What is Inquiry?

Yesterday I helped facilitate a local workshop about inquiry-based learning as part of the California After School Network's  The Power of Discovery: STEM2 initiative.  The Alameda County Office of Education and Gateways East Bay STEM Learning Network are the Regional Support Providers that are implementing The Power of Discovery at the regional and local levels.  Their vision is to create, empower and guide cross-sector partnerships among diverse stakeholders to build professional capacity of out-of-school time programs to offer high-quality STEM learning opportunities.

The focus of the workshop was inquiry based learning and the presentation was by Kourrney Andrada of Girls Inc. of Alameda County.  Her presentation was chock full of helpful links, which I'll recap below.  Some of her resources were videos from the Lawrence Hall of Science's' Afterschool KidzScience program.

Here is my favorite video from the list - it covers elements of questioning, guiding exploration and encouraging collaboration.  

This would be a great video to show after school science leaders as a starting off point for a conversation about facilitation techniques.  

Here are the links to resources from yesterday's training:

4-H's Science in Urban Communities

“Asking Questions”

This link is from Developmental Studies Center, creators with Lawrence Hall of Science of KidzScience, Kidzmath, KidzLit, etc. 

Lawrence Hall of Science Educator Tools and Resources 

How Do People Learn? - video

Leading Curiosity - video

Leading Exploration - video

www.Y4Y.ed.gov     

"Sparking Curiosity" coachingsegment

The Y4Y links use the following definition from the Exploratorium:

Inquiry is an approach to learning that involves a process of exploring the natural or material world that leads to asking questions and making discoveries in the search for new understandings.

Inquiry, as it relates to science education, should mirror as closely as possible the enterprise of doing real science.

Encourage your students to discuss and question openly, to gain a better understanding of what they’re thinking. It’ll help you uncover misunderstandings you can challenge and identify places to introduce concepts and explanations for what they’re experiencing.

50 Resources to Advance Women in STEM

The Coalition for Science After School is thrilled to top the National Girls Collaborative Project's 50 Resources to Advance Women in STEM list!  The NGCP distributed their list via Twitter throughout the last few days of 2012.  Here's a great opportunity to make sure you are following these organizations, which strive for gender equity in science learning and the STEM fields!

The Coalition would like to thank the NGCP for including us - we are in very good company on this terrific list!  

#1 Afterschool Alliance @afterschool4all 
#2 The Coalition for Science After School @sciafterschool 
#3 Girl Scouts @girlscouts 
#4 Blacks in Technology @blkintechnology 
#5 Black Girls Code @blackgirlscode 
#6 FabFems @Fabfems 
#7 Techbridge @Techbridgegirls 
#8 GirlTech 
#9 Girls RISEnet 
#10 Carnegie Mellon Project on Gender and Computer Science  
#11 National Society of Black Engineers @NSBE
#12 Harvard Fam Research Project @HFRP 
#13 !Excelencia! in Education @EdExcelencia 
#14 Culturally Situated Design Tools 
#15 CompuGirls 
#16 Coalition to Diversify Computing 
#17 The American Indian Science and Engineering Society @AISES 
#18 Alaska Native Knowledge Network 
#19 SciGirls @SciGirls
#20 Binary Girl 
#21 The Work4Women Project
#22 Women@NASA 
#23 National Institute for Women in Trades, Technology and Science @IWITTS 
#24 Diversity/Careers Magazine @divcar
#25 Women in Cable & Telcommunications @WICT 
#26 Women in Aviation International @WomenInAviation 
#27 Women Chemists Throughout History
#28 Women Chemists Committee 
#29 New Scientist 
#30 Association for Women in Computing 
#31 Association for Women in Science @AWISNational 
#32 Association for Women in Mathematics
#33 Engineer Your Life
#34 Women in Engineering ProActive Network 
#35 Society of Women Engineers @SWETalk 
#36 Engineer Girl  
#37 Women in Engineering
#38 American Society of Mechanical Engineers @ASME 
#39 Women Tech World 
#40 Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology @anita_borg
#41 Women in Visual Arts/#Tech 
#42 Women in Technology International @WITI  
#43 Webgrrls @Webgrrls  
#44 TechDivas 
#45 National Center for Women and Information Technology @NCWIT 
#46 IGNITE: Inspiring Girls Now in Technology Evolution  
#47 GirlGeeks 
#48 Cisco Learning Institute Gender Initiative
#49 Center for Women and Information Technology 
#50 ACM's Committee on Women in Computing  

#SciMentor Twitter Chat

Did you know that January is National Mentoring Month?

