{"id":13027,"date":"2020-02-11T09:53:31","date_gmt":"2020-02-11T13:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/?p=13027"},"modified":"2022-03-21T16:30:54","modified_gmt":"2022-03-21T20:30:54","slug":"sisters-in-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/sisters-in-science\/","title":{"rendered":"K Students Inspire Girls to Explore STEM Through Sisters in Science"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sisters
Through Sisters in Science, Kalamazoo College students use hands-on lessons, experiments and field trips, such as this field trip to the Lillian Anderson Arboretum, to encourage Northglade Montessori fourth- and fifth-graders to learn about science.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When the world celebrates the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on Feb. 11, a Kalamazoo College student organization will be doing what it can to inspire local fourth- and fifth-graders.<\/p>\n

Each Tuesday and Thursday, K\u2019s Sisters in Science (SIS) visits Northglade Montessori Magnet School to encourage girls to seek an education and career in the sciences. The visits, coordinated through Kalamazoo Communities in Schools<\/a>, involve hands-on lessons, experiments and field trips that nurture interest in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math). This allows SIS members to serve as role models, and local youths to grow their dreams of future achievements.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to provide these girls with an influential woman in their lives,\u201d said Marjorie Wolfe \u201920, a SIS member and chemistry major<\/a> from Kalamazoo. \u201cA lot of them don\u2019t come from backgrounds where a career in science seems accessible. We\u2019re showing these girls they can go to college, do research and become doctors, engineers and more. We serve as sisters, mentors and examples of what they can become.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the United Nations<\/a>, less than 30 percent of scientific researchers in the world are women and only about 30 percent of all female students select STEM-related fields in higher education. Female representation is especially low professionally in information and communication technology at 3 percent; natural science, mathematics and statistics at 5 percent; and engineering at 8 percent.<\/p>\n

To reverse these trends, the U.N. General Assembly established the International Day of Women and Girls in Science to celebrate women scientists and build equal access to and participation in science for women and girls. About 40 SIS members, including Karina Aguilar \u201922, a biology<\/a> and Spanish<\/a> double major from Albuquerque, New Mexico, are doing their part to bolster that effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, in between two labs, I would go to Sisters in Science and do a nice, fun thing before I had to do something serious for four hours,\u201d Aguilar said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re a student, it\u2019s easy to be wrapped up in what\u2019s happening on campus \u2014 we call it the K bubble. This helps us break that bubble, serve the community and be a mentor. It gives us a portal to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aguilar hopes SIS experiments this year will include a lesson in making ice cream, although her favorite experiment to date involved a bridge-building contest that her little sister won. Such experiments, Wolfe said, help the fourth- and fifth-graders understand the scientific process and get them excited to be in school. Aguilar and Wolfe agreed the age group is critical in recruiting girls in science because they\u2019re starting to learn what interests them most in school and they have yet to decide what classes to pursue for themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cInitially, the first few times we\u2019re at the school, we\u2019re just trying to show we\u2019re friendly and gain their respect,\u201d Wolfe said. \u201cThat can go a long way for these girls. Eventually, we help them fill out worksheets that teach them what a hypothesis is. Before you know it, we\u2019re working on an experiment and they say, \u2018Oh! I know what the hypothesis will be!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked what she would do if she one day saw that one of her little sisters achieved a scientific breakthrough, Wolfe said, \u201cThe cool part would be knowing they stuck with science and believed in themselves; that they didn\u2019t listen to someone who told them they couldn\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aguilar said, \u201cI\u2019d probably cry. Maybe it wasn\u2019t from me specifically, but I\u2019d love knowing that they developed that drive to be scientists. It would be amazing to see these girls who aren\u2019t necessarily pushed to go to college make a career for themselves in science.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSIS was created for exactly what Aguilar and Wolfe have stated \u2013 to give young girls the knowledge that they can do science\u201d stated Stevens-Truss, who envisioned the group in 2001.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the world celebrates the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on Feb. 11, a Kalamazoo College student organization will be doing what it can to inspire local fourth- and fifth-graders. Each Tuesday and Thursday, K\u2019s Sisters in Science (SIS) visits Northglade Montessori Magnet School to encourage girls to seek an education and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":147,"featured_media":13033,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[231],"tags":[52,50,103],"post_formats":[],"class_list":["post-13027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-students","tag-biology","tag-chemistry","tag-student-organizations"],"yoast_head":"\r\nSisters in Science Inspires Girls to Explore STEM - News and Events<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sisters in Science (SIS) visits Northglade Montessori Magnet School to encourage fourth- and fifth-grade girls to seek an education and career in science.