The City School District of Albany’s summer time STEMinista program goals to spark and keep girls’ curiosity in STEM from a younger age by way of actions, workshops and constructive function fashions.
The two, week-long classes – which ran Aug. 4-8 and Aug. 11-15 – guided middle-school girls by way of hands-on labs, a subject journey to the Radix Center plus the science/expertise/engineering/math- loving college students additionally worked with representatives from Hudson Valley Community College’s Biotechnology program.
They accomplished a ‘Pipette-the-Rainbow’ lab which required exact liquid measurements plus introduction to scientific instruments. They additionally eliminated the chocolate from chocolate milk utilizing a centrifuge and realized about gel electrophoresis, which is a lab approach used to separate DNA, RNA and protein molecules primarily based on their dimension and electrical expenses. Other initiatives included the development of beaded key chains to model DNA structure.
Thank you to science academics Beth Cino, Allison Sheehan, Dionna Taccetta and Marissa Pompeii – in addition to the district’s Secondary Instructional Supervisor for Science and Technology Amanda Powers – for making summer time studying enjoyable but additionally, and extra importantly, working to create a extra supportive and inclusive surroundings for girls and girls in STEM, difficult gender stereotypes and fostering confidence.