destember

Up, up, and away! Design, build, and test a teeny-tiny aircraft to learn about the four forces of flight.

Hop to it! Discover Newton’s third law and observe kinetic and potential energy in action as you fold a jumping paper frog.

Where will you be on April 8th? Many cities across the US are lucky enough to be in the path of totality on 4/8/24. Totality, or a total solar eclipse, is a rare celestial event when the Moon passes directly between the Earth and the Sun, momentarily blocking out the Sun's light. This alignment leads …

Continue reading "Guest Blog Courtesy of Frontiers of Flight"

Participate in the Hour of Code™ 2023 with Girlstart as part of Computer Science Education Week! The Hour of Code is a free introduction to computer science through fun activities and videos for learners of all skill levels. This year's celebration of both coding and AI is supported by over 400 partners, 20,000 educators, and …

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Design a computer! Construct a 2D computer model and learn how computer components work together to operate devices from smartwatches to giant supercomputers.

A spaceship made of plastic?! Explore new technologies developed by NASA and engineer your own bioplastic sample.

Passion for Pixels: Send digital signals to friends! Did you know when you look at a photo of a planet in space, you're really looking at a set of numbers? Remote-sensing satellites take pictures and gather data that is transmitted to the ground as digital signals, or sets of numbers. Then computer software converts the …

Continue reading "Guest Blog Courtesy of SciGirls"

Now you’re speaking my language! Learn how programmers “speak” with computers and complete a LEGO®-building challenge with family and friends.

Science Action Club invites you to unleash your inner community scientist and embark on a Bug Safari. Use our Bug Safari Guide to collect and share data about arthropods you observe around your community through iNaturalist (a crowdsourcing app that connects you with a community of millions of community scientists). Once you’ve mastered the Bug …

Continue reading "Guest Blog Courtesy of Science Action Club"

A digital revolution! Channel your inner computer scientist while designing a supercomputer that solves big-world problems.

Follow along with this simple, step-by-step video to learn how to engineer two different types of catapults. Once you learn how to engineer it, you can explore and redesign your catapult to launch farther and higher! 

Take flight! Soar with the birds as you investigate how wing shape affects the flight patterns of the Wandering Albatross and Peregrine Falcon.

You can use STEM and the Engineering Design process, right at home, to plan and play like a Horticulturalist. You can create the perfect winter garden box, or raised planter box, that is sure to wow the neighborhood!

Bzzzzzzz! Discover the science behind sounds as you engineer a device that creates air vibrations to sound like a swarm of bees.

All about landforms! Channel your inner geologist as you investigate how different types of sand dunes form and migrate.

Ooey gooey polymers! Observe the physical properties of matter while stirring together a tasty, non-Newtonian fluid.

There's more to sunlight than meets the eye! Our Sun makes life on Earth possible, but it's also one of our best sources of sustainable energy. Today, researchers are studying the properties of sunlight and experimenting with new materials that could help us turn this boundless energy into fuel we can use. Start your own …

Continue reading "Guest Blog Courtesy of The Franklin Institute"

Can you illuminate an LED with clay? Sculpt a design to make an LED shine as you explore circuitry and electrical engineering.

Science is for Me! A unique series, for pre-and emerging readers, featuring children of color protagonists who use science to solve everyday challenges. Children explore deep science concepts through relatable stories and step-by-step illustrations for hands-on experiments. Join Jasmine and José as they learn about the density of liquids. Jasmine and José make a salad …

Continue reading "Guest Blog Courtesy of Science is Elementary"

Off to the races! Observe energy transfer and the exhilarating physics behind Formula 1 as you create and test a rubber band-powered race car.

The Mexican Long-nosed Bat is in trouble! During its long migration from southern Mexico to Texas, it’s running out of food and roost sites (where they sleep) as its habitat is lost to buildings, farms, and human activity. You are a Bat Conservationist, and it is now your job to make sure that the Mexican …

Continue reading "Guest Blog Courtesy of Bat Conservation International"

Bones and joints! Design a model prosthetic limb that is sturdy, comfortable, and will help a patient in need.

Harness the power of the sun! Discover a new marshmallow-roasting technique that utilizes renewable solar energy.

Create a Voroni flip book! A Voronoi flip book shows you what happens when bubbles start small and grow and crash into other growing bubbles. We get interesting forms that relate to the circumcenter of triangles called Voronoi regions. Remora is an innovative app that allows users to track the single-use plastics they use and …

Continue reading "Guest Blog Courtesy of MathHappens and Remora"

Girlstart to the rescue! Use your knowledge of simple machines to create a sturdy piece of equipment to save miners trapped underground.

Astronomy has never been so sweet! Use delicious cookies to explore Moon phases and the interactions between the Earth, Moon, and Sun. 

Divya Allu Peddinti is a researcher who studies ice shelves in Western Antarctica. Divya uses computer models to understand the interaction between ice shelves and the ocean water around them. This activity gives students the opportunity to model their own "ice shelves". Divya's Polar Puzzle can help to show how different features affect the melting …

Continue reading "Guest Blog Courtesy of Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center"

Ice Fishing: Can you pick up an ice cube with a piece of yarn?

3, 2, 1, Liftoff! Engineer a rocket prototype that can overcome Earth’s gravity and launch into the sky.

Create a DIY Lava Lamp! A lava lamp is a mixture of oil and water that has little balls of water and carbon dioxide floating through the oil. This demonstrates the hydrophobic properties of oil in water.

At Girlstart we Dream Big and hope we can inspire you to do the same! Wrap up DeSTEMber by creating a bracelet that represents your hopes and goals for the future.