The Million Girls Moonshot Toolkit is a collection of resources and tools for all 50 Mott Afterschool States Networks, their partners and programs, to utilize for the Million Girls Moonshot Initiative.
All transformative practice resources have been vetted using a culturally responsive and equity lens to foster inclusive STEM learning spaces for all youth, particularly girls. We will continue to add and modify resources to meet the needs of the Networks.
Capacity Building Institute
Booster Packs and other resources to go deeper in Moonshot transformative practices and programming: (1) equity and inclusion (2) engineering mindsets (3) Role models, mentors, and families (4) STEM Transitions and Handoffs.
Explore the latest Booster Packs and Partner Resources HERE.
Transformative Practices
Download the brief
Download the Engineering Mindset graphic
For more information on each practice, please visit the links below.
- Children consider problems in context
- Children use a specific problem-solving process
- Children investigate the properties and uses of materials
- Children consider constraints and criteria that require trade-offs
- Children envision multiple solutions
- Children apply science and math knowledge to problem solving
- Children evaluate designs and make improvements
- Children persist and learn from failure
- Children work effectively in teams
- Children envision themselves as engineers
Pathways to an Engineering Mindset
Activity Progression Categories
STEM and Engineering programs, activities, and curriculua fall into a into a set of categories that represent an education pathway for students to use as they build their engineering skills and mindset.
This sequence does not reflect a linear progression of knowledge and skills. Our intent is not to recommend that students do engineering activities before participating in an engineering club or competition. This is more of a framework to think about how students might develop their skills and provide “hand-off” points between categories.
These categories are:
1. Engineering activities are short, hands-on experiences conducted at home or included as part of an afterschool program. They introduce kids to the creative nature of engineering and build confidence in their ability to come up with novel solutions and construct technologies. Examples include Teach Engineering.
2. Engineering units are conducted as part of afterschool programs. These extended, project-based units devote more time to developing engineering mindset. They set a meaningful context for the problem, and present engineering as a multi step process that includes various phases, such as conducting background research, brainstorming ideas, building technologies, and testing/evaluating solutions. Examples include Engineering Adventures, Design It!
3. Afterschool engineering clubs. Devoted exclusively to engineering, these clubs allow kids to form a community and encourage the engineering mindset by working in teams, persisting through failure and creating a culture of innovation. Examples include Girls Who Code Clubs, Future Engineers.
4. Club-based engineering competition teams. These engineering clubs meet regularly under the supervision of a leader or instructor who helps prepare the club for some kind of team competition. In the club meetings, kids work together to complete a specific project that will be submitted for judging.
5. Summer engineering camps. Multi-day immersion allows for powerful opportunities for kids to build relationships with peers and mentors and to develop science and engineering practices and habits of mind. Students see their own skills developing and begin to self-identify as engineers. Examples include Girls Who Code Summer Immersion, TryEngineering Summer institute.
6. Engineering competitions. Many companies, governmental agencies, and nonprofits have created competitions to drive engagement in STEM. Some of these initiatives are national in scale, with substantial prizes for students. Although students may work in groups to complete their projects, membership in a club is not required.
7. Mentoring opportunities connect kids with role models through work with local engineering professionals. Students build their engineering mindset through experience in academic, industrial, or governmental workplaces. In addition, students receive guidance on their career and personal development. Examples include Girls Who Code Camps.
Download the Pathways Progression
Engineering Mindset Activities
As part of the Million Girls Moonshot Engineering Practice Support Equity webinar series, the Design a Space Capsule amplifies four engineering mindset habits of practice.
The following materials support the activity:
As part of the Million Girls Moonshot Engineering Practice Support Equity webinar series, the Stringed Instrument Package amplifies three engineering mindset habits of practice.
The following materials support the activity:
Check back regularly for updates and new opportunities.
Booster Packs
Booster Packs are direct support and resources to Networks, STEM leaders, programs and/or direct field staff that support shifting practice to go deeper in Moonshot transformative practices and programming: (1) equity and inclusion (2) engineering mindsets (3) Role models, mentors, and families (4) STEM Transitions and Handoffs. Boosters will provide capacity built through training and development or STEM programming through training and curriculum.
- Training and workshops for network /system-level staff
- No cost training and curriculum
- Resources, activities, and special events from Moonshot partners
Explore the Booster Packs and submit an interest form for open opportunities.
Family Engagement in STEM – An ISRY and STEM Next Collaboration
Are you looking for ways to meaningfully engage families in STEM in your program, at home, or in the community?
The Institute for the Study of Resilience in Youth (ISRY) at McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School, in partnership with STEM Next, wants to learn more about how to support programs that are taking ideas from the STEM Family Engagement Planning Tool and putting them into action to increase equitable family engagement in STEM during the Summer and Fall of 2022.
Webinars, Trainings and Events
Webinars
Webinars are led by Moonshot implementation partners, researchers, and practitioners to share effective strategies, best practices, and resources to engage more girls in STEM and engineering.
REGISTER for webinars through our calendar. To view archived webinars, including recordings and materials, please visit our webinars page.
Trainings
Check back for upcoming training opportunities.
Events
Virtual and in-person Moonshot events, both past and future, are listed below. Following virtual events we aim to provide recordings. Please follow the links below for more event information or to access event recordings.
Girls Build Solutions
Showcase and Capacity Building Institute June 27-30, 2022
Moonshot Mindshift Session Recordings
Virtual Capacity Building Institute July 13-15, 2021
STEM and Engineering Resource Catalog
There are many STEM and engineering curricula, programs, and activities available. We consulted with Dr. Christine Cunningham, engineering education expert, and her team to create a curated catalog of STEM and engineering resources.
The STEM Resource Catalog is a non-exhaustive curated collection of STEM and engineering resources. We will be adding to and modifying the catalog during the first year of the Moonshot Initiative. The catalog is for internal use only by the Statewide Afterschool Networks.
You can filter the catalog by grade level, aiudience, STEM discipline, learning environment, cost, engineering mindset features, or pathway categories.
Recruit the Volunteers You Need
In partnership with VolunteerMatch, through the Million Girls Moonshot, STEM Next provides the platform to promote your organization and recruit volunteers to your cause. Together, let’s re-imagine who can engineer, who can build, who can make.
What You Receive:
A Toolkit: Recruiting Volunteers For Your Youth
VolunteerMatch and STEM Next Opportunity Fund are excited to announce their partnership to bring more STEM experts to youth-serving organizations to volunteer in a variety of ways.
Whether your organizations need STEM mentors, event support (like project judges or speakers), or technical assistance with a project (like web development), the volunteers available through this partnership are committed STEM professionals working in some of the world’s most notable companies.
This toolkit contains resources Networks or large organizations can use to introduce programs to the VolunteerMatch/STEM Next platform, get them registered, and begin posting volunteer opportunities!
