For those who are wondering, this creation of my daughter is a geodesic dome. This was a homework project, perhaps the very first that I actually enjoyed helping her with. The geodesic dome was popularized by the architect and inventor Buckminster Fuller.

Geodesic domes were all the rage when I was in elementary school and I fondly remember many doodles and sketches of my future geodesic house. Later on in life I built a woodshed for my parents that was built out of 2x4s and special metal plates for the joints. Its skeleton looked exactly like the model Evie built.

Geodesic domes faded as a building choice, but the legacy of “Bucky” lives on in the nano scale world of carbon. Carbon60 is a sphere that looks like a geodesic dome and was named Buckminsterfullerene, or Buckyballs for short.

Why all this blabbering about domes and carbon? Well, first because I’m a geek and love this stuff. But also because I’m now dead center in the storm surrounding STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education and girls. We have no doubt that Evie is bright. We also have no doubt that she prefers playing with trains instead of dolls. So, even though this is taking a big leap at this age, I believe she will be more attracted to STEM subjects than other more traditional endeavors. We will have to wait and see what happens over time, but the odds are that she will be part of the struggle that exists for female STEM students and careers. I, however, look forward to more homework assignments like this!