Girl Scouts Bringing NASA Created Program to Southern Illinois

Elizabeth Sanders, I'Anna Hubbard, Kayloni Howes and Esra'a Ross Jaber
take measurements before building a prototype solar-powered water pump.

Girls on Mars? On June 21, Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois (GSSI) hosted a STEM program at North Elementary School in Godfrey that explored the idea that humans could use engineering to live on Mars. Nineteen girls from ages 11-14 participated in the “Powered and Pumped Up!” challenge created by NASA’s Glenn Research Center to plan, build, test, and improve a stand-alone solar powered water pump. While developing their hands-on project, girls learned about light intensity, lenses and manipulation of light, and how mirrors can be used to focus energy, along with other scientific concepts. The curriculum ties into current research being conducted by engineers at Glenn Research Center regarding space travel.

Tyrriah Parker, Amariyah McClenney, and Nariah Bick build a solar-powered
water pump from their own design.

GSSI was one of 13 youth-serving agencies in the Midwest to receive a grant to incorporate the NASA program into their summer curriculum. By the end of the summer, “Powered and Pumped Up!” will also be delivered in Effingham, Carterville and Glen Carbon. STEM is one of four areas that form the foundation of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience, along with Outdoors, Life Skills and Entrepreneurship.


This fall, Girl Scouts of the USA pledged to bring 2.5 Million girls into the STEM Pipeline by 2025. The organization also launched new programming that includes 23 new STEM and Outdoor Badges and plans to introduce 18 Cybersecurity badges and a series of Space Science badges over the next two years.

Madison Slack inspects her team's solar-powered water pump.