Nearly 100 girls from Menlo’s Bridge to Engineering, Science &
Technology (M-BEST) program had a "Night at the Museum" in September—a
sleepover at The Tech Museum in San Jose. A unique, engaging way to
introduce the girls to even more science, the event also promoted
camaraderie, connection and collaboration.
The evening opened
with orientation and dinner, and then the girls split into two groups:
Earthlings and Martians. The groups rotated between activities.
On
the roof, astronomers from the San Jose Astronomical Society shared
views from their telescope for star/planet gazing, targeting Uranus,
colorful double star Albireo, the Ring Nebula, various star clusters—and
of course, Mars, where the Curiosity rover is doing lab work in “real
time”!
In the galleries, students took on a variety of hands-on
activities. “Mission: Mars, Gale Crater” and “What Would YOUR Planet
Look Like” were design challenges. For “Spaghettify: Understanding Black
Holes,” girls learned how the stretching of black holes works and how
an astronaut or star would stretch out as it enters. “Tessalations” took
place in The Tech’s Hands-On Science Workshop.
The evening continued with a showing of Hubble
in the IMAX theater (popcorn included!), and then it was off to sleep
(we hope!). After breakfast, the girls shopped the Tech Store and had
free time in the museum before it opened for the public.