A group of faculty and students from the Colorado School of Mines partnered with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Early College in Denver to promote women in STEM on Saturday, April 15.
The group, which included representatives from several different departments at Mines, set up presentations and demonstrations at the school, where girls of all ages, along with their parents, were able to experiment and learn more about the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.
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| Mines faculty and students partnered with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Early College in Denver to promote women in STEM. |
Mines faculty and students engaged students in a variety of experiments and activities throughout the day. The Mines Chemistry Department helped students create “polyworms” by adding liquid sodium alginate into a solution of calcium chloride, making gummy worms that showcased a range of different polymer properties. A group from the Physics Department shared four different activities with electricity and magnetism, while the Geophysics Department demonstrated small-scale earthquakes using a watermelon as a model for Earth.
Other activities included learning about error detection in computers with the Computer Science Department, drilling for oil—aka maple syrup—with the Petroleum Engineering Department, and mining for chocolate chips from cookies with the Mining Department.
“Overall, it was a blast,” said Kamilia Putri, a graduate student in petroleum engineering, who noted the students were surprised to learn how much oil they used in everyday life.
“Encouraging more women to enter STEM fields is always a worthy endeavor, and this was a great way for Mines to engage with students in an interactive way,” said Computer Science Professor Tracy Camp who helped organize Mines’ involvement in the event. “Events like these are not only a great way for students to learn about STEM, but also to learn about Mines and all of the exciting work we do here.
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Mines' Geophysics Department demonstrated small-scale earthquakes using a watermelon as a model for Earth. |
Contact:
Megan Hanson, Communications Manager, Academic Affairs | 303-384-2358 | mhanson@mines.edu
Mark Ramirez, Managing Editor, Communications and Marketing | 303-273-3088 | ramirez@mines.edu