To celebrate, the Coalition is hosting a Twitter chat:

Wednesday January 23 
12-1 Pacific Time
#SciMentor

During this chat we will discuss the importance of mentors and role models in science education and STEM careers.  We're interested in hearing your tips, best practices, resources and stories, so please join us on the chat!

Here are the questions we will be posing on the chat:


Q1: Why are mentors and role models important for youth?



Q2: What is special about afterschool and summer mentoring opportunities?

Q3: How can mentors and role models support science education?

Q4: What resources can STEM mentors look to for support and inspiration?

Q5: What makes for high-quality mentoring experiences?

Q6: What can STEM professionals expect to give and get out of mentoring youth?

Q7: What topic related to science in after school would you like to discuss in our next chat?



To join the chat and see what others are saying:

1. Go to tweetchat.com and search for the hashtag #SciMentor

2. You do not need a Twitter account to follow the chat, but you do need one to comment or ask questions.  If you need to set up a Twitter account you can sign up at http://www.twitter.com.  It's free to join and only takes a minute.

3. To join the discussion, sign into TweetChat using your Twitter account and enter your tweets in the box at the top of the page. TweetChat automatically includes the hashtag for you.

4. Each tweet is limited to 140 characters (including the hashtag #SciMentor) but feel free to use multiple tweets to pose a question or respond to a comment.

The Coalition's Twitter handle is @sciafterschool.  Feel free to submit questions in advance by sending us a message on Twitter.

Looking forward to seeing you on the chat!

STEM in Chicago in Out of School Time Conference

Organized by Project Exploration, supported by the Hive Chicago Learning Network, and hosted by the Illinois Institute of Technology, The State of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math in Chicago in Out of School Time conference will convene 100+ of Chicago’s top STEM‐education stakeholders and practitioners to share and discuss the results of the city’s first ever survey of out‐of‐school time STEM education opportunities. 

Sessions will include presentations from local and national leaders involved in system-building for youth and STEM, and working groups on digital and connected learning, state-wide learning exchanges, summer strategies, and strategic collaboration for increasing diversity in the STEM workforce pipeline. 

Funding for this conference is being provided by HIVE Chicago and The After School Corporation. Research funding has been provided by the Noyce Foundation and the Chicago Foundation for Women.

The conference will be held on December 17th from 8:00am-5:00pm at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Conference goals include:

• Sharing the results of the first citywide survey of the STEM out-of-school time opportunity landscape
• Raising awareness about the importance of, and opportunity inherent in, out-of-school time STEM to impact students’ educational and career aspirations and achievement.
• Discussing recommendations for a citywide strategy for building and supporting transparent K-16 pathways in STEM.
• Bringing together leaders in the field who can collaborate to create and support student-centered pathways into and through STEM K-16, using out of school time programs as a building block.

Deadline: Register by December 14th.

WEBSITE:  Visit the conference page to register, review the schedule or learn about sponsorship opportunities:  http://stemchicago.wordpress.com/conference/ .

Guest Blogger: 4-H Science, Engineering and Technology

Our guest blogger this week is Steven Worker from the California State 4-H Office.  We are thrilled that 4-H will be joining the Coalition at the Bay Area Science Festival on November 3, 2012 at AT&T Park in San Francisco!  Read on to learn about some of the exciting after school science programs 4-H is doing.

