Winter 2015
FEMMES
Newsletter
V ol u
me 1 , I s s u e 1
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FEMMES N E WS L E TT E R
E d i t o r : C a r r i e J o hn s on
FEMMES at the Univ. of Michigan, 3909 Michigan Union 530 S. State St, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
http://femmes.studentorgs.umich.edu/
[email protected]
Welcome to FEMMES Newsletters
To our FEMMES parents, principals, teachers,
volunteers, sponsors, and supporters,
Welcome to the first FEMMES at the University of
Michigan newsletter.
This newsletter will be
published periodically so that all interested in
FEMMES can be informed about our recent events
as well as what is planned for the near future.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Welcome
FEMMES Fall Capstone
FEMMES History
After School Nights
Famous FEMMES
Take Home Activity
Sponsors and Announcements
1
1
2
2
3
3
5
Because of the costs of printing and mailing, this
Our Mission
newsletter will only be electronic and will be
FEMMES
dispersed via email as well as online on our website
Engineering, and Science) is dedicated to closing
(http://femmes.studentorgs.umich.edu/) and Facebook
gender and racial divides in CS/STEM (Computer
(https://www.facebook.com/femmesatuofmichigan).
Science/Science Technology Engineering and Math)
Through photos and articles, our hope is that this
through hands-on activities led by female faculty,
newsletter will highlight all the great events
graduate students, and undergraduate students.
FEMMES is able to put on in the community thanks
Working
(Females
Excelling
specifically
in
FEMMES
More
diverse,
creates
a
in
Math,
under-served
to the volunteers and the financial support from
communities,
collaborative
grants and our incredible sponsors. In addition, we
environment that helps young girls build knowledge
hope this newsletter inspires more people to
and self-confidence in CS/STEM and exposes them
become involved with FEMMES as participants,
to great role models so that they may pursue their
volunteers, or sponsors in the future.
dreams without hesitation.
Fall Capstone Event
On Saturday, November 8th, FEMMES put on their
the challenges and successes of the route that led
free, bi-annual capstone event. Capstones are a
them to where they are, followed by some advice
special event for FEMMES. They bring in girls in
to all the young girls in attendance. The girls then
grades 3-8 from all over southeast Michigan to
leave for morning and afternoon sessions of
the University of Michigan campus for a full day of
hands-on activities in small groups, with lunch
hands-on CS/STEM activities led by female faculty,
graduate students, and various student groups on
provided to all participants and volunteers in
between.
campus. The day kicks off with a keynote speaker
At this year’s fall capstone, we had nearly 160 girls
where the girls get to hear from a woman who
from at least 29 different schools and 15 different
works in a CS/STEM field.
hands-on activities.
They hear about the
exciting work the speaker does in their daily life,
Each girl rotated through a
total of four different activities. While this means
Please see Capstone on page 4
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FEMMES Newsletter
FEMMES History
The FEMMES organization as a whole was founded in
2006 at Duke University by Vicki Weston with
additional chapters now found at the University of
North Carolina and Roanoke College. As a medical
student at the University of Michigan, Vicki Weston
started a FEMMES chapter here in 2011. Since then
we have grown in both volunteers and participants.
FEMMES has reached over 850 girls from over 40
schools and had hundreds of volunteers along the
FEMMES has had, we have been endorsed by
way. Starting with only our Saturday day-long
state representative Adam Zemke, state senator
capstones, FEMMES has grown to include after-
Rebekah Warren, and Gov. Rick Snyder, had
school STEM nights and community events at local
articles written in The Michigan Daily and MLive,
public libraries. We are looking to add some outdoor
and
summer events in the future! With all the success
Michigan Public Radio.
have
been
featured
on
Stateside
on
After-School Nights
By Kate Weskamp
Beginning in the fall of 2013, FEMMES began
organizing after-school activity nights at schools
targeted for serving students from more diverse and
underrepresented backgrounds.
FEMMES
visited
Estabrook
This past fall,
Elementary,
Erickson
Elementary, and Adams STEM academy.
own DNA out
marshmallows.
of
licorice,
and
colored
Magnetism and motors: Girls construct a small
electromagnet out of a nail, wire, and a battery
and learn about magnetism.
Molecular Relay:
In teams of 3 girls, girls are
The after-school activities included:
assigned with roles as DNA, RNA, or protein and
pH tie dye: Red cabbage juice is known as a great
must relay the description of a picture seen by
kid-friendly pH indicator.
Using paper towels
soaked in the cabbage juice and dried, the girls
“decorated” their paper towels with eye droppers full
of different household acids and bases such as
lemon juice and detergent.
Edible DNA: The structure and functional importance
of DNA was taught and then girls assembled their
5th grade girl when asked, what
do you think of STEM?
“I imagine so much cool stuff, it
almost makes my head hurt.”
girl “DNA” to girl “RNA” to girl “protein” to
replicate the image without seeing it. The girls
are then taught about the parallels to
transcription, translation and the central dogma.
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FEMMES Newsletter
Famous FEMMES: Kyla McMullen
Growing up in Maryland, Dr. Kyla McMullen’s path
towards computer science started with a love of
gadgets. After attending the University of Maryland,
Baltimore
Country
(UMBC)
for
undergrad,
Dr.
McMullen came to the University of Michigan for
graduate
school
in
Computer
Science
and
Engineering. In 2012, she became the first African
American woman at the U of M to graduate with a
Ph.D. in computer science.
According to a 2012 interview with the Computer
