Tis the Season for STEM

Despite the title of this blog post; every season should include STEM. Every child should be exposed to high-quality, hands-on, inquiry-based, project based STEM activities on a daily basis. A STEM-rich background will prepare our students for the 21st century. Meaningful STEM activities will also expand our student's horizons and make them college or career ready. As the recent data from the Great Recession (2007) shows, in California, STEM  skills have stayed in demand even through the economic downturn. There were 1.4 jobs available for every 1 unemployed person that had a STEM background. In comparison, there was only 1 job available for every 4.9 unemployed people who didn't have a STEM background. The U.S. Department of Commerce also highlighted in its report STEM: Good Jobs Now and for the Future, that STEM jobs are projected to grow by 17% from 2008 to 2018, compared to 9.8 percent growth for non-STEM occupations. STEM workers also command higher wages, earning 26% more than their non-STEM counterparts. We can even take a closer look and look at the E (Engineering) in STEM and see why U.S. companies are lobbying for more H1B visas (the STEM pipeline in america is not producing enough engineers); in the U.S. about 4% of all bachelor's degrees are in engineering, compared with 19% in Asia and 12% in Europe.

We in the after school field have been and can continue to help turn children on to STEM by exposing them to high-quality, hands-on, meaningful STEM activities. Keep in mind though that STEM education is more than just science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; it is an interdisciplinary and applied approach that is coupled with real-world, problem-based learning (Gateways East Bay STEM Network). This means there is art, history, literacy, etc. in STEM. The more that we can weave into an activity, the more doors we can open for our students and their futures. We need to start early though, for if students are not interested in STEM by fifth grade then 92% of boys and 97% of girls will loose interest in STEM subjects.

Now let's step off the STEM data soapbox and see what after school sites in Region 3 have been up to in the last month.



Name of Expanded Learning Program Provider: Sacramento Chinese Community
Service Center

Name of District: Twin Rivers Unified School District

Name of School Site: Woodridge Elementary School

Grade Level of Activity: 4th Grade

Number of Students who took part in the activity: 20

Type of Activity: STEAM Circle of Pong

Learning Outcomes: Students were able to: 

• engineer a device with limited resources
• work collaboratively and communicate effectively to engineer a device
• use critical thinking skills when resources were either added or taken away
• test their engineered device and make revisions based upon observations
• able to successfully transport a ping pong ball with an engineered device

Expanded Learning students engineering ping pong transport devices.

For more information on this activity please contact Gladys Gonzalez at gladys@sccsc.org.


Name of Expanded Learning Program Provider: Sacramento Chinese Community
Service Center

Name of District: Sacramento City Unified School District

Name of School Site: John Bidwell Elementary School 

Grade Level of Activity: 3rd Grade

Number of Students who took part in the activity: 20

Type of Activity: Chemistry Lesson (Kitchen Chemistry)

Learning Outcomes: Students were able to:

• become more familiar with scientific terms and the scientific method
• investigate changing states of matter
• understand chemical reactions
• learn about the properties of salt and ice
• observe and improve their product using the engineering design process

Expanded Learning Program students learning about the properties of salt and ice.

For more information on this activity please contact Guadalupe Rios at guadalupe@sccsc.org.


Name of Expanded Learning Program Provider: Sacramento Chinese Community
Service Center

Name of District: Sacramento City Unified School District

Name of School Site: Caroline Wenzel Elementary School 

Grade Level of Activity: 1st and 2nd Grade

Number of Students who took part in the activity: 23

Type of Activity: STEM Balancing Robot

Learning Outcomes: Students were able to:

• explore the concept of the center of gravity
• to use the Engineering Design Process
• engineer a balancing robot
• explain why the robot's pennies needed to be balanced on each side

Expanded Learning students engineering their balancing robots.

For more information on this activity please contact Stephanie Vega at stephanie@sccsc.org.






STEM / Expanded Learning and Other Pertinent Education Articles:

1) 5 Reasons Your After School Practitioner is Your Biggest Ally
    (Edutopia article by Dr. Nicole Edwards, December 15, 2016)

2) 30 Techniques to Quiet a Noisy Class
    (Edutopia post by Todd Finely, October 21, 2014)

3) High School Library Coloring Center De-Stresses Students
    (School Library Journal article by Joy Millam, December 14, 2016)

4) "Makerspaces" for science instruction also proving helpful for English learners
     (EdSource article by Pat Maio, November 30, 2016)

5) The White House Hosted an Interactive Girls Make Games Workshop
    (Amy Poehler's Smart Girls article by Trilby Beresford, December 19, 2016)

6) A shocking number of young people can't separate fact from fiction online
    (The Hechinger Report article by Nichole Dobo, November 30, 2016)

7) Laughter, Learning, and Why Teens Are Such a Tough Crowd
    (Edutopia article by Dr. Matt Bellace, October 21, 2016)

8) Kids with disabilities benefit from physical education focused on motor skills
    (Michigan Radio article by Leah Ketcheson, November 14, 2016)

9) Opportunities and challenges in after school computer science
    (Afterschool Alliance article by Melissa Ballard, December 7, 2016)

10) Ways Educators Can Respond to Student Trauma
      (Education Week article by Larry Ferlazzo, December 17, 2016)


STEM (and other interdisciplinary core content) Activities / Videos / Websites

1) Science Explorer Activities (Grades 4-8) (Exploratorium)

2) STEM Gems Activities (Grades 4-8) (National After School Association)

3) STEM Fact Sheets (Resources for Educators)

4) Design Squad Build Activities (Grades 1-6) (PBS)

5) Science and Math Investigative Learning Experiences
    (Oregon State) (Grades 4-12)

6) How to Smile STEM Resources (How To Smile)  

7) Understanding the Standing Rock Standoff (with Lesson Plan)
    (KQED article by Matthew Green, December 13, 2016)

8) Seven Creative Alternatives to Showing Movies Before the Break
   (John Spencer Blog) 

9) The Honest Truth about Fake News and How Not to be a Sucker 
    (with Lesson Plan) (KQED activity by Matthew Green, December 6, 2016)

10) Prevent Bullying Webinar (After School Alliance Webinar)


STEM / Educational Grants: 

1) The Big List of Educational Grants (Updated on December 13, 2016)

2) California After School Network Funding Opportunities Page

3) After School Funding Database

4) The Impact Foundry

5) Bank of the West

6) Application for Free Computers

7) Lowe's Toolbox for Education


STEM / Misc. Professional Learning Sessions / Contest / Events: 

1) Region 3 Winter Conference for Elementary Expanded Learning Program 
    Practitioners (Free) (January 24, 2017)

2) Region 3 Winter Conference for Middle / High School Expanded Learning Program
    Practitioners (Free) (February 21, 2017)

3) 2017 Expanded Learning Symposium (February 23, 2017 in Berkeley)
    (Registration: $89 per participant)

4) CASRC Online Professional Learning Sessions (Free) 
     (Various Topics / Grade Levels)

5) CalSAC Online Professional Learning Sessions (Free)
    (Various Topics / Grade Levels)

Thanks again for all that you do in the field. Please keep us posted about STEM events/activities in your area. Please feel free to contact us at any time.

Monica Gonzalez-Williams (SCOE: Region 3: After School Regional Lead):
mgonzalez@scoe.net

Phil Romig (SCOE: Science Curriculum Specialist): promig@scoe.net

Mark Drewes (SCOE: Project Specialist II: Expanded Learning) mdrewes@scoe.net