Sparkly Science

I recently read an article in USA Today about girls in Science.

Whether they have skinned knees or constantly wear a tutu, we need to meet our future young women scientists where they are.

I agree with the points that the Carnegie Science Center made about offering what appeals most to girls.  And if that is lipstick and nail polish, then so be it.

But I have to admit, I still held off on offering "DIY lipgloss 101" classes.  Until now.

At the end of class sessions, I like to present a STEM Family Challenge to the students.  They work on a project at home with family and then report back to me with what they learned.

Today, I was walking out of class when three girls came running up to me.  They wanted to know if lipstick would count as a STEM Family Challenge.  As is my typical response, I responded with a question of my own.  What do you mean by that?

Well, they were very eager to explain to me that they had created their own line of lip gloss.  Lip gloss!  I asked about the materials and procedure.  They explained that they watched tutorials on YouTube and made them at home with ...............  you'll never guess..........CRAYONS!!!

Did you know crayons are pretty much harmless to eat?  Me neither!  Check out this Instructables about crayon lipstick.  

http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-lipstick-with-crayons/

 I told the girls to come to my office during break to show me their line of lip gloss.  They only have two colors here today, but here they are:

They also had a blue lip gloss but it had a runny consistency.  It provided a great opportunity to talk about oils and water content.  

They can't wait to make me a custom color and to show me their line of nail polish as well. 

Hmmm, I guess sparkly girls really do like sparkly science.