Museum of Science & Industry - Thalia Estrada, Week 2

 

Museum of Science & Industry (Chicago, Illinois) 

Internship Week 2, Thalía Estrada

Monday-Thursday:

Hi guys! I continued more on my research about migration (specifically Hispanic and Latinos) to the United States. This project is still kind of a work in project, but this is most of what my research consisted of:

These migrants are moving for different reasons, but a vast majority of this demographic is moving to bigger cities—like New York and Chicago—to obtain work opportunities that their homeland cannot provide for them. Chicago has shelters that provide housing for these individuals, which allows me to instigate on where the next move on these migrants is.

This process is tricky, as many of the shelters are not disclosed to the public media. This is primarily due to violent threats amongst opposing people who do not like the idea of housing migrants. Although, with what I could find, I kept these shelter areas in mind.

Previously, I had collected zipcodes from surveys that the museum had given their visitors at a Science Works Event. Based off those zip codes, I was able to figure out which of them are at a five-mile radius from the museum. Having those zip codes then allowed me to find what elementary, middle, and high schools are not only around the area, but also have a high percentage of mainly Hispanic and Latino students enrolled. With these schools in mind, I hope it can forecast a prognostication of where migrants may go to in regards of enlisting their children in school. This allows the museum to know where to concentrate their attention towards; it provides target groups for the museum to lay opportunities to a new demographic of visitors.

In between my research, I get the time to explore, inspect, and just get to learn about what other amazing things are happening at the Museum:  

Wednesday

After researching in the morning, I was able to volunteer in a teacher workshop where teachers come into a room in the museum and pretend to be six graders while being taught a science course. This is done in order to make sure these teachers know how to adequately teach their students. We all collectively got taught a “free lesson” on ecosystems, food chains, and why the sharks in aquariums don’t eat the fish around them. Our “teacher” played music as we pretended to be aquatic animals (that were chosen for us) swimming around the ocean. As soon as she paused the music, we stopped where we were at and figured out how our assigned aquatic animal would react with one another (of the teachers) through papers handed to us.  I got to interact with teachers through this activity which allowed me to see the other side of education where I am not the student.

Thursday

On Thursday, I worked on the kit project for girls interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering, & math). To get young girls to be interested in participating in this program, there must be a “grabber” that leads them on. When the Girls in STEM appears at other events going on at the museum, to gain interest, interactive activities is a way that Dulce had been experimenting with her teams to achieve that. Earlier on, Girls in STEM would give out boxes that would have simple house items (a plastic cup, straw, pipe cleaner, string, etc.) for girls to design their own prototypes. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always appear interesting to this young female demographic that the program is targeting.  That is why Dulce and I have been brainstorming ideas to completely re-do the Girls in STEM kits to make them more interesting.

 Not much can be said for that project, as it is the commencement of more to come, but in the meantime, I have been working on finding ambassadors for the flyers given out; flyers are given out in order to also grab the attention of those who wish to join the program. These ambassadors can be found at: https://www.ifthenshecan.org/ambassadors/ , where the American Association of Advancement of Science brought together 125 talented women STEM professional on to a national platform available to all. This website hopes to further women in STEM by empowering current innovators and inspiring the next generation of pioneers on to a national platform. When reading through the profiles of these women, I concentrated on displaying BIPOC, showing the array of diversity between women in STEM. I also collected a quote from each of these women, words that inspire and motivate the youth. I have to say so for myself, some of those quotes really had me smiling. Especially these two:

Ana Maria Porras (Biomedical Engineer) – “My advice to you? Be brave and don’t be scared to try new things. Maybe one day you’ll also have a job that goes beyond your imagination. If I could do it, so can you.”

 

Sarah Wilson (Robotic Engineer) – “My motto? Do what you love, but when what you love changes, don’t be afraid to change with it.” 

Friday

    On Friday’s, I get more time to explore what the museum has to offer. During these times, I try to notice barriers that the museum may run into when it comes to the Hispanic/Latino museum. In the morning, Dulce—who oversees organizing, scheduling, and processing these events—allowed me the chance to see how the 3D workshops are organized at the museum. Visitors can book an event whenever they want in advance and receive a lesson on how to create their own 3D print.

    Dulce told me that the museum leaves 3D print machines running in front of a window (all day!), letting visitors see the machines in action.

    The museum also gives out some of those 3D prints out for free! I got a duck and Dia De Los Muertos skull.

     Later, that afternoon, I had the opportunity to stop by the FAB LAB, where children ages ranging from that of elementary, up to high school, were divided up. There, they work on STEM related tasks for a week. Today, for Family Friday, the campers got time with their parents where they got to show them what they have been learning, creating, and working on. The older kids got to work with 3D printing and laser cutting. Middle schoolers worked on fabric stitching and designing (as well as coding and robotics). The smaller children got to work with yarn stitching and creating their own origami!

To the left: wood cutting laser machine To the right: legos that some of the campers built to show parents

To the left: the software needed to design 3D prints To the right: the 3D prints getting designed/finished product

      I got taught how to use a laser cutting machine by a kid who was about ten years old! He was building a type of model airplane. He told me he had to build multiple of them, and that he constantly has to go back to fix the sizing. 

      Another girl (younger than me) was showing me a Roblox character she designed, while another was teaching me how to design it. It was impressive seeing how young these children were, yet with just a small amount of time, they were able to use these skills they have augmented to bring life to their ideas and designs.

      To end it off, I explored the James Bond exhibit called “007 Science.” I’ve never watched any of the James Bond movies, but the exhibition reminded me of how the the National Museum of African American History& Culture (in Washington D.C.) implemented artifacts that belonged to a said set. Although I couldn’t identify with what I was seeing, I did get to see more of that English/Spanish translation that helps the Hispanic community navigate throughout the museum.

            Following that exhibit, I visited the U505 Submarine—a REAL German ship captured by the U.S. Navy during World War 2. The tour guide there walked us through the ship while giving us more information about it: how the crew would share lice infested bunk beds inside rooms with torpedos, and how the museum had to build walls/ceilings around the submarine to allocate it within the museum. In general, this experience was unique and I recommend the visit!

 

    This week—the researching, interacting with visitors, getting advice from workers, learning, and going through exhibitions—was fun! I can’t wait for next week! :)