Did you know that by third grade, most girls have already formed an idea of whether they are a “science person” or not? That fact continually astonishes me. Fortunately, we also know two key ways to combat that mentality:
- Early engagement in science, technology, or engineering activities is critical to build up their confidence—a confidence that we can feed and develop throughout their schooling.
- Strong, female role models in the sciences make a huge difference. When girls see other women achieving, they’ll certainly want to follow their lead.
So that means this week, I’m dedicating our post to getting even your youngest Girl Scout to start coding early! They’ll get you moving, they’ll get you thinking, and they’ll get you meeting women in STEM!
S’mores Algorithm
What’s an algorithm? An algorithm is a list of steps, exactly like the steps you would follow for your favorite recipe, or in this case, the steps to building the perfect s’more!
- One person will be the ROBOT and the Girl Scout will be the PROGRAMMER.
- Have your Girl Scout programmer write, or dictate, the steps for making a s’more. If you are writing, write exactly what she says—don’t give away the answer!
- Now, be your best robot, and try out the instructions following the instructions exactly. Let the hilarity ensue and give your Girl Scout a chance to fix her mistakes.
- If you need more instruction, check out Girl Scouts of the USA’s video, featuring our very own STEM Program Manager, Hannah Gilbert.
Code Your Treasure Hunt
- Set up a 6×6 paper grid on the floor (or a chalk grid on your driveway). Place a variety of treasures (treats, toys, etc.) and a treasure chest throughout your grid.
- One person will be the ROBOT and the Girl Scout will be the PROGRAMMER.
- The programmer will use the commands to get the robot to pick up all the treasures and place them in the treasure chest! The robot can start anywhere on the grid.
- The commands that the programmer can use are: Move forward, Turn right, Turn left, and Pick up. Remember, the robot doesn’t understand any other command!
- Make it a little harder: try to write the whole sequence before the robot goes on the treasure hunt! This can be challenging, but computer programmers often don’t get it right on the first try. Remember: code is all about trial and error, fixing little mistakes and trying again is called debugging.
- No space? No problem! Create your grid on a sheet of paper and code a LEGO character through the board using the same commands.
Meet a Woman Computer Scientist
Watch a video
SciGirls has a ton of videos exploring different women in a variety of technology fields.
Read a book
A Mighty Girl offers up a huge list of books to encourage girls in science and technology. Everyone from Rachel Carson to Mae Jemison has a story to inspire!
Abby Lown – Abby is a STEM Program Coordinator at Girl Scouts River Valleys. She graduated from the University of St. Thomas with a degree in Biology and spent three years teaching in the Peace Corps in Mozambique. When she isn’t creating cool STEM programs for Girl Scouts, she loves finding new adventures in the Twin Cities or trying her hand at a new recipe.