March Resources from Million Girls Moonshot

March marks the beginning of Women’s History month. What was originally known as “Women’s History Week” in 1982, has deservedly transformed over the years into an entire month aimed at recognizing and celebrating the contributions of women in our society, throughout history.  

This month, the Million Girls Moonshot will pay tribute to the brilliant minds and contributions of female STEM leaders who have impacted not only their field, but the world around them in meaningful ways. In celebrating the lives of these women and Women’s History Month, we must realize that in order for our world to solve some of our biggest challenges — public health, climate change, and cybersecurity — we must remove barriers for girls and women in all STEM disciplines so they can truly thrive! 

If you are interested in becoming involved in the Million Girls Moonshot in your state, please connect with your statewide afterschool network. 

Women’s History Month

AUDIENCE: FOR NETWORK STEM/MOONSHOT STAFF, PARTNERS AND 2PROGRAM PROVIDERS

Toolkit: Girls STEAM Ahead with NASA Resources & Events Catalog - A searchable catalog of resources and events specifically catered to engaging girls in astrophysics and celebrating women in NASA and space history

Article: State of Girls and Women in STEM, March 2021- This NGCP resource presents a high-level summary of the most compelling statistics and research on the state of girls and women in STEM, focused on K-12 Education, Higher Education, and the STEM Workforce.

Incorporating Role Models

ASSETS FROM THE IF/THEN® COLLECTION

For Women’s History Month, theme “Women Providing Healing, Promoting Hope” 

These assets feature IF/THEN Ambassador and microbiologist, Dr. Harshini Mukundan, and can be used in marketing, presentations, social media, and for conferences presentations.

• Ambassador Profile of Dr. Harshini Mukundan
• Short Profile of Dr. Harshini Mukundan
• Mission Unstoppable Episode of Dr. Harshini Mukundan

These assets feature environmental scientist, Dr. Luz Claudio, and can be used in marketing, presentations, social media, and for conferences presentations.

• Short Profile of Dr. Luz Claudio
• Social Media Cutdown of Dr. Luz Claudio
• Mission Unstoppable Episode of Dr. Luz Claudio

Don’t know where to start in the IF/THEN Collection? Here are some tools to help you!

• IF/THEN Collection Video Tour
• Collection Scavenger Hunt
• User Guide

Quality Improvement Opportunity

AUDIENCE: FOR PARTNERS AND PROGRAM PROVIDERS

Are you leading engineering activities in summer of 2022?

If you expect to be conducting an engineering camp or leading engineering activities for middle school youth this summer, you may be able to help with the Million Girls Moonshot (MGM) evaluation. In exchange for your assistance, we will provide $2,000 for program expenses and a $1,000 stipend for the facilitator. 

Learn more about the opportunity HERE. Apply HERE by April 15, 2022.

Featured Webinars

AUDIENCE: FOR NETWORK STEM/MOONSHOT STAFF & AFTER SCHOOL EDUCATORS  

• Webinar: The M in STEM: Math in Everyday Life 
  Wednesday, April 20, 2022 11:00AM Pacific / 12:00PM Mountain / 1:00PM Central / 2:00PM Eastern
  This webinar will focus on ways math is prevalent and relevant in everyday life, including in afterschool spaces. We will learn about ways to recognize and embrace authentic math moments and activities to help engage afterschool youth in math.
  
  REGISTER HERE
• Webinar: The M in STEM: Making Math Meaningful
  Thursday, May 19, 2022 11:00AM Pacific / 12:00PM Mountain / 1:00PM Central / 2:00PM Eastern
  This webinar will focus on ways math is prevalent and relevant in everyday life, including in afterschool spaces. We will learn about ways to recognize and embrace authentic math moments and activities to help engage afterschool youth in math.
  
  REGISTER HERE
• Role Models Matters Training for STEM Volunteers
  Ready to train volunteers and role models in your Network, school, or afterschool program? COMPLETE THIS REGISTRATION FORM to gain access to the Role Models Matter training developed by Techbridge Girls.
• Parent Workshop: The Engineering Design Process at Home with Technovation
  April 1, 2022: 6:00AM Pacific / 7:00AM Mountain / 8:00am Central / 9:00am Eastern
  Life is messy and your child doesn’t always deal with clear-cut problems. Join Technovation to learn about the Engineering Design Process and how this framework can help anybody approach all sorts of complex problems both within STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) and out. In this session we will focus on the different steps of the Engineering Design Process, including iteration and developing resistance to failure in STEM.
  
  REGISTER HERE

 

Quality Trainings

AUDIENCE: FOR NETWORK STEM/MOONSHOT STAFF & AFTER SCHOOL EDUCATORS  

ACRES is a nationally acclaimed coaching program that builds knowledge and skills so after school educators, librarians and anyone who works with youth in out-of-school settings can confidently facilitate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) experiences for youth. More information found here.

 

April Cohort: Ready, Set, STEM! & Asking Purposeful Questions

Are you ready to bring meaningful STEM learning into your program? This module offers educators who are new to facilitating STEM the opportunity to build supportive relationships with other educators while exploring the principles of STEM learning. This module combines an introduction to STEM facilitation with the skill of Asking Purposeful Questions. *The expectation is that you will be live at all three sessions and an active member of this coaching cohort. Stipends are offered to participants who complete feedback surveys before and after a module.

