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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Super Cool NASA Resource
First Woman Camp Guide and Activities – As NASA prepares to put the first woman on the Moon in the next few years through the Artemis Missions, join us in an opportunity to imagine the possibilities of future lunar exploration with your upper elementary and middle school students. This set of hands-on activities accompanies NASA’s “First Woman” graphic novel series, which tells the story of Callie Rodriguez, the first woman to explore the Moon. While Callie is a fictional character, the first female astronaut and person of color will soon set foot on the Moon. Intended for uses in afterschool and summer settings, this First Woman Camp Experience Guide will bring the excitement of NASA’s science and technology. Read the fictional story of Callie, the first woman and person of color on the Moon. Click here to download the interactive graphic novel and mobile apps.
Training
- You’re a Computational Thinker – Learn what computational thinking means and reflect on the ways in which you are already a computational thinker. Learn how you can help youth develop as computational thinkers and leave with strategies you put into use right away. Click here to register for the Wednesday, September 20 (12-1 PM) training.
STEM Programs
- Girls Who Code – Start a Girls Who Code Club at your site and you will get access to free curriculum and activities for 3rd-12th graders to unleash their creativity, gain valuable coding skills, and become future tech leaders and innovators. Club participants build websites, applications, and games tackling important topics from climate change to cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. And Club Facilitators get everything they need to oversee their Clubs. No computer science experience required! Sign up at girlswhocode.com/clubsapply to get started!
- Technovation – Technovation is committed to empowering young women to become technology leaders, problem solvers & innovators. Through Technovation’s technology entrepreneurship program, girls design an app or AI solution to a real world problem. For community partners who implement this program, Technovation provides interactive curriculum, lesson plans, training, resources, and a virtual project-building platform. To learn more, check out this Program Overview or submit an interest form.
Activities
- Build a Pizza Box Solar Oven – Use easily found materials to create an oven where students can cook s’mores. The activity answers the question “What has engineering got to do with me?” in a way that is fun.
- Hands-On Math: Fraction Math Trees – This fun hands-on, kinesthetic and visual approach to learning about fractions produces “math art”.
- Welcome to Space Math @ NASA – A collection of math videos, books, and activities that are sorted by grade level, science topic, NASA missions, and engineering topics. All activities are based on NASA Mission and projects.
- STEM Lessons From Space: Mathematics – A collection of math and engineering activities, videos, and resources with a focus on the International Space Station.
- The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers – A collection of fun and easy activities for ages 4-18 that cover a broad spectrum of activities—everything from designing devices to address climate change to coding.
IF/THEN Role Models
- Paula Garcia Todd – Pharmaceutical Scientist and Global Strategic Manager
- Minerva Cordero – Math Professor and Associate Dean
- Jessica Taaffe – Global Health Scientist
