December 5, 2016: Winter Study Break
Our club members got together to study for finals and enjoy holiday snacks.
November 12, 2016: Boys and Girls Club Event
A group of middle and high school girls interested in STEM from the Boys and Girls Club of San Antonio visited Rice University. We did an activity with Shrinky Dinks with their group– the girls made keychains or earrings to take home, and we went through the science of the Shrinky Dink polymers. We took their group on a tour of Rice’s campus, including the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen.
Photos Provided by Kat Sauter, Boys & Girls Club of San Antonio
April 2, 2016: Circuit Event
Women in STEM held its second outreach event in April, teaching the basics of circuitry to middle school girls. We used Electroninks pens which have conductive silver ink, and the girls learned how to light up LEDs and buzzers by completing a closed circuit with the ink.
For the second half of the day, we used Makey Makey circuit boards that connect to the computer via USB. The girls were able to connect conductive foods such as bananas and gummy worms to the circuit with alligator clips, then complete the circuit themselves by touching two of the foods. One group figured out that they could have two girls each touch a gummy worm then clap to complete the circuit, which would cause a keyboard on the computer screen to play a note. By connecting various clips to the circuit board, the girls could play songs on the computer keyboard by tapping the different foods!
March 9, 2016: NASA News Conference, Johnson Space Center
Women in STEM was invited to attend a media interview at Johnson Space Center with the next Expedition 48/49 International Space Station crew, comprised of Kate Rubins (NASA astronaut), Takuya Onishi (JAXA astronaut), and Anatoly Ivanishin (Roscosmos cosmonaut).
The crew is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station on June 21, 2016, on the Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft.
This was an incredible event that Women in STEM was very honored to be invited to. We were able to listen to the crew answer questions about their upcoming trip and the training they have undergone in order to prepare for it. We even had the opportunity to personally ask astronaut Kate Rubins a couple of questions about the research she will be performing at the Space Station. The crew will be working on about 250 research studies while in space, including physical science, Earth and space science, technology development, and biological investigations.(www.spacepolicyonline.com)
SUBJECT: Expedition 48/49 crew press conference with Kate Rubins, Takuya Onishi and Anatoli Ivanishin with PAO moderator Brandi Dean.
PHOTOGRAPHER: BILL STAFFORD
February 20, 2016: Rubik’s Cube Event
For Women in STEM’s first outreach event, we spent an afternoon teaching a group of middle school girls how to solve the 2×2 Rubik’s cube using algorithms and pattern recognition. We collaborated with the CSters club (women in computer science), who helped teach the basics of app design as well.
