The JR. Engineergirl club:
Immersive Hands-on STEM program
Overview:
A problem I noticed in my community was the lack of girls interested in STEM and robotics, I created a year-round, immersive, hands-on program dedicated to encourage young girls – particularly those with little access to engineering – to explore careers in STEM Fields. The Jr. Engineer Girls Club participants conducted experiments, wrote simple codes using Micro-bits, built squishy circuits, made bristle bots, and learned from professionals while all building lifelong skills.
Before my program’s launch, I conducted a preliminary survey I put together. The purpose of it was to learn more about my students’ engineering background and set the stage for tracking their progress. From my surveys, I had learned that 95 % of my mentees did not have a clear picture who were engineers and what they did. As the program progressed I saw girls’ interest grew. They started asking me if we could meet more often. They got bitten by an “engineering bug”. They were proud of who they were – Jr. Engineer Girls. They were learning to pay better attention to what was happening around them. They were inclusive. I had a couple of girls who had autism but they were equal members of the Jr. EngineerGirl Club. My students were able to conquer their fear of public speaking, became confident in their research skills, and even built a strong team bond amongst themselves.
Activities such as Paper airplane challenge, paper rockets and paper cone fliers were a big hit. The girls really enjoyed designing fliers out of paper cones, decorating them with feathers, pipe cleaners and pom-poms and hoped they would levitate in the air for at least more than 5 sec. Additionally, my students participated in a paper airplane challenge where they needed to construct a paper airplane that would glide at least 10 ft carrying weight. We used 1 cent and 10 cents coins. I even hosted a space day where we talked about different engineering fields, watched the launch of the SpaceX Dragon rocket, and built our own straw paper rockets.
This program left an immediate impact not only on my mentees but also myself. When I saw the children’s eyes light up with a desire to create, their ability to think out of the box and their unleashed potential for inventions it inspires me to continue my work as STEAM Ambassador. I am excited to know we are growing a new generation of Marie Curie’s and Thomas Edison’s and I am proud to be a part of it!
Skills gained & takeaway:
- Learned how to create a hands-on STEM Curriculum for young children
- Formed a strong relationship with my participants and acted as a mentor to them.
- Arranged for meeting area with event space host, managed programs finances, purchased needed materials, and taught engineering principles at a child’s level of understanding.
I am glad to have had the opportunity to introduce engineering in a fun and encouraging environment that helped to build confidence and encourage them to pursue their dreams. I am very proud to have played an integral part of my mentees’ STEM journey and made a positive impact on their lives. Several of my program participants are planning to continue their STEM involvement and interested in pursuing STEAM careers.
Not everyone will become an engineer but teamwork, cooperation, effective communication and creative thinking will help us build better communities and improve the lives of others.