America has a gap when it comes to youth pursuing science and technology careers. In an effort to improve the knowledge and application of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), after-school programs can work in conjunction with formal in-school curriculum to improve science education. One organization that actively addresses this…

The summer provides a unique opportunity for children to further their interests in science, especially science in the out-of-doors. Once school is out for the summer, there is seemingly unlimited time, with no strict curriculum guidelines to follow. For students with a passion for the out-of-doors, summer science camps and school-based summer…

Since the first tribal college was established in the late 1960s, tribal colleges and universities have offered technical-learning opportunities to students in isolated communities around the country. From the onset, many of these colleges focused on providing practical skills and vocational job training, and frequently targeted nontraditional,…

Job creation and finding new sources of renewable energy have been inextricably linked in recent months; green-sector growth is seen as vital to grow the economy and create new jobs. There appears to be a great deal of agreement on the need for alternative energy sources; however, there is also a great deal of work ahead for the U.S. in developing…

Recent decline of students pursuing engineering degree programs is a great concern for many higher education authorities including Federal and State governments. Existing programs in high schools have not yet produced the desired results. Consequently, a number of initiatives to remedy this situation have been proposed and implemented. One such…

Kayenta is a rural community located in northeastern Arizona on a Navajo reservation. On the reservation, many families rely on their livestock for income, and as a result, many reservation high school students show a great interest in agricultural education. Having livestock on the reservation is not just a source of income, but also part of a…

The presence of geosciences in the curriculum of primary and secondary schools in Argentina has been highly dependent on educational policies that change frequently under political circumstances. Subjects related to geology, geophysics, meteorology, and astronomy make their appearance and disappear under the influence of educational initiatives…

ASE has a long history of sending students to the International Science School (ISS), having been doing so since 1968. The ISS is a free science education programme run biennially by the Science Foundation for Physics at the University of Sydney. ASE's role is to select the students and organise funding to enable the students and escorts to…

Teachers of biology and related subjects are increasingly meeting objections from students and their parents to the teaching of evolution and the exclusion of what is called the theory of Intelligent Design. This paper attempts to draw together arguments and evidence which may be used by such teachers. Four lessons are drawn from the 1982…

"Co-design"--including youth development staff along with curriculum designers--is the key to developing an effective program that is both scalable and sustainable. This article describes Build IT, a two-year afterschool and summer curriculum designed to help middle school girls develop fluency in information technology (IT), interest in…

Encouraging nonprofessionals to participate in ecological research through citizen science programs is a recent innovation and an effective strategy for gathering ecological information across broad geographical areas. In this paper, we demonstrate how reporting field-based observations through eBird, a citizen-based birding and data-recording…

An experiential science program, such as a summer course at a field station, requires unique assessment tools. Traditional assessment via a pencil-and-paper exam cannot capture the essential skills and concepts learned at a summer field station. Therefore, the authors developed a pre- and postcourse image-based analysis to evaluate student…

Food and conservation science curriculum, net-zero design and student-based building performance monitoring have come together in the unique and innovative new Music and Science Building for Oregon's Hood River Middle School. The school's Permaculture-based curriculum both informed the building design and was also transformed through the…

The Akamai Workforce Initiative (AWI) is a program that seeks to develop a skilled local STEM workforce to meet the needs of Hawai'i's growing high-tech industry. Launched as an internship program in 2002, AWI is the result of a long-term collaboration among the University of California Santa Cruz's Institute for Scientist and Engineer Educators…

"I can feel it making my brain bigger": from a Year 8 student at Pinjarra Senior High School (SHS) halfway through the two-year Thinking Science Program. Pinjarra was a pilot school for the program in 2009/10 and a growing number of schools in Western Australia (WA) are implementing this program in Years Seven to Nine as part of the…