Source: Carol Regehr, 785-532-6152, cregehr@k-state.edu
Website: http://www.k-state.edu/grow

Monday, April 25, 2011

MEDIA ADVISORY: KANSAS GIRLS USING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY TO TACKLE CRIME SOLVING AT K-STATE EVENT

MANHATTAN -- Picture the following: Willie the Wildcat, Kansas State University's famous mascot, is missing. There are suspicious brownish-red stains at his dwelling and a ransom note on the door. The lucky shoes of Jalana Childs, star player on the K-State women's basketball team, have been stolen from a biology lab, with only footprints in a mysterious white powder left behind.

Crime-fighting sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade girls from across Kansas will be asked to solve these mysteries using science and technology as they take part in "CSI K-State," Saturday, April 30, on the Manhattan campus.

Participating in activities based on the popular "CSI" television series on CBS, students in attendance will analyze hair, blood and DNA samples under microscopes; measure distance between footprints and calculate heights; examine fingerprints; and perform other tests on various kinds of evidence.

The event is sponsored by K-State's Girls Researching Our World program, also known as GROW. The program is offered through K-State's Women in Engineering and Science Program and engages middle-school girls in science, technology, engineering and mathematics activities.

For additional information about GROW, contact Carol Regehr, interim outreach program coordinator of the Women in Engineering and Science Program, at 785-532-6152 or visit the GROW website at http://www.k-state.edu/grow.