2016 Grants
THE YOUNG WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP NETWORK (NEW YORK CITY)
Social Computer Game Design Platform
We have supported The Young Women’s Leadership Network in New York City with a variety of grants for the past seven years, and we are happy to continue our support again this year. TYWLN is an inspiring organization that is providing quality education to hundreds of young women at several schools across New York City. (You can read more about them at http://www.ywln.org/.) This year we will continue our support for “Globaloria” at two of TYWLN’s schools, and will expand the support to a third school. Globaloria is an online learning platform that engages students in science, math, and computing through game design. Students learn high-level coding languages (such as Java and Flash/ActionScript), game design, computational thinking, social media and digital literacy. It’s an exciting way to teach computer coding skills and it has a social component: students design and create computer games, then share them with other students on the Globaloria system. Students then play and critique the games -- including games designed by students at other schools. It is an ingenious way to develop STEM knowledge and computing literacy. (You can learn more here: http://www.globaloria.org/.)
At TYWLN, Globaloria is integrated into the Spanish language and history/social studies classes. The students are led by educators who, as part of Globaloria, receive a full year of professional development and mentorship. Last year, the students initiated more than 130 educational game projects, and logged more than 5800 hours of computer science education. TYWLN reported to us that “the lessons and skills learned through Globaloria are life-changing for our students. Your support helps young women from under-resourced communities experience fun and interactive ways of learning STEM. More importantly, Globaloria encourages positive educational growth for predominantly low-income young women whose families would otherwise not have access to interactive STEM programming.” Two of the students were even interviewed on Univision TV regarding their game design experience and college plans!
This year our grant will support Globaloria programs at three TYWLN schools, in the Bronx, Queens, and Astoria. The grant is for $7,350 (total).
THE GIRLS’ MIDDLE SCHOOL (PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA)
The Jennifer A. Kay Foundation has supported several programs at The Girls’ Middle School since 2010. (You can learn more about GMS here: http://www.girlsms.org/.) This year, we’re happy to renew our support of two excellent grants we supported in the past and to add a new grant.
Equipment for Data Collection and Analysis
One of the many great aspects of STEM education at GMS is that science is taught through the collection of real life (and often real-time) data. The girls use technology to collect, track, and analyze data. For the past few years, GMS has found that equipment made by Vernier, including sensors, data trackers, and a computer interface, serves their needs very well. (You can see the equipment here: https://www.vernier.com/products/interfaces/labq2/). However, GMS’s equipment has become outdated and is in need of replacement due to normal wear and tear.
The Foundation will provide new equipment for all three grades of students at GMS (Grades 6 through 8). The 6th grade students will engage in a yearlong field science program at Filoli (a local nature preserve), which will require them to observe ecosystems and habitats, collect and analyze data, and propose explanations based on their own observations and evidence. The students will get new soil sensors to test the soil. The 7th grade students, as part of their life science curriculum, will study the structure and functions of the human body. The girls will trace an oxygen molecule as it travels through the respiratory and circulatory system into a cell. Vernier heart rate sensors will be an exciting addition to this unit, allowing the girls to see how their heart rate, movement, and daily activities are connected to the circulatory system and their health. Finally, the 8th grade students will use the Vernier equipment as part of their introduction to principles of force and motion.
You can see the soil sensors here: https://www.vernier.com/products/sensors/sms-bta/ and the heart monitors here: https://www.vernier.com/products/sensors/heart-rate-sensors/gw-hr/
The grant is for $2565, which will cover five interface modules, five soil sensors, and five heart rate sensors.
Build-A-Circuit Kits
Last year, the Foundation’s support of GMS’s use of Chibitronic circuit kits (http://chibitronics.com) was a big success, and we’re happy to continue our support this year. The kits, which were designed by a woman affiliated with the MIT Media Lab, help instructors explain how electrical gates -- the basis of all computer chips -- work. The girls build several simple circuits for themselves, connecting batteries and LEDs in various ways with conductive copper tape (no soldering required). One student commented that the kits enabled her to have “a very open opportunity for creativity while also learning about circuits and the basics of how they work.” As GMS noted, “for many girls, this is their very first experience making an electronic circuit and these materials make abstract concepts accessible, understandable, and lead to successful completion.”
The kits are “consumable” and the students take home their completed projects at the end of the unit. This year, we will fund 73 kits, for the entire 8th Grade class, for a total of $1,387.
Exploratorium Field Trip
As we have for the past several years, we will again support a field trip for the entire 8th Grade to the Exploratorium in San Francisco, a science museum that focuses on hands-on, interactive exhibits. (http://www.exploratorium.edu/) GMS science teachers integrate the lessons learned at the Exploratorium into later classroom instruction, and when students are required to do a science project for the annual GMS science exhibition, the students are given the option of explaining one of the exhibits they saw at the Exploratorium. The trip has proven to be a successful way of making science more accessible and interesting to the students.
The grant is $1502, which will cover all 67 students in Grade 8.