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Materials List: Solar System and Galaxy Starry Night at Home

We are excited for you to participate in Girlstart’s Starry Night at Home, including a Solar System & Galaxy star show and hands-on STEM activities! Gather materials from around the house and join us on Thursday, October 1st for Starry fun.

* The following list contains affiliate links. Girlstart is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Planetary Scavenger Hunt

Add materials to your Amazon shopping cart

  • Ruler (with centimeters)

Pocket Solar System

Add materials to your Amazon shopping cart

  • Clear tape or glue stick (only if using copy paper)
  • Colored pencils or markers
  • Pencil or pen
  • Receipt paper, copy paper, or toilet paper (receipt paper works best)
  • Ruler
  • Scissors

Solar Water Purifier

Add materials to your Amazon shopping cart

  • Coins or a small rock
  • Food coloring
  • Large bowl
  • Plastic wrap
  • Salt (~ ½ cup)
  • Small, heavy cup (shorter than the large bowl)
  • Spoon
  • Sunshine
  • Water

Sun Designs

Add materials to your Amazon shopping cart

  • Construction paper
  • Cotton swab or paintbrush (optional)
  • Small objects from around your house (coins, Legos, craft sticks, office supplies, etc.)
  • Sunscreen (optional)
  • Sunshine
  • Tape
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Maria Zambrano

Girlstart’s Women in STEM weekly series highlights various women who are making a difference in STEM. Be inspired as these incredible women describe how they became interested in their field, provide insight into a day in the life, and share learnings from their experiences.

Maria Zambrano

Sr. Social Media Strategist @ AMD

Maria is an accomplished Social Media Strategist working in the tech world. She is sharing her words with the Girlstart audience today in hopes of inspiring more girls to pursue their passions, despite societal expectations. We are excited to have someone like Maria, coming from the marketing side of tech, to discuss how to be involved in STEM and integrate other interests!

Can you describe a little of what you do?
As a Sr. Social Media Strategist, I oversee the development of social media strategies and tactics to grow AMD’s competitive position in the OEM laptop and desktop space.

What do you love about your career?
While I don’t directly touch engineering our great products, I enjoy educating and bringing to light the technological advancements our company has made and seeing how these innovations make their way to the hands of everyday users. 

How did you become interested in STEM?
The program that really got me hooked into the world of science and technology was F.I.R.S.T. Robotics. This high-school program allowed me to build an appreciation for STEM and become an advocate for women in the world of tech. This program also prepared me with the tools to confidently enter the workforce thanks to their commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion. 

Do you have a piece of advice you would like to share with our audience?
Find what you love doing and never be intimated. 

Why do you think confidence in STEM important for girls?
Historically there has been disproportionate access to STEM among girls and young women. Instilling confidence in this field at an early age is critical in removing barriers and fostering diversity and inclusion.

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Cindy Patton

Girlstart’s Women in STEM weekly series highlights various women who are making a difference in STEM. Be inspired as these incredible women describe how they became interested in their field, provide insight into a day in the life, and share learnings from their experiences.

Cindy Patton

Senior Systems Engineer @ Allscripts

Cindy is a long time volunteer and council member at Girlstart. After a great career as a Systems Engineer, she is now wanting to share her talents with younger girls, and we are so happy to have her on the blog today!

What would you like to tell girls who are interested in a STEM career?
There are an amazing variety of choices out there. You don’t have to be stuck in any job or field or city or state. You are smart; Use your brain and some heart to find what makes you happy.

Was there a specific person or program in your life that encouraged you to pursue STEM?
I have been an engineer for 42 years, started when very few women were engineers. I had great high school math and science teachers, both male and female. The word problems in Math– are usually favorites of engineering minds.

Why is confidence in STEM important for girls?
Women are still in the minority in technical fields, your ideas and thoughts can be easily dismissed if not expressed in a confident manner. The world needs more women in STEM; We have many talents and we can make a difference.

Briefly describe your career as a Systems Engineer.
I could also be called a Linux systems Admin. I manage a few sets of computers that use a variety of UNIX operating systems to provide software solutions to Allscripts clients.

What are your favorite things about your career?
Flexibility of employment – I have worked government research, manufacturing, higher education, engineering consulting, semiconductor manufacturing, power industry, and most recently Healthcare IT.

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