Empowering OC's Girls With STEM - GSOC STEM Exposition written by: Pranav Moudgalya

Volunteers, Girl Scouts, and STEM aren’t words that would usually go together, but the passion of OC Science and AGMT (All Girls Math Tournament) volunteers helped to bring out the excitement of science and math related topics in every Girl Scout of Orange County.

October 15th, 2017 marked the annual Girl Scouts of Orange County STEM Exposition, an event aimed at instilling a sense of passion for STEM in all young girls across Orange County.

OC Science and AGMT were two of the more than 30 different organization present at the event, which took place on the beautiful campus of California State University, Fullerton.

Along with many companies pioneering the path of modern advances such as Google, SpaceX, and Microsoft, OC Science worked with leading STEM companies to bring vital STEM experiences to girls across Orange County.

Volunteers were all smiles, enthusiastically waiting to share the activities and experiments that they had planned to teach science and mathematics in a new, more interactive way.

From OC Science, experiments such as the “Create Your Own Slime” lab were a huge success, drawing in many eager faces. The whole auditorium filled with students whose fingers were covered with sticky, bright colored slime, all to teach young minds about polymers, a substance with a distinct chain like substance.

In the “Strawberry DNA Extraction” lab, Girl Scouts were able to learn about DNA and see it for themselves. While DNA is a topic not explored until later stages of high school and college, OC Science gave a new perspective on the subject as they provided an interactive and hands-on method of seeing DNA.

After completing the detailed procedure and finally exploring how the DNA unraveled from the strawberry liquid, the young girls were all smiles, touching and carefully examining the fluffy white blobs of strawberry DNA.

AGMT also had their own, unique spin on exploring math. With games such as “Who Wants to be A Mathematician?”, all the young girls had the opportunity to take a glimpse at essential math concepts, and take home a new perspective on math, one which might usher them into a math-related career.

With the massive plethora of Girl Scouts present at the events, OC Science and AMT gave them something to take home. A thought-provoking ideal that maybe, just maybe, they will create an influential change to our world, and ultimately empower other young girls to expand their interest in the vast world of STEM careers.

To learn more about OC Science’s monthly fun nights or OC Science in general, please visit ocscience.org. And don’t forget about AGMT! To learn more about their organization, please visit allgirlsmathtournament.org.