On Saturday, February 3, 2018, CIERA hosted a group from Girls 4 Science, a Chicago based nonprofit “dedicated to exposing girls, ages 10-18 years old, to (STEM) science, technology, engineering and math.”
A total of 95 girls attended the event, where they were split into three groups for various structured activities. Graduate student Aprajita Hajela took groups on a tour of Dearborn Observatory, where they were able to learn about the different types of telescopes astronomers use for research. Graduate student Eve Chase lead a talk discussing celestial orbit, and facilitated a game where the girls could simulate solar systems composed of celestial bodies of varying mass and volume. Graduate student Katie Breivik gave informative talk about the LIGO discovery of gravitational waves, briefly discussing what gravitational waves are, Einstein’s original theory, and the technology behind the discovery. Michelle Paulsen spearheaded the organization of the event.