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STEM Center + MakerSpace For Girls Opens In Sacramento

Powered by Girl Scouts

By Marisela Morales, Macaroni Kid Folsom - El Dorado Hills publisher May 24, 2021

On November 8, 2017, the Girl Scouts Heart of Central California opened the first girl-led, girl-built STEM Center + MakerSpace in the region here in Sacramento.  It was created as an investment in the next generation of Go-getters, Innovators, Risk-takers and Leaders (AKA G.I.R.L.s).  Here, girl will develop skills in creativity, innovation, critical thinking, and problem solving in a fun safe environment through cooperative learning opportunities and hands-on experimentation.  Most importantly, they will gain the confidence and desire to learn about and hopefully pursue STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) careers, areas where women are grossly underrepresented.      

Last Saturday, my daughter and I had the honor of being invited to check out this amazing space.  We arrived early enough to get a tour of the STEM Center + MakerSpace before over 300 girl scouts arrived.  We were first introduced to an inspiring group of young ladies, local high schoolers who designed the space from the hand crafted decor on the walls to the STEM challenges that filled the space.  

These ladies then walked us over to the wall of local legends, where they featured Dr. Pam Marrone, a local entomologist and Ceo and Founder of Marrone Bio Innovations.  In simple terms, this wall explains Dr. Marrone's career path, describes her work, and displays the physical tools she uses so that even the youngest of girls can understand this career in biology and environmental science.  A different woman in STEM will be featured on this wall periodically.  Along side of it, is a wall with note cards that introduce you to other local women in STEM and invite a girl to not only nominate a women to be featured but to also imagine herself on that wall in the future.  


We were then walked over to a wall with a giant pegboard on it labeled as the "Marble Challenge".  Here my daughter was challenged to create something on the pegboard using scrap materials with the goal of delaying or preventing a marble from falling to the floor.  This little six year old ran to hide behind me shaking her head saying she couldn't, wouldn't, had not clue how to do it.  After a single example, my daughter's creativity took off and she spent almost the entire time on that wall building a ramp and a trap to catch a marble.  Her creativity and excitement was off the charts, which made this engineer mama's heart go pitter patter.  The confidence she gained in the two hours we were at the STEM Center + MakerSpace was nothing short of amazing. 


 


Other pretty darn cool and nifty stuff at this center includes a 3-D printer that converts a design on a computer file into a physical creation.  You will also find a laser cutter that can be used to make anything from wooden girl scout seals to a STEM project.  There is an idea room where girls can sit individually or in groups and contemplate, share, and build on ideas.  It is reminiscent of a brain storming room in a leading technology company.


 


The STEM Center + MakerSpace also featured a girl led girl built waste reduction project created by a girl scout.  This project challenged a school to weigh its landfill waste, recyclable materials, and compost waste over time in order to encourage them to decrease landfill waste and increase recyclable materials and compost.  This project was so successful, it ended up being implemented in the entire school district.  Talk about impact!

By participating in the STEM Center + MakerSpace, a girl will learn scientific concepts in creative ways.  Take an electrical circuit as an example.  A girl will learn that electricity flows through her and she completes the circuit by playing with and investigating a piano that uses bananas as keys.  Awesome, right?!  (I would totally explain how this works, except I don't want to lose my audience ;) )

Can you say ROBOTS?!  As if there wasn't already enough cool stuff . . . girls can learn about designing and programming things such as robots.  We built a simple doodle bot while we were there.  It was so much fun and such a great exposure to STEM.  My little girl came out of there saying she wanted to be an engineer just like mommy and daddy.  I seriously had to hold back my happy tears!



Needless to say the STEM Center + MakerSpace created by the Girl Scouts Heart of Central California is an invaluable resource to introducing girls to engineering, programming, biology & enironmental sicence, and design.  If you have a girl scout at home, I highly encourage you to visit and attend a workshop.  You can find more information HERE.   

If you aren't sure about having your daughter join the girl scouts, know that she can join as a Juliette.  This means she can participate as an individual member, rather than by joining a troop, if that fits your needs better.  She can participate in as many or as few activities as she wants or can.  As a Juliette, she can also participate in activities and workshops at the STEM Center + MakerSpace.  Learn more about Juliettes, HERE.

To learn more about the STEM Center + MakerSpace in Sacramento, please visit:  https://www.girlscoutshcc.org/STEMCenter