Girltalk: Energy, Climate and Water in the 21ST Century
Abstract
In preparation for Earth Science Week, The University of Texas at Austin, Striker Communications and Ursuline Academy of Dallas partnered on a GirlTalk event ("Energy, Climate and Water in the 21st Century") to create a two-day (Fri-Sat), community science symposium and open house on critical issues surrounding energy, water and climate. On Friday, over 800 high school girls and 100 teachers from Ursuline participated in hands-on activities (led by faculty, researchers and graduate students from UT Austin and professionals from the surrounding Dallas community), films and discussions, plenary sessions and an expert panel discussion. An opening talk by Dr. Hilary Olson on "Energy, Water and Climate in the 21st Century: Critical Issues for the Global Community" began the day. A series of hands-on activities, and science and technology films with discussion followed. Each girl had an individualized, modular schedule for the day, completing four of the over twenty modules offered. During lunch, Dr. Scott Tinker, Director of the Bureau of Economic Geology, presented a compelling talk on "Time, Technology and Transition", and afterwards girls attended another round of hands-on activities in the afternoon. The day ended with a panel discussion where girls could submit questions to the various participants from the day's activities. The exciting experience of a full day of GirlTalk led many high school girls to volunteer for the middle school event on the following morning (Sat.), when 150 middle school girls and their mentors (parents, teachers) attended a community-wide public event to learn about the energy, water and climate nexus. "Breakfast with a Pro" was hosted by the various professionals. Girls and their mentors enjoyed breakfast and discussion about topics and careers in the earth sciences and engineering with presenters, followed by an informal discussion with a panel of professionals. Next, girls and their mentors were each given a pre-assigned individual schedule: the program was an abbreviated version of the high school program, with each girl able to attend four different sessions during the half-day program. Many of the activities used were developed as part of the TeXas Earth and Space Science (TXESS) Revolution project, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the STORE (Sequestration Training, Outreach, Research and Education) project, sponsored by the National Energy Technology Laboratory, Department of Energy.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2011
- Bibcode:
- 2011AGUFMED13A0798O
- Keywords:
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- 0805 EDUCATION / Elementary and secondary education;
- 0815 EDUCATION / Informal education;
- 0855 EDUCATION / Diversity