NASA Space Grant
- GIRLS IN ENGINEERING, MATH, AND SCIENCE (GEMS)
Program Overview
Gems is an after school science, math and technology enrichment project for young women (grades 4-8) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Augsburg NASA Space Grant Program has worked closely with Dr. Brad Blue, Minneapolis Public School Science/Math teacher and parents and teachers to develop, implement, and evaluate this program. The goal of GEMS is to give young urban women a greater understanding of complex problem solving while learning and using technology, science, and mathematics.
Minneapolis schools involved in the GEMS program include Anwatin, Bryn Mawr, Field, Green Central, West Harry David, Northeast, Olson, Ramsey International Fine Arts, Seward Montessori, Sheridan, and Shingle Creek, Pillsbury and Windom.
GEMS have worked on various projects and presented their findings at the Science Museum of Minnesota, the Eye to the Future Career Conference, the Minnesota State Fair, and to the Medtronic Corporation. Each fall, the GEMS develop a robot and program it to perform different tasks in the MN First Lego-Robotics Challenge sponsored by High Tech Kids. From January through May they develop and use different probes and medical devices to monitor and survey other middle schoolers as to their health, or guild rockets, carbon dioxide cars or electronic devices.
A districted GEMS summer program takes place annually at Augsburg College. In the summer, this free science, mathematics, and technology program brought together 120 middle school girls from the Minneapolis Public Schools on Tuesdays and Thursdays to learn about monarch butterfly research, developing robots and programming them to do various tasks using Lego-Logo, and creating and developing e-musik. During this summer program, undergraduate students from Augsburg College work closely with science and technology teachers from Minneapolis public schools to teach and facilitate student learning.
GEMS Mentors
Ten mentors participate in the GEMS Mentor program for young women in grades 9-12. These mentors receive intensive summer leadership training to prepare them for this role as a leader of a small group of middle school GEMS in the following academic year.
Dr. Jeanine Gregoire from Augsburg College has been involved with developing and conducting the GEMS leadership program and GEMS overall program assessment, participant selection, program fundraising, and co-coordination of the summer program.
Funding for the GEMS programs comes from the Medtronic STAR Grants, Minneapolis Public Schools, NASA Space Grant, Best Buy Foundation, Carolyn Foundation, ADC Fundation, and Lockhead Martin Coproration. The GEMS program was presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science Conference in San Francisco, California, in February, 2001; National Science Teacher Association Conferences in Orlando(200), Philadeophia (2003) and Minneapolis (2003); and the National Middle School Association, Minneapolis, (2004). For more infomation about the GEMS program, go to www.mn-gems.com
Resources
NSTA presentation (pdf)
NSTA GEMS presentation (pdf)