Vermont Afterschool is proud to be part of the Million Girls Moonshot initiative, working to inspire and prepare the next generation of innovators by engaging one million more girls in STEM learning opportunities through OST programs over the next five years. The Million Girls Moonshot is an initiative of the STEM Next Opportunity Fund. The Million Girls Moonshot seeks to re-imagine who can engineer, who can build, who can make. See below for some information and resources that can help advance this goal!

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TRANSFORMATIVE PROGRAMMING

Equity and Inclusion

• Toolkit: Broadening Perspectives in Broadening Participation in STEM Toolkit, Developed by CAISE – to help informal STEM education and science communication groups reflect on and strengthen their efforts to broaden participation in STEM, CAISE’s Broadening Participation in STEM Task Force has developed a suite of professional development tools. If you are a staff leader or trainer working on broadening participation, these resources can help support your work. You can use them to plan and lead reflective discussions about current practices, with an eye to developing goals, strategies, and priorities that can make your ISE and science communication work more inclusive.
  • BP-Conversation-Guide.pdf (informalscience.org) – A guide for leading discussions in your organization or program focused on broadening participation. 
  • BP-4-Cultural-Norms.pdf (informalscience.org) – A practice brief to help organizations and programs reflect on the cultural norms of STEM they do/do not reinforce.

Engineering Mindsets

• Poster: Engineering Mindset Graphic – This printable graphic presents the 10 critical engineering practices and shows how they all contribute to the development of an engineering mindset.
• Article: What STEM Mindset Is … and Why Everyone Should Have One – This article describes how 21st century skills, growth mindset, and habits of mind all contribute to a STEM mindset
• Website: DiscoverE Engineering Activities, Resources, and More – Build a beverage holder that won’t hurt the environment, learn about the many careers in engineering, and meet an engineering role model in a short video. 

Incorporating Role Models

• IF/THEN Collection: The IF/THEN Collection is the largest free resource of its kind dedicated to increasing access to authentic and relatable images of real women in STEM. In this library, you’ll find thousands of photos, videos, and other assets that authentically represent women in careers as diverse as shark tagging, fashion design, and training Olympic athletes, including videos that highlight women in STEM who work with top US Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
• Article: Educational Justice Starts with Equitable Family Engagement by Riddhi Divanji, Ella Shahn, and Sydney Parker – Designing surveys and sharing data with a wide range of stakeholders results in a deeper understanding of the data from multiple perspectives.
• Article: ‘I’m not just a mom’: Parents as creators, collaborators, and learners in creative computing by Ricarose Roque – Social support from parents can play an important role in engaging and sustaining young people’s participation in computing. The authors identified many supportive roles for parents, including collaborating with their children on projects, providing resources, and finding new opportunities. 
• Webinar Recording: Listen, Learn, Lead Webinar by Flamboyan Foundation – Speakers discuss what they are hearing through their ongoing work with families, particularly their Black and Brown families facing the intersecting crises of racism and COVID-19.

ACTIVITIES FOR PROGRAMS

• Student Design Activity: Bouncy Ball Factory – Youth engineer bouncy balls that meet particular criteria. Using the engineering design process, they develop and test their creations.
• Student Design Activity: Paper Table – Youth engineer a table from a newspaper that is at least 8″ high and strong enough to hold a book.
• Student Design Activity: Take Flight – Using everyday materials, youth engineer a glider that can fly straight for 15 feet.
• Student Design Activity: Keep Your Cool! Design Your Own Cooler Challenge – Youth design a cooler that will keep a bottle of water cool using the engineering design process. They test their prototype and graph their results to determine the effectiveness of the solution.
• Student Design Activity: Design a Watercraft – Youth engineering a small boat out of straws and plastic wrap that can hold weight.
• Student Design Activity: Get it Write! – Youth engineering a writing device (pen) using everyday materials. They think about both the (water soluble) “ink” and the delivery mechanism.
• Free App: 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! Download the Mizzen By Mott app to access high-quality, vetted STEM activities at your fingertips. You’ll find it in Mizzen here.