Wooster hosts STEM Day for girls in fifth grade through seventh grade

Wooster’s Exploring STEM Day Conference has been motivating girls in fifth grade through seventh grade in science, technology, engineering and math for 35 years. This year’s event will be held from 8:45 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. April 11 on The College of Wooster campus.

Advance registration is required, with spots limited to the first 200 registrants. The fee for the day is $15. Fee waivers are available when registering. The registration fee includes all conference materials, a light lunch and a workshop bag.

Attendees participate in hands-on workshops designed and taught by STEM role models from the community. The goal is to motivate girls to become innovative and creative thinkers ready to meet 21st-century challenges.

“With a wide variety of careers out there, we bring in women from a spectrum of different sectors including a firefighter, plant pathologist, veterinarian, dietitian and a software engineer,” said Courtney McCusker, Exploring STEM Day registrar.

McCusker said the conference was started to provide girls an opportunity to see women in STEM fields who can serve as role models for their future. COW hosts the event, and area women from STEM-related fields volunteer to organize and run it.

“We want to encourage girls to explore STEM fields that might interest them that maybe they may not think of as possibilities,” McCusker said. “Interested in art? Maybe a career studying paint and pigment chemistry might be of interest. Farming? Understanding plant disease or growing mushrooms might be for you. We want to show girls how they can combine a slew of interests, which ultimately can all relate back to science, technology, engineering or math.”

There will be a total of 17 workshops offered. Registrants choose six of those to attend. Many popular workshops are returning, as well as new ones being added to the mix. Returning workshops include The Science of Cosmetics and Sweet Science and Coding Using Ozobots or Scratch.

“We will have two animal-related sessions where students can learn how to train dogs and work with a veterinarian to diagnose animals,” McCusker said. “Girls can also build paper rockets or drop an egg from a two-story building. It will be a day of hands-on experiences.”

New workshops include solving the mystery of dead strawberries and investigating the chemistry of fire and smoke.

“We also will have an obstacle course that will use math to guide you through it,” McCusker said.

Held at various locations on the COW campus, the day will begin with check-in at McGaw Chapel. Schedules will be handed out, and from there, college students will guide attendees to their workshops.

United Titanium Bug Zoo will be a guest at this year’s Exploring STEM Day during lunch for a live presentation on biomimicry, which is the copying of natural design and has been instrumental in a variety of technologies, from paper to clean drinking water.

Carrie Elvey is the zoo’s community engagement specialist. She will explore how insects have influenced technology in everyone’s lives without people even knowing it.

“So much of what we know as humans has come from watching animals,” Elvey said. “We have learned to build faster trains, stronger materials and healthier homes all by studying nature, which did it first.”

Some examples of biomimicry are water collection systems based on desert beetle backs, colorful phone screens based on butterfly wing scale structure, energy-efficient homes from termite mounds and ant column movement solving rush-hour traffic congestion. Elvey will have a short slideshow that showcases some examples.

“I hope the girls are inspired by the discoveries of others,” Elvey said. “That curiosity is a superpower.”

In addition to Elvey’s lunchtime presentation, the United Titanium Bug Zoo also will offer a workshop — Cockroach Conundrums. Participants will have a chance to meet and work with insects, conduct food choice experiments and put the scientific method into practice.

A pizza lunch will be served. For individuals with certain dietary restrictions, it’s suggested to bring a lunch as the provided meal may not be accommodating.

Find Exploring STEM Day online and register at exploringstemday.spaces.wooster.edu/. For questions call or email Missy Schen at 937-751-6336 or mschen@wooster.edu.

“I was lucky to have opportunities when I was young that cemented my love of the natural world,” Elvey said. “It’s so important to be exposed to science early and know that there is a world of possibility at our doorstep.”