December Resources from Million Girls Moonshot

December brings us the opportunity to reflect on our successes and explore how we might do more as we head into a new year. Below we bring you the December assets from the Million Girls Moonshot, and encourage you to share these resources with your networks and partners.

If you are interested in becoming involved in the Million Girls Moonshot in your state, please connect with your statewide afterschool network. 

Transformative Practices

AUDIENCE: For Network STEM/Moonshot Staff, Partners, and Program Providers

APPLICATION: Share the following resources about transformative practices with partners and programs in your state. Use them to create professional development for afterschool programs and educators in your state.

Equity and Inclusion

• Article: Infrastructures to Support Equitable STEM Learning Across Settings — STEM learning is a process that unfolds through dynamic interactions over time and across settings. Learn about design principles to support equitable learning across settings, especially opportunities that occur in out-of-school time.
• Website: You For Youth // Computer Science for All — Computer Not Required  — This 21CCLC resources covers it all—activities, curricula, fact sheets.  There’s information for practitioners, parents, and families.  The ready-to-use resources for educators have links to everything including a variety of curricula for k-12 students and recommendations for best practice.

Engineering Mindsets

• Activity Toolkit: STEM Educators Academy Activity Toolkit from ExpandED Schools — This Activity Toolkit offers hybrid learning engineering design challenges, STEM facilitation skill builder videos, and engineering design activities categorized by content areas.
• Guide for Educators: Hear Here: A 'Pi in the Sky' Math Challenge | NASA/JPL Edu — The "Pi in the Sky" math challenge gives students in grades 10-12 a chance to find solutions to real-world problems all while using math and pi just like NASA scientists and engineers.  This structured activity includes hands-on, minds-on extensions. 
• Posters and Printables For Educators: Free Printable Summer Math Games (123homeschool4me.com) — Get a free month of activities, videos, and fun experiences.  Appropriate for grades 1-8. Kids “build” a Math Monster who leads them through the activities.  The website adapts to the child’s capacity—gently, but constantly increasing the difficulty of the activities. 
• Framework: K-12 Computer Science Framework — The Association for Computing Machinery, Code.org, Computer Science Teachers Association, Cyber Innovation Center, and National Math and Science Initiative have collaborated with states, districts, and the computer science education community to develop conceptual guidelines for computer science education.
• Powerpoint: Best Practices in Computer Science Classes — Easy to follow, friendly power point with best practices in a computer science classroom.

Incorporating Role Models

Role Model Profile Videos and Photos: The following assets are free profile videos and photos of IF/THEN Ambassadors. These can be used in marketing, presentations, social media, embedded on websites, during conferences, and more. 

For Networks and Programs: 

• New resources to help navigate the IF/THEN® Collection. 
• Check out this video tour showcasing how to find assets in the IF/THEN® Collection. 
• Review this one-page info sheet about the IF/THEN® Collection. 
• Use this scavenger hunt activity with your teams and networks to get hands-on experience navigating the IF/THEN® Collection.

Role Model Profile Videos and Photos

For Networks:

Computer Science Education for All Week (December 6-12, 2021) 

Role Model profile videos: The below assets are free profile videos and photos of IF/THEN Ambassadors. These can be used in marketing, presentations, social media, embedded on websites, during conferences, and so much more.  

• Natalie Evans-Harris Long Profile 
• On-the-Job Flor Larson 
• STEM Journey Flor Larson
• STEM Journey Sarah Wilson 
• Terri Burns Long Profile 
• Terri Burns Short Profile
• Bea Mendez Gandica Long Profile
• On-the-Job Gracie Ermi

For Programs: 

The below assets can be used in your programs as you celebrate Computer Science Education for All (December 6-12, 2021)

• Camp GoldieBlox: How Can Coding Save Orca Whales? 
• Camp GoldieBlox: Whale Tale Bookmark 
• Sarah Wilson Educator Guide 
• Sarah Wilson Activity Sheet
• Camp GoldieBlox Make a Change with Data 
• Camp GoldieBlox Will Computers Take Over the World? 
• Get in the Game Educator Guide 
• Get in the Game Activity Sheet  
• Camp GoldieBlox: Former Fortnite Producer Shares the Secrets to Getting into the Game Industry
• Camp GoldieBlox: Brian-Bending Puzzle 
• Free This Is What A Scientist Looks Like poster featuring Dr. Siobhan Day Grady who works in cybersecurity to mitigate disinformation by investigating authorship on online social networks. 

Families

• Article: ‘I’m not just a mom’: Parents as creators, collaborators, and learners in creative computing by Ricarose Roque - Social support from parents can play an important role in engaging and sustaining young people’s participation in computing. The authors identified many supportive roles for parents, including collaborating with their children on projects, providing resources and finding new opportunities. 
• Article: 10X: Using Technology to Engage Families — From gathering information to modeling appropriate tech use to emphasizing the importance of conversation with children, learn 10 tips on using technology to engage families.

STEM Transitions, Handoffs, and Coordination

• Research to Practice: Designing Learning Pathways: A research-practice partnership focused on parent brokering — Learn about an design-led research project to align youth-centered, interest-driven learning pathways with the needs and interests of a local community-based creative arts and technology organization. This case study provides one example of a design-led learning innovation to deepen interest-driven learning pathways for youth. 

Activities for Programs

AUDIENCE: For Programs and Youth

APPLICATION: Share the following STEM activities with programs and families for additional STEM learning in your state. 

• Student Design Activity: NASA's Favorite House Plants for Space Stations and You - The Grow Network : The Grow Network - Select a plant to grow and keep a record of its change over time. Design a flowerpot for space—what shape works best? How deep does it need to be? What do scientists need to consider to grow plants in space? 
• Student Design Activity: Design A Crew Module - Use materials that are easy to find at home to build a crew capsule for spaceflight. Practice engineering design process to improve on the original design. Grades 4-8.
• Student Design Activity: Straw Towers to the Moon - Let your kids’ imaginations run wild.  Build the biggest tower, or the best balanced, or the most attractive…change the criteria to change the design. Grades K-8. 
• Student Activity: Team Building for STEM Challenges — In this team building activity, youth work together to lift an object by using a set of strings attached to a center ring. Each student grabs a few strings and must work together to raise the item in the center. The task requires concentration and communication and introduces the value of teamwork.

Professional Development

AUDIENCE: NETWORKS AND PROGRAMS

APPLICATION: Share the following training opportunities with partners and program leaders to build their understanding of engineering, equity and inclusion, and STEM. 

• Webinar: Innovative Strategies from the Field: Leveraging the IF/THEN Collection

NGCP Collaborative leads and local educators will showcase how they utilize the IF/THEN® Collection resources in their programming to engage girls in STEM. Resources from the IF/THEN Collection that support equity in STEM will be shared.

Mizzen by Mott Moonshot Connection

AUDIENCE: For Networks and Partners

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!  You’ll find it in Mizzen here.

Featured Activities & Playlists

• Playlist: Habitat Planning by NASA
• Playlist: STEM Activities for K-5th
• Activity: Balloon Rockets Challenge