WD preps students for science, technology careers

Kristin Jackson, head for Propellants and Explosives Processing Branch at NAWCWD China Lake, demonstrates to the participants on how chemical reactions can take place while playing with putty experiments.Photo by Staci Mathews.

Date: 08-Apr-08
News Release Number: ECL200804081
By Staci Mathews NAWCWD Public Affairs

Rear Adm. David Dunaway, NAWCWD commander, welcomed Expanding Your Horizons participants at China Lake on March 15 with about 150 students attending throughout the high desert region and far away as San Diego.

The event provided sixth, seventh and eighth grade students a chance to explore the various scientific fields associated with engineering, and computer and physical sciences, and gave these potential engineers insight into their future careers. Hosted by Ridgecrest Women of Math and Science, Inc. and the Ridgecrest Elks Lodge, the group toured Michelson Lab and saw various demonstrations led by NAWCWD employees including, Crime Scene Investigation, Mix it Up, and Pucker Power.

Jennifer Wong, a software developer for Range Control Center, led one of the demonstrations called, "Crime Scene Investigation." Wong introduced forensics science on criminal profiling with real world examples, such as chromatograph to gather evidence from a crime scene. Participants had the opportunity to gather evidence by soaking paper with alcohol to determine what kind of pen was used by the criminal.

"This was my first year presenting; it was great to see what processes take place in a crime scene and how the students work together," said Wong.

Popular among the students was a demonstration called, "Mix it Up," led by Kristin Jackson, head Propellants and Explosives Processing Branch, and Heather Simons, chemical engineer for the Product Quality Laboratory. The goal was to see how far the students could stretch putty and determine how the material reacts differently by applying slow and steady force versus hard pressure.

"This was a lot of fun and I would definitely come back and do this experiment again," said Faith Carter, a seventh grader at James Monroe Middle School. "It was a lot of hands on and it makes you want to see if this could apply to science projects at school."

Jackson added, "I've been doing this for four years now and it's a great way to show that science is applied in the real world and could apply to a career."

"Chemistry is more than book work, it's great to get the kids out here and expand their ideas and see that science can be used as a toy to play with," said Simons. "You don't know how something works until you feel versus seeing." Meghan Baronowski, materials engineer, and Sara Ford, environmental engineer of Ballistics Test Lab, led a demonstration called, "Pucker Power." Both Baronowski and Ford, who have done workshop demonstrations for four years, had the participants involved in creating an explosion by dropping Mentos mints and M&Ms into a bottle of soda to see how surface area can affect the size of the explosion.

The participants found Mentos mints have a larger surface area and the explosion with soda was larger.

"I thought this would be good to use items kids are familiar with like candy and soda," said Baronowski. "It shows students that normal things around you can apply to science."

"This is a good way for students to come out and see the theoretical from school and see how it translates with the real world," said Ford.

Through participation in hands-on workshops, participants are introduced to applications in math, science and technology for traditional and non-traditional careers.

EYH events have been happening annually during Women's History Month throughout the United States since 1976.

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