Seventh-graders Jamille Robinson and Erica Wagner’s eyes lit up as the mini-robot they created spun in circles like a break dancer.

“At first I thought it was going to be boring, but it’s fun. I’m learning a lot,” said Wagner, 12, about the free weeklong summer science program for sixth- and seventh-graders held recently at DePaul University’s Lincoln Park Campus.

DePaul Assistant Professor Hanna Kim organized the hands-on, inquiry-based program in an effort to offset the growing trend of urban girls losing interest in science and technology in their middle-school years. Eighty girls participated in this year’s program as part of Kim’s Inquiry-Based Science and Technology Enrichment Program (InSTEP), which was funded for the second year by a Motorola Foundation Innovation grant.

“We want them to learn about science in a fun, hands-on way. Our goal is to give them the confidence they need to know they can do it,” said Kim, an education professor who created the inquiry-based curriculum for the program through InSTEP. “We encourage them to explore everyday science. We want to make it interesting for them.”

The girls used toothbrushes and cell phone motors to make “vibrobots,” made potato clocks and used GPS tracking systems and Google Earth to locate items buried in a city park. The weeklong program concluded with a field trip to the Museum of Science and Industry, where the girls worked in a forensic lab and met female science educators. Many of the students who participated in the program are from inner-city public schools.

“It’s a week of science activities to show that there are multiple forms of science, like earth science, chemistry, biology, physics and robotics. It’s a way to boost their confidence in science and themselves,” said instructor Lizette Watanabe, who graduated in March with a bachelor of science in elementary education from DePaul and helped teach the program.

“I’m very glad I came. It’s a lot of fun,” said Alexis McIlrath, 12, a student at O.A. Thorpe Scholastic Academy and aspiring geologist. “I think some girls think it’s not popular to be smart, but it’s OK to be smart.”

For more information about the program, visit http://condor.depaul.edu/~hkim13/instep/instep.html.