STEM Programs in New Hampshire

Information on pre-college STEM related programs available within New Hampshire are provided as a resource to our section members. We structured the information into Programs for Participants, Resources for Educators and Volunteers and Resources for Parents, which includes activities for preschoolers and at home learners. In addition, we are providing a reference to The Ultimate STEM Guide for Kids, which provides resources beyond New Hampshire.

If you currently participate in IEEE programs that involve working with children, or plan to do so, please review the IEEE Guidelines For Working With Children and IEEE Policies. The Guidelines are referenced within the IEEE Civility Policy.

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) programs provides students with opportunities to learn by doing and apply their engineering, science, and mathematics knowledge.

When students participate in STEM activities, they get…

A hands-on educational project(s)
A fun and challenging experiences
Trained teachers, mentors and volunteers
To be part of a team
Inspired!

To understand the “why” of STEM, watch This Isn’t a Robot FIRST video (courtesy of RadicalMedia).

If you are involved in a STEM Program, please tell us about related events and activities.

Visit a pre-college STEM event near you and find out what they are like, most are open to the public and you can get a firsthand look at the impact they have on kids and the public

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Program Directory

Program Name	Brief description
Beaver Works Summer Institute	The MIT Beaver Works Summer Institute (BWSI) is a rigorous, world-class STEM program for talented students who will be entering their senior year in high school. The four-week program teaches STEM skills through project-based, workshop-style courses.
Destination Imagination (DI)	Destination Imagination® (DI) is one of the most popular extracurricular school activities in New Hampshire, with about 2,000 student participants each year from schools and community-based organizations around the state. You really need to see this program in action to truly appreciate it! But even though a picture might be worth a thousand words, we think a video would be even better: https://youtu.be/Zdwhi7oDl4U
FIRST	FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) was founded in New Hampshire in 1989. FIRST is More Than Robots. FIRST participation is proven to encourage students to pursue education and careers in STEM-related fields, inspire them to become leaders and innovators, and enhance their 21 st century work-life skills. https://www.firstinspires.org/ NE FIRST is the operational partner of the FIRST Robotics Competition in the six New England states https://nefirst.org/
FIRST LEGO league, Jr	Captures young curiosity by exploring real-world scientific challenges, learning teamwork, and working with motorized LEGO® elements
FIRST LEGO League	Elementary and middle school-aged students research a real-world engineering challenge, develop a solution, and compete with LEGO-based robots of their own design
FIRST Tech Challenge	Teams of middle and high school-aged students are challenged to design, build, and program a robot to play a floor game against other teams’ creations
FIRST Robotics Competition	High school-aged teams compete head to head on a special playing field with robots they have designed, built, and programmed
Girls Who Code	Girls Who Code is an international non-profit organization seeking to inspire, educate, and equip girls with the computing skills to pursue 21st century opportunities. Girls Who Code Clubs are free, after school programs for 3rd-12th grade girls to join a sisterhood of supportive peers and role models, and use computer science to change the world. You can find more information about our Clubs program here: GirlsWhoCode.com/Clubs
Math Counts	Tell us more about this program if you are involved
NH Maker and Food Fest	Tell us more about this program if you are involved
NH Girls Technology Days	Girls Technology Day events are coordinated by the NH Department of Education in partnership with the NH High Tech Council, the Community College System of NH, University of New Hampshire College of Engineering and Physical Science, and many business partners. Since 2012, these events have served to encourage New Hampshire’s female students to become invested in technical career fields during the ninth and tenth grades. Student attendance numbers continue to grow on an annual basis. This year, there are nearly 600 students registered to attend the events on at New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord and the University of New Hampshire’s College of Engineering and Physical Science (CEPS) in Durham.
School Tech days	Tell us more about this program if you are involved
Science & Engineering Expo	The purpose of the New Hampshire Science and Engineering Exposition Association (NHSEEA) is the advancement of science education in the State of New Hampshire. The Association intends to do this in two ways. First, through an initiative called the New Hampshire Science and Engineering Exposition, which includes the NH High School Science Fair. Secondly, the Association collaborates with businesses, with communities, and with the state’s colleges and universities.
SeaPerch	SeaPerch is an innovative underwater robotics program that equips teachers and students with the resources they need to build an underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) in an in-school or out-of-school setting. Students build the ROV from low-cost, easily accessible materials, following a curriculum that teaches basic engineering and science concepts with a marine engineering theme.
TechFest	NH TechFest is a career-oriented Science and Technology Expo designed just for Teens. We want you to come see all the exciting things our exhibitors have brought to show you. Things you won’t see in school, maybe not even on the Internet, perhaps ideas that you have never even dreamed existed.
VEX robotics	Tell us more about this program if you are involved
Young Inventors	Young Inventors’ Program, a STEM project-based learning program involves more than 3,000 students in grades K-12 from 50 schools and programs in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont (and even one student from Colorado). Each of these students is developing essential critical thinking and problem solving skills, as well as learning about invention design and entrepreneurship.

Resources for Educators and Volunteers

Resource Name	Brief description
IEEE Pre-University Education	A collection of IEEE educational resources for educators, parents, students, IEEE volunteers, and the public
New Hampshire Society for Technology in Education	Sharing the ways technology transforms teaching and learning
The Engineering Mindset	The mission is to help students, engineers and like-minded people learn technical engineering topics through short, simplified tutorials.
UNH STEM Education Resources	Our team addresses these needs head on by engaging K-12 educators, adults, and youth in research-informed STEM learning experiences. We are transforming K-12 STEM education in the Granite State by providing professional development workshops for educators, STEM enrichment for learners, and leadership throughout the state to collaboratively achieve science literacy for all.
Xploration	Xploration offers students enrichment activities that are not always possible in a regular classroom setting. Most enrichments and workshops are adaptable to any age and skill level. All activities are designed to foster: Inquiry Based Learning Innovation Discovery Team building and leadership skills

Types of Volunteers

Here are some generic volunteer roles that support the various STEM programs, as a way to communicate what help might be needed. Each program will have their own titles and responsibilities, and each group will have their own needs that will change over time. Contact your local STEM groups or program to determine how to volunteer.

