Mini-Grant Awards
2009
Girls and Careers
Collaborating Organizations: Breathitt High School Youth Service Center, the Breathitt County Extension Service Family & Consumer Science Programs, and the Breathitt High School Student Technology Leadership Program (STLP)
Girls Served: Grades 9-12
Award: $1,000
The Girls and Careers will introduce 50 girls to careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math through a five-day summer camp. The summer camp will include STEM-focused, hands-on activities with educational kits; speakers talking about STEM career opportunities; student interaction and discussion with the speakers; tours and presentations at local businesses and agencies with a STEM focus; and participant presentations about STEM careers. The Partners will contribute matching funds, speakers, technology use and facilities for the summer camp. The target population will be 50 girls in grades 9 - 12 in the 2009-2010 school years.
MISS Electricity
Collaborating Organizations:
Mentoring is Serving Sisters and Meadowthorpe Elementary School
Girls Served: Grade 5
Award: $1,000
Fifth-grade girls participating in the Meadowthorpe is Serving Sisters (MISS) mentoring program will develop leadership skills, self-confidence, efficacy, and content knowledge in the area of electricity. Using Snap Circuit, Jr. educational kits, the students will learn about electricity from university faculty, practice leading activities among peers, and implement activities in their own classrooms. The proposed program will provide reusable kits to the school, train MISS participants over eight weeks, collect survey data, and establish an ongoing mentoring relationship between the school and university.
STEM Girls Rock!
Collaborating Organizations: Gray Middle School and Boone County Schools
Girls Served: Grades 4 - 5
Award: $850
This project will inspire nine- and ten-year-old girls to build, plan, use technology and engage in beginning engineering activities. Beyond the requirements of building a LEGO league robot and programming it to complete tasks, this project will focus on collaborative planning, engineering problem-solving, creative and critical thinking, and foundational mathematical and technological concepts. The girls will work throughout the year--during and after school, as well as in the summer--to research information around a long-term challenge, shadow females in STEM careers, engage in STEM-related activities, and work with mentors to continue their interest in STEM content areas throughout their school careers. Parents will attend sessions to learn about STEM careers and how they can encourage their daughters to pursue such careers.
Super Science Saturdays
Collaborating Organizations:
Dorton Elementary, Pikeville College and East Kentucky Science Center
Girls Served: Grades 6 - 9
Award: $1,000
Junior high girls will attend four half-day, hands-on, science lessons at Pikeville College and one half-day, hands-on lesson at the East Kentucky Science Center. The four Pikeville College lessons include Fun With Electricity, Rockets, Light Activities, and Weather Instruments. The East Kentucky Science Center will provide the "Fun with Color" lesson. The Dorton School will provide transportation and lunch for the girls. The mini-grant will provide the materials, cost of using the lab, and instructors.
Kenton County Girls in Renewable Energy
Collaborating Organizations: Kenton County School District & J.D. Patton Technology Center
Girls Served: Grades 9 - 10
Award: $1,000
The J. D. Patton Tech Center has the latest technology in renewable energy, solar, wind and geothermal. Our project is to collaborate with Kenton County School District to introduce freshman and sophomore girls to careers in renewable energy. We have articulation agreements with Cincinnati State College and Gateway Community College where the girls could receive college credits for taking these high school classes in renewable energy. We will have an expo where the girls will do hands-on work designing and constructing solar, wind, and geothermal projects. They will learn the math and science behind harnessing these types of energy; they will also work with weather patterns.
Summer Camp for Girls
Collaborating Organizations: Big Sandy Community & Technical College and Floyd County Schools
Girls Served: Grades 6 - 9
Award: $1,000
The Big Sandy Community and Technical College Math/Science Summer Camp for Girls empowers and encourages middle school girls to pursue careers requiring STEM skills. Female students apply to participate in a fun-filled summer week of educational activities exploring careers in a variety of female-owned businesses including engineering, coal, and banking. The girls participate in activities that increase their confidence in seeking nontraditional career fields, improve their attitudes toward and acceptance of STEM-related skills, increase awareness and development of workplace demeanor, and increase their interest in pursuing an education.
Science Says...
Collaborating Organizations: The Center for Gifted Studies and Science Alliance
Girls Served: Grades 6 - 9
Award: $1,000
Science Says... is a twenty-five minute television show pilot intended for YouTube. The show will feature one science experiment designed, conducted, and discussed by 2-4 girls in middle school, women scientists and women STEM professionals. The pilot will also include a 5-10 minute segment at the end in which all participants on the show will discuss, in an interview format, what they view as the obstacles to young women entering STEM careers; how to overcome those obstacles; and why it is important to do so. The show will feature only women and be written and directed by women as well.
2008
Career Day for High School Girls
Collaborating Organizations: Alliance for Girls and University of Louisville Speed School, Louisville, KY
Girls Served: Grade 9-12
Award: $300
The Engineering Career Day for Girls is designed to introduce young women to various fields of engineering. The day-long program includes a panel of female engineering students, one of female engineers, and hands-on activities in engineering labs and classrooms.
