Interest in science is gender-blind. That’s the message the NDSU WISMET (Women in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology) organization brought to Fargo’s Washington Elementary School on April 14. Approximately 40 fourth and fifth grade boys and girls participated in an afterschool event.

WISMET led the students through presentations that exposed them to concepts in five different scientific disciplines: archeology, biology, chemistry, engineering and math. According to Emily Hagemeister, NDSU WISMET president, the event was a huge success.

Activities during the event included garbage can archeology where students defined and identified a person based on things they consumed or threw away. The boys and girls made cookies that represented cells of living things. Participants froze a racquetball with liquid nitrogen to explore different properties of chemicals and solids. They built bridges using toothpicks and marshmallows and then subjected them to stress tests. Students also learned about different properties of numbers and they identified concepts people use in everyday problem solving.

Created in 1996, the WISMET program was designed to foster educational and career opportunities in the sciences for women. Part of its outreach mission is to nurture the interest of young girls in science fields.