Shake things up: Young girls tackle designing earthquake-resistant buildings

San Diego –

As any good structural engineer knows, materials matter. On Saturday at the Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park, there was duct tape and hot glue.

Ten teams from five San Diego County elementary schools were on hand to crown a week-long program called SciTech. It aims to get girls interested in science and technology, two fields that have long been male-dominated.

This year’s challenge was to build a 4-foot-tall, earthquake-resistant tower out of cardboard boxes, plastic yogurt containers, aluminum cans, and other recyclable materials. A panel of judges was on hand to select the best design.

But first, the teams of fourth, fifth, and sixth graders were given 30 minutes to put the finishing touches on their buildings, which they had built over the course of four weeks. This is where tape and hot glue came in.

“It needs a little more support here,” said a member of the Bonita Building Bananas team, referring to the seam where a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee caddy was attached to a box backed with tissue paper roll. Another team member moves in with a glue gun.

At a nearby table, a Daisy Thin Mints girl raised her hands and said, “Still wobbly!” Masking tape was applied in long strips.

Hot glue spreads on the structure of the Bonita Building Bananas team at the Fleet Science Center’s SciTech Challenge on Saturday.

(Brittany Cruz Ferran/For the San Diego Union-Tribune)

Problem-solving is a big part of SciTech, according to Daniela Sanchez Cruz and Madeline McClanahan, the Fleet Science instructors who run the program. “We want them to gain the confidence to be creative and to figure things out together,” Cruz said.

Schools apply to participate in the after-hours program, which began in 2008. This year, nearly 50 schools were selected and five were selected: Avondale Elementary School in Spring Valley, Logan Memorial Campus in Logan Heights, and Bostonia Global in El Cajon, Bayside STEAM Academy in Imperial Beach, and Ella B. Allen Elementary in Bonita.

“We need more girls in science,” said Bayside School Principal Kevin Kunst. “If they weren’t exposed to it in grade school, they’re less likely to take science classes in middle school, AP chemistry in high school, and beyond. Our girls can’t be what they don’t bet.”

After the teams finished cementing the towers on Saturday, the buildings were put on carts and wheeled to the Hickoff Giant Dome, where the four judges — all women with science backgrounds and jobs — were waiting.

The teams advanced one by one. Some of the towers were taller than the girls who built them. The structures were tested for strength by placing a 5-pound weight on top and leaving it there for 15 seconds. They were taken to a vibrating table and scrambled for 60 seconds to measure their flexibility.

Only two towers broke off during the weight or vibration test. “You all did an amazing job. It wasn’t cool being a nerd back then,” said Kristen Stovko, one of the judges and principal at Aya Healthcare, who recalled struggling as a girl with an interest in science.

The Daisy Thin Mints team named this sad face Stevenson at the Fleet Science Center’s SciTech Challenge on Saturday.

(Brittany Cruz Ferran/For the San Diego Union-Tribune)

She announced the winners of the honorable mention ribbons, third place, second place, and then first prize, which went to Daisy Thin Mints, from Bostonia, for a tower they called (for reasons even the girls couldn’t explain) “Stevenson”.

After team members Avery Stitch, Saj Keener, Violet Williams, and Anahi Granillo received their awards, they posed for photos. Nobody has to tell them to smile.

They returned to their seats and someone shouted, “Stevenson forever!”

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