For one week in July, female students from the Lakewood School District came to the GCU campus to have fun with science as part of the grant-funded Girls Involved in Science & Technology (GIST) program. (See Flickr photos here.)
About 45 female students in Grades 7-12 participated in the GIST program, with hands-on learning activities focused on chemistry, biology, botany, forensics, physics, mathematics, and statistical data analysis. The students analyzed food dyes in Gatorade, studied the speed of sound with flutes, examined the anatomy of bones, and investigated the fat content of snacks. The high school students also participated in a college preparation session.
Led by GIST Program Director Sarita Nemani, Ph.D., chair of GCU’s Department of Mathematics, GCU faculty created the GIST program in 2004 to inspire young women attending middle school and high school to study science, math, and technology and encourage them to pursue these fields in college.
The GIST 2015 Program was funded by a $15,000 grant from the TD Charitable Foundation and a $3,500 mini-grant from the Provident Bank Foundation.
For more information about GIST, contact Michelle Giles, advancement communications and grants specialist, at 732-987-2276.
