06 Mar Andeavor STEM Academy Spotlight, Marian and Michelle

“Marian is older. She helps me in my classes and in STEM. I want to be like her and mentor new students when they come next year.”

-Marian, 6th grade Club member and future engineer.”

(Pictured: Michelle and Marian stand proudly next to their bridge holding “the weight of the world”.)

Michelle is a first year Club and STEM Academy member. She is passionate about STEM and enjoys the relationships built while working with other girls in the program. Recently, Michelle and her teammate Marian were challenged to create a bridge that held the most weight out of all their classmates.

In this activity, Marian and Michelle flexed their STEM concepts of researching, hypothesizing, testing, and observing. They researched different kinds of bridges; trusses, suspension, and more. Together, they determined, the best option would be to build a truss style bridge.

The girls wanted to prove their bridge was the strongest so they literally tested it with the weight of the world. Although, Michelle was excited to see her bridge hold up to the test, Marian was less impressed with the joke.

Next, Michelle and Marian will begin work on their STEM Day project. Every year, students participate in STEM Day where they develop a project that they are passionate about; test their hypothesis using the scientific or engineering method; and present it to STEM professionals. Michelle says, ” I want to do something about mental health. I think it is a very important topic.”

It is through experiences like STEM Day that propel girls like Marian and Michelle into STEM careers. If you would like to help with our upcoming STEM Day please contact Tiffany at [email protected].