Cohort dates and times are: Wednesdays April 27th, May 11 and 25th 10:00 - 11:30am EST

REGISTER HERE 

 

April Cohort: Elevating Youth Voice and Choice

How often do youth in your program get to choose what they’re investigating or designing, the materials they might use and/or how they engage with the work? In this module, participants try out strategies for elevating youth voice and choice and apply the ideas as they redesign a STEM activity to incorporate a greater variety of youth input.*This ACRES skill and cohort is designed for participants who have ideally already done either Asking Purposeful Questions of Ready Set STEM.

Cohort dates and times are: Tuesday April 26th, May 10 and 14th 9:00 - 10:30am EST

REGISTER HERE 

 

Transformative Practices

AUDIENCE: For Network STEM/Moonshot Staff, Partners, and Program Providers

APPLICATION: Share the following resources about transformative practices with partners and programs in your state. Use them to create professional development for afterschool programs and educators in your state.

Equity and Inclusion

Toolkit: Women's History Month | Managing American Spaces (state.gov) Resource Toolkit for Women’s History Month contains lesson plans, discussion guides, posters, social media, and movies about the struggle for women’s equality in the United States, as well as, women’s rights globally.

Toolkit: Math Equity Toolkit - This tool kit layers professional development into “Strides” that educators can take along a path to equitable education. Topics include Dismantling Racism in Mathematics Instruction and Creating Conditions to Thrive.

Engineering Mindsets - Math

Professional Development Guide: The National Center for Quality Afterschool - Math in Afterschool - The National Partnership for Quality Afterschool Learning developed professional development guides for four content areas of the toolkit: literacy, math, technology, and the arts. 

Activity Toolkit: Growing Math - Provides ready-to-roll-out lessons and games combining math, agricultural science and Indigenous history and culture that can be easily used in classrooms, via hybrid models or through distance learning. The project will provide resources, curriculum, training and tech support to teachers and students in Grades 3-8 at schools in six states: Arizona, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon and South Dakota. For schools in the region, all participation and resources are supported through USDA funds. 

Families

Website: Math Communities – Students, parents, and educators coming together to play with math!  Math Communities creates a virtual community that provides free access to joyful collaborative activities designed by professional mathematicians and math educators  for K-12 students, educators, and families. There are lots of ways to communicate with other folks interested in math.

STEM Transitions, Handoffs, and Coordination

Toolkit: Brokering Youth Pathways: A Toolkit for Connecting Youth to Future Opportunity from the Hive Research Network - This toolkit shares ways in which various out-of-school educators and professionals have approached the challenge of brokering. We provide a framework, practice briefs and reports that focus on a particular issue or challenge and provide concrete examples, as well as illustrate how our partners worked through designing new brokering routines in partnership with our research team.

 

Activities for Programs

AUDIENCE: For Programs and Youth

APPLICATION: Share the following STEM activities with programs and families for additional STEM learning in your state. 

• Activity Toolkit: STEM Educators Academy Activity Toolkit from ExpandED Schools — This Activity Toolkit offers hybrid learning engineering design challenges, STEM facilitation skill builder videos, and engineering design activities categorized by content areas. 
• Student Activities: 30 Active Math and Activities for Kids Who Love to Move - When kids think of math, they usually picture worksheets and flashcards. But math doesn’t have to be dull! These active math games get kids up and moving, using their whole bodies to learn facts and skills. Lots of these ideas can be adapted to suit a variety of math concepts, so choose a few to try out with your math students soon.
• Student Activities: 21 Cool Math Games and Activities for Kids in Elementary School - The following list of cool math games and activities for kids includes math video games, math board games, math puzzles and brain teasers, and other fun math game and activity ideas. These cool math games and activities are perfect for lesson plans, at home learning, summer session, and more. Which one will be your favorite?
• Student Activity: Smart Skies - In these small-group NASA activities, learners assume the roles of pilots, air traffic controllers, and NASA scientists to solve five Air Traffic Control (ATC) problems. Age range 8-18 Welcome to Smart Skies! Fly By Math 
• Student Activity: Pi Day Fun! - March 14 is Pi Day (Pi=3.14)! Celebrate with one of these activities from grades 1st - 12th.

 

Professional Development

AUDIENCE: NETWORKS AND PROGRAMS

APPLICATION: Share the following training opportunities with partners and program leaders to build their understanding of engineering, equity and inclusion, and STEM. 

• Webinar March 24, 2022: Join the Discussion to Celebrate Women in STEM to hear about the challenges and successes of  women in STEM. REGISTER HERE
   
• Recording: The IF/THEN® Collection in Action... at Museums! - Join representatives from ASTC member museums as they showcase resources and activities from the IF/THEN® Collection that enhance their STEM programming. Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) member museums partnered with friends of the National Girls Collaborative Project to implement resources from the IF/THEN® Collection to enhance their programming and STEM activities. Join us as we hear from the various and successful program leads as they showcase the resources used and how their program youth were impacted by the diverse representation from the STEM fields.

 

Mizzen by Mott Moonshot Connection

AUDIENCE: For Networks and Partners

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!  You’ll find it in Mizzen here.

Featured Activities & Playlists

• Playlist: Helping the Planet for 3rd - 5th Grade at Home - This playlists allows younger students to go outside and learn about ways to help the environment. 
   
• Playlist: STEAM Activities for Middle School at Home - This playlist gives middle school aged students fun engineering and design activities that can be done at home or in small groups.
   
• Module: Make it Move Invention Camp - The Make it Move Invention Camo curriculum expires transportation vehicles, and mechanical things that move! These activities explore engineering and invention with hands-on, fun activities that end with the creation of an invention that improves the quality of life.