Girl Scout Night: Robots Rock!

The University of Utah hosted a lot of STEM Princesses last night at the Society of Women Engineer's (SWE) Girl Scout Night: Robots Rock! 

I had a table during registration talking about the science behind the plasma globe and talking about Materials Science and Engineering.  Plasma is the fourth state of matter, but did you know it would power certain light bulbs?

I helped at the alternative energy rotation, the girls made turbines and the highest energy produced was 1.78 volts!  "All we do is win!"

Congratulations Midas Creek Elementary!

Midas Creek Elementary had over 100 engineering fair projects in their annual school science and engineering fair based on my Engineering Fair Curriculum. After the selection process and the Jordan School District Science and Engineering fair, ten students from Midas Creek are advancing to the Central Utah Science and Engineering Fair (CUSEF)!

To learn more about the Engineering Fair Curriculum, visit www.engineeringfaircurriculum.blogspot.com

Heartfelt Crafternoon at the Leonardo Museum

Happy Gal-entine's Day, I mean Valentine's day! 

What better way to celebrate than teaching Girl Scouts about heart science at the Leonardo Museum? We made candy hearts "dance" using baking soda and vinegar, used stethoscopes and learned how blood travels throughout the body, and made Valentine's! It was a lot of "heart" work, but all the girls left "pumped" about science!

Utah FIRST LEGO League Championship

Today was the Utah FIRST LEGO League Championship at the University of Utah!  45 teams from all over Utah competed in teams in the categories: Robot, Project, and Core Values.  I was one of 100+ volunteers who spent the day judging, deliberating awards, and handing out medals at the awards ceremony.

My role as a Core Values judge was to judge 11 different teams (4th-8th grade) on their: inspiration, teamwork, and "Gracious Professionalism."  Each team was given a 15-minute time slot to do a team activity which would highlight their ability to work together as a team and then present on how they demonstrate the Core Values as a team and in their lives.  My favorite part of volunteering was hearing how students were coming to enjoy math and learned how to program their robots!

Three teams out of the 45 were given the invitations to participate in national and international FIRST LEGO league competitions in April and May!  I was grateful for the opportunity to see these students' innovations and problem solving skills.

Brains and Balance

This afternoon I had the opportunity to volunteer with Girl Scouts of Utah and the Leonardo Museum at the event, "Brains and Balance!"

The girls who attended learned about balance, center of mass, yoga, and radial symmetry.  The girls experimented with balance and their center of mass and then put their knowledge to use in yoga!  Following yoga, we talked about how balance is also found in art with symmetry.

Next month is "Heartfelt Crafternoon" where we will be teaching about Heart health and making a special Valentine's Day craft. Today I assisted with facilitating and helping girls, next month I will be teaching for about 30-40 minutes of the event! 

Riverton City's 150 Year Celebration

This evening I had the opportunity to serve cake at Riverton City's 150 Year Celebration!  My favorite part was talking to several fifth grade students from the local elementary school (where I presented on the engineering processes and about my Engineering Fair Curriculum) who came up to talk to me about their engineering fair projects! 

Last year, Midas Creek Elementary had 30 engineering fair entries based off of my Engineering Fair Curriculum and three projects went to the Central Utah Engineering and Science Fair.  This year, there were over 100 engineering projects and over 30 students were selected to move on to the district science and engineering fair!

Girl Scouts of the USA's 2014 National Convention

 As a special guest of the Alcoa Foundation, I was invited to attend Girl Scouts of the USA's 2014 National Convention in Salt Lake City in October 2014.  I was invited as a special guest of the Alcoa Foundation for winning the Alcoa Chuck McLane Scholarship.  The scholarship is awarded to two graduating Girl Scouts who completed a Gold Award involving STEM; not only will we receive financial support, but we also are also mentored by an Alcoa employee during our freshman year of college.

While I was attending the National Convention, I spoke at the VIP Reception about how being involved with Girl Scouts has shaped who I am today.  It was a wonderful opportunity to not only promote my Engineering Fair Curriculum, but to also share how Girl Scouts of the USA's STEM initiative shaped who I am today.

I also spoke at the theme dinner: "Imagine Your STEM Future!"  I explained my Gold Award, authoring the Engineering Fair Curriculum, distributing the Curriculum nationwide, and described current student engineering projects.  After the dinner, I was approached by community members and Girl Scout leadership from across the United States who wanted to utilize my Curriculum in their programming!  

I would like to thank the Alcoa Foundation and Girl Scouts of the USA for the opportunity to attend and speak at the 2014 National Convention.