Fun with Color
Collaborating Organizations: Floyd County Schools and Eastern Kentucky Science Center, Prestonsburg, KY
Girls Served: Grades 5-8
Award: $943
The East Kentucky Science Center will provide a hands-on inquiry-based learning program, with a special emphasis placed upon chemistry, biology and physics, for female students from surrounding counties. Projects included are chromatography, spectroscopy, polymerization, and other chemistry/physics topics. By using color as the foundation and the underlying theme for all activities, students will develop problem solving skills, use the scientific method process, and analyze the components as indicated by color. The projects are aligned with the Kentucky Core Content. In collaboration with Floyd County Schools, 40 females, 5th through 8th grade, will be recruited and selected based upon input from regional counselors, teachers, and family resource centers.
Girls Enjoying Math and Science
Collaborating Organizations: Girls Scouts, Bluegrass Society of Women Engineers and University of Kentucky, College of Engineering
Girls Served: Grades 4-8
Award: $1,000
GEMS is a special Girl Scout Council event that will be held October 25, 2008 at the University of Kentucky. Three hundred girls from grades 4 - 8 will attend. Girls will participate in three hands-on science workshops conducted by the University of Kentucky, the Bluegrass Society of Women Engineers, and Lexmark, as well as other consultants. Girls will discover that there are abundant science-based career opportunities for women.
Oceanography--Exploring the Depths--Girls too!
Collaborating Organizations: Danville Schools and Centre College Biology Dept.
Girls Served: Grades 3-5
Award: $1,000
Danville Schools 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students will have the opportunity to attend Danville Kids University (DKU), a Saturday morning enrichment program that allows students to extend learning in the arts, math, science and technology. This year's theme is oceanography. Careers for students, highlighting female job opportunities, will be explored each Saturday morning. The final session will be hosted by Centre College's Biology Department on November 22. Centre professors and students will teach DKU students about the plants and animals of the ocean. Topics will include the coral reef, the ocean floor, and the variety of life found in the world's seven oceans. Careers will be highlighted for both boys and girls with an effort to include careers of successful females in oceanography.
Parent-Daughter STEM Institute
Collaborating Organizations: Boone County Schools, Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence and Northern Kentucky University
Girls Served: 6-11
Award: $800
Parents' engagement with their children plays a significant role in career choice. Using the CIPL framework for parent engagement, parents are most likely to become involved if they understand they should be involved and if they know they are capable of making a contribution. This evening with parents and daughters is intended to create those opportunities for parent/daughter involvement while exploring multiple career options and levels of educational attainment needed for careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) with their daughters. The targeted population will be girls in grades 6 through 11. The evening institute will last 2 hours with a limit of 50 families involved at each scheduled presentation. Light dinner will be served to meet the needs of working parents.
Turning the Page to a New Era!
Collaborating Organizations: Pulaski County Schools, University of Kentucky, College of Engineering, Student Technical Leadership Program (STLP) and Eastern Kentucky University
Girls Served: Grades 4-9
Award: $1,000
Turning the PAGE to a New Era! Pulaski Advancing Girls in Engineering! The PAGE Symposium will introduce girls to fundamental engineering concepts, critical thinking, and female role models who will guide them in a day of STEM hands-on activities. This symposium will be the first-ever in the South East South Central Kentucky region and will strive to build relationships and provide additional opportunities for all girls grades 4-9 to experience engineering concepts and hands-on, inquiry-based STEM programs.
Introduction to Chemistry and Physics
Collaborating Organizations: Henderson County Schools, University of Louisville, Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Girls Served: Grades 8-12
Award: $1,000
In a 9th grade Introduction to Chemistry and Physics class the students will study the Kentucky Core Content for Chemistry. They will also participate in chemistry lab experiments. They will learn about discoveries of female scientists in the past and research current female scientists. They will gather statistics on how many girls major in chemistry and other science fields. A local female guest speaker who is a scientist will visit and eat lunch with the students in the classroom and describe what she does in her job. As part of reviewing for the midterm exam the students will summarize all the different chemistry concepts and skills they have learned. After their midterm exam the students will take a field trip to visit some of the researchers in the University of Louisville Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology to learn what they do. That afternoon they will also visit the Louisville Science Center Museum.
Rockin Girl RoboPower
Collaborating Organizations: Grant County Schools, Student Technical Leadership Program
Girls Served: Grades 6-8
Award: $1,000
The Rockin Girl RoboPower project brings together an engineering team of middle school girls to design, build and program a robot to compete in a statewide challenge. The girls will also meet with women professionals in STEM careers to discuss the opportunities available. Robotics activities incorporate many STEM related tasks. The program design will have the female students engaged in hands-on learning while introducing the STEM connections. The project group will be 15-20 female middle school students. Activities used to demonstrate the Assessment and Evaluation research based strategy will include pre and post assessment (survey / questionnaire) designed using a NGCP Web resource. We will also document the experience through video and photographs.