The SWE-ECI section hosted the first Girl Scout outreach event for the year in mid-May, focusing on green energy and STEM-awareness for a group of 8 middle-school girls. We hosted the event at the Saint Pius X community room, and did two modules about green energy - one was about windmills, and the other was energy exchange through Rube Goldberg machines.
The girls watched a short video about the history of windmills and how the wind is used to turn generators and create useable energy. They then created paper windmills, which they were able to take home with them.
Then the scouts watched a video of a few famous Rube Goldberg machines, and then went to work on making their own. SWE-ECI had been collecting recyclable materials for this module, and we had a very large collection of plastic, aluminum, paper, cardboard materials, along with tape and other materials so the girls could create an apparatus to move a golf ball from a certain height and distance. After their demonstration of their machines, then time for adjustments, then re-presenting, all the girls received awards for participation, creativity and engineering design. The girl scouts showed an understanding of what green engineering is and how to consider multiple aspects of design process, including materials limitations. They also said they would definitely bring their friends to participate in the next outreach event like this, showing us that the girls were interested in seeing how more everyday things are based in STEM.
Then the scouts watched a video of a few famous Rube Goldberg machines, and then went to work on making their own. SWE-ECI had been collecting recyclable materials for this module, and we had a very large collection of plastic, aluminum, paper, cardboard materials, along with tape and other materials so the girls could create an apparatus to move a golf ball from a certain height and distance. After their demonstration of their machines, then time for adjustments, then re-presenting, all the girls received awards for participation, creativity and engineering design. The girl scouts showed an understanding of what green engineering is and how to consider multiple aspects of design process, including materials limitations. They also said they would definitely bring their friends to participate in the next outreach event like this, showing us that the girls were interested in seeing how more everyday things are based in STEM.
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