On Saturday, Feb. 25, more than 160 girls from several Durham elementary schools visited Duke to participate in FEMMES. The day-long program, organized by sophomore Vicki Weston, is designed to encourage young girls to take an interest in math, science and engineering.

In another experiment, the girls started by drawing shapes on a piece of paper using a pen and then released a few termites onto the paper. The students observed that the termites would follow the shapes they drew. Then the girls used the scientific method -- observation, question, hypothesis, prediction, and experiment -- to find out that these insects followed the drawings because they picked up the scent of the ink.

Nine female Duke professors from several departments and the Duke chapter of the Society of Women Engineers created the experiments for the visiting girls.

It wasn’t easy work. “I was challenged by the idea of being able to communicate these ideas [on genetics] to fourth graders,” Hill said.

The young students broke into small groups and rotated through four activities during the day. All the experiments were designed to engage the students and give them an impression of a college setting.

“What we are trying to do is get the girls, who are interested in science or who are on that margin, to imagine being a college student,” said engineering professor Gary Ybarra, one of Weston’s advisers in the project.

“[The girls] were very enthusiastic and helpful,” said Pallavi Kansal, a sophomore member of Society of Women Engineers.

“The girls are getting it. They are really giving us some creative answers,” Schwartz-Bloom said.

Elizabeth Hodgson, a science teacher at Parkwood Elementary School who accompanied her students to Duke, was also impressed by the response of her students.

“I’ve heard them ask questions I’ve never heard them ask in school. I was proud of them,” she said.

Weston organized this event to show young girls opportunities available to them in math and science.

"There are different reasons why there are fewer women in science and engineering than men,” she said. “By reaching out to girls at an early age, we can show that these fields are not beyond their reach. It is important for girls to realize that anything is possible.”

Durham public school officials lent assistance. “I thought this was incredible for the girls and Durham public schools,” Hodgson said. “Once [the girls] found it was only for girls, they thought it was a chance to do something without boys.”

Judging from their responses, the girls learned a lot. Anne Marie O’Donohue, a student at Parkwood Elementary, said, “It’s awesome. We got to experiment with aspirin and all kinds of drippy things.”

When asked about whether she was interest by the day’s events, Maria Salazar said, “Yeah, I want to be a veterinarian.”

Based on the response, Weston said she hopes to turn it into an annual program.

“It’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done,” said Weston after the event.