BOSTON GLOBE
August 1, 1999

CAMP MAKES SCIENCE FUN FOR GIRLS

By Bella English

I have to admit, my science career was short-lived and unspectacular. We dissected frogs in the ninth grade; I ended up retching in the bathroom from the sight of that poor creature splayed helplessly across my desk amidst the reek of formaldehyde. The next year, my chemistry lab was nearly blown up by some of us (sodium + water = kaboom). In college, I chose geography, which we fondly called ``Rocks for Jocks,'' because it was such a slide. I scraped by with a ``C.''

Slide, shmide.

So I was intrigued by a camp offered this summer in Easton geared toward girls and science. If only I'd been introduced to some decent, fun science, I might today know the difference between a quirk and a quark. (I might, I said.)

Three years ago, some women at the Children's Museum in Easton and Borderland State Park in Sharon, worried about research showing that girls were getting short shrift in science classes, applied for a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. The result is Girls & Science, a day camp held Tuesdays and Thursdays at Borderland during July and August. Morning sessions are offered to girls entering grades 4 and 5; afternoon sessions for girls entering grades 6, 7, and 8. The site is significant, too: Borderland was once the homestead of Blanche Ames, a well-known scientist, inventor, and suffragist.

The camp came about after the state's cultural council asked for proposals for underserved populations. Girls and science seemed to fit the bill. ``We were starting to see a lot of evidence that around middle school, girls start to lose self-confidence in general, and in particular their scores in math and science start dropping,'' said Paula Peterson, the museum's executive director. At age 9, both boys and girls have similar proficiency scores in science; by 13, the girls' scores have dropped, Peterson said.

To combat such dismal scores -- and to encourage interest in science -- the camp offers hands-on sessions with women scientists, who act as role models for the students. So far, the girls have done everything from dissecting a pig's heart to studying pond water under microscopes to doing an archeological dig.

One recent session, titled ``Doctor for a Day,'' featured a first-year medical student who showed the girls how to take their pulse rates at rest, after walking slowly around the room, after 20 jumping jacks, and, finally, after jogging. The girls used stethoscopes, which they then took home.

An archeologist took peaches, placed them in four environments, from frozen to heated, and did a lesson on preservation. She also gave each girl a penny and asked them to describe it as if they were living 5,000 years in the future. What did they notice? Who was this man, some sort of god? (No, just Abe Lincoln.) Why were there two languages on each penny? What was that weird-looking building on the back?

On a recent day, the girls sat and sketched flowers and leaves with Katherine Brown-Wing, an environmental illustrator who works for the Harvard Museum of Natural History. ``Science is a rough road for girls,'' said Brown-Wing. ``You really have to get them when they're young.'' She instructed her young artists to observe the difference between inner and outer petals and asked how many of them some day wanted to go into science; only two hands shot into the air.

Marissa Athanasiou of Easton, who will be in the seventh grade, attended science camp last summer, too. ``I don't really like science in school,'' she said. ``But I like the things we do here. It's not like school at all. It's fun.''

The girls each must keep a science journal. To get parents involved, the camp staff sends home science trivia questions. A family night is held each session at the computer center at Bridgewater State College. And each session features a field trip to an herb farm.

Renee Walker is an intern with the camp and a student at Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire, majoring in archeology. ``I was not a great student in science,'' she said. ``It wasn't until I got to college that I got the encouragement I needed. Girls are unaware they can actually take science and make a career of it.''

Of the girls at camp, a couple have already decided on a science career. Kayla Whittaker of Easton wants to be an astronomer. ``I read a book on planets and stuff, and I became interested in life on different planets,'' she said.

Emily Harrop of Norton is interested in marine biology. ``I kind of grew up down on the Cape,'' she said, adding that she is ``fascinated by whales.''

Samantha Kone of Easton doesn't think she wants to go into science. ``I always thought it was kind of boring,'' she said, ``until I came to camp.''

The message is clear: Science teachers, do more hands-on work, encourage the girls in your classes. Parents, take time to point out the earth, the skies, and the sea to your daughters, as well as your sons.

And don't, whatever you do, mix sodium with water.

Openings remain for the last session of Girls & Science, which begins Aug. 3. Call 508-230-3789.