My six-year-old daughter wants to be a scientist when she grows up, mostly because she is concerned about climate change, as rightly she should be. Regardless of what the media writes or doesn’t write (or fakes), climate change is real for those of us who live in the Pacific Northwest. It is not a political issue up here, rather it is a rapidly evolving way of life. And regardless of who or what is causing climate change, my community has been witness of late to some strange things and Jillian is paying attention. She wants to change the world she sees today and knows that science is the key.
What does her world look like from a beach on the Salish Sea? Three years ago we used to complain when a huge, slimy, purple sea star wrapped itself around the bait in our crab pots. Pulling those things off of a bait box was a chore; a chore we worry about no more. Finding those same fat, purple sea stars, plus bright orange Sunstars and other varieties washed up on our beach was never a chore for Jillian, however, as she liked to put them back in the water so they wouldn’t die. The sea-stars’ recent and rapid extinction in our stretch of the Puget Sound has predictably broken her heart, while at the same time casting a dark spell on our summer waters with massive influxes of jellyfish.
Jillian has also overheard conversations between myself and our commercial fishing neighbor, John, who earns his living in Bristol Bay, Alaska. Two years ago, John and his crew waited for weeks for the salmon to run into a soupy Bristol Bay, which was six degrees warmer than normal. Last year Bristol Bay was 10-degrees warmer than normal!! Will those increases continue? Will John continue to fish? These are tectonic temperature shifts, not normal fluctuations by any stretch, with the potential to impact the livelihoods of many.
Again, these are just two of many reason why my daughter is committed to science at the age of six. She knows, from watching her environment change around her, that science holds the clues and the answers to solving those changes. I am thrilled at her passion, because I want my kids to be lightening rods for change – to spend their lives working for something more important than just a paycheck. That means taking a different route to a career then either of their parents – a STEM-based route. For the unaware, STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math.
With Jillian I feel confident she fits the mold for STEM, but what about my three-year-old? All she wants to do is draw, paint, dance and sing! Though she holds the most talent she also causes me the most heartburn when considering her future. There may be hope for her however! A recent survey uncovered a potential solution for the parents of creative kids - using ART to capture girls interest as the entry point for STEM! Through a survey of more than 500 parents with children between the ages of six and 14 years old, Two Bit Circus, an engineering entertainment company, found that the STEM gender gap is deep and wide, but also uncovered that art could be the key to closing that gap.
Some of the survey findings include:
· Parents of both male and female children equally report that their child’s favorite STEAM subject in school is either math (26 percent for both genders) or science (30 percent for both genders)
· 41 percent of parents with boys say their child shows the most interest in Technology/Computing activities outside of school whereas only 18 percent of parents with girls report their child loves Technology/Computing outside of school
· 47 percent of parents are unfamiliar with STEM/STEAM toys such as chemistry sets, microscopes, Arduinos, etc.
The authors of the survey state that, “in order to increase the amount of girls interested in STEM, we need to embrace the newly coined STEAM, which combines art with the STEM subject lineup.”
In conjunction with releasing this survey, Two Bit Circus recently launched a Kickstarter campaign (that ends this Thursday!) for a new paper crafts and technology kit called Oomiyu, that combines art and STEM. Powered by electronics, the maker kit is designed to bring art alive through creative innovation, and provide a well-rounded and engaging creativity platform to bring out the hidden maker in every child. I have not tried the Oomiyu kit with either of my girls, but Christmas is just 12 days away and I plan to make a STEAM introduction in 2017. Being well rounded never hurt anyone’s educational development. To learn more about the STEAM vs. STEM movement, Two Bit Circus and its Kickstarter campaign, check out the video below.