Green Technology Improves Classroom
Gender Equity
Go Green to Get Girls
Who I Am
 Retiree
 Graduate student
 Recovering engineer
 Grandnanny
 SWE FY11 Outreach Chair
 Consultant
 Teacher
 Musician
Why I Care
 Seek to understand:
 Why girls are approximately 50% of the
population, yet at 1:10 ratio, they are
significantly UNDER-REPRESENTED in most
Technology Education secondary classrooms
and technology based college programs.
 Why those figures haven’t changed that much
over the last 30 years.
 What I can personally do differently to change
that ratio.
What Do Girls Want?
 Varies, depending on age and cultural norm
Top 5 across all age groups
Fun
Teams
Make a difference
Acceptance
Flexibility
Survey Says…
 When choosing a class to take, type of
projects is more important than teacher
Top 5 Project preferences
 Projects that help others
 Projects that help the environment
 Build a Dance Pad
 Recycled toy
 Home Design
Survey Also Says
 40% prefer female technology education teacher
 Top 5 reasons they would choose to take class:
 Working in teams
 Freedom to talk and walk around during class
 Get to design and build things
 Get to use creativity
 1/3 of first-timers aren’t likely to take another class
 Top reasons they wouldn’t choose TE as an elective
 Too much bookwork
 Too much math
Green Technology Projects
 Primarily use recycled materials from home
or business
 Encourage creativity
 Often involve research
 Work both individually and in teams of two
 Do not involve “smash and crash”
Green Technology Projects
 Recycled Toy
 Cereal Box Marble Maze
 Cardboard Chair
 Prosthetic Device
 Home and Site Design
Recycled Toy (7th grade)
 Lesson on creativity and ideation
 Design Brief outlines objective,
specifications, constraints and scoring
Objective – design and build a toy from recycled
materials suitable for elementary grade children
Specifications – use recycled materials from
home; use graphic and verbal ideation
Constraints – size, safety
Scoring – can estimate before submitting
Cereal Box Maze (6th grade)
 Lesson on problem solving prior to activity
 Design Brief outlines objective,
specifications, constraints and scoring
Objective – design and build a marble maze
from cereal or other thin cardboard boxes
Specifications – use recycled boxes, tape, glue;
required travel time, direction changes, events
Constraints – size, support
Scoring – can estimate before submitting
Cardboard Chair (8th grade)
 Design Brief outlines objective,
specifications, constraints and scoring
Objective – design and build a full size chair
from large corrugated cardboard boxes
Specifications –teacher must sit in it, three
scaled down models
Constraints – No tape/glue, size
Scoring – can estimate before submitting
Prosthetic Device (7th grade)
 Lesson on biotechnology, specifically
prosthetic devices
 Design Brief outlines objective,
specifications, constraints and scoring
Objective – design and build a model of a
prosthetic device
Specifications –use recycled materials brought
from home, must make sketches
Constraints – size, functionality
Scoring – can estimate before submitting
Home Design (6th grade)
 Lesson on floor and site plans
 Design Brief outlines objective,
specifications, constraints and scoring
Objective – Using small box (provided), design
and build a model home and site plan.
Specifications –LR, DR, KIT, 3 BR, 2BA, laundry,
egress, floor plans
Constraints – # rooms, size
Scoring – based on aesthetics, detailing,
artisanship
Summary
 Most female engineers and technologists
had some exposure to hands-on technology
activities during K-12 years
 Girls are more likely to be interested and
successful in activities that:
 Help others or make a difference
 Allow them to work in teams
 Define the rules ahead of time (grading rubric)
 Allow them to be creative and use their hands
Resources
 Society of Women Engineers
 Activity Plans
 Role Models/ Activity Partners
 Funding (in partnership with SWE member)
 Scholarships
 www.aspire.swe.org
 National Lab Day www.nationallabday.org
 Mary Phelps mphelps2@ec.rr.com