Last Saturday,  thousands of K-8 students flooded the UT Austin campus for a day of fun-filled science experiments, interactive activities and exploration at the 22nd annual STEM Girl Day at UT Austin hosted by Women in STEM (WiSTEM). With volunteers from over 130 UT Austin research groups and student organizations, nonprofit organizations and regional businesses, Girl Day at UT Austin has become the largest event of its kind in the United States.

STEM Girl Day was also a featured event in the College of Natural Sciences’ two-week Texas Science Festival.  A special thanks goes to BASF, Halliburton and Nomi Health for making this event possible. Here are a few photo highlights from the event. Visit our Flickr album for more photos.

Students show off their Longhorn pride at the info booth. They are among the many volunteers, mentors and STEM role models in attendance at the big event.

Budding space engineers learn how to make bottle rockets with help from student volunteers.

These young engineers are learning how to keep their boats afloat with various materials.

A large crowd enjoys a “Physics Circus” performed by student volunteers.

A future astronomer checks out the daytime sky and learns about the upcoming 2024 solar eclipse.

Up-and-coming environmental engineers roll up their sleeves to explore the wonders of watershed protection.

A future mechanical engineer explores the mechanics of a catapult in action.

Check out STEM Girl Day’s media coverage in the following media outlets: KXAN, Austin American-Statesman, KVUE, KEYE.

More About WiSTEM: Housed within the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, WiSTEM is a university-wide outreach, recruiting and retention program for pre-college and undergraduate students in STEM fields.

Photography by Bret Brookshire