This summer, we have continued and improved our program Project Learn, and expanded its reach to more kids in our local community. The goals of Project Learn are to increase interest in STEM in the elementary-aged kids in our area. Last summer, we did four 1.5 hour sessions at the Sunderland Public Library, each including a presentation and slideshow on a certain science topic. This summer, to increase the reach of our program, we partnered with a local camp, the River Valley Day Camp at Deerfield Elementary School, which serves kids 5-13 from Sunderland, Deerfield, Whately, and Conway. We developed lesson plans for four age groups, all centering around the topic of density. Using some of our grant money, we were also able to give the kids materials to continue pursuing science (science notebook, paper microscope, experiment instructions).
Additionally, we will also be going back to the Sunderland Public Library twice this summer, and we have developed two new lesson plans centered around 3D printing and microscopy.
Finally, we have been working on creating a website, as well as a booklet of our own at-home experiments that we will hopefully bring to the library to distribute as well as make available on our website.
-Giorgia ’24, Nainika ’24, and Nikhil ’24
