Girlstart and the Google Science Fair Launch Special 2012 Edition of Destember on Google+

FEATURING 31 DAYS OF STEM FUN TO ENCOURAGE WINTER BREAK LEARNING

GIRLSTART AND THE GOOGLE SCIENCE FAIR LAUNCH SPECIAL 2012 EDITION OF DESTEMBER ON GOOGLE+, FEATURING 31 DAYS OF STEM FUN TO ENCOURAGE WINTER BREAK LEARNING

Girlstart, in its continued efforts to empower and equip girls in STEM education, is partnering with the Google Science Fair for a special DeSTEMber program – featuring 31 days of fun, innovative STEM activities in December. The program will be hosted on the Google+ Pages of Girlstart and The Google Science Fair and on the program’s official website, www.destember.org.

DeSTEMber will feature daily activities and experiments – many hosted by special guests including National Geographic, CERN, Scientific American and AccuWeather – that can be done at home with common household items. Experiments include making a tornado in a jar, bending water, making a lava lamp, making soap, and other fun, hands-on projects which engage young learners while integrating STEM education principles.

Google+ will be the hub for the month-long celebration of STEM. Students and adults will be able to practice experiments and chat live with Girlstart, representatives and finalists of the Google Science Fair and special guests using Google+ Hangouts.

“By creating DeSTEMber last year, we created a place for girls to go and stay engaged with STEM learning during a time of year when school is out of session,” said Tamara Hudgins, executive director for Girlstart. “It provides a great opportunity for hands-on learning outside of the classroom, and we created an online program with that inquiry and discovery process in mind.”

“Bringing Google+ into the equation allows us to enrich and expand DeSTEMber even further,” added Julie Shannan, Girlstart Deputy Director. “Not only can participants use Google+ to compare notes and collaborate, but we’re able to conect girls interested in STEM careers to women working in the STEM field.”

Those interested in following DeSTEMber can follow the #DeSTEMber hashtag on Google+ and Twitter leading up to and throughout the month of December, and also visit and subscribe to Girlstart’s and The Google Science Fair’s Google+ Page. Every day during the month of December, Girlstart will post an article featuring that day’s featured activity, complete with materials list, embedded video/photos, and links to photo albums and external web properties. Many times throughout DeSTEMber, special guests will host exclusive experiments and participants can join live Google+ Hangouts (video chats) to interact with the host.

About Girlstart
Girlstart’s mission is to increase girls’ interest and engagement in STEM through innovative, nationally-recognized, informal STEM education programs. By empowering more girls to continue STEM studies, we can help address our nation’s STEM workforce inequities and impact innovation and economic development in America and across the globe.

Founded in Austin, Texas, in 1997, Girlstart is the only community-based informal STEM education nonprofit in the nation specifically dedicated to empowering and equipping girls in STEM through year-round STEM educational programming. To accomplish its mission, Girlstart develops and implements a range of innovative, research- and standards-based education and mentorship programs designed to promote girls’ early engagement and academic success in STEM, encourage girls’ aspirations and persistence in STEM education and careers, and incubate a talented and diverse STEM workforce.

About the Google Science Fair
As part of its commitment to STEM education, Google launched the Google Science Fair in 2011. The Google Science Fair has since grown into the largest online science competition in the world, with 13-18 year-old students from over 100 countries submitting thousands of science projects this year. Twenty-one students representing fifteen top finalist projects spent four days visiting the company’s headquarters in California, where they presented their projects to esteemed scientists, including nobel prize winners and specialists from Google Science Fair partners, CERN, LEGO, National Geographic and Scientific American. Google selected top prizes in each age group, including a grand prize winner and this year introduced the Science in Action Award sponsored by Scientific American for the project with the greatest community impact. The next Google Science Fair is just around the corner; it will launch in January 2013 at google.com/sciencefair.