NIMBioS Education and Outreach Coordinator Kelly Sturner (far left) and postdoctoral fellow Maud Lélu (far right) help the “Gadget Girls.”
Fiber optics, plant tissue science, solar energy, and of course, mathematics were among the topics explored by middle school girls on Saturday as a part of the second annual “Gadget Girl Adventures in STEM” program held at the University of Tennessee.
NIMBioS postdoc Julia Earl assists.
Success!
At NIMBioS, the girls built colorful three-dimensional solids using plastic triangles while learning the math behind the variety of shapes that are possible. They were also challenged to learn the mathematical concepts associated with building tetrahedrons using origami paper.
Helping with the NIMBioS activity were NIMBioS Associate Director for Education and Outreach Suzanne Lenhart; NIMBioS Education and Outreach Coordinator Kelly Sturner; NIMBioS Evaluation Manager Pam Bishop; NIMBioS postdocs J.J. Chai, Julia Earl and Maud Lélu; UT math graduate student Ashley Rand; and Judy Day and Angela Reynolds, members of the NIMBioS Working Group on Modeling Anthrax Exposure.
The program was sponsored by the Girl Scout Council of the Southern Appalachians (GSCSA) in collaboration with UT Knoxville. About 60 girls from East Tennessee schools participated. NIMBioS also hosted activities last year.
The full set of Gadget Girls’ photos can be found on NIMBioS’ Flickr page.