Yearly Archives: 2020

STEAM Learning in Public Libraries: A "Guide on the Side" Approach for Inclusive Learning Webinar Resources Presenters: Brooks Mitchell, Education Coordinator II, STAR Net/Space Science Institute bmitchell@spacescience.org Claire Ratcliffe Adams, Education Coordinator II, STAR Net/Space Science Institute cratcliffe@spacescience.org Keliann LaConte, Professional Development Manager, STAR Net/Space Science Institute klaconte@spacescience.org   Publication Resources Association for Library Service to Children Children & Libraries journal Article: STEAM Learning in Public Libraries: A “Guide on the Side” Approach for Inclusive Learning The STAR Library Network (STAR Net) Guide on the Side website Guide on the Side video Guide on the Side flyer STEM Activity Clearinghouse: Interactive STEAM Activities [...]

If you are al all like me, you have been revisiting how to best present STEAM programming in the current COVID-19 environment. While every town has different levels of protocols in place, most in-person events have been put on hold, and while I have had a lot of success with some online events, I know young people are more engaged by hands-on activities. I have two opportunities I would like to share with you. CrowdMag is a free app developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), available for iOS and Android devices.  From the NOAA website, "...we explore whether [...]

Moving our STEAM Engines programming to an online, recorded format has been a treat and a learning experience as we struggle to find relatable, interesting content for kids each month. In person, it is important to me to root our STEM concept in art, literature, and music, so I typically begin each program with a read-aloud. As we have moved the program online, copyright has made finding supplementary reading and music more challenging. With that in mind, the format that I’ve settled into involves a basic STEAM concept, a short, silly, original song or story to reinforce the concept, and a [...]

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is partnering with the STAR Library Network (STAR Net) and its Project BUILD engineering program. Project BUILD is supported by the National Science Foundation. We invite public libraries across the country to participate in an exciting virtual engineering experience this coming November called Dream – Build – Create, an introduction to engineers and engineering for people of all ages, especially families and children. This inspirational program will offer libraries and their patrons a free film screening of the award-winning documentary Dream Big: Engineering Our World, produced by MacGillivray Freeman Films in partnership with ASCE. [...]

LIVE DOWNLINK TO BE RESCHEDULED Unfortunately, this downlink will have to be rescheduled by NASA. Until then, enjoy all of the other Story Time From Space readings & science videos on www.storytimefromspace.com   Story Time From Space is having their first LIVE DOWNLINK from the International Space Station on Monday, September 21, 2020 at 10:30 am Central. For this live downlink, Astronaut CAPT Chris Cassidy will be doing a live reading of the book, Willow the Water Bear written by Houston Kidd. Willow the Water Bear is a book about an interesting creature called a tardigrade and her travels in extreme environments including space! What is a Water Bear? [...]

STEAM Equity Webinar Resource List Contact Claire Ratcliffe (cratcliffe@spacescience.org) or BeeBee Browne (bbbrowne@ala.org) for questions Guest Presenters: Veronica Casanova, Librarian IV, Tulare County Library System, Exeter Branch Library Veronica.casanova@tularecountylibrary.org   Flo Trujillo, President of REFORMA New Mexico flotrujillonm@gmail.com   Miguel Ruiz, Supervising Librarian, Evanston Public Library mruiz@cityofevanston.org   Keliann LaConte, Principle Investigator, STEAM Equity project Professional Development Manager, STAR Net/Space Science Institute klaconte@spacescience.org   Culturally Responsive Resources: Reforma de Nuevo México - https://reformanm.blogspot.com/ Latina SciGirls - http://www.scigirlsconnect.org/groups/latina-scigirls/ Engaging Latino Families Guide (English) - http://www.scigirlsconnect.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/ScigirlsLatinoFamiliesEnglishFINALFROMWEB.pdf Engaging Latino Families Guide (Spanish) - http://www.scigirlsconnect.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/ScigirlsLatinoFamiliesSpanishfinalfromWeb.pdf STAR Net Blog: Strengthen Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in STEM [...]

Hi everyone! This is the resource list of links for the CAL 2020 Pre-Conference Workshop, Level Up Your Facilitation and be a "Guide on the Side" for Virtual and In-Person STEAM Programs.  Contacts: Anne Holland (aholland@spacescience.org) Brooks Mitchell (bmitchell@spacescience.org) Claire Ratcliffe (cratcliffe@spacescience.org) Keliann LaConte (klaconte@spacescience.org) Workshop Agenda The STAR Library Network (STAR Net) Guide on the Side website Guide on the Side video Guide on the Side flyer STEM Activity Clearinghouse: Interactive STEAM Activities Click2Science PD Breaking Down Active Learning Learning from Failure When Youth Are Struggling Prepare and Plan Seeking and Supporting Student Ideas Afterschool Coaching for Reflective Education in STEM [...]

Citizen Science and Libraries With support from the Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) and the Institute for Museum and Library Services, SciStarter and Arizona State University (ASU) are supporting libraries and community-based organizations as hubs for citizen science. In addition to offering turnkey citizen science kits for libraries, the team provides training and materials, including the Library and Community Guide to Citizen Science (discoverable on SciStarter.org/library-resources), to help build confidence among librarians and community-based organizations (CBOs) so they are well-prepared to introduce citizen science to their communities. Citizen science projects and programs are available to align with a [...]

Around May of 2020, it became pretty clear that library programming was going to look different for the foreseeable future. Having successfully produced the Saponify! video, it seemed like, while not a perfect vehicle, a regular STEAM video program could serve as a stand in for my in-person monthly STEAM Engines program. Hence, the STEAM Engines from home series began. We rolled out a plan for two videos, produced monthly, each between four and six minutes on a different STEAM topic. Every video would include a topical story, book plug, or song related to the theme, culminating with a hands-on project [...]

The National Center for Interactive Learning (NCIL) at the Space Science Institute closed out its partnership with the Urban Libraries Council’s Partners for Middle School STEM project. The project, which kicked off in January 2019, brought together 10 public library systems to create and implement Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) programs for underserved youth, ages 10-13. NCIL Education Coordinators, Brooks Mitchell and Claire Ratcliffe, and Professional Development Manager, Keliann LaConte, served as advisors to the participating library staff. Through coaching calls, bi-monthly webinars, and a cohort convening at the start of the project, the NCIL team helped the libraries identify [...]