Ninth-Grade Girls Get Hands-On STEM Experience

A group of 9th-grade girls is getting a hands-on experience in the world of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

Thanks to a team of professors from NSU’s Abrham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice and the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences, 35 students at SLAM Palm Beach High School are getting in-depth sessions in topics of biology, physics, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, and various art forms.

The project is led by Hui Fang (Angie) Su, Project PI; Jia Borror, Project Co-PI; and Teri Williams, Project Co-PI. Also involved in giving some of the presentations are Julie Torruellas Garcia, Arthur Sikora, Yueting Wan.

Students’ STEM awareness and interest were measured at the beginning of the project. They will again be calculated at the end, along with their knowledge and understanding of the engineering sub-field of STEM.

One such activity hosted by Williams focused on Creative Thinking and tasked the girls with working together to design and make a paper airplane. The activity blended the worlds of art and science to create something distinguishable and functional.

Another activity focused on Botany and Painting, where the girls looked closely at the flowers and examined them as scientists before drawing and painting them.

In addition to the various demonstrations, the girls will also get to tour NSU’s labs and campus.

The project’s overall goal is to use this experience to increase the high school girls’ perception and awareness of the STEM field and carry this interest into their college years and beyond.

Posted 11/06/22