STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

The Branch was represented at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School Science Night on Wednesday, March 5. About  226  students plus their parents stop by the AAUW table in the gymnasium. The activities for the students to perform were: Cartesian Diver, Balancing Stick Game, Balancing Metal Nuts on the Edge of a Can demonstrating magnetic forces and finally invisible writing using Goldenrod Paper, wax crayon and Windex. The AAUW Wheaton Glen Ellyn Branch team manning the table was Rosemary Hahn, Sandy Lopata and Fran Kravitz.

SCIENCE GIRLS ON THE GO™

During the pandemic, the branch developed Science Girls on the Go™ boxes as a way for parents to help their children stay connected to the fun of doing science at home. We continue to periodically offer these projects in three locations in Wheaton and Glen Ellyn.

For free science projects to do with children, visit our
Science Girls on the Go™ boxes in Wheaton at 1445 Brentwood Lane and 1516 Paula Avenue and in Glen Ellyn at 373 Oak Street. 

For many years, AAUW nationally and locally, our branch, have supported initiatives to encourage girls and young women to develop interest in the STEM fields of study. Women have historically been underrepresented in these fields.

Our current initiative, Science Girls on the Go™, was inspired by the restrictions of the pandemic. Students (K-12) in our communities weren’t able to physically meet with us to do science projects. How might our branch accomplish hands-on science and feel that we are continuing to participate in a Wheaton-Glen Ellyn Branch STEM event? How can
we have a STEM event for children with social distancing? We came up with Science Girls on the Go™, modeled on the “Little Free Libraries” popular in our communities.

In the summer of 2020, we installed “Go” boxes in Wheaton and in Glen Ellyn. Each box contains science kits in zip-lock packets that a parent and child can do together with ingredients typically found around the house.  The first project, “A Cartesian Diver” was very successful. The second project will involve making a kaleidoscope. Click here for more information.

Pictured is a Science Girls on the Go™ kit related to chromatography!