National S.T.E.A.M. Day encourages women in STEM

GRAY — Visitors to the Hands On! Discovery Center and Museum at the Gray Fossil Site Saturday made friendship bracelets, played with static electricity and created glowing putty — all while learning about the women integral to STEM fields. The center's second National S.T.E.A.M. Day event highlighted women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers. It featured programming from IF/THEN She Can, a public awareness initiative meant to increase the visibility of women in STEM fields, and was sponsored by the National Girls Collaborative and the Association of Science and Technology Centers. Jennie Kate Carr, guest experiences discovery guide, said that while the number of women in STEM careers is rising, there's still a very large gap compared to the number of men. Women make up only about 35% of the STEM workforce in the U.S. "We have to give a nod to people that have gone before us and helped, at minimum, raise the glass ceiling, if not break it," Carr said. "We want to encourage these girls to continue going into the fields because diversity in STEM is important to us." Exhibits throughout the discovery center focused on prominent women astronomers, astrophysicists, aerospace engineers, climate change researchers, conservationists, marine biologists, entomologists and more. The programming was inspired by the work of Anna Jane Harrison, the first woman Ph.D. in chemistry and the first female president of the American Chemical Society. She also contributed to ultraviolet research. Activities throughout the programming highlighted the science behind the type of electromagnetic radiation; one station encouraged attendees to make bracelets with beads that change color under UV light. Another exercise combined UV dye with slime ingredients to make a vibrant, luminous putty. Carr said many girls like science when they're young, but tend to lose that interest as they get older. The center shows not just historical females in science, but local women on its staff who work in STEM fields. "We just want to keep girls interested in that and show them that there is the job market for them," she said. Carr added that the discovery center is able to accommodate inquiry-based learning, especially for "kinesthetic" learners who might not always do well in a traditional classroom. "There's hands-on learners that need to wiggle a little bit," she said. "They can run and make putty, and then they can go and run and look at the Bernoulli bench or climb the tower, and then come back and finish their putty." And the fun isn't just for children, either. Lifelong learners can also discover more about science and the women who shaped it. "We are an all-ages discovery center," Carr said. "We'll have everywhere from a toddler to a granddad sitting there interacting with the same exhibit at the same time."