Mini-Grant Awards (page 1 of 2)

2010

• She’s a Scientist?!
  Collaborating Organizations: Girl Scouts of Gateway Council and Museum of Science and History
  Region Served: Jacksonville, FL
  Girls Served: Grades 6-12
  
  She’s a Scientist?! connects professional, youthful, vibrant STEM career women with middle and high school aged girls on a quarterly basis. Girls will hear the scientist’s personal and professional story, connect with her during a networking lunch, and participate in a hands-on activity led by the scientist relating to her career field. Program participants finish off the day viewing the Museum of Science & History’s current exhibits. Mini-grant funding is being used to incorporate evaluation methods, including pre and post surveys and to track repeat attendees.
• Robles Science Girls Club
  Collaborating Organizations: National Lab Day Project, University of South Florida STARS Program, Robles Elementary, and the School District of Hillsborough County
  Region Served: Tampa, FL
  Girls Served: Grades 3-5
  
  Robles Science Girls Club is a free after school enrichment program for girls in grades 3-5. The goal of this club is to generate interest and excitement about STEM careers by bringing in scientists and engineers to inspire girls to compete in competitions such as the Math Bowl, science fairs, and Science Olympiad. The club features project based learning of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Projects are inquiry based and use real world content that girls have identified they care about. Scientists and engineers will provide guidance and mentoring and help girls connect their learning to how STEM can make a difference in the world they live in.
• Beyond SciGirls
  Collaborating Organizations: The Oasis Center for Women & Girls and National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
  Region Served: Tallahassee, FL
  Girls Served: Grades 6-8
  
  Beyond SciGirls expands an existing summer camp program to include a full academic year of engaging STEM activities that incorporates role model involvement. Middle School girls will learn new empowerment strategies, visit a local ecological research station and investigate local sustainable farming in addition to participation in networking and mentor opportunities throughout the year.

2009

• ACES (Aerospace, Chemistry & Engineering Sciences)
  Collaborating Organizations: Girls Incorporated of Pinellas and WOW! That's Engineering
  Girls Served: Ages 11-14
  
  Girls Inc of Pinellas provides Pinellas County girls with a safe, healthy, and fun environment where they come together to learn, share, and grow. Girls Inc Operation SMART Summer Camp ACES program fosters girls’ interest in science, math, and technology-oriented careers with a special focus on Aerospace, Chemistry and Engineering Sciences for 60 girls ages 11 to 14. Over an 11 week camp, ACES immerses these girls in a dedicated STEM curriculum, connects them with female engineers as mentors and role models, provides experientially based hands-on learning, encourages scientific inquiry, fosters cooperative project design with relevance to real world applications, and provides an opportunity for the girls to showcase their collaborative projects in a community Science Fair.
• Alice Software Workshop for Teachers
  Collaborating Organizations: Florida FIRST LEGO League State Competition and WOW! That's Engineering
  Girls Served: Teachers (middle and high school)
  
  This project will provide training for teachers (primarily middle school and high school) to use Alice Software, which has been shown to be a more attractive software application to involve girls in using computers and pursuing computer science. Alice is an innovative 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create an animation for telling a story, playing an interactive game, or a video to share on the Web. The goal of this grant is to train teachers to use Alice to involve more girls in classrooms in voluntarily engaging in computer use through the introduction of Alice as a teaching tool.
• New Smyrna Beach AAUW STEM Project
  Collaborating Organizations: Girls Growing: Having fun with Science and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical U. Aerospace Club
  Girls Served: Grades 4-5
  
  This project targets 20 to 25 4th and 5th grade girls in an informal, after school exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. These activities awaken their curiosity and interest, stimulate their imaginations through discovery and challenge, and encourage them to consider careers in these areas. Eight sessions from September 2009 to May 2010 will immerse these girls in hands-on learning projects presented by local STEM career women with at least one field trip included.
• Sarasota-Manatee Girls Reach For the Summit
  Collaborating Organizations: Sarasota-Manatee Girls Reach for the Summit and Girls Incorporated of Sarasota County
  Girls Served: Grades 6-8
  
  The University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee's Campus Action Project (CAP) is a one-day summit for 50 middle school girls, with a particular focus on girls of lower-income households, who have a desire to enter the STEM fields. The summit will include a female community leader working in the STEM fields as the keynote speaker, group discussion workshops that allow the girls to engage in a girl-centered, supportive environment, and a researched-based hands-on activity in which the girls can experiment and use their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.