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!

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!

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.

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!