Over 35 junior girl scouts teamed up with engineering students to earn their merit badges on Saturday as part of the third annual Science in Action event hosted by Cornell’s Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Team (CUAUV).

The event was held in Phillips Hall and involved a variety of group activities, from tower building to internet communication.

Former team leader Ian Wang ’08 started the event three years ago with public relations head Jackie Klein ’08. Tracy Cheung ’10, who runs the public relations sub-team, started planning with the help of Leila Zheng ’11, and Mengying Gu ’12.

According to the team members, Science in Action gets children involved in community service, but it also reminds the engineers why they study science. “It’s very easy for us to get so buried in the technical aspects,” CUAUV team leader Erin Fischell ’10 said.

At the “Got to Communicate” station, the girls — many of them already cell phone owners at 11-years- old — gawked at pictures of primitive phones from the 1980s. Kirill Kalinichev, a junior majoring in electrical and computer engineering, lead a discussion about the history of phone communication, the origins of the internet and the physics of sound, as well as a hands-on activity in which the girls made a phone out of two cups and string.

In Engineering 101, girl scouts went on an internet scavenger hunt to learn about different careers in engineering. Students spoke one-on-one with the girls about what it is like to be an engineer.

Christine Henry, one of the scout’s parents, was surprised by her daughter’s level of interest. “We couldn’t get our group away from the computer,” she said.

“It’s been fun. The girls had a good time … Engineering is a part of everyday life,” troop leader Glenice Molter said.

At the Tower Building station, the teams competed to build the highest tower out of newspaper and scotch-tape with the oversight of an engineer. A team comprised entirely of Cornell students raced against the girl scouts to build the tallest tower.

“Having people interested in [what you are doing] and excited in engineering sort of reminds everyone why they’re doing it,” Fischell said. “It’s definitely one of our main spring events.”

According to Cheung and Fischell, Science in Action’s impact went beyond inspiring scientific inquiry by tackling a sexual bias in the sciences. “Being a female in engineering, one of the things that we’ve always wanted to do is encourage girls … and at least give them the appreciation and exposure to it,” Cheung said.

“There aren’t really enough girls in engineering — they aren’t adequately represented,” Fischell said. “There aren’t as many girls on project teams as we would like, there aren’t as many girls in mechanical and electrical engineering as we would like. We feel like doing this helps in some way,” she added. “It reminds everyone why they’re excited about engineering and what it was that got them excited in the first place.”

“Being able to see the enthusiasm from the girls as they were learning something new was absolutely priceless. The team is definitely looking forward to hosting this event next year and hopes to be able to continue its trend of inspiring today's youth,” Cheung said in an email following the event.