June 24, 1999
The Raleigh (NC) News & Observer

### Camp gives girls a shot at science

By Phillip Reese
Staff Writer
Raleigh -- As anyone might whose skin has just turned completely green, the mouse seemed a little stunned.
"It's like green sparkles," said Allison Nowicki, a sixth-grader at Macon Middle School in Franklin, watching the green mouse dangle by his tail above a bag of nontoxic fluorescent paint. "You know - like we put on our cookies."
In the name of science, 12 sixth-grade girls watched the field mouse take a dip in paint Tuesday night, then let it go, following its trail to study the night behavior of wild mammals. The activity was a highlight of the inaugural N.C. Girls in Science Summer Camp, a weeklong camp sponsored by the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences and designed to encourage sixth-grade girls from across the state to pursue their interest in science.
"Sixth-grade girls tend to be real interested in science, but they tend to go underground with that interest as social pressures come along," said Jan Weems, Girls in Science specialist at the museum. "This is a way for the girls to see opportunities in science."
Camp participants were selected based on an essay and teacher recommendations. The cost of the program is low compared with many other sleep-away camps: $100 for the entire week. Scholarships are available. The camp is being held this year at Raleigh's Blue Jay Point County Park.
On Monday, participants went to a local pond, catching water critters and testing water quality. They also set traps for mice, an exercise that paid off Tuesday night. Later this week, the girls will take a canoe trip down the White Oak River and camp along the Pamlico Sound.
"It's really neat," said Tracy Sadler, a student at Jones Middle School in Pollocksville. "I learned about all the different animals, and at dinner we learned about plants."
"I was really excited because I really like science," said Caroline Forbes, who attends Chicod Middle School in Greenville. "I'm thinking of being a scientist."
Scientists, many of them from the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences, guide the girls through daily educational activities.
"I enjoy learning about animal behavior and I enjoy sharing that with the kids," said Ed Hajnos, a curator at the museum who directed Tuesday's "Magic Mice" activity. "They are really sharp. They are not timid. They are really gung-ho."
The Girls in Science program features numerous activities throughout the year, including science clubs and an annual, yearlong project that allows girls to study problems facing the Neuse River.
Next year, there will be two Girls in Science camps, one in the mountains and the other in the Piedmont, said Nancy Walters, public information coordinator at the museum. The Girls in Science camps are restricted to sixth-grade girls, and applications are taken in late winter.
Caption: 2 c photos; photo
Museum of Natural Sciences educator M.T. Palmer peers into an empty field-mouse trap as Girls in Science campers Katherine Ragland, Stephanie Nobles and Allison Nowicki look on. This field mouse didn't elude a trap and found itself dipped in nontoxic fluorescent paint so it could be tracked at night. Candlelight illuminates the pages of Claire Darling's journal as the Chapel Hill sixth-grader records the events of her day at Girls in Science Summer Camp.
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