Video-Enhanced Activities and Projects
Video-Enhanced Activities in Engineering
Engineering is a hot topic today in schools across the country. The videos and activities in this section offer a hands-on, minds-on introduction to the design-build process.
Puppet Power: The SciGirls engineer a giant puppet with moving parts for a parade.
Blowin' in the Wind: SciGirls design and build their own miniature wind farm.
Turtle Mania: The SciGirls design ways to increase the turtle population in their neighborhood wetland.
Video-Enhanced Activities in Technology
These days the idea of digital natives — kids who have grown up using technology — is commonplace. So it might surprise people to know that computer science and engineering are some of the STEM careers in which women still lag behind men. The videos and activities in this section are designed to help curb that trend, with girl-friendly, hands-on projects that serve as entrees to the tech world.
High Tech Fashion: The SciGirls create a dress with LEDs and electroluminescent wire.
Robots to the Rescue!: The SciGirls collaborate with computer scientists, engineers and psychologists to design, build and test the rescue robots.
Digging Archaeology: SciGirls work with an archaeologist at her dig site, excavating ancient buildings grid-by-grid and analyzing found artifacts and cave art left by the Freemont Indians.
Video-Enhanced Activities for Healthy Living
With childhood obesity reaching alarming levels, healthy living is an important topic for kids and the adults who influence them. The videos and activities in this section emphasize the importance of nutrition and the workings of the human body.
Science Cooks: The SciGirls calculate the fat, sodium, and caloric content of two family recipes, then investigate ways to increase their nutritional value.
Horsing Around: The SciGirls work with mentors who introduce them to careers in veterinary science and design a set of experiments for 3 horses that quantify their fitness, stride length, and conformation.
Dolphin Dive: The SciGirls work with a marine biologist to develop a research question and then gather data as they observe dolphin behaviors.
Video-Enhanced Activities for Going Green
Environmentalism is a hot topic these days- especially with kids, who recognize the importance of the issue. The activities in this section are designed to have high appeal for girls and give them hands-on experience with science disciplines concerned with saving our planet.
Going Green: The SciGirls perform a trash audit and create a classification system for the waste in their school cafeteria.
Star Power: Guided by a graduate student in astrophysics, the SciGirls participate in a world wide star count to compare the amount of light pollution in five locations at various distances from the center of Boston.
Underwater Eco-Adventure: Guided by a marine biologist, SciGirls investigate and compare the ecosystems at two rocky reefs: a heavily dived, protected reef that is not fished, and an unprotected reef that is infrequently dived but heavily fished.
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