Summer Schooling

CLASSY: All this week, Annabelle is involved in a "Girls Who Code" summer 'camp.' It's online, of course (%#$@ pandemic). 

The organization works to close the gender gap in computer science careers. 

According to their website, "In 1995, 37% of computer scientists were women. Today, it’s only 24%. The percent will continue to decline if we do nothing. We know that the biggest drop off of girls in computer science is between the ages of 13 and 17." They report serving over 300,000 girls to date through their Summer Immersion Program, clubs, and college loops.

Girls who Code lists bravery, sisterhood and activism as goals that define their organization.

Annabelle has been learning about HTML and JavaScript. Her homework today included watching this video.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1Wi2A8la3VQ" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

CJ had a class on Monday morning. I'll have him tell you about it.  

Monday morning, I took part in a brief virtual workshop hosted by the Japan-America Society of the State of Washington.The 45-minute event  went over some of the customs and traditions of Japanese shopping and malls.

For example, we were taught about how in Japan, it's advised against giving cashiers large amounts of change (for example, $20). This can make it difficult for a cashier to give you change back. Another feature of Japanese markets is the vending machines, which often contain "seasonal products" like soup during winter and cold drinks during summer, and items not typically seen in Western vending machines, like toys. Japanese malls, in comparison to Western malls, are usually vertically-oriented instead of horizontally-oriented, and often have movie theaters at the top.

McMUSSELS: CJ also has a short report about an article he read yesterday in Science News. 

Yesterday afternoon, my grandfather gave me a magazine. He urged me to read To Save Appalachia’s Endangered Mussels, Scientists Hatched a Bold Plan, an article about a mussel conservation effort in the state of Kentucky. To begin, the article starts with an offbeat description of an emergency mussel rescue/surgery operation in a rural McDonald's parking lot in Kentucky. This seems like an odd spot to be doing important conservation work, but the researchers don't seem to mind. According to the article, "a single mussel can filter more than 50 liters of water per day, removing algae and pollution, including toxic substances dumped into rivers as industrial waste." This ability to clean up toxic waste is possibly the single most important reason for the presence of mussels, as well as a potential cause of them being an endangered species.