Girls in Engineering, Math, and Science Program

Girls in Engineering, Math, and Science (GEMS) is a science enrichment program for 7th and 8th grade girls currently attending a Seattle public school. The goal of the program is to encourage girls to maintain, and broaden their interest in science by providing mentoring, hands-on activities, field trips, and information pertaining to a variety of scientific fields.

Any 7th or 8th grade girl currently attending a Seattle public school is welcome to apply.

The program is free to students, but requires transportation to and from all events. GEMS is funded by annual dues from AWIS-SA (Seattle Area chapter of the Association for Women in Science) membership, and is led entirely by volunteers.

You will get to participate in a hands-on activity the first Tuesday of each month during the school at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center on Lake Union. These include an oceanography activity, building a comet, making lotion, and more. We also hold several field trips throughout the academic year. In the past, field trips have included a demonstration at the UW Planetarium, a robotics lab in the UW Computer Science department, and a tour of the Thomas G. Thompson research vessel at the UW School of Oceanography. Last year¡¦s favorite was a trip to Carkeek Park to see spawning salmon.

• Bridge Building (utilize engineering concepts to build bridges out of toothpicks and gum drops)
• Chromatography (use chemical and physical properties to separate the colored dyes from Grape Koolaid and Sharpies)
• Lotion Making (learn about labeling requirements in cosmetics and make lotion)
• Nutrition and Food Science (analyze the content of vitamins and minerals in various foods)
• Comets (learn about space and build a comet out of dry ice)
• DNA (extract DNA from strawberries and discuss important aspects of genetics)
• Oceanography (learn about the ocean and build a plankton model to better understand the concept of buoyancy)

• UW Planetarium
• UW Oceanography and Wave Tank