They don't get pushed to the background. I love it when the girls get excited about a discovery. That sent shivers up and down for us. In the camp's Astrobiology Quest, for example, girls use DNA technology to analyze mummies they've purportedly discovered on Mars. We do laboratory food analysis, blood typing, and studies of Martian metabolism.
Girls get a hands-on feel for working in a real research lab.
Oliver is currently developing a science, math, and technology outdoor skills program called Science at the Summit, which will also have a girls-only component. I'm going to be a microbiologist. We need more girls like us who want to do it. Our parents encourage us all the time. Many colleges and universities offer summer science opportunities for middle school and high school girls as well as coed opportunities.