STEAM Newsletter – To The Moon, Back, and now…Beyond
July 19, 2022

STEAM Newsletter
A clay astronaut with a spaceship behind it

It was exactly 53 years ago astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin made history when they became the first human beings to set foot on the moon.  This month the Million Girls Moonshot and all of its parters commemorate that “giant leap for mankind” as it remains one of humanity’s greatest achievements. We look to the future, to the next generation of engineers and scientists. What will be their “giant leap”? And most importantly, how do we support young people on their journey in STEM?

This month, we will be sharing a multitude of resources surrounding the Apollo 11 landing as well as Shark Week to showcase the vast spectrum that encompasses STEAM and how you can integrate activities into your programs all year long! 

To learn more about Million Girls Moonshot and their vision, you can visit their website. 

In This Newsletter:

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Discovery Education logo

FREE Access to Discovery Education’s Daily Learning Platform
Interest Form

Select schools and afterschool organizations are provided full access to Discovery Education’s Daily Learning Platform, making it easy to find engaging resources that reach every student. Discovery Education’s flexible, award-winning K—12 learning platform connects educators and afterschool professionals to a vast collection of high-quality, standards-aligned content, ready-to-use digital lessons, and timely professional learning. Together, these resources give educators what they need to facilitate instruction in any learning environment and create a lasting impact. 

Fill out this interest form to be added to the list!

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ACRES logo

ACRES July Cohort: Asking Purposeful Questions
July 26, August 9, 23, 2022; 7:00 - 9:00am PST

Questions are the beginning of a path towards discovery, imagination, and STEM exploration. How can we help youth expand and clarify their thinking and develop their reasoning through the questions we ask them? This module is designed for educators who have some experience facilitating STEM learning and would like to grow in their practice within a supportive group of other educators.

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Teen Science Cafe network logo - beaker with a coffeecup

Teen Science Café
Interest Form Deadline: August 1, 2022

Teen Science Café programs are a free, fun way for teens to engage in lively conversations with STEM experts that explore the advances in science and technology that affect their lives. In these events, teens socialize over teen-friendly food and drink and have a lively conversation with local scientists and engineers about current cutting-edge developments in their fields, all in a relaxed and informal out-of-school setting. Teen Science Cafés are for teens, by teens.

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DiscoverE Engineering logo

DiscoverE Future City
Interest Form Deadline: August 19, 2022

Throughout the fall, participants work in teams of at least three students, an educator, and volunteer mentor to bring their vision of their future city to life. What do they see, hear, smell, and feel? From this starting point, they will design a futuristic city with innovative solutions to some of today’s most pressing sustainability issues.

This strategy enables organizational partners, volunteers, and educators to effectively reach millions of students, parents, and young adults with the message that engineers work with smart, inspiring people to invent, design, and create things that matter.

Submit an interest form today!

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Black Girls Create: Developing a Culturally Responsive Maker Program for Black Girls
Equity & Inclusion

In her article “Black Girls Create”, author LaShawnda Lindsay, Ph.D., a research scientist at the Wellesley Centers for Women, describes the development and pilot implementation of a culturally responsive maker afterschool program for Black girls. Black Girls Create uses social history, culturally responsive pedagogy, and mentoring to engage Black girls in maker-based activities as they learned about Black women who made significant impacts in STEM.

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Mizzen by Mott logo; girl with drawn on spacesuit

Mizzen by Mott

The Mizzen By Mott app delivers inspiring and engaging activities that spark learning in young people. Supported by the Mott Foundation, Mizzen is available at no cost to afterschool professionals! Encourage partners to download the Mizzen By Mott app to access STEM activities at your finger-touch! 

Featured Activities & Playlists

  • Playlist: STEM Activities for K-5th Grade in Small Groups – This playlist is a great mix of engineering and science activities that are easy and fun for small groups of students.
  • Playlist: Science Notebooks for 3rd – 12th Grade – Keeping a notebook can help your students think and act like scientists and engineers. Sample these easy-to-implement strategies and lessons to bring science notebooking into your program.
  • Module: S.INQ Up Earth and Space for 6-8th Grade – Earth and Space is an inquiry and exploration-based curriculum that uses hands-on activities focused on the relationships between the earth, the solar system, and human impacts on our global environment.