesting data

This report from MIT talks about the experiences of Women faculty is science and engineering. A discussion about "expected behaviors" resonates with my own experience. Women's concerns about family and children is also discussed. A colleague of mine was met with "you have a choice, you can get a degree or you can have a baby" when she told her adviser she was pregnant. She had an abortion. It is true that a laboratory environment poses risks to prenatal development. Safety has improved, yet academic labs remain substantially more hazardous than those in industry. I happy to say that she is now the mother of two and running her own company. Yet, when she talks about the path to her current position, she is frequently brought to tears. This report is encouraging in documenting progress over the past 30 years; still barriers remain. I think that is is often very hard for successful women scientists and engineers to encourage the next generation, given the challenges they have had to overcome. http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/images/documents/women-report-2011.pdf

Read what Professor Nancy Hopkins has to say and participate in a poll of women in science http://www.nature.com/scitable/forums//women-in-science/nancy-hopkins-on-mit-for-women-in-18883712

I work at an all-girl's school for at-risk teenage girls age 12-18. Since I work in an all-girl atmosphere I have an advantage of exposing girls to science away from the distraction of boys! I am the only science teacher and I think it helps that I am also female. I think that most girls like to do science, but it isn't 'cool' to do so. We recently had some engineers come in to lead activities where they had contests to build the strongest structures and bridges made of common household materials. The girls really enjoyed that. If you can, I recommend bringing in women from the community to speak to girls about their careers in science. We have had nurses, airline pilots and engineers come in so far and it has been a positive experience. Thank you all who shared resources, I am always looking for more information on girls and science.

Jennifer, I love what you are doing. All-girl environments do offer advantages. It is not only that girls are free of the distraction of boys, but are also free to fulfill all roles. The effect of "not cool" is diminished and girls are empowered to be leaders, scientists and much much more.

At the beginning of each school year I do a simple exercise, "What does a scientist look like?". I thought the idea came from an NSTA article but I was not able to locate it quickly but I'll keep looking. In the mean time, here's a brief description of the activity. Place a large piece of white butcher paper on your board and secure it. Have an array of markers ready when class begins. Explain to the class that they're your brain today - you will only draw what they tell you to draw. You are only allowed to contribute one thing to the drawing - which is the circle for the scientist's head. Give them a brief moment to think about what a scientist looks like - then allow students to contribute (round robin or raising hands, whatever you're comfortable with). Every year I end up with the same drawing. A Caucasian male wearing a white lab coat, pocket protector, goggles, freaky looking hair, standing in a lab with various instruments (computers, dissecting equipment, microscopes, etc). They like to name him and it usually begins with Professor or Doctor... From there I start asking questions. Why is my scientist male? Why is he in a lab? Do most scientists work in a lab? Can they work other places? Why is my scientist Caucasian? Only once has a young woman spoken up during the drawing process and said, "Why can't the scientist be a woman?" but she was quickly overtaken by the other students. Of course, at the end I pointed her out and made a big deal about it so that she'll never let that happen again. ;) When the discussion is over I pass out a collection of scientist bios for students to look over. Inside there's a combination of men, women, and as many different races as I can find working in every setting I can get my hands on. It's an eye-opening lesson for most... Kendra

Kendra; I used to do this activity at the begining of the year also. It is really amazing how students think of scientists as white males (usually older) who work in labs mixing chemicals all day. I think this is an activity that can be done with all ages! It would be interesting to have them do the same activity at the end of the year and see what differences they put in the drawings. Jennifer

I need some ideas... I just found out that I will be teaching a two-hour block on Fridays with a rotating set of girls for 4 weeks at a time. (After 4 weeks the girls rotate and I have a new set of girls). The topic can be anything I want, but I thought it would be fun to do a theme for each 4 week block. I need some ideas of topics and lessons that can be done block format that I can use. I already thought a forensics and food safety/science block would work with supplies I already have. Any other ideas? I should mention this is an all-girls school and that the class will be mixed grade levels from 6-12th. I need to apeal to a lot of different interests.

