STEM
STEM along with critical thinking skills, collaboration, and teamwork are skills that are vital to our state’s and our nation’s workforce and economic development. Out of school time (OST) programs support classroom learning by providing an informal setting for additional, hands on, engaging and innovative activities where students are able to explore, learn, make and question.
Principles of Quality STEM Activities
- are for all students
- are intentional and standards-based (SC STEM Standards)
- are active, interesting, and relevant to students
- reflect current research and practices
- are age-level appropriate
- integrate skills from different subjects
- incorporate staff training in science teaching
- are based on ongoing assessment of student needs and progress
Featured Opportunities🚀
Challenge Based Learning Activity Bundle
Looking for a new way to bring real-world problem solving into your afterschool program? The Challenge Based Learning Activity Bundle from STEM Next is designed to help afterschool and summer educators guide youth through hands-on challenges that connect learning to real community and global issues. This quick-start resource includes three ready-to-use lessons designed for grades 5-8. Explore the bundle and bring career-connected learning to life in your program. View here
Boost Your Summer Programming
Planning your summer program? The National Summer Learning Association offers free tools and resources to help programs plan and deliver high-quality summer learning experiences for young people. Explore Discover Summer to find programs and access free learning resources, and check out the 2026 Summer Planning Bootcamp for practical toolkits designed for summer program providers. Get started
STEM Learning Journeys for Afterschool Programs — Free educator resources + a stipend opportunity
Looking for an easy way to bring engaging, hands-on STEM learning to your afterschool program? Afterschool educators can now access free STEM Learning Journeys designed specifically for out-of-school-time settings — plus an opportunity to earn a stipend of up to $1,500.
Developed by STEM Next in partnership with Verizon, these bundles of lessons and activities help afterschool educators engage youth in hands-on STEM learning with topics including AI, sustainability, space, and engineering.
Programs that complete the Nature & Sustainability Learning Journey can qualify for a stipend based on youth participation.
Challenge Based Learning Activity Bundle
Looking for a new way to bring-real world problem solving into your afterschool program?
The Challenge Based Learning Activity Bundle from STEM Next is designed to help afterschool and summer educators guide youth through hands-on challenges that connect learning to real community and global issues. This quick-start resource includes three ready-to-use lessons designed for grades 5-8.
Check out the CBL Activity Bundle
Artemis II Launch
NASA’s Artemis II mission marks the first crewed flight of the Artemis campaign and a major step towards returning humans to the Moon and preparing for future missions to Mars.
Afterschool programs can help youth take part in this historic moment through hands-on Artemis II activities. From observing the Moon and exploring lunar geology to learning how rockets launch, these activities are designed for multiple grade levels and connect the science of space exploration to real careers at NASA and beyond.
Explore activities and career profiles to bring Artemis II to life for your program in this round-up of resources from STEM Next Opportunity Fund:https://stemnext.org/celebrate-the-artemis-ii-launch-in-afterschool/
Share Your Voice: New Survey on K-12 Educators’ Use of AI
How are educators using AI in learning environments today?
K-12 educators across classrooms and afterschool or summer learning settings are invited to take a short survey to shape the future of AI literacy in STEM.
This national effort, led by the @ngcproject in partnership with @IngeniaLearning and @STEMNextOpportunityFund, aims to identify gaps, challenges, and promising practices in how AI is being introduced to young people.
The survey takes about 15 minutes, and your input will help inform future resources and support for educators nationwide.
Professional Development Opportunities🚀
Understanding STEM Stereotypes: A Look at the Newest Research and Strategies
Join NGCP and Dr. Allison Master for a deep dive into the latest evidence on how STEM stereotypes are evolving — and where the most critical work remains.
While progress has been made in fields like math and science, new research reveals that computer science and engineering stereotypes remain a significant barrier, forming as early as age six. In this webinar, we will explore how specific stereotypes impact interest and belonging differently across STEM disciplines. Participants will leave this webinar with practical strategies on how to empower all young learners to be the innovators of tomorrow.
June 11, 2026 12:00 PM PT / 3:00 PM EST
Engineering and STEM Learning in Summer Programs and Beyond Webinar
In this webinar, you’ll explore a free, easy-to-use engineering curriculum filled with fun, challenge-based activities that help youth build problem-solving, collaboration, and critical-thinking skills. You’ll also be introduced to Career Explorations activities that help young people connect what they’re designing to real-world STEM and STEM-adjacent careers. Whether you’re brand new to engineering activities or looking for fresh ideas to energize your program, this webinar will leave you feeling confident and inspired to engage youth in meaningful STEM learning. Watch the recording here.
DIY NASA Exhibits with Earth Information Center & ViewSpace
During this online workshop, National Informal STEM Education Network explored some of the DIY exhibit resources freely available from NASA and discussed how anyone can set up these exhibits at their location. They were joined by Timothy Rhue II, Principal Informal Education Specialist at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) and Nicole Ramberg-Pihl, Senior Project Manager & Earth Scientist at NASA’s Earth Information Center. Together, they discussed how museums and science centers can use these relevant NASA resources to benefit their local audiences. View the recording, slide deck, and accompanying materials here.
