Physical Science:
-ChromaDepth
-Electricity
-Making Paint
-Bubble Prints
-Speed Fizz
-Bridge Building
-Magnets
-Forcing Gravity
-Gears & Gizmos
-Simple Machines
-Solar Energy
-Sound
-Switch On
-Dying for a Tan

• Our science enrichment programs began in 1989. The first group was a Girl Scout Science Interest Group. This group was (and still is) open to any 7th – 12th grade girl in San Diego County who had an interest in science. The group’s activities are girl planned and directed. This group is self-funded.
  
• The experience of leading this Science Interest Group led to an understanding of the obstacles faced by young women who are interested in science.For a variety of cultural, economic, and family reasons, many girls have a limited concept of what being a scientist means and what it takes to become one. Young girls of underrepresented groups have additional obstacles. Funding was obtained to evolve the Science Interest Group into a program directed at Jr. and Sr. High aged girls who were members of underrepresented groups. This new program was called Science Scholars. Typically we had 15 girls participating each year during 1994 – 1997.
  
• The Science Scholar program was successful but only 15 girls and their families were affected. We chose to broaden the program by partnering with both the Girl Scouts and their Girls are GREAT program and with San Diego City Schools.
  
• The San Diego Girl Scout council had been offering a program entitled Girls are GREAT during the school day to girls in county schools that are underrepresented in Girl Scouting. These are the same schools with majority populations that are underrepresented in science. Collaboration has allowed us to reach 5,000 girls during the year 1999 – 2000.
  
• The partnership with San Diego City Schools started with collaborating with the NSF USI project. One part of the USI program was to start after-school science program for the middle schools. The SDSC Science Enrichment program provided materials, curriculum and teacher training to 2-person teacher teams from 10 middle schools in 1999 – 2000. After the end of the USI grant, the partnership has been with the Math/Science department.

• Open a world for underrepresented youth (women and minorities) and enable them to reach for their dreams by exposing them to science and adding to their knowledge base.
• Sustain and advance girls' interest in science with a special emphasis on minority girls.

• Aligned with National Standards
• Completely self-contained (no classroom resources are used)
• 50 minutes
• Hands-on inquiry
• Fail-safe

• Girls are GREAT staff are employed by the San Diego Girl Scout Council
  The staff is made up of a combination of college students, usually majoring in science or education and women who were teachers in Mexico before immigrating.
• A significant fraction of the staff started out 3 years ago as complete novices in computers and science. A certain amount of ‘math and science’ phobia was present in the first training sessions.
• Early training sessions concentrated on building the confidence of the staff. They needed to be convinced that this material was accessible to both them and the students in the program.
• During the first year, each curriculum unit needed to be trained in a separate 2-3 hour session.
• Girl Scout management was also invited and encouraged to attend these training sessions.
• During the second year we started to wean the staff from needing to be fed all the information from the project PI’s.
• Each Girls are GREAT staff member chose one of the ac tivities to make her own. She was responsible for keeping an inventory of the equipment, replacing consumables or broken equipment and training new staff.

• Materials chosen with teacher input
• Curriculum provided with materials is used as a starting point
• PI’s provide curriculum that fills in the gaps or extends the project
• PI’s train the teachers on the materials
• Teachers determine how it will work best in their classroom. They modify the curriculum as needed.
• On-going support is provided as needed
• Materials are also used during the school day.

• The motion of an object can be described by its position, direction of motions, and speed. That motion can be measured and represented on a graph.
  
• An object that is not being subjected to a force will continue to move at a constant speed and in a straight line.
  
• If more than one force acts on an object along a straight line, then the forces will reinforce or cancel one another, depending on their direction and magnitude. Unbalanced forces will cause changes in the speed or direction of an object’s motion

• Energy is a property of many substances and is associated
  with heat, light, electricity, mechanical motion, sound, nuclei, and the nature of a chemical. Energy is transferred in many ways.
• Heat moves in predictable ways, flowing from warmer objects to cooler ones, until both reach the same temperature.
• Light interacts with matter by transmission (including refraction), absorption, or scattering (including reflection). To see an object, light from that object - emitted by or scattered from it - must enter the eye.
• Electrical circuits provide a means of transferring electrical energy when heat, light, sound, and chemical changes are produced.
• In most chemical and nuclear reactions, energy is transferred into or out of a system. Heat, light, mechanical motion, or electricity might all be involved in such transfers.
• The sun is a major source of energy for changes on the earth’s surface. The sun loses energy by emitting light. A tiny fraction of that light reaches the earth, transferring energy from the sun to the earth. The sun’s energy arrives as a light with a range of wavelengths, consisting of visible light, infrared, and ultraviolet radiation.