Dolphins + Mirror = Thrilling Science Investigation!

What’s it like to work with some of the most intelligent animals on Earth? Ask marine mammal lovers Cecilia and Serena, who just wrapped up a dolphin behavior research study in the Florida Keys. The girls teamed up with research scientist Dr. Jill Richardson from the University of Miami, to study dolphin personality in a family of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins at Dolphins Plus, in Key Largo, FL.

The girls also wondered if dolphins could recognize themselves in a mirror, since the ability of an animal to recognize its own reflection in the mirror is a sign of high intelligence. The famous mirror study had never been done before at Dolphins Plus, so our SciGirls lead the charge and put their research question to the test with dolphins Elvis--a 4 year old male, and Nica--a 4 year old female. The girls got to shadow expert dolphin trainers throughout the investigation, learning how trainers and dolphins communicate through a special language of hand gestures and whistles.

When they weren’t busy collecting data, Ceci and Serena loved swimming with these gorgeous dolphins and hearing their underwater “songs” of clicks and whistles--just check out the video!

Behind the Scenes | Archaeology Adventure

Meet Jazzy and Gates, two adventure-loving SciGirls who just returned from four days of hardcore camping far away from running water, little siblings, computers and cell phones - all in the name of science!The girls teamed up with Dr. Renee Barlow, the Curator of Archaeology of the College of Eastern Utah’s Prehistoric Museum, to try and unearth some clues about the mysterious Fremont Indian culture that lived in Range Creek Canyon about 1,000 years ago. The Fremont people disappeared suddenly and now archaeologists are trying to determine how they lived and what happened to them. Jazzy and Gates went to great lengths to collect their data - they even had to rock climb to one hard-to-reach site!What’s that on the rock? It’s a bird, it’s a plane – nope! It’s ancient rock art from Range Creek Canyon in Utah!

Behind the Scenes | Turtle Power!

It’s time to be on the lookout for turtles! In late May and early June, turtles emerge from ponds, lakes and wetlands and often cross roads and land to find the ideal spot to nest and lay their eggs. (Turtles are creatures of habit and know where they’re going, so it’s best to stay out of their way...) Our wild-about-nature SciGirls are soon starting a turtle habitat and population investigation at their local nature center (Dodge Nature Center). Did you know you can tell how old a turtle is by counting the lines on one of its scutes (that’s a scale on its shell)? How cool is that?

Behind the Scenes | It's a Wrap!

Earlier this week, the SciGirls production team finished shooting our very first episode. Hip, hip, hooray! The pig puppet project (try to say that three times quickly...) culminated at Minneapolis' 35th annual May Day Parade, hosted by the creative visionaries from Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre. (Visit their site to see more great images from the event.)

Thanks to Anna, Lacie, Clara Sophia, and Norah--our SciGirls stars-- and their supportive families for helping make this project possible. And a special shout out to our SciGirls engineering mentors AnnMarie Thomas and Willis "Bow" Bowman for their guidance in all things puppet! And remember, it's not officially Spring in Minnesota until a big, pink, papier-mâché pig comes rumbling down Bloomington Avenue!

Behind the Scenes | SciGirls en Español training

This week Maddie Ziegler and Margaret Duden met with our SciGirls en Español partners from the Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys for a day-long workshop in St. Paul. This was the third of nine workshops Maddie, SciGirls' bilingual informal science education consultant from Albuquerque, is conducting this spring for SciGirls en Español grant recipients.

Girl Scout Community Specialists Isabel Morales and Graciela Gorman learned how the Girl Scouts can take maximum advantage of the SciGirls en Español educational resources to encourage Latina girls in STEM. Turns out the research-based strategies SciGirls recommends for engaging girls in science echo the core values of the Girl Scouts. Isabel and Graciela pointed out that the model for Girl Scout experiences – Discover, Connect, and Take Action – was consistent with SciGirls practices such as highlighting real-life contexts for science and challenging dominant ways of thinking.

Isabel, Graciela, and other Minnesota-based Girl Scout leaders will be integrating SciGirls activities into troop meetings this spring, summer and fall. They will also draw on SciGirls resources to bolster STEM experiences for girls at summer camps.

The Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys has developed several community initiatives to empower girls from traditionally underserved communities. Their Latina Initiative offers more than 550 Latina and Hispanic girls culturally relevant programming and is serving as a national model for other Girl Scout councils trying to reach more diverse communities. You go, Girl Scouts!

Behind the Scenes | Lights, Camera, Action!

It's official! SciGirls producers recently crossed out the "pre" in front of "production" and jumped in to shoot the very first SciGirls episode, right here in Minnesota. Cast and crew are busy creating some theatrical magic to show girls everywhere that STEM-related activities aren't just good for kids—they're fun, too!

So are you a little curious as to which fabulous girl-centered project is the star of the show? All we can say for sure is that in a fit of outrageous creativity, SciGirls Anna, Lacie, Norah and Clarasophia are busy engineering a gigantic puppet, which shall go pictureless until it makes its debut on May 3 in the annual parade put on by Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater. (But the images in this post from past parades should give you an inkling of what to expect.) The girls are working with mechanical engineer AnneMarie Thomas and mentor Willis "Bow" Bowman to design a puppet that will move and shake its way down Bloomington Avenue to rush in the Spring. Good luck, girls!

