Girls at the Center
Evaluation & Results / Materials and Activities
Girls at the Center (GAC) was developed by the Franklin Institute Science Museum in collaboration with Girl Scouts of the USA, with funding from the National Science Foundation.
The key features of GAC are community and museum-based workshops that foster active science investigation, at-home science activities, and special family events. GAC provides unique opportunities for girls to learn and practice problem-solving, independent thinking, and leadership. The program is built around six basic, standards-based science themes: communication, energy, habitats, structures, the science of sports, and water. For each theme, there are two workshops, one for girls ages 6-10, one for girls ages 9-14. GAC Packs, which are available on the Web (www.fi.edu/gac) in Spanish and English, provide additional program activities for the home so that girls and their adult partners may continue the workshop explorations on their own. Thematic "tabletop" activities are also provided for more informal experiences. A guidebook contains all the resources needed to conduct a successful GAC program: ideas for introducing GAC, directions for recruiting participants, complete instructions for implementing each theme unit workshop, samples of GAC Pack cards, and reproducible handouts in Spanish and English
Target age group: 6-14 years old.
Setting: Appropriate for a variety of afterschool and museum settings with girls in collaboration with adult partners, or potentially with younger and older girls working together.
Time needed: Flexible - resource guide provides 1.5 hour workshops that can stand alone or be part of a sequence of activities, potentially linked by a theme, sustained across months or years.
Training: The guidebook, in addition to providing information on building a successful GAC program, includes a section on training for workshop facilitators. Fee-for-service professional development also is available.
Costs:
- The GAC Guidebook can be ordered on-line for $23.95.
- The cost of activity materials will vary based on workshop and number of participants. The emphasis is on everyday materials that can be inexpensively and easily acquired.
- The basic cost for a full-day training for 30-45 people, with follow up technical assistance via phone or webcasts, is $2,000, plus travel costs and materials. Flexible packages can be arranged based on the needs of the site.
Evaluation & Results
A comprehensive evaluation, using written questionnaires, face-to-face interviews, focus groups, observations, and telephone interviews, was conducted over a five-year period. Comparisons were made between the responses of first-time participants and those who returned. Results showed that girls participating multiple times:
- Reported an increase in their science interest
- Consistently enjoyed their experience with science
- Shared their experiences with others
- Were more likely to aspire to science-related careers
- Had a broader and enriched conceptual understanding of science
- More often perceived of themselves as scientists
- Had a stronger grasp of how science relates to other parts of their lives
Materials, Activities, & Sample Lessons
The Girls at the Center guidebook contains six basic science themes: structures, habitats, communication, energy, science of sports, and water. The workshops are presented in two formats: one for ages 5-10 and one for ages 11-14. The guidebook also contains ready-to-use science activity packets and science events for the whole family.
Unit: Communication:
Sound Communication - ages 6-10: Design and modify phones to make discoveries about sound. Communication Devices - ages 9-14: Explore radio communication and build simple working speaker.
GAC Pack with Sample Activities
Unit: Energy:
Conducting Electricity, ages 6-10: Learn about simple circuits and test materials for conductivity. Circuits and Conductivity, ages 9-14: Create a simple circuit and experiment with conductivity.
GAC Pack with Sample Activities
Unit: Habitat:
Backyard Beasty Bugs, ages 6-10: Explore the basic characteristics of insects and how they adapt to their surroundings.
Nature's Hidden Secret, ages 9-14: Explore the wonders inside owl pellets to gain a deeper understanding of food chains and food webs.
GAC Pack with Sample Activities
Unit: Sports:
Let's Have a Ball, ages 6-10: Design and test balls and explore the science in sports balls. Skateboard Science, ages 9-14: Determine how slope, weight, and surface affect ramp sports.
GAC Pack with Sample Activities
Unit: Structure:
Building Bridges - ages 6-10: Build and test structures for the new "Paper Planet Amusement Park."
Amusement Park Structures - ages 9-14: Design, test and modify bridge structures so people can get to the new Amusement Park.
GAC Pack with Sample Activities
Unit: Water:
What's in the Water, ages 6-10: Learn about water pollution and use problem-solving skills to clean up a river.
Water and Pollution, ages 9-14: Design filters to clean up the town's river and to protect it from future pollution.
GAC Pack with sample activities (pdf)