STEM is Fun at Girl Scouts

The STEM field has expanded greatly over the past 20 years; however, there is a large gender
gap in the STEM field, with women making up only 30% of the workforce. Girl Scouts helps to
close the gap by teaching girls about STEM at an early age and encouraging them to find a
passion in the field. We do this by showing girls that while STEM can be challenging, that does
not mean that it isn’t also fun. Our STEM activities show girls that STEM can be silly and goofy,
not scary or intimidating. Girl Scouts are taught about how much fun STEM can be by women
who work in the STEM industry. When girls are being taught by someone that looks like them, it
makes it easier for a girl to imagine herself working in that role as well.

Below, we will take you through two of the STEM programs that Girl Scouts offers in the
Saginaw region to give you a taste of what we mean when we say that we make STEM fun for
girls. You don’t have to be a Girl Scout to attend a Girl Scout event, so if any of these interest
your girl, sign her up for the event; we know that she will have a blast!

Spooky Science

It’s spooky season, and Girl Scouts is celebrating by throwing a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party! The activities that will take place at this event range from chemistry to engineering. While sitting down for what seems like a normal tea party, girls discover something is wrong when their tea starts to change color. Later in the party, the teacups start exploding out of nowhere! And when you look at the wall, all the clocks are moving backwards! Girls will have to find out what is happening at this party.

These activities are super silly and engaging, and they also teach girls about chemical and
physical properties, mechanical engineering, and force. When girls learn about why the tea is
changing color, they are learning about chemical and physical properties of tea. When they help
and make the teacups explode, they are learning about physics and force. And when the girls are trying to figure out why the clocks are running backwards, they are learning about
mechanics and engineering. It can be hard to keep kids engaged in a science class about any
of these topics, but this event will keep girls on the edge of their seats as to what will happen
next at the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.

Sound like something your girl will enjoy? Check it out here: https://www.gshom.org/en/sf-events-repository/2022/spooky-science—saginaw—fdbjcsa.html

Automotive Engineering Badgefest

Michigan is known for manufacturing cars, yet most girls do not know much about what goes
into making a car. At the Automotive Engineering Badgefest, girls will learn what goes into
designing and testing a new vehicle. Girl Scouts will design and sketch their own vehicles and
learn about simple machines and machine testing. After doing all these fun and hands on
activities, Girl Scouts will have earned three badges: the Automotive Engineering badge, the
Automotive Design badge, and the Automotive Manufacturing badge.

This automotive engineering opportunity is new to Girl Scouts this year, thanks to our
partnership with Nexteer Automotive and Saginaw Valley State University. This new partnership
is an example of Girl Scouts having other women in STEM as examples. The female engineers
at Nexteer are so excited to bring Girl Scouts a unique STEM opportunity that they can’t get
anywhere else. They are looking forward to inspiring some Girl Scouts’ love of STEM at this
event.

Sound like something your girl will enjoy? Check it out here: https://www.gshom.org/en/sf-events-repository/2022/badgefest-automotive-engineering—saginaw—dbj.html

Conclusion

Girl Scouts get the opportunity to learn about STEM in a fun and silly way. So silly, that
sometimes they might not even feel like they are learning! Events like Mad Hatter’s Tea Party
and Automotive Engineering Badgefest help to spark a girl’s interest in STEM. If we help to
spark enough girls’ interest, then they will be the leaders of tomorrow and will help close the
gender gap in the STEM industry.

Girl Scouts sound like something your girl might be interested in? Learn more here:
https://www.gshom.org/en/discover/about/what-girl-scouts-do.html


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