Breaking the gender line in science
They dreamed it up during an after-school science club and are working on a prototype, using a skateboard belonging to 13-year-old Monique Devora's cousin, with his permission, of course.
Her fellow inventor, Brittany Chavez, 12, said, "We're going to make sure the springs are real bouncy."
That's the fun part. The part that has the girls nervous is that they will present their toy to a panel of judges and in front of hundreds of other students at a national engineering competition in California.
Three teams from Lowell - about a dozen girls in sixth- and seventh-grade - are among 100 teams from across the country invited to compete in the TOYchallenge 2006 Nationals at the San Diego Aerospace Museum next Saturday.
While the girls track space flight and do field work in the desert as part of their science studies, for most of them, this will be their first time on an airplane and so far from home.
"We're nervous because we don't know what to expect,"" Brittany said.
They are excited, too, counting the days until they leave and sure they will do well. They are among only a few all-girl teams.
At least half of each team must be girls. The TOYchallenge is run by Sally Ride Science, founded by the first woman astronaut to support girls' interest in science, math and technology.
The girls from Lowell are out to prove they can do just as well as the boys. Monique said, "Science is not a boy thing anymore."
The toy competition is designed to get middle-school-age students, especially girls, interested in science and engineering and encourage them to pursue careers in those fields, said Lily Tom, an engineer turned math teacher at Lowell.
In fourth grade, as many girls as boys like math and science. Starting in sixth grade, girls tend to drift away from those subjects, and by eighth grade, twice as many boys as girls are keen on science and math. That means few girls are prepared for careers in science, engineering and technology, some of the fastest-growing fields.
"There are so many things I like about science,"" said Nancy Nuño, 11, who then listed some of her favorite projects so far: weather patterns, plants and bird migration. Evelyn Perez, 13, added, ""We like anything to do with nature."
Nancy and Evelyn are part of the team of sixth-graders who created a board game called The Rainbow Game to win a spot in the competition. It is designed to teach young children about colors and numbers. The third team, all seventh-grade girls, designed a board game to teach money management.
For the competition's preliminary round, teams submitted written descriptions and drawings of their original toy or game. They were judged on originality, creativity, engineering, feasibility and design, among other things.
"We're having fun at the same time we're learning,"" said Jenny Moreno, 12, comparing a drawing of the springboard with their prototype. In fact, her math grade has jumped from a C to an A since she's been in the science club.
"Math is part of science, too,"" Brittany explained. Her and Monique's grades are climbing, too.
"It's cool to let girls be involved in science,"" Jenny said. ""For a long time, boys did everything and the girls didn't get a chance."
The girls still need to raise about $1,700 for traveling expenses. Wells Fargo, which sponsors the girls' after-school Sally Ride Science Club, will match any money they raise.
Girls and science
• In fourth grade, as many girls as boys like math and science. By eighth grade, twice as many boys as girls show an interest in the subjects.
• By eighth grade, girls' interest in math and confidence in their math abilities have eroded, even though they perform as well as boys in this subject.
• Fewer girls than boys enroll in computer science classes, feel confident with computers and use computers outside of school.
• Women make up 25 percent of the science, engineering and technology workforce.
• The highest median starting salary for college graduates is in computer science and engineering.