STEAM Newsletter – Celebrating Earth Day and Math Awareness Month!
April 19, 2022
This month the Million Girls Moonshot and all of its partners celebrate Earth Day, Math Awareness Month and Environmental Education Week! Now is the time for all of us — education, business, and civic leaders — to take action on climate in order to preserve and protect our health, our families, and our livelihoods. To do this, we need to inspire the next generation of creative thinkers and problem solvers to design the solutions that will get us there. This Earth Day, let us act boldly, innovate broadly, and implement equitably. It is going to take all of us!
Explore these resources and activities that you can use in the classroom to celebrate Earth Day:
- Earth Day Official Site
- History of Earth Day via National Geographic Kids
- Math and Climate Change Activity via ClimateChangeEducation
- Earth Day Math via Traci Niedziela on YouTube
Explore these resources for Math Awareness Month:
- Mathematics Awareness Month via Mathematical Association of America
- 10 Fun Activities for Math Education Month via Waterford
- Using Wordle in the Classroom via Edutopia
To learn more about Million Girls Moonshot and their vision, you can visit their website.
In This Newsletter:
California’s new math framework offers path to greater excellence and equity
In a commentary for EdSource, Phil Daro explores the just-released revision of the new California Framework for Mathematics. While earlier drafts of the framework prompted concerns that the effort to achieve greater equity would hold high-achieving students back from excellence, this revised draft showcases clearly this will not be the case. The new framework that will be applied in 2022 allows for all students to move forward.
Engineer for the Week
Looking for a fun, free curriculum to help your students develop computer science skills and explore engineering? Sign up for Engineer for the Week (EFTW)!
Over the course of 15 to 20 hours, learners build tech prototypes that address a social issue of their choice. Upon completing the program, learners will understand how to use the engineering process, discover that everyone has the power to develop solutions for social good and know that engineers come from diverse backgrounds.
The M in STEM: Math in Everyday Life
Wednesday, April 20, 2022; 11:00 AM PST
Hosted by the National Girls Collaborative Project, this webinar will focus on ways math is prevalent and relevant in everyday life, including in afterschool spaces. Learn about ways to recognize and embrace authentic math moments and activities to help engage afterschool youth in math.
Wednesday, April 20, 2022
11:00 AM PST
ACRES April Cohort: Ready, Set, STEM! & Asking Purposeful Questions
Wednesdays: April 27, May 11, May 25, 2022; 7:00 - 8:30 AM PST
Are you ready to bring meaningful STEM learning into your program? This module offers educators who are new to facilitating STEM the opportunity to build supportive relationships with other educators while exploring the principles of STEM learning. This module combines an introduction to STEM facilitation with the skill of Asking Purposeful Questions. *The expectation is that you will be live at all three sessions and an active member of this coaching cohort. Stipends are offered to participants who complete feedback surveys before and after a module.
Calling All Afterschool Artists! Lights on Afterschool Poster Contest
Deadline: May 16, 2022
The Lights On Afterschool poster contest is officially open, and this year they’re changing the theme to reflect how youth see themselves and their futures because of their afterschool program! The winning submission will be awarded $500 and will have their design printed on more than 50,000 posters and displayed at more than 8,000 Lights on Afterschool events across the nation.
To learn more about the content and how to submit your artwork, visit their website!
The M in STEM: Making Math Meaningful
Thursday, May 19, 2022; 11:00 AM PST
Hosted by the National Girls Collaborative Project, this webinar will focus on engaging and supporting youth in mathematics. Learn from an AAAS IF/THEN® Ambassador who uses mathematics to positively impact society and share best practices and resources to help make the M in STEM meaningful and accessible in afterschool.
Thursday, May 19, 2022
11:00 AM PST
Equity in Math Class: 5 Tips for Teachers
Equity and Inclusion
WeAreTeachers’s article “Equity in Math Class: 5 Tips for Teachers” explores ways to Build Equity into Your Math Lessons discusses how equity and social justice play a critical role in math instruction.
Remembering the Child: On Equity and Inclusion in Mathematics and Science Classrooms
Engineering Mindsets - Math
The North Central Regional Education Laboratory (NCREL) addresses equity and inclusion in STEM classrooms as a critical issue in a paper that includes six effective practices for equity.
Additional Engineering Mindsets resources:
Incorporating the Stories of Women, People of Color, and LGBTQ+ Scientists Into the Physics Classroom
Incorporating Role Models
Read this short article from NSTA about the contributions of women, people of color, and other diverse scientists to the field of Physics. Includes a link to lesson plans for lesson plans that could be adapted for K9-12.
IF/THEN Ambassadors – April
Incorporating Role Models
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. Explore the amazing ambassadors being highlighted for April:
Ambassadors for Earth Day (April 22)
These assets feature IF/THEN Ambassador and forest ecologist, Lindsey Rustad:
- Ambassador Profile of Lindsey Rustad
- Draw Her Life of Lindsey Rustad
- Salt Crystal Tree Activity with Lindsey Rustad
Brokering Youth Pathways: A Toolkit for Connecting Youth to Future Opportunity
STEM Transitions, Handoffs, and Coordination
Hive Research Network has published a toolkit entitled: Brokering Youth Pathways: A Toolkit for Connecting Youth to Future Opportunity. This toolkit shares ways in which various out-of-school educators and professionals have approached the challenge of brokering. We provide a framework, practice briefs and reports that focus on a particular issue or challenge and provide concrete examples, as well as illustrate how our partners worked through designing new brokering routines in partnership with our research team.
National Environmental Education Week
April 18-22, 2022
This week is National Environmental Education Week! Explore these resources compiled by Million Girls Moonshot to help you celebrate in the classroom:
- Role Model Video: #SheCanSTEM video featuring IF/THEN Ambassador and climate scientist, Dr. Victoria Herrmann
- Role Model Video: Mission Unstoppable: Tracking Bears with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant
Mizzen by Mott
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! Encourage partners to download the Mizzen By Mott app to access STEM activities at your finger-touch!
Featured Activities & Playlists
- Playlist: STEM Activities for K-5th Grade in Small Groups – This playlist is a great mix of engineering and science activities that are easy and fun for small groups of students.
- Playlist: Science Notebooks for 3rd – 12th Grade – Keeping a notebook can help your students think and act like scientists and engineers. Sample these easy-to-implement strategies and lessons to bring science notebooking into your program.
- Module: S.INQ Up Earth and Space for 6-8th Grade – Earth and Space is an inquiry and exploration-based curriculum that uses hands-on activities focused on the relationships between the earth, the solar system, and human impacts on our global environment.
Check Out CAN’s Other Newsletters!
Access the CAN newsletter archives to view past newsletters today! You may be interested in some of our other newsletters as well: