SciGirls Extraordinaire | Jennifer Ouellette

Jennifer Ouelette helps others learn about science in a way that's fun and entertaining. Although she's not a scientist herself (she was an English major), she is passionate about, and well versed, in science and science education. Among many things, she writes for the American Institute of Physics' TV project, Discoveries and Breakthroughs in Science. She's published articles including "Bubble, Bubble: Physics of Foam," "Talking Turkey and Tryptophan," "Soap Suds and Cosmic Secrets," as well as two books: "Black Bodies and Quatum Cats," and "The Physics of the Buffyverse."

Thanks, Jennifer, for putting the "phun" in physics!

SciGirls Extraordinaire | Space Food Scientist

NASA food scientist, Vickie Kloeris, has a task that's out of this world: managing the food system for the International Space Station! This week she happens to be teaming up with Astronaut Sandy Magnus in press interviews about holiday feasts in space. Just part of the job!

Space food has improved a lot over the years... And Vickie is making sure the space station has a wide variety of tasty, nutritious meals. Check out some space food recipes at http://spaceflight1.nasa.gov/living/spacefood/


See Vickie in another video about space food at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjjBiDQsDJw

Behind the Scenes | SciGirls Ed Resources

SciGirls is busy this winter developing companion educational resources for our first season! We are producing: a set of Activity Guides; a booklet outlining research-based strategies for sparking girls' interest in STEM; a poster that doubles as a board game; and a SciGirls "club kit."

Our Activity Guides will include fun, inquiry-based science investigations, engineering projects, and short science experiments for kids ages 8-12. Keep them in mind for SciGirls fun this spring!

SciGirls Museum Affliates Program Webinar

It's today! Learn how to apply for the SciGirls Museum Affiliates Program in a webinar at 1:00 pm CST (2:00 pm EST):

http://ngcproject.org/events/events.cfm?eventid=159.

The program's RFP and application also can be downloaded on the right.

SciGirls use ordinary science to do the extraordinary. Join the SciGirls revolution!

I Am What I Learn

Dr. Lodge McCammon (http://www.iamlodge.com) is one talented scientist and no stranger to TPT. He contributed some great nano songs to DFTV Nano. (See Scale and Nanotechnology.)

Earlier this year, Lodge worked with North Carolina middle school teacher Jamie Hall and a group of his students to answer: Why is education important to my future? They looked at President Obama’s “Back to School Event” speech and created an original song.

“I Will Contribute” was recorded and performed by Dr. Lodge and four middle school students (Elena, Hannah R., Caroline, and Hannah J.). The music video was created and performed by two North Carolina 8th graders (Keturah and Megan).

SciGirls applauds their efforts! (See more videos from the I Am What I Learn contest.)

Spice up STEM with SciGirls | Calling Museums and Science Centers!

Do you want to spice up your girl-focused science programs?

SciGirls is seeking museums and science centers for the pilot year of our Museum Affiliates Program! Our Affiliates Program will help science centers and museums enhance their existing girl-focused programs by providing multimedia educational resources, professional development training, and ongoing support.

Learn more about the SciGirls Museum Affiliates Program – and how to apply -- in a webinar on December 17, 2009, at 1:00 pm CST (2:00 pm EST): http://ngcproject.org/events/events.cfm?eventid=159. The RFP and application can also be found at this site.

Sign up now!

SciGirls Extrodinaire | Javiera Guedes, Astronomer

Javiera Guedes, a grad student at the University of California Santa Cruz, is star-gazing with a mission! She is heading up a project exploring potential Earthlike planets near Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to Earth.

Guedes is part of a team using a telescope in Chile to investigate whether habitable planets are out there. Guedes is optimistic: "It's so close to us, and the position of the other stars is such that it should be very possible to find a small planet." But close is a relative term in the universe... in this case, more than 4 million light years away!

SciGirl Extraordinaire | More on Nobel Prize winner Dr. Carol Greider

One of the things that can be important for young girls considering a life in science is seeing women mentors who are balancing a career and family. After all, girls want to know that science doesn't mean a life spent alone in labs!

CNN's recent coverage of Nobel Prize winner Carol Greider offers a great example of a life lived fully. This CNN story gives a great overview of Greider's background, including how she told her kids she won the Nobel Prize and if they went to school that morning. (Nope!)

Women have won the Nobel Prize a total of 41 times in the history of the award, so Greider is in some rare company. But it's important to note that the scientists girls are introduced to don't need to be stars in their fields. Everyday working scientists can show girls that finding fulfilling work in STEM fields is an obtainable goal.

In fact, SciGirls incorporates this kind of mentoring into each of its episodes. When our shows air in 2010, you'll meet engineers, designers, biologists, and robot whizzes. Each has unique insights to share with girls about how they found their life's work. And soon enough their stories will be seen by millions of viewers across the country. You go, SciGirls!

Thinking pink?

SciGirls was interested to see this post on pink tools. We've had out own design discussions about pink. In a nutshell: Should Izzie embrace the pink?

Ultimately, we decided to open the SciGirls palette beyond the pink-purple haze. We wanted to fight the "pinkware" stereotype found in many girl products and let SciGirls identify with whatever colors strike their fancy.

But it's crazy that the pink discussion follows on up the ranks to products for women. Perhaps that's because the grown up audience is so completely split on the topic. In the blogger's informal survey, she found half the women liked the idea of pink tools and half said, "No go." Go figure!