PSST! Your Grade School Daughter Really Likes Science and Math!
Only boys are interested in subjects like science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) right? Wrong!
A recent study by Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. found that at the 4th grade level, general interest in science, math, engineering and technology stands equal for both girls and boys. Even by girls’ teen years, the study found that a “high number (74% percent) are interested in STEM subjects and the general field of study, and that they’re drawn by the creative, hands-on aspects of these subjects.”
However, while girls remain generally interested in learning about how things work and collaborating with others in problem-solving as well as in building and putting things together, by the middle school years – when the focus shifts from general interest to career possibilities – boys quickly eclipse girls in actually pursuing these areas, the study noted.
“Girls need more exposure to and better education about what STEM careers are and what they can offer if such careers are to gain priority status, “ the study concluded.
Luckily, much is being done to address these issues and expand STEM education in the U.S. as a whole. At the national level, the White House last year announced its plan to create a national STEM Master Teacher Corps. Meanwhile, the Girl Scouts of America has launched a major STEM program initiative to help close the gap between girls’ general interest in STEM and their ability to more actively pursue their interest throughout their lifetimes. The Boy Scouts of America also launched a similar initiative to spur more active interest in STEM careers among its members.
Locally, Ridgewood’s Little Ivy Academy is taking a leading role with its RealScience “The Robots are Coming!!!” enrichment labs for kindergarteners through 5th graders.
“Providing elementary school girls and boys with opportunities to imagine themselves as real engineers, real scientists by actually building things that work, using their ideas to take things apart and rebuild them into something that works better than the original is so important in developing STEM and critical thinking skills,” said Little Ivy Academy Director Erich Bassler. “Robotics learning enrichment labs are a great way to provide these opportunities.”
Offered after-school and on Saturdays on its Ridgewood campus and at a growing number of local elementary schools, “The Robots are Coming!!!” is a sequence of four, eight-week learning enrichment labs where students use LEGOs and related building materials as well as simple, age-appropriate programming languages and other STEM concepts to design and build their own robotic creations.
“Girls, along with boys, from the youngest age are interested in learning about how things work and then experimenting with what they’ve learned by putting it to the test,” Bassler said. “So the students’enthusiasm level is typically off the charts.”
Each lab course utilizes a collaborative, hands-on “lab team” approach, building upon the STEM skills learned in previous course(s). Led by both female and male instructors, Little Ivy Academy’s robotics program provides an active lab environment where their students’ skills and imaginations engage in real, hands-on engineering and programming each week.
“It’s a rewarding moment, but a typical one, when a girl, dressed in a pink princess t-shirt, comes up with more elaborate, more interesting concepts and revisions for a robot project than her lab partner in his LEGO Ninjago t-shirt, and the two of them agree to give it a try, ” Bassler said. “These girls are capable of great things and the color of their shirt doesn’t preclude them from using their knowledge and imagination to engineer and program something awesome.”
The next session of Little Ivy Academy’s Robots in Motion! enrichment labs begin in just a few weeks on Saturdays on Little Ivy’s Ridgewood campus and after-school at several local schools. Labs are divided by K-2nd graders and 3rd-5th graders. To learn more, you can visit the Little Ivy Academy’s robotics program webpage at www.littleivyacademy.com/robots.html or call them at 201-444-8400.
For more info on the importance of STEM learning for girls, check out a NYT opinion piece Get Girls Interested While They’re Young from 9/30/12 or view the 2012 Girl Scout study entitled What Girls Say About Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.
