Girl Scouts Design and Discovery: Solar Solutions Camp
With the help of a Department of Education grant, AzRISE partnered with the Girl Scouts of America to organize a six day summer camp entitled Design and Discovery: Solar Solutions for middle school-aged girls. The camp was held June 21-25, 2010.
Goals and objectives were set to help the girls in addressing design issues presented in three projects they were to complete during the week. The first project was to build their own solar ovens
The girls recorded temperatures throughout the morning and then they redesigned their ovens to obtain a higher temperature. Some painted the outside of the box, some added more insulation and some tried reflectors. They were invited to examine ovens from the other teams for inspiration. The next day, the girls used their ovens to make solar stew as part of their dinner. During the evening program, they created a marketing campaign to promote solar oven use with their own creations.
The second project was to design a passive solar water heater. The girls worked in teams to test thermal conductivity for several materials. They calibrated their thermometers with ice water, and then tested how much the water’s temperature increased while using three different materials. From this information, the girls designed a system that would produce the greatest temperature increase of water. The last part of this project required the teams to combine their systems into one passive solar water heater.
After completing the second project, the teams were given a full day to invent something new or re-design something that incorporated solar power. The girls worked in small groups to agree on one project, design it and then build a prototype. They were encouraged to be creative and imagine solutions that do not already exist.
“We presented issues to the girls and asked them to use the design process as a guide to problem solving. The girls went through the initial steps together, and then broke up into smaller groups to present solutions. Allowing them to lead the problem-solving discussion, work as a team, and then putting a plan into action, was a great experience. They were able to extrapolate engineering design concepts into every day applications,” said Michelle Higgins, Girl Scout Council Project Manager.
“We benefited greatly from the partnership with the U. A.’s Arizona Research Institute for Solar Energy (AzRISE). Professor Kelly Simmons-Potter and graduate student Carolyn Swanborg worked to create an engineering design challenge from our ideas, incorporating a water feature and solar energy. The successes of this program have allowed our council a new foothold in Tucson’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) community.” said Higgins.
To quote one enthusiastic attendee, “it made me feel like I can make a difference, even at my age. It made engineering fun and showed me that working in a team works better, more ideas. I think I would want to be an inventor or engineer now. Before I thought it was boring. Solar Solutions camp made me understand how fun it could be”.
