UM BRIDGES Trainee takes STEM knowledge to the classroom

From Kate Perkins, UM BRIDGES Trainee: 

I currently volunteer with both We Are Montana in the Classroom and the Montana Natural History Center (MNHC). With We Are Montana in the Classroom, I am working with the SciGirls Club in the rural community of Hamilton, Montana where I am a mentor for young girls interested in STEM. We engage with the students through planned activities such as coding projects. I also recently participated as a Science Fair Judge at Russell Elementary School. I drummed up excitement prior to the event by giving a science demonstration. I created a demonstration focused on answering the question: is there something in air? The demonstration was given to approximately 350 students, and I created the script, question, and activity. 

 I currently volunteer several hours each month with the MNHC Naturalist in the Classroom program. As part of this outreach, I visit classrooms across Missoula where students and I review a different topic each month—for example, flowers, or bones—and the students record observations and answer questions about the topic.