This summer we had the stellar opportunity to bring space exploration to Southern Arizona. In a partnership with NASA, our council launched five camps across five cities; Tucson, Sierra Vista, Casa Grande, Yuma, and Safford. These camps were so cool because we were able to involve both adults and kids alike! Most of the counselors for NASA Camp were volunteers – both parents and members of our community!! Girls who had completed second grade all the way through those completing fifth were invited to join in our adventure! It was soooo neat to teach the girls some of the coolest things about space like figuring out what helps a rocket lift off better. We all launched film canisters comparing alka-seltzer and water to baking soda and vinegar so we could determine which propelled at a greater height! We also simulated the experience of puffy face chicken leg syndrome that astronauts experience from the lack of gravity! On the last day of each camp all the girls made water filtration systems to determine which filter worked the best. Lastly, we orbited our galactic projects doing other cool camp crafts like no-sew pillows in Sierra Vista and tie dye in Tucson! The camps were definitely a blast!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 20, 2011

Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona-Sahuaro

Contact: Debbie Rich, 520-319-3169; Michelle Higgins, 520-319-3155

Tucson- As the space shuttle Atlantis makes its final landing, sixty girls will gather to explore NASA opportunities inTucson,Arizona. These sixty girls, entering the third through sixth grades, will be at the Girl Scout’s NASA Camp where girls will spend a week at the Hacienda learning about the surface of the moon, what astronauts eat, space travel, and robots in space!

This year’s camp includes three action-packed days of space fun and caps off with an overnight on Thursday. At camp the girls will have the opportunity to explore space sciences through NASA’s 21^st Century Explorers curriculum facilitated by experts in the field. Camp volunteers and facilitators, who all completed NASA-sponsored training,  include University of Arizona astronomy graduate student Johanna Teske, 4^th grade Mission Manor teacher Mabel Rivera, Mina Stafford, the Education Manager at Pima Air and Space Museum, Astrid Balderama from Pascua Yaqui’s Intel Clubhouse representative, and traditional camp counselors.

Michelle Higgins, the Girl Scout’s STEM Manager, is excited to give girls an opportunity to explore the sky in an alternative manner, “the activities integrate scientific concepts but also invoke a true curiosity of how and why things work and what can be done to make things better. These problem-solving skills are not just science or astronomy-specific, but life skills that will help girls be the best versions of themselves today and tomorrow.”  Higgins also knows it is critical to connect girls to adults who are passionate about science if we want to increase the number of girls who move into STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields.

The Girl Scouts are ready for blast off.  Are you?

Who: Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona-Sahuaro

What: NASA Camp 21^st Century Explorers

When: July 25^th- 29^th 9:00 am- 4:00pm

Where: Girl Scouts Hacienda,3101 N. Sabino Canyon Road,Tucson,Arizona85715

About Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona- Sahuaro

Girl Scouts is the world’s preeminent leadership development organization dedicated to helping build girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place. Girl Scouts in Southern Arizonaserves 14,000 girls annually. Our goals are to provide a wide range of contemporary programs that reflect the unique needs and interests of all girls living in Southern Arizona, to empower girls to reach their full potential, and to give girls a voice in their community and in their own lives. For more information about Girl Scouting in Southern Arizona please visit: http://www.girlscoutssoaz.org/

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This past weekend, myself and several other GS leaders from around Southern Arizona came together to participate in three-day training for the upcoming NASA 21st Century Camp, to be held a different locations/dates during the summer. Being an astronomy enthusiast going into the camp, I was already excited to learn how this program aims to reach out to and encourage girls in STEM fields, and I was also looking forward to meeting other GS leaders. My expectations were *blown out of the water*! The organizers of the training were incredibly well-organized in their explanation and execution of the training, and eager to hear our thoughts and suggestions as we were trying out the same activities the girls will be doing. They showed obvious passion for the project overall, which is part of a large study to help emphasize the effects of these camps on girls’ and volunteers’ understanding and appreciation for NASA-related science, and this passion easily rubbed off on the trainees. Even though I have some background in astronomy/science, I learned something in every activity, from what makes a good meal for an astronaut, to the physical effects on the human body in a low-gravity environment (CHICKEN LEGS!), to what ilmenite is and why it is important to future space travel, to how to make a water filter that really works out of every-day household materials. (I admittedly committed a no-no and tasted our ‘gray’ water after it passed through our filter — and it tasted better than tap water!) The activities we learned not only integrate real science, math and engineering concepts, but encourage creativity and cooperation, as well as curiosity about how and why things work, and what can be done to make them better. These are *real

life* problem-solving skills that apply to any field, not just science or astronomy, and will benefit all the girls who attend the camp. In addition, the training this weekend helped foster a sense of community and friendship between those who attended, many of whom I myself had never met; everyone was supportive and encouraging of others’ ideas.

The importance of shared experience is often overlooked in science, typically thought of as a very single-minded/isolated field, and this NASA training and the camps did an excellent job of showing how working together can *only help* a project succeed. After the training concluded, several GS leaders commented that they were ‘re-inspired’

to learn more in astronomy/science, and that they felt like kids again themselves, eager to explore and ask questions and not afraid or intimidated as they had been before. I am confident that we as camp leaders will help spread this attitude and invigorate/inspire the girls to reach beyond what they *think* they know to expand their own minds, build self-esteem and have FUN doing STEM! I know *I* did all that this weekend, and that was only in three days — imagine what can happen in one week, and what will come from it in the future!

Calling all Girl Scouts:

PBS Kids Design Squad Nation wants you to dream it, build it, and live it!

Show off your creativity and enter the BUILD BIG contest. The winning team will receive a Flip Cam and have its project featured on the Design Squad Nation Web site.

Here’s how:

1. Form a team (you’ll need someone over the age of 18 to be your team leader and submit the project).
2. Choose an activity from the DSN website
3. Build a big version of it
4. Upload a video of your working design to YouTube

Check out the official contest flyer

To view official rules and enter, visit their website.

Good luck and have fun y’all!