Science: It's a Girl Thing

When it comes to future careers, 10-year-old Raynee Maypole from Hobbs, N. M., already decided she wants to become a zoologist.

Lubbock native Emily Holland, also 10, will become a marine biologist.

And both girls, who participated in “Science: It’s A Girl Thing,” say the program inspired them to continue studying science.

The two were part of a group of 270 girls from Texas and surrounding states that came to Texas Tech to participate in a four day/three night residential camp for girls entering 5th through 11th grades. Girls reside at university residence halls on campus. During the day, they attend exciting hands-on science classes in university classrooms and laboratories. Evenings are devoted to traditional summer fun.

Maypole said she especially enjoyed making a volcano out of Mentos and Diet Coke as part of “Planet Earth Rocks.”

“We had to run a long way from it when we did it,” she said. “The Coke went really high up in the air.”

Holland, who studied Geosciences, said making a comet was the most fun experiment she did this summer.

“We made these comets with rubber balls and half of a staple,” she said. “We flew them up in the air. We also learned about our solar system and the distances between the planets. It was great.”

The program's focus is not only to encourage girls to pursue science, but also teach them how certain fields of study can lead to exciting careers, said Martha Hise Cieszinski, director for IDEAL.

“We provide the girls with strong role models and spark interest in science,” Hise Cieszinski said. “We also try to dispel myths and misconceptions about science and careers in science.

“Most of all, we introduce under-represented girls to a collegiate experience. If their parents did not attend college, it’s hard for them to see the advantage of a college education. For many of them, it changes the idea of it from this vague notion to a goal because they can see they can do it.”

More than 50 percent of the program’s attendees were on scholarship, Hise Cieszinski said.

Rachel Cline, a mathematics graduate student at Texas Tech, served as math teacher for the program. Instead of sticking solely to the numbers, Cline said she covered different topics of math by tying in less numeral-related jargon such as geometry and art.

After three years of teaching the course, Cline said the best feeling of reward comes from getting girls excited about math.

“The first time I taught for the program, I didn’t know what I was going to get into,” she said. “I didn’t have much experience with younger children. The girls would come in and tell me they didn’t like math or they were already good at it and didn’t think they needed to learn more. I taught them in a way that wasn't the same old math, and they liked it."

"It’s really rewarding to see. It’s addictive and makes you want to come and teach over and over again,” she said.

The program is sponsored by the Institute for the Development and Enrichment of Advanced Learners (IDEAL), the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Center for the Integration of Science Education and Research and the Women's Studies Program. Partial funding came from the Office of the Provost.