Did you know that for the past 110 years, 4-H programs nationwide have been engaging youth in experientially-based science, engineering, nutrition, citizenship, and agricultural education? Often people are surprised at the scope and breadth of 4-H programming due to the often heard stereotype of 4-H as agriculture and livestock. Today, 4-H has projects in many different areas including aerospace to nutrition, leadership to civic engagement, and plant to animal science. Nationally, 4-H programs serve more than 6.5 million youth, ages 5-19, annual in rural, suburban, and urban settings. California 4-H involves 210,000 youth members supported by 14,000 adult volunteer educators in 4-H clubs, camps, short-term projects, and school-enrichment activities. Another often-missed fact about 4-H is the that it’s the youth outreach and education arm of the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR). 4-H is housed in the University of California Cooperative Extension office in almost every county with over 800 4-H Clubs in California.

I started 4-H as an eleven year old in the 4-H rocketry project in Santa Barbara County. I fell in love with 4-H and haven’t left since! Now my professional work at the California State 4-H Office based on the University of California, Davis campus is to strengthen programs, offer professional development, develop curriculum, and evaluate efforts related to 4-H science, engineering, and technology. At our core, 4-H science and engineering programs combine the strengths of experiential education and inquiry-based science learning with a positive youth development framework that holistically addresses the developmental and educational needs of young people.

In 2008, California 4-H launched its 4-H Science, Engineering, and Technology (SET) Initiative to strengthen its SET programs. The goals of the California 4-H SET Initiative are to improve 4-H members’ understanding of science and help address the critical need for more scientists and engineers in the workforce. 4-H SET programs help youth improve their knowledge and skills around science, engineering, and technology; connect learning with real-world situations where youth can adopt and use new science methods or improved technology to solve problems; and, in the long term, increase the number and diversity of youth pursuing higher education and careers in science, engineering, and technology fields. Evaluation of our programs demonstrates that 4-H works! Check out the latest research for California at http://www.ca4h.org/Research/4HPublications/ or nationally at http://www.4-h.org/about/youth-development-research/

I am particularly excited about four 4-H SET programs that we’ve launched in the last few years. 

Robotics: In 2010, California 4-H developed the 4-H Junk Drawer Robotics curriculum. The curriculum engages youth, ages 10 through 13, in understanding scientific concepts and processes, the engineering design process cycle, and technology creation and building. The activities provided experiences by working with household items to complete simple design challenges. Junk Drawer Robotics modules are designed around three phases – to learn (science), to do (engineering), and to make (technology). The activities were designed to be led by an adult or teen facilitator following the experiential learning cycle and promoting inquiry. When I lead Junk Drawer Robotics activities with young people, I am constantly amazed at the creativity and innovative ways youth go about designing, building, and solving the challenges. Read more about the curriculum at http://www.4-h.org/resource-library/curriculum/4-h-robotics/junk-drawer-robotics/

Water Education: In 2010, California 4-H developed and tested a curriculum focused on water conservation and quality. The There’s No New Water! curriculum helps high school-aged youth learn about water resources while improving their science and environmental literacy. This curriculum has an emphasis on service learning where youth apply what they’ve learned in the curriculum to address youth conservation and quality concerns at home, in school, or in their community. After participating in the curriculum, one youth participant said, “I learned that we humans alone add a lot of pollution to our water system. We need to be more careful with what chemicals we use, what we do with garbage, and other waste. I really don't want to run out of clean water.” Find out more about There’s No New Water at http://www.4-h.org/resource-library/curriculum/4-h-theres-no-new-water/

Family Science: For many children, having a parent or family member support an interest in science is an important part of learning science. The 4-H SLO Scientists program was conceived and piloted in San Luis Obispo (SLO) County to address the desire and need to involve youth and adults together in hands-on science. This helps improve science processing skills, science literacy and issues of family dynamics. Evaluation of this program shows that youth talk to family members about science and spend more time observing and experimenting after becoming involved. Read more at http://ucanr.org/delivers/?impact=156&delivers=1