Hi Jennifer, It might be fun to have some type of engineering or design aspect as one of your units. You could have your students design a roller coaster or maybe a bridge. Then introduce Newton's Laws of Motion and have them evaluate their design.

There has been some recent discussion of this topic on the list serve, including several provocative resource posts. For those who may not subscribe to the listserves, I am reposting the links here. Why are the fields of science and technology still considered to be predominantly male professions? The Madame Curie Complex moves beyond the most common explanations—limited access to professional training, lack of resources, exclusion from social networks of men—to give historical context and unexpected revelations about women's contributions to the sciences. http://www.feministpress.org/books/madame-curie-complex

I was so excited to see all the resources and ideas to encourage females in science. I am currently a student at UMBC, but I can't wait to start teaching and utilizing all the great information. I believe that the stereotypes attached to science deter females from entering science or math fields,but if we can eliminate those misconceptions girls will be more likely to enter into the world of science. We did an activity in my Instructional Strategies for Teaching Science class which focused on dispelling stereotypes. It is important that we do activities which help girls understand that science is about more then our preconceived ideas.

I think a great way to encourage female students to find their passion for science would be to expose them to other great women in science. Since many history and science textbooks do not show many contributions made by women we need to find them. If we show girls that there are successful women in the scientific field maybe a job in the field of science would become an option for them. Give students an assignment to find an important woman in science and have them do a short presentation.

This summer I tried the activity where students draw a scientist, but I asked them to draw themselves as a scientist. This helped them put their interests into their perception of what a scientist is. The girls tended to be a little more creative in how they perceived themselves, and chose a wider range of career types. I also have found that girls tend to do better on activities where they showcase talents like designing and organizing. We did a paper bridge activity and a straw tower, both of which allowed for high levels of creativity. The girls also seemed to excel at leadership where they were confident in their abilities. At least at the earlier middle school levels, these girls were confident leaders, even with boys in the groups. I think that keeping the genders separate in the later grads may allow this behavior to continue to develop into late adolescence.

I am new here but would like to share my web site with it multitude of resources about creating a club for girls: Girls Excelling in Math and Science www.gemsclub.org. WOuld love more ideas and feedback.

The future of humankind is dependent on Technovation girls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQnDDKDiSy8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ic7ZoyBmd20&feature=relmfu Information on the 2012 winners http://us4.campaign-archive2.com/?u=b10254bbb5db780d1af913317&id=ebf048e83c&e=55addcdbca

I found this forum very interesting because I do believe that not a lot of girls are attracted to science. Science has always been a boys thing. My sister is one of the few girls I know that truly love science, she is currently working in NYC conducting experiments,science is her life. Dr. Sparrow it was very nice and interesting to see what you have done to get girls to like science. I strongly believe that girls can accomplish the same as boys.

It is important that we break the stereotype that men are the only people interested in Science. Dr. Sparrow, the "Draw a Scientist" activity you did with our class in the beginning of the semester was very enlightening. I, like the other students, had the stereotypical view of a scientist (crazy hair, male, lab coat), which was broken when you showed us other types of scientists. Girls need to realize that they are allowed to express their enjoyment of science, regardless of those stereotypes.

To all: Thank you Adah for starting this topic. Through my field experiences as a pre-service teacher, I agree that students need to be encouraged especially in the Elementary grades to foster their interests in Middle school, High school, and college. One of my assignments for my Teaching Science Methods class was to interview three students in my field class and determine their attitudes towards science in their class. From my data, the two boys and one girl I interviewed in class were bored. One boy loved science but found the manner of teaching terrible and the other boy was bored because he always gets in trouble during Science time. What made me sad was the girl's attitude towards science; she hated science because she felt mistreated, that it was a boy's subject, and the boys get better treatment through new equipment and they're grouped up together. It made me sad to hear this. Most of the 13 girls in the class felt the same way too: they felt they had no say in conversation, they're always talking about boy scientists, and that there's no room for them in Science where they are not wanted. Growing up, my science content was nurtured because I was in a Science/Math Magnet program where most of our time was devoted to science inquiry. I wanted to thank you for some of the material, journals, and ideas posted here; I am definitely saving them for future use to make sure science is catered and nurtured for all!

