Tag Archives: STEM

Women In Science

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Women are typically overlooked in STEM subjects, even though they contribute heavily to research and innovations. It is now time to recognize the significant achievements women have made. Here are just some women who don’t get the attention they deserve.

  1. Margarethe Hilferding

Hilferding grew up among liberal and Jewish women; she contributed a lot of her knowledge to the field of psychoanalysis, and medicine while also advocating for women’s rights to contraception. She knew as a young kid that she wanted to study medicine, and was one of three female students to be accepted into a university to study physics and math. Many professors made fun of her for taking such rigorous courses as during this time women typically didn’t study these courses. Hilferding was the first Austrian woman to receive a medical degree from the University of Vienna. She produced a theory on maternal instinct, which is seen as controversial, and died in the Holocaust on September 23, 1942.

Aus den medizinhistorischen Beständen der Ub MedUni Wien [132]: Zum 150. Geburtstag von: Hilferding-Hönigsberg, Margarethe: Zur Behandlung der Schwangerschaftsbeschwerden. Vortrag, gehalten in der Gesellschaft für innere Medizin in Wien. | VAN SWIETEN

2. Dr. Dorothy Andersen

Dorothy Andersen was a physician and pathologist who discovered cystic fibrosis in 1983, a heretical condition that impacts the pancreas and lungs. She identified how to look for acute lung and gastrointestinal problems in children. Her first task as a pathologist was to dissect a young child’s organs who was deemed to have celiac disease. As she was examining the organs she noticed some differences in the child’s lungs and pancreas and decided to look at other patients’ autopsies to identify the problem. She wrote a 50-page paper called, “Cystic Fibrosis of the Pancreas and its Relation to Celiac Disease: A Clinical and Pathological Study” and was the first to diagnose this disease in a living patient.

3. Dora Richardson

Dora Richardson was a chemist who invented a breast cancer treatment, tamoxifen. She became a chemist after visiting her sick grandmother in the hospital and worked alongside Arthur Walpole, another chemist. She worked to create compounds, and one day she developed a base for the drug, tamoxifen. Walpole and Richardson discovered it could be an effective drug to prevent breast cancer. A pharmacologist named Craig Jordan selfishly took the title of the “Father of Tamoxifen,” and is now associated with this drug.

Many women are undervalued for their contributions to science. These are just some of many women in the world who are unforgotten for their life-changing discoveries.

STEAM Stations: Engineering Day

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At the beginning of February, the youth team of the library hosted our 2nd STEAM Stations event! What are STEAM Stations? For those who don’t know, STEAM Stations is the monthly library youth event that the Teen Advisory Board organizes that focuses on various aspects of STEAM (Science, Technology, Art, Mathematics). Last month, we focused on binary coding which was a super fun experience. This month, we focused on engineering which was very exciting!

For those who missed it, we had three different stations that focused on simple aspects of engineering:

Our first station was our spaghetti and marshmallow towers. Participants would use their spaghetti sticks and mini marshmallows in order to build a tower as tall as they can. Once they had their tower built, their challenge was to balance one large marshmallow on top. They were all able to test their structures and building skills with a super fun activity.

The second station was our pom-pom catapults. Another activity focused on building but also trajectory! Participants would follow the directions using popsicle sticks, rubber bands, and a plastic spoon in order to create their own catapult that they could test out with fun, colorful pom-poms. It was an entertaining activity that tested more of their building skills and challenged them to launch their pom-poms the farthest they could with their craft. 

Finally, we had our paper-airplane station. A nice, simple station that allowed participants to test what kind of design created the best working paper airplane. Participants could create their own design or follow given directions to try and create the best paper airplane that would be able to soar as far as possible. 

Our February STEAM Stations was another success! It was super popular with people of all ages coming around combined with a mix of returners and newcomers. We had people who knew the event was happening and people who had no idea what STEAM Stations were come to participate. Our participants had a lot of fun experimenting the best ways to build their spaghetti towers, some even working together to build one giant one. They also had a great time launching pom-poms into the air and throwing paper airplanes around the Children’s Center. All of our stations focused on an aspect of building and required everyone to really think about how to create the most efficient design and model while also having fun.

Our third and final STEAM Stations event will be held on March 8 at the Potocki Center for the Arts and will be centered around Biology! We will have even more fun and creative activities ready for everyone who wants to attend. We hope to see you all there!

-Nicole R.

STEAM Stations: Coding Day

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Previously in January, the library held their first STEAM Station to begin the new year. What is STEAM Stations? STEAM Stations is a library program that the Teen Advisory Board organizes that prioritize different aspects of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math). The library’s first STEAM Station was Coding Day; a station concentrated around coding.

For those who missed it, Coding Day had three mini stations all centralized around binary code:

The first station was our name activity. Essentially, it taught all participants how to write their name in binary code in a fun, artistic way. The activity was an art based project where participants would choose two colors (one to represent 1s and one to represent 0s)  so they could create their name in binary code. By coloring in specific squares to fill in the ones and zeroes, they were able to create their own, unique binary block that spelled out their name.

At the second station, participants created a binary code bracelet. Using binary code, they could match the numbers to the three colors of their choosing to create a beaded bracelet with their initials. Each color would represent one letter of their initial which they would then thread through colorful pipe cleaners that could tie around the participant’s wrist. Not only was it fun, but it provided another opportunity to try spelling using binary code. 

Finally, at the third station, participants created a paper binary calculator that could create the binary code for numbers all the way from 0 to 31. While the other two activities focused solely on spelling and creating letters with binary code, the binary calculator focused on creating numbers instead. It was a fun but easy math challenge that got participants thinking and learning numbers in binary code. 

Coding Day was a great success and had a very good turnout. While the event welcomed everyone 6 years old and up, plenty of young kids came and had a fun time creating art while also learning about how create numbers and letters using binary code. I had a fun time seeing their beautiful bracelets and unique binary names as I quizzed them with math problems using the binary calculator. While the event had many young kids, it was open for all ages to enjoy. All the crafts and activities are simple enough for everyone to try out but still fun to do and you get to leave with your own creations. 

While Coding Day was only a one day event, if you are interested in coding, check out the coding program at the Mission Viejo Library for availability. It is open for everyone so do not hesitate to try it out! Furthermore, there are two more STEAM Stations coming up. On February 8th, there will be Engineering Day and our final one on March 8th will be Biology Day. Each will be solely focused on their individual topics with fun and interactive stations for everyone to enjoy. It’s a fun experience that I hope more people come and check it out! Hope to see you all there!

-Nicole R.