Celebrating Leap Into Science Week: STEM Challenges and Opportunities in Afterschool
Graph from the Afterschool Alliance Report, STEM Learning in Afterschool on the Rise, But Barriers and Inequities Exist. View the report here.
Across communities of all sizes, delivering out-of-school STEM activities can be a challenge. According to the most recent America After 3 PM survey, although parents increasingly see the importance of STEM learning in out-of-school time, STEM opportunities are still not evenly distributed to all families, due to both the comparatively higher cost of STEM programming, as well as the geographic gap in opportunities between urban, suburban, and rural communities. The average student also experiences a drop in interest in STEM by middle school age, an effect shown to be worse in girls.
Graph from the Afterschool Alliance Report, STEM Learning in Afterschool on the Rise, But Barriers and Inequities Exist. View the report here.
Some of the most helpful ways to counter this effect include cultivating joy and positivity towards science at an early age, building lifelong critical thinking skills children need to be successful in STEM, and drawing an explicit connection for young learners between STEM concepts, everyday life, and the larger world. Out-of-school time gives us the opportunity to accomplish all this, giving ample reason to use this time to develop essential skills and a positive attitude towards STEM learning in an accessible and familiar way.
This year, the Alaska Afterschool Network partnered with Anchorage Public Libraries to bring Leap Into Science to Alaska. Since September, 56 out-of-school time educators in the State have engaged in Leap Into Science curriculum training. Their 38 program sites have each received three STEM curriculum kits, 26 of which have already hosted a Leap Into Science activity at their organizations.
Leap Into Science is a nationwide STEM literacy program, developed by the Franklin Institute and Science Museum and National Girls Collaborative, for children ages 3-10 and their families. The program provides out-of-school time educators with free beginner STEM curricula, training in high-quality facilitation strategies, and free activity supply kits. Curricula centers around three science topics: Light & Shadow, Wind, and Balance. These topics are introduced to learners with the power of children’s books.
Why Science And Literacy?
Combining science and literacy makes particular sense for this young age group, as books are comfortable and familiar to young kids in a way that science may not be. Rather than jumping straight into an activity with new concepts and vocabulary, topics can be introduced in a much less scary or threatening way. Stories and illustrations in books like Kate who Tamed the Wind and Balancing Act allow children to see how life experiences can be connected to the concepts they are about to explore. Books also allow students to build foundational skills in critical thinking, such as making observations and inferences about the pictures they see and forming predictions about where the story will go. When used in this way, children’s books become a powerful tool for setting up each science activity. \
Leap Into Science kits come with two children’s books to engage students across age groups in each topic. Each program also receives a copy of What is a Scientist? by Barbara Lehn, a non-fiction children's book specifically designed to build STEM identity by depicting young learners engaging in scientific inquiry. “The books were a great choice; from a librarian's standpoint,” says Mountain View Library’s Keelin Baughman, who hosted a Light & Shadow activity at her library last December. “They are exactly the type of books I would pick for story time. Not too long or wordy, easy to see pictures, and engaging.” Educators and librarians are also encouraged to use other children's books they have at their site to help introduce the science concept using Leap Into Science’s provided criteria.
“The books were a great choice; from a librarian’s standpoint
— Keelin Baughman, Mountain View Library
STEM Supply Kits
Network staff compiling Leap kits to distribute to afterschool educators statewide
Keeping young kids engaged while introducing a science topic can be difficult, as creating a fun and exciting STEM activity may require unique or costly materials. For each of the three Leap Into Science curricula, programs receive a supply kit, enabling educators to deliver workshops without dedicating time and money to purchasing and assembling supplies. In addition to children’s books, kits come with items like air cannons, whiteboards, blocks, pinwheels, games, and plenty of craft supplies for kids to engage in the engineering design process. A major advantage of these kits is that they make it easier for STEM programming to be implemented in accessible settings, like libraries and community centers, as well as after school programs.
Part of the Leap Into Science Kits
2021 Afterschool Superhero Mo Dart has hosted two Leap Into Science activities at Fairbanks Boys & Girls Club and shared with us that “The delivery of the materials in the tool kit are beyond helpful… it developed our confidence in presenting this type of material.” The accessibility of Leap Into Science kits and curricula make the program a great starting point for any program to begin to implement STEM.
Facilitation Strategies
Each Leap Into Science training teaches the Franklin Institute’s “Core Four” facilitation strategies for scientific learning. These strategies are simple, easy to remember, and effective in helping young learners engage in STEM. Strategies include asking learners open-ended questions throughout the workshop, cultivating dialogue by introducing basic science vocabulary, using real-world examples to connect activities to everyday life, and encouraging problem solving and scientific thinking to build STEM identity.
“Clear instructions and materials prepped and accessible [make this an] ideal program… not only for the staff facilitating but for the coordinators organizing the activities.
— 2021 Afterschool Superhero Mo Dart
Kits come with detailed instructions that not only explain how to set up each station but offer examples of how to use the Core Four strategies throughout the activity, such as questions to ask, vocabulary to use, and scientific concepts to discuss.
Despite the inclusion of specific instructions, Leap Into Science participants are welcomed and encouraged to make adaptations in length and timing, order of activities, materials and books used, methods of facilitation, and number of attendees to make the curriculum work best at their program. The most important benefit of this program accessibility. The curriculum is designed to be simple and straightforward, to expose kids across all different communities to STEM learning at an early age. As a beginning level STEM curriculum, the focus is on skill building, rather than content mastery. Kids learn that scientific inquiry can occur joyously and naturally from their experiences and curiosity about the world around them.
Why STEM In Afterschool?
Science is an intimidating subject for a lot of kids, a contributing factor to the drop in interest experienced as they age. Afterschool is the perfect time to develop the impression in young learners that STEM is fun, interesting, useful, and empowering. It provides an environment where kids are free to explore, engage at their own pace, and come up with unique ideas, all while not having to worry about their performance or proficiency being judged.
Out-of-school time presents a tremendous opportunity to get straight at the heart of the obstacles we face in STEM learning, to push back on the most entrenched barriers, and improve outcomes in STEM learning for all youth, regardless of background, race, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.
Investing in STEM learning in out-of-school time is vital in helping children today reach their full potential.