10th Anniversary of Introduce A Girl To Engineering Day - February 24, 2011

What do you know about Rosalind Franklin? Chances are that you didn't read about her in school. However, she made some very important contributions to our world! You see...Rosalind Franklin was a crystallographer. Her work helped to uncover the detailed structures of coal, graphite, viruses, and DNA. In fact, the work she did on DNA allowed James D. Watson and Francis Crick to develop their model of the structure of DNA in 1953. You know...that double-helix we all build with toothpicks and gumdrops in school. It earned Watson and Crick a place in every biology textbook since and a Nobel Prize, which they shared with Maurice Wilkins. Unfortunately, very few people know about the contributions of Dr. Franklin.

Rosalind Franklin is just one example of the ways in which women have contributed to the fields of science, engineering, and mathematics. Despite these success stories, however, women are still severely underrepresented in the engineering profession. In fact, research shows that girls and young women lose interest in subjects and the fields of study leading to engineering careers long before they enter college.

Enter Introduce a Girl To Engineering Day! The program - an outgrowth of the first National Engineers Week Diversity Summit, held in October 1999 - aims to mobilize women and men in an effort to connect girls in K-12 schools to careers in engineering. The program is supported by universities and private organization such as ExxonMobil, The Motorola Solutions Foundation, The National Coalition of Girls' Schools, SciGirls, and The Society of Women Engineers.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Introduce A Girl To Engineering Day and as a part of the anniversary celebration there is a special 10 for 10 anniversary campaign. The goal of 10 for 10 is to generate interests in engineering careers by giving 10,000 10-year-old girls a positive engineering experience. The campaign launches nationally on February 24, 2011 and runs for 10 weeks, concluding on May 8, Mother’s Day. You can read more about the campaign and find out how you can be involved at at www.eweek.org or simply click here.

Other interesting sites:

• Association for Women in Science (www.awis.org)
• I Was Wondering: A Curious Look At Women's Adventures in Science (www.iwaswondering.org)

That’s right! It’s February 2nd…Groundhog Day! If you are not familiar with this particular observance, this is how the whole thing works. Early in the morning on Februay 2nd, people gather around the burrow of a Marmota monax; a large rodent also known as the whistle pig, eastern marmot, southern marmot, monk, woodchuck, or groundhog. It is believed that if the groundhog sees his shadow when he climbs out of the burrow, there will be six more weeks of cold, wintery weather. On the other hand, if he doesn’t wee his shadow, the warmth of spring will arrive soon. Here’s an additional little nugget to impress your friends with today: Groundhog Day is a cross-quarter day. That means it fall halfway between the Winter Solstice and Vernal Equinox.

There are a number of cities that host their own Groundhog Day celebrations…complete with their own groundhogs. Here are some of the results from this year:

Punxsutawney Phil (Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania): Early Spring
Jimmy the Groundhog (Sun Prairie, Wisconsin): Early Spring
Wiarton Willie (Wiarton, Ontario): Early Spring
French Creek Freddie (French Creek, West Virginia): Early Spring
General Beauregard Lee (Lilburn, Georgia): Early Spring
Chuckles (Manchester, Conn): Early Spring
Dunkirk Dave (Dunkirk, New York): Early Spring
Balzac Billy (Balzac, Alberta): Six more weeks of winter
Buckeye Chuck (Marion, Ohio): Early Spring
Octorara Orphie (Lancaster, PA): Six more weeks of winter
Pierre C. Shadeaux (New Iberia, LA): Early Spring
Staten Island Chuck (Staten Island, NY): Early Spring
Dover Doug (Dover, Pennsylvania): Early Spring (although Groundhog Day was canceled due to weather)

I know what you are asking. Is there any science behind this whole Groundhog Day thing? I did a bit of research and this is what I found out.

Historically, people have observed animal behavior for clues to changes in the weather. For example, geese flying south is a sign of the coming of fall. The reappearance of hibernating or inactive animals is a sign of winter’s end. When German settlers came to Pennsylvania in the 1700s, they selected the groundhog as their seasonal forecaster.

There may also be a meteorological explanation for groundhog day. It is thought that the observance may have roots in a weather phenomenon described in the Scottish poem below:

If Candlemas Day is bright and clear,
There’ll be two winters in the year.

The idea behind this poem can be found in cultures around the world. In the poem, Candlemas Day refers to February 2nd…Groundhog Day. Farmers in ancient Europe noticed that bright, clear winter days are often very cold. We now know that this is caused by high pressure systems. Areas of high pressure pull cold air down from the north. They also sweep away any clouds that might have provided insulation. Consequently, a bright winter day (one on which a groundhog may see a shadow) may be an indication of more cold days to come.

Of course, none of this is sound evidence that groundhog can actually predict the coming of spring. Instead, groundhogs day can be seen as a celebration of the role of scientific observation and prediction in our world. Every day, we make observations about the world around us, attempt to make meaning of those observations, and create predictions about the way things will happen in the future. Groundhog Day is wonderful example of this. Over the course of time, we have combined our observations of animal behavior and weather to create a system for predicting spring. Does it work? Well, that is a question I will leave to you and your children to explore.

Other great sites to check out on Groundhog Day:

• Groundhog Central
• Kids Domain on Groundhogs Day