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/sisters-in-science\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sisters in Science Inspires Girls to Explore STEM - 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aria-label=\"archive of category Students\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/category\/students\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Students<\/a>","tags_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/tag\/biology\/\" rel=\"tag\">biology<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/tag\/chemistry\/\" rel=\"tag\">chemistry<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/tag\/student-organizations\/\" rel=\"tag\">student organizations<\/a>","social_share_info":"<a data-share=\"facebook\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/sisters-in-science\/\" class=\"pl-facebook-share social-share-default pl-social-share\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fab fa-facebook-f\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/a><a data-share=\"twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/sisters-in-science\/\" class=\"pl-twiiter-share social-share-default pl-social-share\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fab fa-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/a><a data-share=\"linkedin\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/shareArticle?url=https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/sisters-in-science\/\" class=\"pl-linkedin-share social-share-default pl-social-share\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fab fa-linkedin-in\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/a>","wordExcerpt_info":"<figure id=\"attachment_13031\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13031\" style=\"width: 584px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-13031\" src=\"\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/02\/Sisters-in-Science-600x450.jpg\" alt=\"Sisters in Science\" width=\"584\" height=\"438\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13031\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Through Sisters in Science, Kalamazoo College students use hands-on lessons, experiments and field trips, such as this field trip to the Lillian Anderson Arboretum, to encourage Northglade Montessori fourth- and fifth-graders to learn about science.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>When the world celebrates the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on Feb. 11, a Kalamazoo College student organization will be doing what it can to inspire local fourth- and fifth-graders.<\/p>\n<p>Each Tuesday and Thursday, K\u2019s Sisters in Science (SIS) visits Northglade Montessori Magnet School to encourage girls to seek an education and career in the sciences. The visits, coordinated through <a href=\"https:\/\/ciskalamazoo.org\/\">Kalamazoo Communities in Schools<\/a>, involve hands-on lessons, experiments and field trips that nurture interest in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math). This allows SIS members to serve as role models, and local youths to grow their dreams of future achievements.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want to provide these girls with an influential woman in their lives,\u201d said Marjorie Wolfe \u201920, a SIS member and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/programs\/chemistry\/\">chemistry major<\/a> from Kalamazoo. \u201cA lot of them don\u2019t come from backgrounds where a career in science seems accessible. We\u2019re showing these girls they can go to college, do research and become doctors, engineers and more. We serve as sisters, mentors and examples of what they can become.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/observances\/women-and-girls-in-science-day\">According to the United Nations<\/a>, less than 30 percent of scientific researchers in the world are women and only about 30 percent of all female students select STEM-related fields in higher education. Female representation is especially low professionally in information and communication technology at 3 percent; natural science, mathematics and statistics at 5 percent; and engineering at 8 percent.<\/p>\n<p>To reverse these trends, the U.N. General Assembly established the International Day of Women and Girls in Science to celebrate women scientists and build equal access to and participation in science for women and girls. About 40 SIS members, including Karina Aguilar \u201922, a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/programs\/biology\/\">biology<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/programs\/spanish\/\">Spanish<\/a> double major from Albuquerque, New Mexico, are doing their part to bolster that effort.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast year, in between two labs, I would go to Sisters in Science and do a nice, fun thing before I had to do something serious for four hours,\u201d Aguilar said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re a student, it\u2019s easy to be wrapped up in what\u2019s happening on campus \u2014 we call it the K bubble. This helps us break that bubble, serve the community and be a mentor. It gives us a portal to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aguilar hopes SIS experiments this year will include a lesson in making ice cream, although her favorite experiment to date involved a bridge-building contest that her little sister won. Such experiments, Wolfe said, help the fourth- and fifth-graders understand the scientific process and get them excited to be in school. Aguilar and Wolfe agreed the age group is critical in recruiting girls in science because they\u2019re starting to learn what interests them most in school and they have yet to decide what classes to pursue for themselves.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInitially, the first few times we\u2019re at the school, we\u2019re just trying to show we\u2019re friendly and gain their respect,\u201d Wolfe said. \u201cThat can go a long way for these girls. Eventually, we help them fill out worksheets that teach them what a hypothesis is. Before you know it, we\u2019re working on an experiment and they say, \u2018Oh! I know what the hypothesis will be!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When asked what she would do if she one day saw that one of her little sisters achieved a scientific breakthrough, Wolfe said, \u201cThe cool part would be knowing they stuck with science and believed in themselves; that they didn\u2019t listen to someone who told them they couldn\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aguilar said, \u201cI\u2019d probably cry. Maybe it wasn\u2019t from me specifically, but I\u2019d love knowing that they developed that drive to be scientists. It would be amazing to see these girls who aren\u2019t necessarily pushed to go to college make a career for themselves in science.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSIS was created for exactly what Aguilar and Wolfe have stated \u2013 to give young girls the knowledge that they can do science\u201d stated Stevens-Truss, who envisioned the group in 2001.<\/p>\n","comment_info":"No Comments","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/147"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13027"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13108,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13027\/revisions\/13108"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13027"},{"taxonomy":"post_format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_formats?post=13027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}