Welcome to SciGirls, the ultimate destination for girls who love science! SciGirls is an upcoming PBS TV show, a website, and a resource provider for educators, club leaders and mentors who are working with girls doing science.

Are you a girl, age 11-14, who thinks science is fun and interesting? Or do you know a girl who fits this description? Then we want to hear from you! SciGirls is starting production on a brand new TV show and website and we're looking for girls to feature. Tell us who should be a SciGirls star!

Want to know more about us? Click here.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Superhero Fairy

It's a bird, it's a plane, no it's a SciGirl!

Live from New York, it's the SciGirls fashion-tech show, featuring some really creative SciGirls and a superstar mentor, Diana Eng. You might recognize Diana from Project Runway fame!

Diana was a great example of an accomplished STEM pro helping SciGirls realize their project vision. Turns out the experience was a learning one for Diana, as well! She'll be working with teens in an upcoming project this fall!

Friday, August 14, 2009

AAUW: Breaking through Barriers in STEM for Women and Girls

The latest statistics provided by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and the National Girls Collaborative Project confirm that women are severely underrepresented in STEM fields. Factors that contribute to this issue are discouragement of girls to participate and demonstrate activities in the science classrooms and a lack of representation of women faculty role models in the STEM disciplines.

Through an AAUW initiative, women student leaders from universities and colleges across the nation have been working to tear down the barriers that girls and young women face in STEM in order to work towards greater equality in these male-dominated fields.

AAUW’s initiative, the Campus Action Project (CAP) gives student leaders and campus faculty the opportunity to design and implement effective programs geared toward girls and young women that enhance campus offerings, promote leadership, and improve academic and career outcomes. Each year, a mission-based topic that the projects will focus on is announced, and AAUW has just announced their 2009-2010 CAP topic: Breaking through Barriers in STEM for Women and Girls.

Beginning in September 2009, university and college CAP teams will have the opportunity to apply for AAUW CAP grants to help develop and implement their project ideas.
The objective of these CAPs is to help girls build their confidence and provide them with the role models and resources they need in order to achieve their educational and economic goals in the STEM fields.

Learn more about the AAUW’s CAP initiative.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Girls Got Game

Interested in girls and interactive gaming? Take a look ivestiGaming, created by Michigan State University serious game professors Carrie Heeter and Brian Winn.

investiGaming is a gateway to research on gender, gaming and computing for the game industry, game design educators and students, and academic game researchers. Their site is a fabulous resource for learning more about how today's youth (girls and boys!) approach digital games.

Friday, July 31, 2009

SciGirls Extraordinaire | iTwixie.com

Check out iTwixie.com--a new website for tween girls.

Turns out the iTwixies have a lot in common with SciGirls. They know that tween girls are full of curiosity, smarts, ideas and beauty--and that girls have the power to change the world!

iTwixie is where girls get together and empower each other. And iTwixie challenges girls to express their unique talents, creations, natural beauty and true interests--including, yes, of course, science!

Check out the iTwixie posts on: Strong, Healthy Teeth, snow monkeys, and their book club top choice--Island of the Blue Dolphins. You go, girls!

Friday, July 24, 2009

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!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

SciGirl Extraordinaire | Claire Dworsky, KSC water quality winner

Here's a young scientist making a real splash! Meet Claire Dworsky, the winner of Kids' Science Challenge water quality competition. This California girl's investigation was derived on the soccer field! Her question: "Can we test different stages of the water cycle runoff from grass and turf fields to see if one is more toxic than the other and if they could hurt plants, people, animals or ocean life?”

UC Santa Cruz scientist Adina Paytan helped mentor Claire with her inquiry. To learn more about the project, check out the Kids' Science Challenge website.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Behind the Scenes | The Dirt on Archaeology


Check out post by SciGirls archaeology mentor K. Renee Barlow on her blog, The Dirt on Archaeology.

More news to come soon on our recent dolphin shoot in Florida!