4-H National Youth Science Day: Finally, a national movement- On October 10, 2012, millions of young people across the nation will become scientists for the day during the fifth annual 4-H National Youth Science Day (NYSD). NYSD is the premier national rallying event for year-round 4-H Science programming, bringing together youth, volunteers and educators from the nation’s land-grant universities to simultaneously complete the National Science Experiment. In this year's experiment, the 4-H Eco-Bot Challenge, youth will enhance their engineering skills by assembling their own Eco-Bots and surface controls to manage an environmental clean-up. Youth will then test the interaction between the Eco-Bot’s design features and various surface control configurations to determine the most effective clean-up solution for the simulated spill. Find out more at http://www.4-h.org/4-h-national-youth-science-day/

 As these examples show, there are a variety of 4-H programs focusing on science, engineering, and technology. Of course, while I did not share any examples of agriculture and livestock, many youth are involved with 4-H projects in these areas. For me, the take home message about 4-H is that by basing programs on a positive youth development framework,  4-H provides youth with an opportunity to develop strong, positive relationships with adults while engaging in meaningful science, engineering, and technology activities which helps youth ignite a passion for learning. At the end of the day, I think most out-of-school time programs are striving to have youth become healthy, happy, thriving adults who make a positive contribution in their communities.

Get mapped with MOST-Science!

This week's guest blog about MOST-Science is by Dr. Sandra Laursen of The University of Colorado Boulder.  Read on to discover how you can contribute to this important research and help advance the field of after school science! 

·     Fifth graders learn about wolf biology and predator-prey relationships, then help prepare meat to feed captive wolves at a wolf sanctuary….

·     Seventh-grade girls build and test rockets, then hold a contest to see how high their rockets will fly….

·     High school youth measure the water quality in a local creek and discover that illegal dumping is contaminating the water.  They report their find to local environmental authorities….

All who work with young people in out-of-school science and engineering experiences like these know that they can have a profound effect on the young people who participate.  But which experiences offer what benefits to youth? What program practices best support sustainable and effective programs?   Such questions drive a current research study called MOST-Science, underway by our team at the University of Colorado Boulder. 

Every year, thousands of young people attend summer camps, weekend workshops, and afterschool programs at community centers, libraries, and science centers, work as interns and volunteers at museums and laboratories, and participate in research projects at universities and laboratories.  The MOST-Science study is building a map of these science-focused programs, especially programs for youth in the middle and high school grades, and those where students work with each other on team projects or with the public.  We want to understand the breadth and depth of out-of-school science opportunities:

·     Where, when, and by whom are out-of-school science programs conducted?

·     What types of experiences do these programs offer to young people? 
Which experiences are especially effective in engaging youth and fostering their growth?

·     What kinds of students participate and why?

·     What do students gain from taking part?
For example, do students become interested in new science topics, or sustain their previous interests?  Are participants are more likely to go on to work in science and engineering? ...or to grow up to be responsible community members and science-literate citizens?

The answers to these questions will help to improve youth programs by sharing good ideas and practices.  Our research will also inform policy-makers and donors about the value of out-of-school science education...  perhaps even to create more opportunities for youth who do not have them now.

We are gathering data through documents, interviews, and the online MOST-Science Questionnaire.  We are now inviting leaders of out-of-school programs to complete the questionnaire and share with us some information about who participates in your programs; for how long and how often; and about the kinds of content, hands-on activities, career information, mentors and role models with which your participants interact.  

Everyone who completes a questionnaire will have a 1-in-15 chance to win a $50 gift certificate.  More importantly, however, study participants will alert our team to your organization and its programs, and help to inform funders, policy-makers, researchers and the public about the good work in this community and the needs that remain to be addressed.

To learn more, visit our web site or find MOSTscience on Facebook.

Sandra Laursen earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley and maintains interests in both research and practice in science education. As co-director of Ethnography & Evaluation Research (E&ER), she leads research and evaluation studies focusing on education and career paths in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Particular research interests include the underrepresentation of women and people of color in the sciences, professional socialization and career development of scientists, teacher professional development, and organizational change in higher education. She is also interested in inquiry-based teaching and learning, and the challenges of improving STEM education in and out of the classroom and across organizations.

