Science Girls!
There are a lot of things I like about the National Academy of Science’s "I was wondering…" website, designed to encourage girls’ interest in science. First off, I like the personal approach– 10 women scientists are featured on the site. For each woman, a comic tells a story about her life and work. Scrapbook web pages talk about her childhood, how she got interested in science, and what she does in her job. I don’t know what 8th grade girls find interesting (other than MySpace?), but I thought this was cool. Another nice thing– the range of science covered is broad, including a physicist, a medical researcher, an engineer, a social scientist, a marine biologist, and others. And lastly, the site is a refreshing breather from the elitism of academic science (more on this later). While a fair number of the women are professors, the site doesn’t overemphasize their academic pedigrees. The emphasis is where it should be, on their life and work as active scientists, and the impact of their work for society.
I don’t know about the teenage girls, but this site encouraged me!
