On February 26th two graduate students Amy Bondy and Becky Craig, went to Howe Montessori School in Dearborn, MI with the FEMMES volunteer program. FEMMES (Females Excelling More in Math, Engineering, and Science) is dedicated to empowering girls and young women as students and practitioners in STEM fields. Working specifically in diverse, underserved communities, FEMMES creates collaborative teaching and learning environments to promote leadership development, technical skills and self-confidence in women of all ages. Engaging, hands-on activities in all FEMMES programs allow girls to learn in a fun, supportive environment and explore their potential in the STEM fields. FEMMES seeks to build our participants’ curiosity about a variety of areas related to science, math, and engineering and encourage them to increase their participation in those fields.
At this after-school activity, Becky and Amy worked with groups of 4th-6th grade girls to explore various scientific concepts through hands-on activities. The girls explored electricity and circuits using conductive Play-Doh, batteries, light bulbs and buzzers (see image above), they investigated the properties of magnets and built an electromagnet using wire and a battery (see image below), they learned about catalytic reactions by creating "elephant's toothpaste" which involved the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide into oxygen and water, and finally built edible DNA structures using marshmallows, toothpicks, and Twizzlers.
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