An AI-powered chatbot, a beach cat videogame, and a stress management website were among the projects presented at the 2023 UArizona Girls Who Code Project Showcase. The club aims to close the gender gap in technology by offering free coding classes to 6–12 graders. It’s taught by UArizona graduate and undergraduate students.

“Girls Who Code is totally worth it,” says Alysia Seery, a sixth grader at Alice Vail Middle School. “It is really fun, and the facilitators are nice.” At the Project Showcase, students were stationed at laptops and demonstrated their projects to spectators.

Share this story on Twitter.

A big cat makes a big scat. Mountain lions weigh up to 220 pounds, and their poop or scat can be 15 inches in length. Mountain lion scat is a communication tool, and scientists study it to learn about the health and behavior of Arizona’s big cats.

Share this story on Twitter.

 KFC is developing the KFConsole, a gaming system shaped like a bucket of chicken. The KFConsole will include a patented, built-in “Chicken Chamber” to heat snacks, providing gamers with sustenance during intense gaming sessions.

Share this story on Twitter.

 Girls in 6th-12th grades are invited to join a free “Girls Who Code” club hosted by Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) at UArizona. This year the club will meet online, so girls anywhere can join. “Students with all levels of coding experience are welcome, though the program is designed as a first introduction to coding,” explained Amanda Bertsch, the Lead Facilitator of the club.

Share this story on Twitter.

You can earn a free visit to Reid Park Zoo and other prizes by reading this summer. Pima County Public Library, Bookmans, and Barnes & Noble offer kids rewards for summer reading.

A Universe of Stories, the Pima County Library’s 2019 Summer Reading Program gives kids a reading tracker that includes a coupon for one free child admission to Reid Park Zoo (www.library.pima.gov/

Share this story on Twitter.