PGE/SEP: Inquiry-Based Science for Girls through Formulation of Personal Care Products

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In the geographical region encompassing Broome County and four surrounding counties in upstate New York, only 51.2% of high school students enroll in chemistry classes, and a meager 29.5% enroll in physics classes. The rest of upstate New York does better, enrolling 69.8% of high school students in chemistry and 43.1% in physics. Part of the reason for the low numbers is that all throughout the region, female students are not electing to take classes in the physical sciences. In one rural school, only 36% of 11th grade female students are enrolled in chemistry and only 14% of 12th grade female students are in physics. The challenge is to develop performance-based science lessons that teach concepts in the physical sciences that are so interesting to girls that the girls will be compelled to explore all the sciences, not just the biological sciences that they seem to prefer. This project will approach the teaching of science from applications that students are very familiar with but most likely never associate with the sciences learned in school. The program evolves around the science and technology of personal care products. This topic was selected for several reasons: (1) The Lander Co. with a major facility for manufacturing of personal care products in Binghamton has agreed to be a partner in this multi-collaborative effort. (2) Girls use creams and shower gels, shampoos and hair conditioners, and will be attracted to a program where they can make their own. (3) The possibility of variation in the formulation of personal care products lends itself naturally to the process of inquiry and testing of hypotheses, as well as the quantitative measurements of physical properties. (4) These activities, in turn, can be turned to the study of concepts in the physical sciences. The Roberson Museum and Science Center, and the State University of New York at Binghamton, with coordination provided by the university, will deliver a program with three main components. These are: (1) An informal science education program primarily for middle-school girls at the Roberson Museum and Science Center. There will be tours of the Lander Co., four Saturday morning sessions and one four-day summer program, reaching a total of 120 female students. (2) A teacher's workshop for 24 teachers of Grades 5 to 8 from the Union-Endicott School District as well as other school districts within a 100-mile radius of Binghamton. (3) Classroom kits and on-site assistance reaching a total of 2,000 students, assistance to be provided by a grant-coordinator, and two undergraduate assistants. After the grant period, the science center will continue to offer the girls' program at cost, to the public. Assistance provided by undergraduate volunteers would lower those costs. Students will also be tapped to give teachers assistance so that the latter can continue to offer the new lessons in their classrooms.