www.linkedin.com
Science and Electrical Engineering Department at
computer science teacher for being an important
UMBC, in addition to her interests in computer
and
science and spatial audio in virtual environments, Dr.
impressionable high school years.
McMullen is also passionate about promoting the
McMullen works as an assistant professor at the
sciences for minorities.
Through her work leading
University of Florida Department of Computer and
minority engineering groups and her openness to
Information Science and Engineering (UF CISE).
serve as a resource to young girls, she is highly
There, she is interested in developing projects to
aware of the importance of early role models,
apply virtual spatial audio to various areas such as:
mentors, and exposure to science in getting young
virtual environments, assistive technology, data
sonification, and education.
girls to pursue these fields. She credits a high school
relatable
role
model
during
those
Today, Dr.
Take FEMMES Home: Bringing STEM to the living room
Continue hands-on STEM activities with your kids in your own home
Balloon Lungs
needs to be about 0.5 centimeters wide.
2. Take one of the balloons and cut off the entire
Supplies:
neck of the balloon so that it resembles a tiny
swim cap.
-2 balloons
-A clear plastic water bottle
-Scissors
-A thumbtack or something to poke a hole
Every time you breathe, you have physics to thank
for filling your lungs with air. With this activity you
and your child can watch Boyle’s Law (P1V1 = P2V2)
in action.
Getting Started:
1. Using the thumbtack, poke a hole in the
bottom of the water bottle.
The hole only
3. Place the cut balloon on the bottom of the
water bottle to cover up the hole from step 1.
4. Take the other balloon (this one should not be
cut) and at the normal opening of the water
bottle, place the balloon inside the water bottle
while folding the neck of the balloon over the
opening.
5. See the diagram on page 4 to make sure you
bottle looks how it’s supposed to.
6. Pull on the balloon at the bottom of the water
Please see Balloon Lung on page 4
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FEMMES Newsletter
Capstone from page 1
that they don’t see all of them, it just provides
another reason to come back
capstone! The activities included:
for
another
- Radical Reptiles
- Lego Programming
- Alive with Heat: Shrinking Polymers
- Rock ID
- The Magic of Assistive Technology: Speak with
Your Eyes and Type with Your Head
- States of Matter: Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream
- Physics and Astronomy
- Elephant Toothpaste
- Fun with Fluids
“I liked that I got to
work with materials
not usually used in
normal 6th grade
science, like dry ice,
and there were no
boys.”
These activities covered the spectrum of STEM fields
- Electronic Prosthetics and Brain Control
and provided the girls with an interactive experience in
- How Does the Zebrafish Get its Stripes?
the same classrooms and labs that college STEM
students learn in.
- What’s in a Lake? The Fascinating Critters
Hiding Beneath the Surface of our Lakes
We could not put on so many
impressive activity rotations were it not for the many
- Candy Acid-Base Chemistry
amazing faculty and their students who come up with
- Exploring Light and Sound
the activities and run them. A big THANK YOU to all
those who donated their time and expertise!
- Light Chemistry
Balloon Lung from page 3
balloon inflates and takes up
bottle and watch the balloon at the top.
more space so that the volume
7. Let go of the balloon and again watch the
balloon at the top of the water bottle.
inside the bottle returns back
to how it was at the beginning.
What did you see happen to the top balloon?
Air is made up of a bunch of tiny particles called
molecules that constantly bump into each other
and into the walls of their containers.
The
bumping of the molecules on the walls of the
water bottle creates a pressure on the inside of
the water bottle. The air molecules will take up
as much space as you give them.
When you
pulled on the bottom balloon, you made more
space for the air molecules trapped inside the
water bottle to move around.
This increase in
“space” is called an increase in “volume” in
physics. The increase in volume causes the air
molecules to bump into the walls of the water
bottle less, causing a decrease in the air pressure
inside the water bottle.
Nature likes to make
sure everything is balanced, so in order to make
sure the pressure inside the bottle returns back
to how it was before, the volume inside the water
bottle needs to shrink again. To do this, the top
This is similar to how our lungs
work.
In this experiment, the top
balloon is like one of your
lungs and bottom balloon is
like your diaphragm.
Your
diaphragm is a muscle below
your lungs and above your
stomach. When you breathe in,
your
diaphragm
contracts,
causing the volume in your
chest cavity to increase.
This
decreases the pressure inside your chest cavity, so in
order to balance out the pressure, your lungs fill up
with air and allowing you to breathe.
When you
exhale, your diaphragm relaxes and the volume of
your
chest
cavity
decreases
and
increases
the
pressure. To balance out the pressure, air is pushed
out of your lungs so that the volume inside your
chest cavity is small again.
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FEMMES Newsletter
FEMMES Sponsors:
We could not do what we do without all of our financial sponsors! They help keep our events free and help us
continue to grow in the number of events we run and the number of young girls we reach. If you are a
sponsor of FEMMES as we do not have your logo, please email us and we will be sure to include that in future
newsletters. If you would like to become a sponsor of FEMMES either as an individual or as an organization or
company, please see how to donate on our website, http://femmes.studentorgs.umich.edu/. We owe it to all
of you who help make FEMMES possible and want to make STEM education for women a priority.
Announcements
Fundraisers:

