SciGirls. SciGirls has the bold goal of changing how millions of girls think about science, technology, engineering and math – or STEM. Each half-hour episode highlights the processes of science and engineering, following a different group of middle school girls who design, with the help of scientist mentors, their own inquiry-based investigations on a variety of topics. They also learn how rewarding and fun it is to work with their peers, and the shows’ female mentors offer girls a glimpse of exciting STEM career possibilities. SciGirls educational materials provide gender-equitable teaching strategies and hands-on inquiries based on the concepts modeled in SciGirls’ videos. The SciGirls approach is rooted in research on how to engage girls in STEM.
A quarter of a century of studies have converged on a set of common strategies that work, and these have become SciGirls’ foundation—aka the SciGirls Seven. Hands-On-science. Make a small wind turbine that kids can help build. Instructable's user masynmachien gave us permission to share his cool DIY wind turbine project with you. This project is meant to be easy enough for older kids and adults to do without too much experience. It's a great way to brush up on your own skills or teach renewable energy basics to kids. Because these turbines are able to power LEDs and decoration is part of the fun, they would make great additions to a garden.
Masynmachien says, "For my latest workshop in my daughter’s school I wanted to let the children each make a wind turbine. It wanted it to be functional, powering a small light and it needed to be cheaper than 6 Euro a piece, which ruled out any commercial kits. The workshop was for 20 kids, which ruled out scavenging hard discs motors or stepper motors and such. An LED worked with a turbine and a single step 6 to 1 gearing, but only at really high wind speeds. Veerendra Chandrappa. CLEAPSS%20Primary%20Science%20Comp%202014%20-%20Final.
Science Club. #ASEchat 130 Extra Curricular Activities. #ASEchat Summary 130 Extra Curricular activities 9th December 2013 with Richard Needham @vicialearning Introduction The theme of ‘extra curricular activities’ has come up before, but tonight’s #ASEChat produced a set of new ideas. The range of ideas is impressive, but so are the activities themselves, including a school trip to Berlin to visit the science department of the university, which did not fit into my categories below. The common threads running through the conversation were: a) there are some very exciting activities taking place around the country; b) it helps to have the right culture (and resources) in school, although things can be done on a shoestring; c) it involves hard work, and so making good use of students to lead events is worth considering. Ideas for extracurricular activities Journal club with 6th formers (MrsDrSarah) Ideas for sources of papers included local university library, @YSJournal, Catalyst magazine, Phillip Eg music or film club.
Science Clubs (hrogerson)
Science club. Physics in Concert. An activity for 13-14 year olds to encourage more students, particularly girls, to consider careers related to physics. Physics in concert incorporates many features of the highly successful Ashfield Music Festival activity; students work in teams, learn about engineering by taking on different roles and learn how physics applies in the context of planning a music event. However it offers greater flexibility in terms of delivery as it does not require recruiting external “expert” help or taking students off-timetable. The two activities can be run independently or used to complement each other by incorporating Physics in Concert at Key-stage 3 and then running Ashfield Music Festival at key Stage-4. Download teacher notes and worksheets (PDF, 3 MB) Download PowerPoint presentation (ppt, 4 MB) Physics Activity Pack For STEM Clubs.