Engineering sparks girls’ interest
Elementary school girls got to try hands-on science activities at John Brown University’s Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, held Saturday in the Balzer Technology Center.
About 50 third- through sixthgrade girls attended Saturday’s event, including students from the Siloam Springs School District, as well as from Oklahoma school districts and home schooled students, said Ted Song, JBU engineering professor.
The day was designed to encourage girls to consider careers in engineering and give them the message that they can succeed in the field, Song said. Students rotated between five stations where they participated in hands-on activities that centered around electrical circuits, the engineering design process, computer programming, airplanes and mathematical statistics.
University students from JBU’s chapter of Society of Women Engineers, for which Song serves as an advisor, hosted and led the the event. SWE enables professional women to give encouragement to female college students, and outreach projects like the one on Saturday which give the college students a chance to pass that encouragement on to elementary school girls, Song explained.
Neeya Toleman, a junior electrical engineering major at JBU and founding president of the local SWE chapter, said she sees a real need for more women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields. Toleman explained that she was the only female engineering student in her junior class and started the local chapter with Song’s support. There are now 21 female students in JBU’s engineering program, Song said.
Toleman said SWE builds a community of female engineering students and reaches out to younger girls who are interested in STEM fields. Finding role models and making a personal connection is crucial to encouraging girls to go into STEM fields, she said.
Studies have shown that many girls lose their interest in science around fourth grade so Saturday’s event targeted that age group, Toleman said.
“It can really change their
whole high school and college trajectory,” she said.
On Saturday, Toleman led an activity that centered around using conductive ink to draw electrical circuits. Girls used small metal objects such as paperclips and gum wrappers to complete the circuits with the goal of lighting up a small LED light. At another station, girls got to see the Eaglenauts Club’s airplanes, which are being prepared for a competition in Florida. Then they got a chance to build paper airplanes of their own.
Julia Theisen, vice president of JBU’s chapter of SWE, explained that the students in her group were learning about the engineering design process by designing and building the tallest tower possible out of eight balloons. The project helped the girls practice coming up with ideas and then improving on them, she said.
Students also got to experience computer coding. Groups of girls had to write code, or instructions, to guide one member of the group through a maze on the floor. The activity simulates the way that computer code tells a computer which actions to take, Song explained.
Lauren Palmer, a parent of one of the girls who attended Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, said the event made a big impression on her daughter. “Hannah loved it and just lights up when she talks about it,” said parent Lauren Palmer. “There were tons of girls there. She learned a lot and the thing I loved the most is just the exposure to something different from career paths and interests she normally hears about (doctor, nurse, teacher, mom, etc.).”
The local chapter has done some outreach projects with the Bentonville and Siloam Springs High Schools, as well as a smaller scale event for younger girls, but Saturday’s event was their largest outreach project by far, Toleman said. She hopes to expand and continue it next year.
Hannah loved it and just lights up when she talks about it. There were tons of girls there. She learned a lot and the thing I loved the most is just the exposure to something different from career paths and interests she normally hears about.
Lauren Palmer
Parent on her daughter’s experience at JBU’s Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day workshop