Project Exploration Blog

Noelani is the youngest of the girls, explaining to her mom all the fun she plans to have.

Mariama shares a smile with Jameela during the orientation.

With the summer now in full swing, Project Exploration is excited to begin field programs with our students. This month, nine middle and high school young women embark on the All Girls Expedition, a two-week science and leadership program where students work alongside scientists in Chicago and Yellowstone National Park. This year, students will be studying Yellowstone’s unique geology, thermal features (like Old Faithful!), extreme water environments, and wildlife.

The All Girls Expedition kicked-off on Wednesday, July 7 with an orientation for students and their parents. It was a great opportunity for Project Exploration and the All Girls Expedition team members to meet one another and get excited for the program.

To tell us more about the orientation, we have our very own Project Exploration correspondent, Jasmine Fleming. Jasmine is a junior at Dr. Martin Luther King College Preparatory High School and has been participating in Project Exploration programs since middle school. Jasmine has been a team member of the All Girls Expedition twice – once as a team leader! In her words, here is what Jasmine had to say about this year’s All Girls Expedition orientation:

One could tell that the girls were full of anticipation and becoming anxious. Some with faces ready to learn, others that had never even been away from home. But none the-less smiles glowed because they all knew they were ready to try new things. As Jameela asked them to state their names and what they were looking forward to the most, “exploring wildlife” was the most common answer.

Looking forward to things that they wouldn’t normally see in Chicago was exciting to them all. Parents had very few questions knowing their children were in good hands.

And right before orientation ended “It is important to step out of the box in different ways to contribute to the outside world. So it doesn’t matter what grade you’re in, it’s what you bring to the table,” Jameela reminded them all with a grin from ear to ear full of anticipation herself.

The All Girls Expedition class starts on Monday, July 12. Stay tuned for more blog postings about our exploration in Chicago and Yellowstone!

Congratulations to our All Girls Expedition team members on beginning this journey together:

• Tykesha B., 10^th grade, Perspectives Charter School – Calumet High School of Technology
• Brianna B., 10^th grade, John Hope College Prepartory High School
• Mariama J., 10^th grade, Perspectives Charter School – Rodney D. Joslin
• Noelani O., 8^th grade, Telpochcalli Elementary School
• Kaylor O., 9^th grade, Perspectives Charter School – Calumet High School of Technology
• Shamerea R., 12^th grade, University of Chicago Charter School – Woodlawn
• Constance R., 12^th grade, University of Chicago Charter School – Woodlawn
• Kenisha S., 12^th grade, University of Chicago Charter School – Woodlawn
• Genesis V., 12^th grade, Perspectives Charter School – Rodney D. Joslin
  

  Shamerea talks about what she is most excited about.

Kassandra captures her thoughts and observations in her journal during the All Girls Expedition in 2007. Photo M. E. Perez

Kassandra Davis, member of Sisters4Science, All Girls Expedition, and the Nigersaurus Delegation, is featured as one of “8 Under 18″ in the September issue of Chicago magazine. Kassandra was nominated for this honor by Project Exploration Girls’ Program Coordinator Jameela Jafri.

Pick up the magazine now, or read the story on the Chicago Magazine web site.
Congratulations, Kassandra!

Article image © Chicago magazine.

This year's All Girls Expedition team!

Project Exploration’s All Girls Expedition team just returned from an amazing week in the world’s first national park, Yellowstone! A scrapbook and pictures will be online soon, but in the meantime, let’s congratulate these nine amazing women for their non-stop enthusiasm and hard work:

• Angelic B., Perspectives Charter School – Calumet Campus, 10^th grade
• Alejandra C., Perspectives Charter School – Rodney D. Joslin Campus, 10^th grade
• Michelle D., ACE Technical Charter High School, 12^th grade
• Winorr M., Perspectives Charter School – Calumet Campus, 11^th grade
• Mercedes M., Graduate of Young Women’s Leadership Charter School
• Ta’Kia P., Young Women’s Leadership Charter School, 12^th grade
• Ariel T., Perspectives Charter School – Rodney D. Joslin Campus, 11^th grade
• Xochitl V., Perspectives Charter School – Rodney D. Joslin Campus, 11^th grade
• Genesis V., Perspectives Charter School – Rodney D. Joslin Campus, 11^th grade

Ta'Kia, Angelic, and Michelle work with scientist, Kevin, to track a collared coyote.

In the first week of the program here in Chicago, we learned that Yellowstone sits on an active supervolcano and has all the ingredients for over 10,000 hydrothermal features, like Old Faithful Geyser. We learned all about the wildlife that we might see and how to track coyotes. In addition, each team member became an expert on two organisms (plants and animals) in the park. You can read about the send-off event where the girls presented on Science Chicago’s blog.

Yellowstone was full of geologic wonders and amazing wildlife! We spotted two black bears, one with a first-year cub, and a grizzly bear foraging for berries! Whether it was a bald eagle in the far distance, a river otter lunching on cutthroat trout, or bighorn sheep carefully treading on rocky hills, the All Girls Expedition team kept their eyes open for anything moving. While hiking around Nymph Lake to measure pH and temperature of hot springs, the team members found and held a small garter snake!

Ariel cradles the small garter snake we found at Nymph Lake!

When we stopped at Sheepeater Cliff to observe 500,000 year old basalt columns, we were treated to a chipmunk serenade and two yellow-bellied marmots running around between the large igneous rocks. Almost everyone saw their plant and animal of expertise. Unfortunately, we did not see any wolves or red foxes this year. But that’s why these team members will have to return to Yellowstone in the future! As we say, once an All Girls Expedition team member, always an All Girls Expedition team member!

Jameela Jafri, P.E. staff member and A.G.E. program coordinator

“We have a bond with them because we share the world with them.”-Jameela Jafri, P.E. staff member .

When Jameela said these words she was talking about the animals that her, and nine other young women, will be encountering at Yellowstone National Park this upcoming week with the All Girls Expedition Program. She said people need to learn that we share this earth with them so that we have to know about them and protect them as much as possible. But after, it got me thinking that this phrase, if you will, applies to many other things besides animals. Then i thought about my school. Most of my school is African American and Hispanic. Within each race they all have some sort of clique. True like most schools there are fights and arguments, but then once a week my school as this thing called a “Big Talk.” A “Big Talk” is when each week the entire school goes into the gym and we hear about the problems that we are having or any upcoming events. Well we also have spirit weeks at my school. It seems that when those things happen since everyone is participating and having a good time we all come together like a family. We share out world, or in this case our school. We know that everyone is just the same. And if we don’t know the bond that we all have together as a whole then we will destroy our school. Much like how us humans are destroying our world whether it be for financial gain or whatever. But when people destroy our world they don’t know what they are destroying for something else like a bunny or antelope. Then, i started thinking more. It actually kind of hurt. Haha!! We don’t only have a bond with things that are living but with things that are dead as well.

Mikki Brown, P.E. youth development coordinator, with "Death In Yellowstone"

When something or someone dies we make room for them or it in our world. We give them there own space and that’s where the reside for all eternity. Wow kind of creepy….Anyway, but then those things decompose and become our Earth. They become the place in which we reside. So when you think about it, we share a bond not only with those whom which we share the world with but with the entire world as well. We are all one connected through life, death, animals, humans, and everything else that there is out there. So when Jameela said these words i don’t think that she realized what a powerful image she put in my head. Now that i got the chance to talk about this i hope i was able to pass on some sort of meaning to her words through my eyes. It’s cool how science works all around us and we usually don’t realize it. But if you look close enough you just might see that science influences our lives everyday.

Jameela happy that she is surrounded by science