At least 1,600 people attend 'Girls and STEM' event held at Discovery World

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- It's almost looked like hundreds of families playing with toys at Discovery World in Milwaukee on Sunday, March 3, but there was a serious purpose at work. 

It was an event called "Girls and STEM." Discovery World partnered with companies such as Rockwell International, Harley-Davidson, Johnson Controls, and even the Girl Scouts, to give girls a chance to see and interact with women in the world of science, technology, engineering, and math. 

"That's really the key to this event is that exposure and being able to see yourself in a role that you're interested in being in, especially in the STEM world. If you can't see yourself in it, you don't think you can be it. So that's really what we want to show here," said Shannon Atwood, director of public experience at Discovery World. 

Boys and even grownups were welcome at the seven-hour event, and by midafternoon, at least 1,600 people showed up. The greater point was to give young girls the exposure to science and maybe lead them to new career choices.