Sally Ride Science Club Festival for Girls at Caltech

PASADENA, Calif. — The California Institute of Technology and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory will welcome the Sally Ride Science Club's Los Angeles Science Festival for girls in 6th to 8th grade from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, March 23, at Caltech in Pasadena. Parents and teachers are welcome to attend.

The deadline for pre-registration is March 21. Advance registration is $15 and on-site registration is $20. On-site registration begins at 8 a.m. The fee includes full participation in the festival, materials, and souvenirs.

The festival will include Sally Ride describing her experiences in space in the keynote address. There will also be workshops for girls, including "Exploring the Ocean Floor...Antarctica and Beyond," with Caltech professor of geology and geophysics Joann Stock, "Moving Heat, Saving Energy and Solving Cool Engineering Problems," with professor of mechanical engineering Melany Hunt, "Tumble Through Time: The Development of the Brain," with Ruddock Professor of Biology Marianne Bronner-Fraser, "Earthquake Prediction: A Practical Approach to an Impossible Problem," with U.S. Geological Survey Pasadena Office Scientist-in-Charge Lucy Jones, and "Mars Exploration Rover Project," with a speaker from JPL. A street fair will include entertainment, experiments, and souvenirs.

Workshops for parents and educators include "The Trek to Gender Equity" and "Making the Grade: a Step-by-Step Guide to Funding College Education."

The Sally Ride Science Club is dedicated to supporting girls' interest in math, science, and technology.

"Studies show that in elementary school, roughly the same amount of girls and boys are interested in science and math. But beginning around the 6th grade, more girls than boys drift away from these subjects," said Sally K. Ride, Ph.D., former astronaut and founder, president, and CEO of Imaginary Lines, Inc. "We created the Sally Ride Science Club to support the large numbers of girls who are interested in technical fields by connecting them to each other, to female role models and to their own source of engaging content and activities. Our community science festivals provide a way for these connections to be made on a personal level."

The festival's national sponsor is International Rectifier. Additional sponsors include Cox Communications, Inc., IBM, the Weather Channel, and the Aerospace Company.

Sally Ride Science Club Festivals are being planned for Washington, D.C., and Boston.

The Sally Ride Science Club is operated by Imaginary Lines, Inc., a company founded by Ride to provide support for the large numbers of girls and young women who are, or might become, interested in science, math, engineering, and technology.

The national Club was created to keep girls engaged in science adventures by connecting them to people, information, and attitudes that will nurture their relationship with science at a critical time in their lives. It is open to upper elementary and middle school girls across the country, and actively promotes membership from diverse groups of girls.

For more information on Sally Ride Science Club Festivals and festival registration, visit www.SallyRideFestivals.com. For information on Imaginary Lines and the Sally Ride Science Club, visit www.ImaginaryLinesInc.com.

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CONTACT: Jill Perry, Caltech Media Relations Director (626) 395-3226 [email protected]

Toni DiMartino, Sally Ride Science Club (858) 638-0960 [email protected]

Visit the Caltech media relations web site: http://pr.caltech.edu/media