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Behind the Scenes | SciGirls en Español in Albuquerque

This past weekend SciGirls staffer Margaret Duden traveled to Albuquerque to attend the Expanding Informal Science Education for Latinos conference, which was organized by the Self Reliance Foundation. The fabulous SRF, our partners on the SciGirls en Español project, brought 100+ representatives from informal science institutions and science research organizations together with leaders from Hispanic organizations, media, and educational projects.

Margaret says the conference was invigorating! "It was so exciting to network with people passionate about enhancing STEM learning opportunities among Latino-Hispanic Americans." Conference topics included best practices in designing culturally effective STEM programming, opportunities for collaboration, and a poster session, during which Margaret shared the hot-off-the-presses SciGirls en Español DVD and Activity Guide.

Latinos are the fastest growing ethnic/racial minority group in the United States. Yet the group is significantly under-represented in STEM. It's important to encourage more Latino youth to realize their full potential in STEM so that they can become innovators, engineers, researchers, and problem-solvers in our future workforce.

Hang tight to learn more about SciGirl en Español; information to follow in our next post!

Behind the Scenes | SciGirls at NSTA

Last week SciGirls staffers attended the National Science Teachers Association conference in the beguiling Big Easy. Booth traffic was impressive, in spite of recent economic realities. And SciGirls was a big hit! Educators--formal and informal--were excited to hear about our plans for the show. But even better was chatting with people who already have girl-serving programs.

Teachers spoke with great pride about their "awesome girls." In addition, many groups are working on projects that include a dose of kid empowerment. That means kids are in the driver's seat, deciding what STEM topics they care about and how the want to investigate them.

This approach is thrilling for SciGirls because it dovetails with our own philosophy. We're excited to begin featuring these programs, and you'll be hearing more about them as show development continues. In the meantime, please give us a shout out if you know of a program we should consider. And as they say in NOLA: "Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler" or "Let the good times roll!"

Behind the Scenes | NGCP Webcast

On Tuesday, February 11, 2009, SciGirls staffers Kathy Shugrue (Development Producer), Lisa Regalla (Science Editor) and Joan Freese (Web Producer) will participate in a webcast with our friends at the National Girls Collaborative Project, based in Seattle. The title of the session is: Best Practices in Creating Successful Collaborations: Lessons Learned from the National Girls Collaborative Project.

Log in from from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Pacific to hear Karen Peterson, Principal Investigator of the NGCP speak about collaborations. Karen is also the co-PI on the SciGirls television project. She'll be introducing us as a "collaboration in progress."

The NGCP works to strengthen capacity of existing girl-serving STEM projects by sharing promising practices, research findings and program models. Their free monthly webcasts feature practitioners and researchers from across the country who gather to share effective strategies for working with girls in STEM.

Don't miss it! To register, visit: http://www.ngcproject.org/events/webcasts.cfm

Behind the Scenes: The Birth of SciGirls

By now you’ve heard about SciGirls, the innovative TV series for ‘tweens coming to PBS in 2010. But did you know that this TV show is an outgrowth of a DragonflyTV outreach initiative called SciGirls?

DragonflyTV is an Emmy-Award Winning science TV show produced by Twin Cities Public Television (TPT). In 2004, the National Science Foundation gave TPT a grant to support the creation of a DragonflyTV outreach program targeting girls: SciGirls. The goal of SciGirls was to encourage girls’ interest in science through community-based programs that drew on the resources of DragonflyTV and key findings from research on gender and education.

Select DragonflyTV videos of women scientists and girls doing inquiry-based investigations were repackaged as “SciGirls” DVDs. Companion SciGirls Activity Guides were created as well, containing instructions for hands-on inquiry experiences based on the videos and a summary of the latest research on how to encourage girls in science. DragonflyTV distributed these resources to science centers, PBS stations, schools, and girl-serving organizations nationwide along with grants and professional development training to support their use.

Since 2005, DragonflyTV’s SciGirls outreach programs have been implemented in 25 communities, reaching more than 5,000 girls in grades 3 through 8. Each SciGirls outreach partner custom designed programs – whether they were summer camps, science clubs, or special events – that used SciGirls videos and activities to encourage girls in science.

These outreach programs were an outstanding success. But it became clear that DragonflyTV’s SciGirls outreach program – and all the other successful STEM enrichment programs for girls – could only reach a small fraction of the girls who need this kind of encouragement. TPT envisioned developing a broad-based, multimedia strategy that could inspire and enable girls in every American community to discover the excitement of science, technology, engineering and math. That is the vision of the new SciGirls television show!

Behind the Scenes: The SciGirls Team

Here a little background information on our project. SciGirls is funded by the National Science Foundation. We have two major partners: The National Girls Collaborative Project, which is based in Seattle, and The Franklin Institute, one of the nation's premier science centers, which is located in Philadelphia.

Both organizations have extensive programs and background knowledge in promoting STEM education for girls. The SciGirls project is fortunate to have their such an amazing team. Do you know any great STEM organizations?

Behind the Scenes: Hello, howdy, have a seat!

Welcome to the SciGirls blog, where you can learn all about the development of SciGirls, a new TV series and website for PBS Kids!

You've no doubt heard the saying "It takes a village to raise a child." Well at SciGirls, we know it takes a community to inspire, encourage and enable 'tween girls girls to pursue their interests in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). So we're inviting you to participate in the SciGirls development process.

As we create our series, we want to hear from you—girls, parents, teachers, mentors, and working scientists alike. Our first 13 episodes won't air until sometime in 2010, but we're already busy dreaming all that SciGirls can be.

Stay tuned!