Making and STEM

The act of making things--whether its gluing toothpicks into simple or complex structures, or welding scrap metal to make art--is a natural vehicle for exploring concepts and applications of science, technology, engineering, and math. In addition to taking into account the aesthetics of design, makers are in essence performing constant experiments: what do I think will happen if this is attached to that? What can I do to make that happen? Making equals exploration, which leads to innovation.

Making encourages creativity--an important ingredient in answering scientific questions. But many scientists and non-scientists alike may not consider themselves to be "creative" as the word is typically applied to the arts. Fortunately, there is a movement to make "making" accessible and show how creativity can be found in unexpected places.

The Maker Faire, a.k.a. the world's "largest DIY Festival," hosts showcases of innovation across the country. This year, the World Maker Faire will be held on September 17th and 18th in New York City in partnership with the New York Hall of Science. Smaller faires inspired by the larger event frequently take place in smaller communities, highlighting regional activities. 

Individual institutions can support the science of making. At the Exploratorium, daily activities at The Tinkering Studio support exploration of many kinds of materials and science concepts. Check out their blog for highlights of recent activities. And in case you're starting to feel inspired, the Institute for the Future (IFTF) has a blog up post about integrating the Maker community with K-12 education (specifically in-school, but the idea of linking making to the out-of-school time education field is worth considering as well). 

Making represents great opportunities for doing science, engineering, technology, and math outside of typical school hours. Have you seen making in action?

Bring Science & Literacy Program to Your Afterschool Site

The Franklin Institute has teamed up with the Free Library of Philadelphia to offer an exciting and innovative program that combines hands-on science and literacy skill-building. According to their website, LEAP into Science aims to: 

• Increase the capacity of influential adults for science teaching and learning;
• Increase the capacity of libraries for science teaching and learning;
• Understand the ways in which science and literacy can be connected in order to promote children's and families' engagement in both of these areas. 

The program is currently looking for ten new museums, afterschool sites, libraries, and all other organizations who may be interested in bringing the LEAP into Science to their communities. Programs who are accepted will convene in Philadelphia, PA this July with sites where the program is currently happening to discuss findings and be trained in program resources and evaluation techniques.

Interested in applying? Check out their website for more information and application details. 

Check out the Science After School Consumers Guide!

Have you seen the Science After School Consumers Guide? The Guide grew out of early discussions amongst Coalition founding members about the need to have a guide to the high-quality, hands-on science content that is available for use in out-of-school time settings. The Lawrence Hall of Science spearheaded a project to find those resources, and conducted a review with the support of the SEDL National Center for Quality Afterschool. 

After an open-nomination period, submissions were reviewed for various indications of quality and categorized by grade, target audience, cost, and subject. Users can search for curricula, activity kits, instructor guides, and web sites that offer appropriate content for learning science on out-of-school time. Real educators from across the country rate and review the resources, and can submit new resources that they think are missing from the Guide.

In addition, the Science After School Consumers Guide partnered with the folks at the Science and Math Informal Learning Educators (SMILE) Pathway (which we profiled here last October) to feature free sample projects and activities from many of the resources listed in the Guide. Check out the bar on the right side of each resource's page to see the activities featured on howtosmile.org (such as here, on the Fetch! page).

For more information on high-quality science curriculum, check out the Coalition's Afterschool Science Activities and Curricula page.

Out-of-School In the Outdoors

After a wet and snowy winter, the world is beginning to bloom again (at least in some parts of the country). All of the sprouting trees and flowers inspired me to look in the Directory to see what kinds of opportunities for afterschool science there are in botanical gardens and outdoor schools. 


At the Garden Apprentice Program (GAP) at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, high schoolers have the opportunity to learn about different aspects of horticulture and then participate in an urban agriculture project with their peers. The program is structured so that outstanding participants have the potential to work their way up and eventually become paid Senior Apprentices. This innovative program has been around since 2004 and requires a ten-month commitment with extensive training. See the GAP website for more details as well as some great pictures!


