Last week you learned something new that will help you better understand the reasons behind the gender gap in tech, and as always, every other week we give you ideas and recommendations of stuff to do.
And, if you read until the end, you’ll see a new topic, which we added based on your request — from now on, it will be part of every newsletter.
Let’s start!
🤖 Fun and not-so-useful robots
Check out this Youtube channel with videos of a girl engineer making not-so-useful robots. Not only are they entertaining (imagine a robot that feeds you soup or washes your hair), but will help you spark the creativity in your daughter and students. The entire channel is cool, but we suggest starting with the “build” section. The creator behind them is fighting with a brain tumor, so in her videos, you can see some of the stories behind her journey and resiliency.
👩🏽💻 What to do after Scratch?
Your kid is already familiar with Scratch and you feel that it is time for her to move to something new? Search no more! Small Basic is the only programming language created especially to help students transition from block-based coding to text-based coding. By teaching the fundamental elements of syntax-based languages in an approachable manner, Small Basic gives students the skills and confidence to tackle more complex programming languages such as Java and C#.
🎲 Make your own board game
Off-screen activities can also help with boosting your kid’s interest in technology. This week, we suggest you make your own board game while practicing computational thinking. All you need are a pen, paper, and this guide. Be sure to share how it went!
🙋♀️ Rolemodel of the week
Jessica Wade is 33-year-old physicist who has written more than 1,600 Wikipedia entries for long-ignored women scientists. In her 20s, she began writing Wikipedia biographies about women and minority scientists who never got their due — from employers, from other scientists, from the public.
However, not all of Wiki-world was happy with her. Several of her entries were deleted by other Wikimedians, as the most influential contributors and editors are called. She told TODAY.com that they said a handful of the women she wrote up were not all that well-known. And that is exactly the problem she is trying to solve.
She has firm beliefs on ideas on how to support girls interested in the field. “People assume girls don’t choose science because they’re not inspired,” Wade, 33, said in a recent interview. “Girls are already interested. It’s more about making students aware of the different careers in science and getting parents and teachers on board.”
To continue reading about her, check out this article or her own Wikipedia page.
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