Twelve teenage girls held out their hands and watched as beads of liquid nitrogen rolled down their palms, evaporating before even hitting the ground. Lane Martin, a University of Central Florida graduate research assistant, demonstrated the uses of liquid nitrogen during UCF\u2019s Science Olympiad Adventure Camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love science because I love being able to see things in a different light,\u201d said Taylor Craven, as the beads vanished. \u201cHere, we are learning what we can do in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Craven was among the attendees of a weeklong camp offered by UCF\u2019s College of Optics and Photonics. Several hands-on activities and demonstrations led by UCF graduate students were designed to spark the girls\u2019 interest in science and math.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything we can do to build positive attitudes and a positive association with science is great for anyone, but particularly we\u2019re looking to get more females interested in careers in science and math,\u201d said camp instructor Jamie Vander Wiede, a graduate student at UCF\u2019s College of Education.<\/p>\n
While at UCF, the students enjoyed a tour of campus and learned about lasers and lights.<\/p>\n
They engaged in hands-on scientific activities that included designing and building bottle rockets using Alka-Seltzer and water; creating towers and bridges out of wood and glue; and building water filtration systems using sand, rocks and baking soda.<\/p>\n
They also conducted simple lab experiments and participated in problem solving activities.<\/p>\n