MOTHER/DAUGHTER  MATH/SCIENCE  DISCOVERY  DAY A Hands on Learning Experience Sponsored by the

AMERICAN  ASSOCIATION  OF  UNIVERSITY  WOMEN FREMONT,  CA

Back to Welcome Page November 6th Discovery Day a Huge Success! By Shirley Gilbert   Locate your pointer in the middle of the picture.  Click to enlarge it. Use the web page back button to return the picture to its normal size. Ritwika Mitra demonstrates how spinning records produce sounds.       Miriam Keller smiles with a sense of wonder when she recalls that she has been involved in a total of 22 Discovery Days.       She’s been part of this semi-annual math and science motivational activity for girls since its AAUW Fremont Branch inception in 1995.       At first Miriam worked under the direction of another leader but she took on the chairmanship of this much looked-forward-to Fremont AAUW program since 1998.       Miriam reported that this year’s Discovery Day held on Saturday, November 6 was a great success.       “We had a total of 57 girls from over 20 schools in the area and each of the girls had a female adult accompanying them. That’s over 120 people…quite a crowd really.  But it all went really well.”       The idea of the classes for girls and their adult companions at Hopkins Jr. High is to provide a day of fun, hands-on math and science experience for fifth and sixth grade girls.  There’s a planetarium show, brain teasers and math plexers. They use pennies to measure the load that their bridge can support, find the pH of many household and kitchen items with red cabbage juice, explore their vital signs, and learn about the bones in their bodies.   They also try to build the tallest tower of the group using spaghetti and learn enough about levers that they can lift their mothers using only one hand.  Then there's those groovy records and spooky bubbles.       “Mothers and adults,” said Miriam, “also get a lot out of it.  They learn ways to motivate girls in math and science that they can use at home.”       Miriam admitted she couldn’t do this without the help of many AAUW assistants – one for every class – as well as a hospitality team and a registration team.       So why does Miriam take on the leadership of this ambitious project year after year?       “I do it,” said Miriam, “because it’s so necessary.  And my concern is if I don’t do it, it won’t take place.  That would be a great loss for the girls, who really love it.”       Every year, Miriam asks the participants to fill out an evaluation of how the day went for their girls.  There are suggestions for tweaks in the program but, for the most part, parents are thankful that such a fun-filled day exists, thanks to AAUW Fremont Branch.       “My daughter,” said one typical reply, “really enjoyed all the classes.  Very hands-on is the key to her interest level.  Good job!”       And from the heart of Fremont AAUW, thank you Miriam for 22 special Discovery Days! Go see the girls for yourself!     Page 1      Page 2   We thank the following suporters for their help:   Donors Alameda County Water District Fremont Environmental Services Dept. Aquarium of the Bay The Tech Musueum Lawrence Hall of Science Kaiser Permanente Palo Alto Medical Group Julie Thomas of Mary Kay Cosmetics Wieland Electric   Our Hospitality Team Liz Poe Alison Kieft Kathy Bray Kathy Scrivani   Our Registration Team Elin Thomas Anne Macleod Also Janice Longo - “Folders” Kathy Bray - “Door Prizes” Erin Snider - “Emcee and Bells”   Presenters Yvonne Alexander, Planetarium, FUSD Quata Ocano, LED Engineering Janice Longo, AAUW Kimberle and Alison Kieft, AAUW Ninette Pierce, AAUW Filiz Crocker, AAUW Ritwika Mitra, IHS       Assistants AAUW Branch Members    Donna Keller    Jo Szeto    Helen Boyer    Sharol Yool    Rita Hammer    Sue Miller    Jeanne Delp       Back to Welcome Page