Little girls get involved in scientific work

In different regions of the country, girls between 9 and 10 years old use the scientific method to explore the world, answer questions that arise from everyday observation, as well as propose new perspectives on nature and technologies.

In interview with The Dayin the context of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, which is celebrated tomorrow, three girls shared how, through clubs, competitions and research projects, they have delved into scientific work.

Emma Maride Espinoza Quiñonez and Andrea Pech Calderón, both 9 years old, developed Héroes de la Noche, a research project dedicated to studying the nocturnal behavior of two emblematic pollinators of the Yucatan Peninsula: the bat and the moths.

Accompanied by Wilmny Gutiérrez Carillo, coordinator of the science club at the Miguel Hidalgo primary school, in the town of Peto, and member of the UNAM Adopt a Talent Program (Pauta) – an initiative aimed at promoting critical thinking and scientific skills –, Andrea and Emma followed the scientific method step by step.

The girls researched pollinators, posed a hypothesis and made observations in two nurseries in their community. With the support of video cameras, they recorded the nocturnal activity of these animals, their visiting hours and their preference for certain plants.

Among the findings that surprised them the most was the identification of bat species, among them the Yucatecan yellow bat, endemic to the peninsula. They also looked closely at how these pollinators take pollen from flowers at night.

“As I always hear the sounds of the bats that pass by my house every night and in the morning I find dead moths, the idea came to me to investigate them,” says Andrea. “Most people think about daytime pollinators: butterflies, bees, hummingbirds, but few know that moths also fulfill that function,” adds Emma.

If they could carry out an experiment without limits, Emma would be inclined to study space: “the stars, what they are made of and what is beyond them.” Andrea, on the other hand, would dive into the ocean to study ocean currents.

Mental health care

Sofía Paola López González, 10 years old and originally from Jalisco, investigated the use of Wysa, a mental health application based on artificial intelligence (AI) that acts as a chatbot empathetic conversational tool to help manage stress, anxiety and low mood among adolescents.

For three months, he worked with a study group, made up of boys and girls between 10 and 13 years old, whom he contacted among friends and through social networks. As part of his research, he applied standardized questionnaires – such as the Childhood Abilities and Difficulties Questionnaire – to identify the presence of conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety or depression, as well as the effects of using the application on their well-being.

Among her conclusions, Sofía warns: “sometimes artificial intelligence can be a help, but it is best to talk to a psychologist about how you feel, with your father or with another adult, because it is not compared to an AI robot.”

Interested in chemistry and biology, the girl considers that her next scientific project will be related to the heart and animal health. If he could travel to space, he would like to find out if there are living beings outside of Earth and what they are like.

From the study of bats and moths in the Yucatan Peninsula to the analysis of the use of an application based on artificial intelligence among adolescents in Jalisco, their work demonstrates that science does not always begin in large laboratories, but also through curiosity in the immediate environment.