Our 4th annual g4g day @ Brussels was held at the International School of Brussels and we welcomed 180 girls and 60 volunteers for a fun day of science. This year some of the workshops were run by greenlight girls themselves in which they prepared interactive science labs to engage students aged 11 - 15 years old. The day consisted of workshops from all areas of 'STEM' - Science, Technology, Maths and Engineering such as DNA extraction of fruits, Design your dream house, Invent and save the world, Visual Programming with Penguins, Breakdown and Rebuild a computer and learning about careers in STEM. Also new this year was our Science Library corner in which participants were invited to inscribe a message in a science book that will be sent to Uganda and Cameroon to start science libraries in local orphanages and schools.
A few special items to mention that made this event even more special…
For the first time ever in g4g history (that is – if an organization as young as ours can already have a history) – some greenlight girls from previous events were workshop leaders at the mature age of 15+. What was amazing was that they came to us with this idea – and this has given the inspiration to the participants to ask if they can do the same next year. Their workshops were well prepared, the science was clearly explained and the participants enjoyed the hands-on learning that they presented.
We were very lucky to have RadioX at the event for a live broadcast during the entire day – many girls volunteered to give their views about science on the air and we cannot wait to share the final product with you!
Enthusiastic ISB Teacher, Nikki Vreugdenhil, implored us to allow her younger students to join as they were so excited about science – so for the first time for our Brussels event, we had a small group of 9-year olds participate in our 11-15year old event. They ended up being the most confident and vocal in our last session when we asked the girls to speak in the plenary session to tell us what they learned. One of the littlest of girls, whose lab coat dragged on the floor behind her, ‘Princess Scientist’ was one of the most outspoken girls in the entire event and loved to share her learning with everyone (and an amusing anecdote that our volunteers loved… we asked her if she wanted to be interviewed on the Radio and she told us, “Oh, that’s okay – I’ve already been on the radio many, many times”).
We also got a chance to hear how the man from the photonics workshop went and picked germs off the street (“yuukkyyy”) and then went on to tell us how fast germs move in water!
Thank you to all those involved and If you missed the chance to be involved this year there will be plenty more opportunities in the future so stay in touch with us through our facebook, website and the Newsletter!
And just a last message from everyone, https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152253097277262&set=vb.151369344889171&type=2&theater
Thank you to all our Sponsors and Supporters for helping us hold this event!
Sponsors:
Partners:
International School of Brussels (ISB)
Supporters:
BeWise
