Fostering future scientists

January 23, 2020

Volunteers guided first and second grade students through a morning of hands-on STEM activities during the inaugural STEM Day.

students learn about insect life cycles at STEM day

For two hours, students met tarantulas, served as citizen scientists for Eyes on the Wild and sketched out insect life cycles, to name just a few activities. Volunteers welcomed over a hundred elementary students to interact directly with scientists during the inaugural STEM Day held during December reading days.

STEM Day volunteers included undergraduate students, graduate students, postdocs, staff and faculty from numerous colleges, including CBS, CFANS and CSE. A welcomed break from the slog of reading days, volunteers shared their enthusiasm for science with the students. 

“It is exciting to engage students at the first and second level with science. There is tremendous focus on reading and math and science takes a backseat most of the time. STEM Day allows an exposure to different scientists and disciplines,” says Regina Kurandina, the event’s organizer who also supports Integrated Science Education Outreach (InSciEd Out). -Claire Wilson