CNN: Why do Girls Lose Interest in Math and Science?

[JaneYoung]

2 weeks ago I was at a Lego event here in Austin. LASA Robotics had one of the FIRST robots there for 'show and tell' - our '06 robot hadn't made it back to the shop yet -

I walked around talking to a lot of the Lego teams and met a group from one of the elementary schools. They have a 3rd grade class that meets. They have also formed an afterschool group of 3rd - 5th graders who are a little more advanced. One of the engineers asked me to go over and start talking to one of the girls, Emily, a 5th grader. 4 of the boys had built wonderful machines. One was a sort of helicopter with very fancy blades. Colorful. The other boys had built cars. The girl had built a box with a lid that opened and closed and had side walls that moved. When the box lid slid back, it revealed a small treasure chest. Inside the treasure chest was a golden ring.

She explained the mechanics to me and complained that 'it wasn't good enough.' We discussed that and determined that it was because of time constraints.

I asked her if she had any drafts/drawings of her box and lo and behold, she got under the table and pulled out a sketch on lined school paper. The sketch showed her entire concept complete with the moving lid. We talked a little bit about cadding and her face lit up.

The engineer just stood there smiling. We'll probably meet her in FIRST in a few years because of his mentoring.
Jane