Girls embrace science during Carmel STEM event

As part of their mission to break the stereotype of science, technology, engineering and math being dominated by men, Carmel Catholic High School's Fem In STEM club hosted a science event Saturday in Mundelein for second- through eighth-grade girls.

Carmel senior Isabella Pagano said a variety of workshops were part of the event, including engineering-based activities, weather and climate, environmental biology, chemistry experiments and coding.

"That's one of the reasons we started this event," Pagano said. "We wanted to make them feel like they're empowered to be a part of STEM when they're super-young. That way by the time they get to high school they should be really confident to become leaders in our communities."

Among the activities was a simulated oil spill cleanup.

With a feather included to represent the presence of a bird, nontoxic oil was poured atop water in an aluminum tray. It was up to the girls, working in pairs, to decide the best course of action for cleanup.

Skimming the oil from the water or using absorbent material were two of the available methods.

The Fem In STEM club was started in 2018 and has 20 members.