Saturday, January 29, 2005

Professional engineers in the Tulsa area coordinated a badge workshop for 72 middle school and high school aged Girl Scouts.  Former Tulsa Chemical Engineering student, Suzanne Dodson, organized the day.  Girls were able to sign up to work on one of the following Interest Project Patches:

v    Build a Better Future

v    Car Sense

v    Eco-Action

v    Inventions and Inquiry

v    Planet Power

v    Why in the World?

Former Tulsa student, Cherie Almeida, taught the Eco-Action badge while TU ChE faculty member, Dr. Christi Patton, assisted by members of the Challenge X team led the Car Sense badge.

The Girl Scouts worked on their badges with a professional engineer.  Engineering students from the Society of Women Engineers assisted with each group.  To earn each badge the girls needed to complete a minimum of seven activities to learn about their subject.  (Click on any photo to enlarge view)

These students listen to a lecture on how to patent your own inventions!

These girls are decorating reusable shopping bags.

Each group was required to complete a service project.  Some groups chose to create puzzles, games and educational posters that have been used with younger Girl Scouts in the area! 

At lunch the entire group came together for a panel discussion about technical careers. 

As a special highlight, Doug Jussaume allowed some of the Girl Scouts to try riding on the ZachWay (a “Segway” type machine built by a TU student named Zach!).

In the Car Sense badge the girls learned the routine maintenance that needs to be performed on a car

and how to recognize the signs that something is going wrong.  The girls worked with some “volunteer” vehicles to practice changing the oil

   

and changing a tire. 

Then they had a chance to learn about some of the advanced technologies they may find in their cars one day.  They examined the differences between a traditional gasoline car and a hybrid-electric vehicle built by TU students.  A camera man for Channel 23 news documented part of our day and even interviewed some of us for the evening news!