TxGCP Awarded Mini Grants
2009 Discover Engineering Day at the ACM
Awarded: $1000
Collaborating Partners: - IBM Austin WIT Chapter - Discover Engineering DayContinuing our focus on encouraging minorities and under-represented groups to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math, STEM, we are co-hosting an event at the Austin Children's Museum with hands on activities led primarily by local women engineers and engineering students.
Computer Science STEM Club
Awarded: $400
Collaborating Partners: - GTECH - Computer Science for K-5 - G.R.A.D.E Camp - IEEE StarI will facilitate the implementation of after-school and/or Saturday STEM programs at HISD elementary schools with a focus on computer science. My partner at the Rice School will shadow what I am doing at my school. The population is primarily low-income and Hispanic. I will implement lessons I have researched as a TAR fellow with Houston A+ Challenge to improve mathematical thinking. The activities include field trips to the University of Houston, Rice University and/or Houston Community College to tour their computing and engineering facilities. Also, trips to businesses such as Western Geco or BP to see their 3-D imaging program. Speakers can be arranged with the help of IEEE Women in Engineering. Students will apply the problem solving process using online resources, programming software applications and photographic communication.
Engineering the Leander Way
Awarded: $1000
Collaborating Partners: - IBM Austin WIT Chapter - Leander ISDElementary science specialists will present the research based STEM curriculum, Engineering is Elementary, with help from IBM volunteers. Our goal is to recruit those volunteers who are members of underrepresented populations. In a meeting with parents, we will outline the goals of the program in order to encourage them to enroll their daughters. The project is an after school program held once a week for interested girls in grades 3-5 from our four bilingual campuses in Leander ISD. This after school learning opportunity will be held for 4 weeks during the fall of the 2008-2009 school year at participating campuses.
Girls Count
Awarded: $1000
Collaborating Partners: - Girls Count in Collaboration with FEMaS - Girls CountGirls Count is a program designed to motivate elementary aged girls to consider traditional and non-traditional occupations or careers in the fields of math and science. A specific goal of ours is to provide academic support to ensure high achievement in the areas of math and science. In collaboration with teachers and administrators at Ituarte Elementary School in Socorro Independent School District, FEMaS members and Ituarte teachers will use innovative, inquiry based materials to teach math and science to girls in grades 3 to 5.
High School STEM Mentoring
Awarded: $1000
Collaborating Partners: - Fem STEM - TecH2O Water Resource Learning CenterThe University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and the Education Service Center at Region19 will collaborate to train 15 sophomore girl mentors. The math and science specialists at Region 19 and UTEP will prepare the tenth grade mentors to then guide 15 entering freshmen girls in the direction of STEM opportunities at the University and in the surrounding El Paso area. We will conduct a two day Girls in Science Institute at the end of the summer. A one day follow-up training and regrouping will occur in August in order to plan for future mentoring activities in STEM.
Learn to LEED The Future with Engineering
Awarded: $1000
Collaborating Partners: - Annual Society of Women Engineers Girl Scout Event - Girlscouts Lonestar CouncilLearn to LEED the future with Green Engineering! Our national rating system known as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System promotes buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work. The girls will connect with local Women Engineers to build their own Green structure, and all Scouts will earn a bar when theirs is LEED certified. This event will tie in several different kinds of engineering and demonstrate how their valuable contributions can have a long-term positive impact to our environment—on both a local and a global scale. The 4th - 8th grade girls to team up and build different rooms for a complete doll house, the 9th - 10th grade girls will be given advanced-level Green projects for the "house," such as rainwater collection and other renewable energy resources, and the 11th and 12th grade girls will be challenged with creating their own Green Dorm Rooms, in preparation for college.
Mythical Machines
Awarded: $1000
Collaborating Partners: - Mythical Machines - EDGE ProgramAustin Children's Museum (ACM) and Girl Scouts of Central Texas (GSCTX) will present a one-week summer robotics camp program for 20 Girl Scouts who have completed grades 4-6. Girls will work individually and in teams to design, build and program LEGO© Mindstorms© NXT robots to undertake playful challenges in the high-interest context of designing contraptions inspired by Greek mythology. During five six-hour sessions, engaging activities will build girls' skills in hands-on design and programming.
Taking the NXT Step: Robotics & Programming Camp
Awarded: $1000
Collaborating Partners: - Academy for Science & Health-Conroe ISD - Alliance of Technology and Women - Botball Educational Robotics ProgramThis grant will provide NXT units, lesson plans, lab activities, and mentors focused on engineering, life science, and earth science concepts found in the 5th and 8th grade TAKS. Three three-day sessions will be run at the high school campus, and a daily camp will run from 8:00 AM to noon. NXT lessons will be utilized as the basis for programming and robotic lessons, while Vernier Earth Science and Biology lab manuals will form the basis for other lab activities. Participating students will be asked to perform several lab activities during the first two hours, then the second two hour period they will be asked to "design, construct, and execute" several lab activities.
Tech Savvy Latinitas Workshops
Awarded: $500
Latinitas Tech Savvy workshops are a series of interactive presentations geared toward encouraging Latina youth to explore career opportunities in the technology field. During the summer of 2008, Latinitas will initiate a series of 12 hour long workshops in partnership with El Paso area nonprofits focused on serving girls. Latinitas has trained this guest speaker bureau on strategies to engage, motivate and encourage girls to build confidence through technology projects. At the end of the Tech Savvy program, the girls will create multimedia projects promoting the importance of technology among girls. The girls will create video public service announcements, audio recordings and webpages to share the lessons they've learned throughout the project such as shattering myths that girls aren't good at technology, promoting the importance of technology coursework, exploring career opportunities in STEM and encouraging girls to pursue higher education.
The GirlZone Math & Technology Initiative
Awarded: $500
Collaborating Partners: - Texas Media Empowerment Project - Studio4FM Girls Empowerment ProgramThe GirlZone Math and Technology initiative will increase girls' interest in technology and increase girls' future entry into media technology education programs available in their high school. In collaboration with the Texas Media Empowerment Project (TX MEP), girls will have an intimate & meaningful career visits with women in math and technology occupations.