Event Volunteers and Judges – Provides resources and expertise to hold, manage and judge program events based on program specific rules
Technology Mentors – provides expertise and knowledge about various technologies and engineering concepts
Team Coaches – works with the students to help them organize their team
Program Liaison’s – acts as liaison between the regional or national program and local teams

Resources for Parents

Children are naturally curious and fascinated when learning. The challenge parents and teachers face, is providing activities in an age appropriate and interesting format to harness that curiosity. Below is a small sampling of websites that offer ideas, activities, books, videos or provide information on other resources, that parents can use.

How to encourage STEM learning at home in The STEM Issue of ParentingNH is a good starting point for parents who are beginning their STEM learning adventures.

Resource Name	Brief description
Preschool and toddler activities
Bright Horizons	STEM Education & Activities for Preschools
Development and Research in Early Math Education, from Stanford	Engaging Preschoolers in STEM: It’s Easier Than You Think!
Preschool STEM	Everything You Wanted to Know About STEM Activities for Toddlers
Your Cub – Dad Blog	Lego STEM Activities for a Preschooler
Tips and at-home activities for families
MiddleWeb Blog Article	10 STEM Tips to Share with Parents
NH PBS Learn at Home	New Hampshire PBS “Learn at Home” is dedicated to providing leading educational resources to help parents, students and educators enhance learning at home. There’s a new theme every day featuring videos, lesson plans and activities to engage learners of every age.
PTO Today	10 Easy STEM Activities for Kids To Try at Your Next Family Night
STEM DuPage Regional Office of Education	Why STEM STEM at Home Resources-Children Resources-Parents
Teach Engineering	At-Home Activities organized into Elementary, Middle and High School
Common Sense Education	16 Great Learning Podcasts for the Classroom
Common Sense Education	10 Great Movies for the STEM Classroom
Kate the Chemist	Broadcasts and videos of chemistry demonstrations
How to Empower Girls in STEM	How Young Girls Can Combat “The Confidence Gap” in STEM Parent’s and Children’s Reading Lists Indoor/Outdoor Activities
K-12 STEM Resources	What is STEM? K-12 STEM Career Prep STEM Learning Opportunities
Resource websites
App Development Tools and Games for Kids	An explanation of application development for kids, including tools, learning platforms and courses for children.
BOOST Cafe Resource Center	The BOOST Cafe Resource Center is a collection of FREE resources curated by BOOST and sorted by grade level and category.
STEM Ecosystem STEM@Home Resource Library	A series of webinars for parents, educators, school administrators and anyone who have students in their care. These webinars are intended to help them with practical tips they can employ for how to keep their children engaged and learning with STEM at Home
Tech for Learners	A searchable database for tools to support those involved in education and the workforce, at all levels, and from all communities as they scale up capabilities for online learning and continue teaching, learning, and working from home.

Program & Resource Details

If you are involved in a STEM Program, please tell us about related events and activities.

Beaver Works Summer Institute

Website: https://beaverworks.ll.mit.edu/CMS/bw/BWSI

Target grade levels: Rising High School Seniors

Beaver Works is a joint venture between MIT Lincoln Laboratory and the MIT School of Engineering that is envisioned as an incubator for research and innovation. Beaver Works facilitates project-based learning, a hallmark of an MIT education, and leverages the expertise and enthusiasm of MIT faculty, students, researchers, and Lincoln Laboratory staff to broaden partnerships across both institutions.

Beaver Works Summer Institute (BWSI) is a deep 4-week program in July that allows students to address real-world problems and issues, engages students in hands-on learning, and demonstrates an effective strategy for teaching complex engineering concepts. Students involved in these projects develop innovative solutions to real-world problems and gain an exceptional experience in project-based learning from world-class researchers. The 2020 program will featured ten project-based, workshop- style courses: Autonomous RACECAR Grand Prix, Autonomous Air Vehicle Racing, Autonomous Cognitive Assistant, Data Science for Health and Medicine, Build a CubeSat, UAS-SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar), Embedded Security and Hardware Hacking, Designing Assistive Technology, Remote Sensing for Disaster Response, and Hack a 3D Printer. We are also currently developing additional courses with autonomous underwater vehicles and Serious Game development with AI. The course projects are designed to require a multidisciplinary and team approach to solve and succeed challenges.

BWSI requires a teacher nomination for students to participate in required online courses that provide the background and prerequisites before completing an enrollment application with an essay and teacher recommendation to be accepted into the program.

STEM Programs in New Hampshire

Program Directory

Resources for Educators and Volunteers

Types of Volunteers

Resources for Parents

Program & Resource Details

Beaver Works Summer Institute

Destination Imagination (DI)

FIRST

FIRST LEGO league, Jr

FIRST LEGO League

FIRST Tech Challenge

FIRST Robotics Competition

Girls Code

IEEE Pre-University Education Resources

Math Counts

NH Maker and Food Fest

NH Girls Technology Days

New Hampshire Society for Technology in Education

School Tech days

Science & Engineering Expo

SeaPerch

TechFest

The Engineering Mindset

UNH STEM Education Resources

VEX robotics

Young Inventors Program (YIP)

Xploration