Thanks to the YALSA/Dollar General Grant, we were able to plan and implement 4 different STEM/STEAM programs for teens during our Summer Reading Program. Two of the programs that we did also coincided with the upcoming eclipse, and because everyone had so much fun, we are using the grant to extend our programming to our eclipse party on August 21! Also working with the solar theme, we had participants make their own solar induction oven, and discuss tasty food ideas to cook inside them. Our fourth and last program was a Geode program with speaker Steve Tchozeski, who talked with participants about what is a mineral, how geodes form, and where they can be found. He brought geodes for all participants and the broke them open for them on our front lawn.
Type: Active Age: Middle school Optimal size: 11-20 Estimated cost: $100+ Planning time: <2 hours Frequency: One-time
Participants learned about solar induction, as well as how solar eclipses work, distance between the moon and sun, as well as the earth and sun. They learned about the different parts of the sun as they made an "anatomically" correct diagram of the surface of the sun out of a cookie. They also learned about geodes and how geodes form, what is a mineral, as well as what geodes look like inside.
Pinterest is an evil, evil invention...
Seriously, though, we found the Solar Induction Ovens on Pinterest, the instructions for both Countdown to the Eclipse programs came from NASA's website, and Steve Tchozeski had presented at our library before, to great acclaim, so we knew people would be interested in participating in this program.
Evaluation of our programs was over all positive. We had very good turnouts for the majority of our programs. Our geode program with Steve was overfull. Participants had positive things to say about the programs after their conclusion.
https://www.homesciencetools.com/a/build-a-solar-oven-project - Solar Induction Oven
https://sunearthday.nasa.gov/2008/getinvolved/maketake.php - Solar ideas
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