Whyville: the place girls love to go for science

Nothing about it is competitive. You get as many chances as you need to find the aliens, and there is only positive feedback – the aliens don't die if you don't find them, nothing explodes, and you don't have to shoot at anything. Other activities involve using vectors to steer a balloon through differing layers of air currents, creating dances using Cartesian coordinates, categorizing different types of rocks, or designing a rocket to launch supplies to a space station.

OK, that's all well and good, but what has the pre-teen girl set so excited? That's where the real genius of Whyville starts. Remember the town square you enter when you log on? Even before you notice the buildings and links to science activities, you'll be enchanted by the cartoon characters floating around like virtual helium balloons.

These are the Whyville avatars. First-time visitors are represented by a fairly standard smiley-face. Once you register as a member (registration is free and the site contains no advertising), you are allowed to design your own avatar. (Most of them bear a troubling resemblance to Britney Spears.) This creates a wonderful consistency to the site.

One of the most popular parts of Whyville is the "Pick Your Nose" site, where you choose your avatar's nose, hair, eyes, mouths, clothing, and accessories. Can't find what you like? Another graphic design interface lets you create your own avatar from scratch. You can even build a house for your avatar, and fill the individual rooms with furniture, decorations, and awards for completing the various science activities.

I've actually spent hours wandering around the virtual town (all of which is rendered real-time) to explore kid's houses and check out their tastes in interior design. The rub is, none of this is free. The currency in Whyville is "clams," which are earned by scoring highly on the science activities. Repeat users earn a salary each week, based on how much science they've done. This feature alone really got me hooked. Each week I earned more and more clams, and had soon outfitted my avatar with the latest blue-streaked hair and hip leather jacket. Virtual shopping turns out to be comparably addictive to the real thing.

The avatars can also talk to each other in real time, much like instant messaging. As you float along, you can see where everyone else is and what they're doing. You can talk to anyone you like, about anything you like. And so, the kids talk to each other. They talk about boys and where to get those really great hot-pink lips on your avatar, but they also ask each other questions about where to find that last alien or what sort of rocket they're building. The kids started their own newspaper ("The Whyville Times"), and post articles, poetry, and art to it regularly.

Whyville isn't perfect (the creators are somewhat worried about the emphasis the girls are placing on the physical appearance of their avatars – avatar beauty contests are annoyingly common), but it's the best shot at targeting young women I've ever seen. Yes, the kids probably talk more about non-science topics than science, but the activities are solid and thought-provoking. You can't just fake your way through them. Scores of parents have written to Whyville, amazed at their daughter's sudden interest in science. They've been made to feel that science is just as much meant for them as anyone else. And that, in itself, makes Whyville a guiding light for all us science educators.

http://www.whyville.net

Michelle Thaller is an astronomer at the California Institute of Technology. She earned a bachelor's degree in astronomy from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in astrophysics from Georgia State University. A massive-star specialist by trade, she currently dedicates most of her time to education and public outreach for the Space Infrared Telescope Facility.

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