Exon Mobile has a program here in Houston called "Introduce a girl to engineering". We took 50 girls from our school to the all day program this year. The girls teamed up with engineers to design a project, work with robots, and participate in various engineering experiments. They also learned about female engineers who are pioneers in their fields. The chemical engineer who invented super-absorbent diapers...was a women! The girls loved it!

It is important to say goodbye to stereotypes at the door of a classroom. From a woman's perspective, it was always common to see men in science fields and women in more nurturing fields. Times have changed drastically. Girls shouldn't be taught at a young age that one subject is for a specific sex. Every student should have an opportunity to show their interest in a particular subject. A way to do this is to encourage your students to try everything. Girls in your class shouldn't feel as though they aren't allowed to try something because it is "for boys only". Get rid of all stereotypes the first day of class and always encourage students. Teachers are getting very creative with the lessons that they planned. If you want girls to become interested in science, find activities that will call out to them.

Interestingly, in our school, the girls tend to have a higher interest and tend to outperform the boys in science, and in school in general. For example, all of last years valedictorians (about 9) were girls. Of course these are generalizations, but I don't really know why that is. Might it be a regional thing?

To get girls interested in science, I always talk about the amazing female scientists who have changed lives and the awesome things they have done! Too many teachers only focus on the male scientists.. (Einstien, Bohr) To get girls excited, talk about Marie Curie, or Hertha Marks Ayrton (who discovered through science many inventions related to the modern day car!). There are lists and lists of women who have made huge advances in science, they are just never talked about. For girls it can be intimidating to get into the science world since it is so male dominated. Let your students know that ANYONE can be a scientist, and that anyone can be good at it! Lauren

I believe it is important to motivate girls and women to join the field of science. These days when you ask someone to draw a scientist, that person will most likely draw a male. This is not good because it shows that people think only men do work in the science field. From this stereotype, it may push females away from science. But, all gender should be pushed towards science because it is an important subject. So, maybe you could show the female students several famous and significant women who did important and life changing things in the history of science. This may show them that women are able to do things related to science and may cause them to have a passion for the subject. I have attached a link and it simply lists and has a description of ten famous female scientists.

Attachments

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Ten-Historic-Female-Scientists-You-Should-Know.html (External Website)

A recent article from Stanford points out the small interventions can make a huge difference in keeping girls engaged in STEM Small interventions can cause big changes in performance Subtle cues can greatly impact women’s math performance and persistence in male-dominated fields like engineering http://gender.stanford.edu/news/2012/small-interventions-can-cause-big-changes-performance

As a result of a national STEM conference sponsored by US News, a "national clearinghouse for STEM", called "STEMx", was established at: http://www.stemx.us . So far, it provides links to several state programs that have started initiatives, but not much discussion otherwise.

Some resources/ programs to check out are the National Girls Collaborative Program directory (http://www.ngcproject.org/programs). I was a lead contact for a short time in Pennsylvania. There are a number of programs listed in the directory that can be replicated at all levels. The Girls Scouts of America also has a number of resources that may be helpful. The STEM Equity PIpeline Project also has some very helpful resources (http://www.stemequitypipeline.org/) My own research examined gender preferences of activities, topics and instructional in technology and engineering. (http://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/bitstream/handle/10919/8338/V16N2.pdf?sequence=1#page=55).

Anyone have a list/resource specifically of books for middle school age(+) girls interested in science topics. Both general topics and fun theme books to read would be ideal. I currently use the Horrible Science series and the BrainPop Science Almanac for kids. Other recs? Thanks! http://sites.saschina.org/aolivas/ -Alfred

What are some effective ways to use science to get young black girls engaged based on their interests? What I'm trying to do is find ways to connect their interests to science in a way that keeps them wanting more. Any advice would help.

I teach fifth grade science, to encourage my girls to challenge the boys to an engineering challenge (build the tallest tower from playing cards. They are determined to beat the boys and from there they realize that they are science minded and can dive into the world of learning science. Begin with a challenge then dive into instruction.