In Mississippi, the Plymouth Bluff Center offers environmental programs in an unaltered outdoor setting that includes a  river, a pond, woodlands, a cypress slough, nature trails, an outdoor teaching facility, and outdoor laboratories. The Bluff is the site of an ancient Cretaceous sea and contains fossil sites used for paleontology and geology labs. Nature trails and abundant wildlife present opportunities for unstructured learning time. There is also an outdoor Math Lab and Environmental Discovery Lab perfect for field trip visits from afterschool programs as well as classrooms! 


And on the west coast, 5th grade students in rural Lassen County in northern California can explore their surrounding environment at 5th Grade Day in the Forest. Hosted by the California Regional Environmental Education Community (CREEC), the event encourages participants to explore a variety of science concepts that correlate to California's science standards. 


Let us know in the comments what you're doing to celebrate science in the outdoors! 

P.S. Read about member activities, upcoming conferences, the Afterschool for All Challenge, and more in the Coalition's March newsletter!

Science Books for Kids

While it's true that doing hands-on science activities is a great way to learn, every child needs a little down time to relax and let their busy minds process their experiences. Science books can be a great way for younger children to learn before bed, after working and playing hard at school, or on a rainy weekend. Plus, reading lets kids build their science, reading, and critical thinking skills all at the same time. Booklist just released their Top 10 Science and Technology books for 2010. The books cover a wide variety of science subjects--from archaeology, biology, engineering, ecology, and much more.

If you're an educator looking for books to use in your program, the National Science Teachers Association has a huge, annually-released compilation of the best science trade books for K-12 students stretching back to 1996. Again, the books cover a wide range of science subjects and are organized by subject or purpose (such as "Science as Inquiry" and "Unifying Concepts and Processes in Science"). 

Do you use science books in your afterschool program? What are some of your favorites?

America COMPETES Act under debate in Senate Committees

A major piece of science education legislation is winding its way through the halls of Congress. The America COMPETES Reauthorization Act funds various National Science Foundation (NSF) programs for the next three years.

The House version of the bill (H.R. 5116) sponsored by Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN) passed after three separate votes in May. Now, the bill is under review and modification in the Senate. The Senate version (S.3605) sponsored by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) differs slightly in the scope of departments funded and, in an effort to win bipartisan support in a highly partisan Congress, limits the funding to just three years and contains few new initiatives. In fact, the only new initiative was proposed by the ranking Republican in the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX) wants to designate $10 million to help universities train science and engineering majors to be K-12 teachers, a model that has been successfully employed in her home state by the UTeach program at the University of Texas, Austin.

In the Senate, the bill must win support in three separate committees: Commerce, Science, and Transportation (headed by Sen. Rockefeller); Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (led by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-IA); and Energy and Natural Resources (chaired by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-NM).

Last week, the bill was approved by a key science panel yesterday in Sen. Rockefeller's committee, bringing it one step closer to committee approval and finally to the Senate floor for debate and voting. While changes to the bill could happen at any time during the debate process, you can still voice your support for the proposal by contacting the Senators on each committee. To see if your Senator is a member of any of the above committees, click on the links below:

US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

US Senate Committee on Science, Commerce, and Transportation

You can read the text of the House of Representatives version of the bill (H.R. 5116) by visiting the bill summary and status page.

Share your ideas for new science education standards with the Board on Science Education

The Board of Science Education (BOSE), part of the National Academies, has just completed a conceptual framework draft for new science education standards for K-12 students across the country. This framework will provide the basis for a project to be conducted by Achieve, an independent, bipartisan, and non-profit organization dedicated to raising school standards, improve school assessments, and increase accountability. According to the project's website, Achieve hopes to develop new K-12 educational science standards as well as influence the direction of science education across the nation. The project was conducted with the help of Achieve, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the National Science Teachers Association.

The first draft of the conceptual framework is available online, and BOSE is offering the general public the chance to provide feedback with the aim of creating a final draft by winter of this year. You can read the full draft and provide your feedback by going here and clicking on the link at the top of the page.

