"A woman's decision to become involved in STEM-related fields happens when [she] truly begins playing with and understanding toys and developing creative energy. Too often we drive girls to play with toys that subconsciously are pushing them away from STEM, but STEM needs to be an area where young girls can begin to bring more of that creative energy.With 50 percent or more of young girls deciding by fourth grade that they don't want to explore STEM, this leaves [tech] companies with less of a talent pool to choose from."
- Marie Planchard, director of education community at 3D software application company Dassault Systèmes,
- Marie Planchard, director of education community at 3D software application company Dassault Systèmes,
Join the Club
Black Girls Code
Join a Museum
Museums are always changing exhibits and activities, so there’s always something new to see. Be sure to check the museum calendar for free and reduced-price admission days, too. Here are two ways of finding STEM themed museums near you:
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Attend A Conference
Design Your World - STEM Conference for Girls
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Watch a TV Show
- Annedroids ... is a first ever Amazon action-adventure series with a push towards STEM for 6 to 9-year-olds.
- Sci Girls ... is a PBS TV show for kids ages 8-12 that showcases bright, curious real tween girls putting science and engineering to work in their everyday lives.
Go Online
Curiosity Machine
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"As far as I'm concerned, we run the internet. Women Facebook more; they tweet more; they make 85 percent of all consumer purchases. We should be sitting on the other side."
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Go to Camp (with or without the Boys)
Curious Jane Camp
- is a hands-on week long day camp in an all-girl setting meant to be supportive and empowering for young (3rd - 6th grade) girls.Themes range from Toy Design to Life Science, with lots of time for free play and exploration. There are a growing number of locations including Philly (which also offers a new one-week overnight camp), NYC, San Fransisco and Naples, Florida.
- is a camp directory listing some of the summer camps for K-12 students in engineering throughout the United States and Canada.
- is the world's #1 tech camp for kids! Since 1999, our independent, family-owned company has given 21st century relevancy to the phrase “summer camp,” taking hands-on learning to a new level. Whether you’re a computer novice or a tech whiz, you’ll shine in our high-enegry, pressure-free learning environment.
- is for rising 9th through 12th grade girls has been created as a model STEM summer program for girls. Research results for this program indicate that the student participants leave the camp with a better understanding of what engineering is and have increased self-efficacy in STEM.
- is a week long science and math summer camp for eighth-grade girls.Built for Girls, by Women.
Compete (With or without the boys)
AbilityOne Design Challenge
- High school students work with people with disabilities to innovative and build prototype devices that diminish obstacles standing between people with disabilities and employment opportunities.
- The ACSL challenges students in grades 6 – 12 to solve computer science problems and a programming problem in this international competition.
- A "girls only" event where people come together to solve problems by building apps. The hackathon is for girls between the ages of 12 - 17 where they participate in creating solutions to social issues within their communities while they build their skills, confidence, experience and have lots of fun!
- Small-team based competition for middle school students that asks them to find solutions to community problems using science and technology.
- A fun, hands-on system of learning that fosters students’ creativity, courage and curiosity through open-ended academic Challenges in the fields of STEM, fine arts and service learning. Our participants learn patience, flexibility, persistence, ethics, respect for others and their ideas, and the collaborative problem solving process. Teams may showcase their solutions at a tournament.
- In this competition, students in grades 5 – 8 create videos about an assigned scientific concept. Finalists receive a trip to present projects to judges and compete for the $25,000 first place prize.
- The National Science Teachers Association and Toshiba ask small-teams of students to image the future of technology. In its twentieth year, this year’s ExploraVision competition is aligned to the upcoming Next Generation Science Standards.
- introduces young people, ages 9 to 14 (grades 4-8), to the fun and excitement of science and technology. Teams, composed of up to ten children with at least two (2) screened Lead Coaches, can also be associated with a pre-existing club or organization, homeschooled, or just be a group of friends who wish to do something awesome.
- With school teams and clubs worldwide, hundreds of thousands of students ages 6-18 participate annually in FIRST’s hands-on robotics programs and competitions.
- Middle school student teams work with teachers and engineers to research and solve an engineering problem. Competition elements include virtual city design, physical model construction, and an essay.
- Students perform in-depth investigations of real-world problems in this competition. Prizes are awarded in three age categories ranging from 13-18, and include computers, scholarships, and a grand prize trip.
- Microsoft’s Imagine Cup challenges high school students worldwide to create software applications in each of its three competitions: Games, Innovation, and World Citizenship.
- High school seniors prepare and present original research projects in this prestigious annual competition that offers dozens of scholarships to winners.
- A free, internet-based math challenge for juniors and seniors that offers numerous scholarships to top-placing teams.
- Each four-student middle school team creates a video that teaches the solution to and a real-world application of a math problem selected from the MATHCOUNT’s handbook. MATHCOUNTS also offers “bee” style competitions and club programs.
- K-12 students, who participate in this contest, work on designing permanent orbital settlements. NASA also offers a variety of art, photography, and essay contests, updated here, as well as others, including an asteroid naming contest.
- Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Bowl challenges middle and high school students to face-off in a Jeopardy-style science contest.
- With competitions in all fifty states, the Science Olympiad is one of the best-established STEM competitions around for grades 6 - 12. Tournaments focus on teamwork and consist of standards-based challenges.
- Individuals and teams of high school students compete for scholarships offered at the regional and national level in this research-focused competition administered by The College Board.
- Middle and high school students take part in designing, building, and flying rockets complete with “astronaut” eggs. The contest is limited to the first 1,000 teams to register.
- Middle and high school teams of four to eight students contend at local, state, and national levels in this engineering-based competition.
- Through internet, local, and national events, middle and high school students tackle STEM concepts as they work with scaled electric radio controlled race-cars.
- High school students research environmental problems using geospatial tools and data. The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) also sponsors an annual science themed art contest for elementary students and Earth Day Photo & Essay contests for middle school students.