Outreach Events:
On Wednesday, Nov. 12th, FEMMES teamed up

March 28th at the chemistry building at the University
money for our FEMMES capstones and after
of Michigan.
school activities.
The event was a great
website or Facebook to print and mail in. Spots fill up
success, as we raised $188.42, and helps in
faster every year, so get your registration form in
quickly.
keeping all our events free. A big thank you
goes to Annie Minns on our executive board
for organizing the fundraiser.

Our FEMMES Spring Capstone will occur on Saturday,
with Pizza House of Ann Arbor to help raise
Check
out
our
Facebook
page
announcements of future fundraisers

Find the registration form on our
The FEMMES team recently put on a community event
at the Ann Arbor District Library – Mallett’s Creek
for
branch. On a Saturday in late January, around 30 kids
showed up and kept busy with the activities of Edible
DNA, Squishy Circuits, Magnets, and States of Matter.
Partnerships:

We are excited to announce our newest
partnership with the Inspire Her initiative as a
part of Gamestart. Gamestart is a local startup that introduces students to computer
programming using Minecraft.
Thanks to Kelsey Cauley for helping facilitate this
event.

Look
on
our
website
and
Facebook
page
for
announcements for future FEMMES events as they are
scheduled.
Page 6
Photo Collage: Photos from the Fall Capstone
FEMMES Newsletter