STEM Identity & Career Interest for Students Traditionally Underrepresented in STEM
During this online workshop, the National Informal STEM Education Network welcomed back Dr. Susan Sunbury from the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian, for another discussion around STEM identity and career interest in STEM. The Harvard-Smithsonian team, together with colleagues from Florida International University, developed a survey to explore factors that affect STEM interest, identity, and career interest for students traditionally underrepresented in STEM. Dr. Sunbury and her colleagues, Dr. Tingting Reid and Amdad Ahmed Awsaf, presented initial findings from a pilot test of this instrument. View the recording, slide deck, and accompanying materials here.
Activities for Youth🚀
Hack Club Stardance Challenge
Opportunity for students to earn FREE prizes from coding projects:
This summer, Hack Club is partnering with NASA, AMD, and GitHub to launch the Stardance Challenge, the world’s biggest STEM challenge for teens ages 13-18. Your students can choose what technical projects to build (apps, games, circuits, hardware) and get rewarded with free real-world prizes like 3D printers and Raspberry Pis. No prior software or hardware experience is needed; both beginners and experienced coders are welcome. Head to stardance.hackclub.com/edu to learn more about the challenge!
NASA STEM Opportunities and Activities for Students
Multiple challenges and opportunities are reaching a broad audience of middle and high schools, colleges, and universities across the nation. Check out activities, youth-led challenges, and internships here.
AI-Powered Bionic Arm: Tilly Lockey
Tilly Lockey is one of the youngest and most inspiring women in STEM fields, known for championing the fusion of AI, technology and human empowerment. A UK-based artist and bionic arm ambassador, she co-developed the AI-powered Hero Arm with Open Bionics from the age of nine, helping transform the future of prosthetics. After losing both hands to meningococcal septicaemia as a baby, Tilly turned adversity into innovation, creating lightweight, muscle-responsive bionic limbs that prioritise individuality and function. Ready to build your own prosthetic arm? Check out the resources below:
Hands On Activity: The Power in Prosthetics (Grade 3-5) – Youth create a functional prosthetic hand that will be useful for day-to-day tasks. The prototype will need to include moveable fingers that bend to pick up a small Styrofoam cup, a large foam die, and a whiteboard eraser. Youth will be paired into groups of two to begin planning, designing, and building their prototype. Each group will then test and evaluate their prototype by using it to pick up materials as listed above. Youth will improve their prototype as needed.
Hands On Activity: Make a Robot Hand Using Drinking Straws (Grades 3-8) – Imagine how cool it would be to build a robot hand that could grasp a ball or pick up a toy. In this robotics engineering project, you will learn how to use drinking straws, sewing thread, and a little glue to make a remarkably lifelike and useful robot hand. What will you design your robot hand to do? Pick up a can? Move around a ping pong ball? It is up to you! With these starting instructions, you can design any type of hand. You will simulate human finger anatomy as the basis for a fully functional robot hand that is easy to build and does not require complicated tools.
Space Station Batteries: Olga Gonzalez-Sanabria
Solar power keeps the International Space Station running, but Earth blocks the sun’s rays for a third of its orbit. In 1980, Olga Gonzalez-Sanabria invented long-life nickel-hydrogen batteries, ensuring the station stays powered even during those dark periods. Explore a variety of hands-on activities in this Guide: Exploring Solar Energy Student Guide (Seven Activities) (Grade 5-8)
Exploring Size – Smelly Balloons
“Exploring Size – Smelly Balloons” lets visitors use their sense of smell to explore the world on the nanoscale. They learn that we can smell some things that are too small to see, and that a nanometer is a billionth of a meter. “Explore Science – Zoom into Nano Smelly Balloons” (2016) version designed for groups and community outreach. Check out the lesson plan, materials, and training video here.
Exploring Properties – Heat Transfer
“Exploring Properties – Heat Transfer” is a hands-on activity in which visitors investigate how quickly heat is transferred through two different materials. They learn that graphene is a very good conductor of heat and that a material’s macroscopic behavior is affected by its nanoscale structure. Check out the lesson plan, materials, and training video here.
Exploring Fabrication – Electroplating
“Exploring Fabrication – Electroplating” is a hands-on activity in which visitors coat a nickel coin with copper using the electroplating process. They learn that electroplating can deposit nanometer-thin layers of materials. Check out the lesson plan, materials, and training video here.
Other Resources🚀
Research-Based Practices & Career Awareness and Exploration
STEM Next aims to raise awareness of research-based practices proven to increase the quality of STEM learning experiences for youth and committed to strengthening career awareness and exploration in out-of-school time so youth are prepared for whatever comes NEXT.
Middle School Career Exploration & Why It Matters
Middle schoolers don’t have to pick a career yet—but research shows they’re already curious and eager to explore what’s possible. This article provides 8 concrete ways educators can spark career exploration and knowledge in middle school youth.
Why Middle School is the New Starting Line for Career Exploration
Too often, our education system waits until high school—or even later—to help students explore their interests and figure out which careers could be right for them. But by then, many have already disengaged or missed opportunities to harness their passions. They haven’t seen the relevance of what they’re learning or how it could connect to their futures. Flipping that script means beginning career exploration much earlier—starting in middle school.