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I am going to be starting a STEM after school program at my school to help increase STEM education at my school. There are a lot of ideas out there as to what to do for this kind of program. I was wondering what any of you have done before and what worked well? Please let me know, thank you, Thomas Gruber

I am currently mentoring two after school science programs. One is an Underwater Robotics club - we will compete in April through the Shedd Aquarium, Chicago, IL and MATE: http://www.marinetech.org/ We have a sponsorship through the Shedd for materials and content support for the mentors. In our club, students are required to complete an application to demonstrate a willingness to learn about ROVs and the club runs from September until after competition. I would also recommend looking into Sea Perch: http://www.seaperch.org/index although I have not worked within that specific program. The second club is a general science club. We recently found a "green" challenge competition for them to complete at KidWind: http://learn.kidwind.org/ This competition will be held at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago in May. The science club also gets to "play around" with and compete among themselves using Lego MindStorms robots. This year they also entered the ExploraVision competition for the first time. Hope this information helps. There a lot of really great ideas on how to engage students in STEM. Good luck!

I am especially interested in middle school, specifically 6th grade. Thank you for the great web resources.

I would look at KidzScience developed by the Lawrence Hall of Science. They have implementation videos and you can purchase one kit at a time and they will last for several sessions. Go to http://www.devstu.org/afterschool-kidzscience for more information.

I would also suggest that NASA Explorer School curriculum. This link should send you to the registration page. http://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/programs/national/nes2/home/index.html If you want a "taste" of one or two of their lesson ideas, there are webseminars - live and archived - you can watch, which will provide guidance on how to implement the lessons/activities. Here is a link to register for upcoming webseminars: http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/webseminars.aspx You may need to look through the description to find the webseminars specific to the Explorer School program, but they are worth it. Archived NASA webseminars can be found here: http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/web_seminar_archive_sponsor.aspx Hope this information helps.

I would like to second the www.seaperch.org . It really kick started our STEM program at our school and brought in community interest when we launched our ROV in a local lake. I love the materials and more importantly so do my kids.

When we design programs, we usually take a look at http://www.ngcproject.org/. We are trying desperately to get girls involved in STEM

Options I am using is model rocketry and robotics with Lego Mindstorms. There is education material out there for both and can work in both Junior High and High school.

I am a CTE educator and continue to see how STEM helps out the basic courses by providing good education plans that incorporate practice of math or science in those classes, and then benefit the basic courses according to NCLB requirements. Tom Ebling

Shannon, you may wish to read the posts in the STEM for Girls Thread that is in this STEM forum. It contains many resourceful comments and aids. http://learningcenter.nsta.org/discuss/default.aspx?tid=V124i3Rjo8o_E patty

There are a couple of NSTA books I have used to find activities to use in our middle school Science nights and after school programs. Many of the activities are adaptable for class or within a program. Integrating Engineering and Science in Your Classroom, http://www.nsta.org/store/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9781936959419 Everyday Engineering : Putting the E in STEM Teaching and Learning, http://www.nsta.org/store/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9781936137190 I would also check out the thread Patty gave you the link to, there are lots of great ideas.

I agree that KidzScience developed by the Lawrence Hall of Science is an awesome resource. They have implementation videos and you can purchase one kit at a time and they will last for several sessions. Go to http://www.devstu.org/afterschool-kidzscience for more information.

We just did a STEM Camp through Discovery Education that was a great success. We used the curriculum on the DE website under camps, WATER. The kids were totally engaged and parents were extemely pleased and complimentary of our undertaking. DE has designed these camps for after school STEM programs. Contact me at [email protected]

You can get some ideas from the Maker Camp, a virtual summer camp for teens that is partially sponsored by Google. They have a couple of weeks left in this week's session. There is an archive of daily projects from previous weeks. A group I worked with a couple of weeks ago in a summer academy used a few of the project ideas with our students. http://makezine.com/maker-camp/

I am a Hpuston area STEM specialist, I recommend that you create an alignment for the year and build units.

Hi Thomas. I encourage you to check out the YouTube channel I have created for free science demonstrations for every idea that young learners should know. It is called FunScienceDemos. The videos are common core aligned and cover a variety of topics from Earth/Space science to Physical Science to Engineering! These demonstrations are easy to recreate. In the coming year we will be adding supplemental material in the form of additional readings, questions, and worksheets. Please check it out and subscribe! Hope this was helpful, Dr. George Mehler Ed.D., Temple University

Wow! What a fabulous idea and great way to bring STEM to your community. Thank you for all of the replies to the post, everything has been encouraging and great ideas are swirling in my head. I am ready to put some into action!!

I have been given funds for an after-school stem club. Thanks for the links to resources. This program is for grades 4 and 5. Any more recommendations would be welcome. Thanks.

I love the idea of an after school "independent study" type workshop in the STEM area. I am a preservice teacher interested in working with K-2 students and would love to set up something similar for those ages when I get my first job. It would probably have to have a little more structure considering the ages and abilities will be more dependent, but I think it's so important to start students off in STEM young and foster a curiosity and love for it right away. Anyone here have any resources for me regarding STEM in the younger grades, more specifically for after school programs like this one? Also, I'm sure there are plenty of grants out there for this sort of thing, but I'd appreciate being pointed in the right direction!