Education standards often guide the development of new out-of-school programs, so your contribution to the report could help shape the way that afterschool science is taught in the future!

The White House Star Party Features Informal Learning Activities

If you missed the White House Star Party last night, you can still recreate the activities at home (or in your school or after-school programs). The activities came from the Lunar Planetary Institute's Explore! program, designed specifically for use in libraries and informal learning environments. Explore! has been used in 21st Century Community Learning Center and other after-school programs. Try one or more of these White House Star Party activities with your kids:

• Impact Crater Activity: The students dropped 4 different sized objects and measured the diameter of the objects and the depth and diameter of the craters.

• Size and distance in the Solar System: Size Activity and Scale Activity

• The other activities are harder to recreate. Your local science museum may have some of these. Inflatable planetarium dome presentations, "Rocks from Space" with a touchable moon rock, lunar sample disks, a Mars meteorite display and meteorites from the Smithsonian collection, and scientists to talk with the kids.

Thanks to the NASA JPL Museum Alliance for passing along the information!

School Gardens in the News

It's harvest time in school gardens. It is also time to plant garlic bulbs and other winter crops. Many schools and after-school programs are finding that gardens are great cross-curricular activities, requiring science, math, organization, and other skills. Gardening also gets students outside and eating healthier.

Here are two examples from Moraga, CA, and Jefferson Co., KY.

Find curriculum on science, including two on horticulture, at the Consumers Guide to Afterschool Science Resources.

Are you looking for an amazing opportunity to promote your science and technology programs?

The Coalition for Science After School recently opened a national directory of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning opportunities. This directory will be widely marketed and can rapidly increase the visibility of your program! The best news? There is no cost involved, it is FREE! There is, however, a cost to not participating: missed promotional, funding, and partnership opportunities.

Sign up now!

Are you interested in increasing the number of kids participating in your programs?
The promotion of this Directory will increase interest in opportunities to participate in science after school and in other informal settings, and it will direct interested parents and students to the programs entered in our database.

Are your programs full? Do you need support - funding, volunteers, partners - to open up your programs to more students?
Our Coalition is committed to working with policymakers and funders and will ensure that the Directory is used for increased advocacy in support of informal science education.
All that is needed to become part of the Directory is to visit our website:

Sign up now!

Spend a few moments entering information on your organization and its programs and events. If you have any questions about the Directory, the Coalition, or informal STEM education, please contact our team at info@directory.scienceafterschool.org.

I would like to thank you in advance for your participation. The larger we are able to grow this database the more effective the Directory will become! If you know of any colleagues who might be interested in taking advantage of this opportunity, please feel free to forward this message along.

Science and Art "CreatureCast" on Squid Iridescence

This is one of the most entertaining and scientifically educational videos that I have ever seen.  A young person with an interest in art might find the connection with science very engaging!  This is apparently "Episode 1", so I look forward to future CreatureCasts.

CreatureCast Episode 1 from Casey Dunn on Vimeo.

Teen Scientist Finds Bacteria to Decompose Plastic

I just wanted to repost this article from Wired Science.  A teen from Ontario found bacteria that makes plastic decompose in just three months.  This is something that scientists have been working on for many years.

Pew Study: Public Respects Contribution of Science to Society

A new study of public opinion finds that Americans overwhelmingly respect and support science.  84% of the public believes that science has a "mostly positive" effect on society.  Asked who contributes a lot to society's well being, members of the public name this top five: members of the military (84%), teachers (77%), scientists (70%), medical doctors (69%), and engineers (64%).  Even among those who believe in creationism, 63% believe scientists contribute a lot to society.  While debates over evolution, stem cells, and climate change may dominate headlines, most Americans recognize the overall value of science.  Now we just need to convince them that their own children can be part of that scientific community!

Pew Research Center for People & the Press

A narrative of afterschool science

For those who are interested in better understanding what science learning in afterschool programs is all about, The After-School Corporation has posted a great new article that describes programs in New York City and lessons that can be applied nationwide.
"Got Science?"