STEM

Our Blue Planet: EARTH Featured Activities – A Drop in the Bucket and Catch! The World’s Oceans 

2022-05-31T10:16:32-06:00

STAR Net’s Our Blue Planet: EARTH campaign is a celebration of NASA’s focus on Earth’s oceans, understanding how they are changing and their impact on sea life and our weather and climate systems. Participate in this event during the summer of 2022 by sharing activities and resources with your patrons! This month’s featured activities are A Drop in the Bucket and Catch! The World’s Oceans.   A Drop in the Bucket is a visual demonstration where participants learn the various sources of freshwater, and the relative ratios of these water sources on Earth. Pair this activity with the icebreaker Catch! The World’s [...]

Our Blue Planet: EARTH Featured Activities – A Drop in the Bucket and Catch! The World’s Oceans 2022-05-31T10:16:32-06:00

Our Blue Planet: EARTH Featured Activity – Building for Hurricanes 

2022-04-25T14:59:33-06:00

Image: Hurricane Irene making landfall over the Northeast US STAR Net’s Our Blue Planet: EARTH campaign is a celebration of NASA’s focus on Earth’s oceans, understanding how they are changing and their impact on sea life and our weather and climate systems. Participate in this event during the summer of 2022 by sharing activities and resources with your patrons! This month’s featured activity is Building for Hurricanes.  In this engineering design challenge, participants use simple materials to design and construct a tower as tall as possible that can hold up a tennis ball while resisting the force of wind from a [...]

Our Blue Planet: EARTH Featured Activity – Building for Hurricanes 2022-04-25T14:59:33-06:00

Our Blue Planet: EARTH Featured Activity – Polar Bears Go With The Floes

2022-04-25T15:01:44-06:00

STAR Net’s Our Blue Planet: EARTH campaign is a celebration of NASA’s focus on Earth’s oceans, understanding how they are changing and their impact on sea life and our weather and climate systems. Participate in this event during the summer of 2022 by sharing activities and resources with your patrons! This month’s featured activity is Polar Bears Go With The Floes  In this collaborative board game everyone wins, or everyone loses! As they play, groups of three to four participants build an understanding of how human actions impact global change. Facilitate as an in-person program at your library or a Take & Make [...]

Our Blue Planet: EARTH Featured Activity – Polar Bears Go With The Floes2022-04-25T15:01:44-06:00

Our Blue Planet: EARTH Featured Activity – Investigating the Insides 

2022-05-31T10:20:33-06:00

                Photo credit: LPI. STAR Net’s Our Blue Planet: EARTH campaign is a celebration of NASA’s focus on Earth’s oceans, understanding how they are changing and their impact on sea life and our weather and climate systems. Participate in this event during the summer of 2022 by sharing activities and resources with your patrons! This month’s featured activity is Investigating the Insides, an activity to study models of Ocean Worlds.  Investigating the Insides is a 10 to 30minute activity in which teams investigate the composition of unseen materials using a variety of tools. This [...]

Our Blue Planet: EARTH Featured Activity – Investigating the Insides 2022-05-31T10:20:33-06:00

NASA GLOBE Clouds 2022 Challenge: Clouds in a Changing Climate

2022-01-14T16:12:10-07:00

by Vivienne Byrd, Los Angeles Public Library, and Theresa Schwerin, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, GLOBE Observer Team Start the new year with the NASA GLOBE 2022 Cloud Challenge! The challenge is January 15 - February 15, 2022. The GLOBE campaign website has several resources to support your program. How to get started Vivienne Byrd at the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) Neighborhood Science (NeiSci) program recommends doing the following to get started: For fun family activities: Make some clouds in a jar! Follow along with LAPL Librarian Basya Samuels and her little assistant in this Cloud in a Jar [...]

NASA GLOBE Clouds 2022 Challenge: Clouds in a Changing Climate2022-01-14T16:12:10-07:00

Best Practices for Take & Make Activities

2021-11-23T16:41:19-07:00

Tips & Tricks for Take & Makes to Compliment Virtual Programming By Atlas Logan, Gwinnett Public Library Many libraries have turned to Take & Make activity kits as a fun, engaging way to still meet community needs while keeping things safe during the pandemic. While fairly straightforward, there are still a few things to keep in mind when planning, preparing, and distributing Take & Make kits, especially if you are hoping to use them as a compliment to your virtual programming. When coming up with your programming and kits ideas, it helps to be familiar with the resources available for activity [...]

Best Practices for Take & Make Activities2021-11-23T16:41:19-07:00

Look Up! Featured Activity – The Expanding Universe: Playing with Time

2021-10-04T16:23:20-06:00

This Hubble Space Telescope image shows galaxies from 550 million years ago to 13 billion years ago.  Celebrate the upcoming launch of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope using a new Toolkit of five interactive activities. This month’s featured activity is The Expanded Universe: Playing with Time.  Patrons use balloons to model the expansion of the Universe! Use stickers and markers to explore how the expansion affects wavelengths of light and distance between galaxies. Facilitate as an in-person program at your library, as an outreach activity, or as a demonstration for a virtual program.  Time to complete: 10-45 minutes  Ages: 12 years and up   Shopping and Preparation List Total Cost:  $5 (as a [...]

Look Up! Featured Activity – The Expanding Universe: Playing with Time2021-10-04T16:23:20-06:00

Look Up! Featured Activity – Make a Pinwheel Galaxy 

2021-10-14T08:28:21-06:00

Celebrate the upcoming launch of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope using a new Toolkit of five interactive activities. This month’s featured activity is Make a Pinwheel of the Pinwheel Galaxy. Patrons design, cut-out, and assemble their own pinwheel of the Pinwheel Galaxy in a fun STEAM craft!  Facilitate this activity at your library or print out the template and provide the craft materials for a Take & Make activity. Time to complete: 10-20 minutes Ages: 4 years and up, with teen or adult supervision. Shopping and Preparation List Total cost:  $1-5 and printing of the pinwheel graphic Molinete de la galaxia  Make a Pinwheel Galaxy activity in [...]

Look Up! Featured Activity – Make a Pinwheel Galaxy 2021-10-14T08:28:21-06:00

Look Up! Featured Activity- Sorting Games: How Big? How Far? How Hot?

2021-10-04T16:16:18-06:00

Celebrate the upcoming launch of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope using a new Toolkit of five interactive activities. This month’s featured activity is Sorting Games: How Big? How Far? How Hot? Patrons explore concepts such as the size, distance, and temperature of objects in space! Facilitate this activity as an in-person program or print the sorting cards to use as a Take & Make activity. Time to complete: 10-20 minutes Ages: Pre-K to Family/Adult Shopping and Preparation List Total cost: Cost of printing cards Additional planning resource: the STEAM Strategies Video: Guide on the Side provides suggestions for conducting this activity.   Fundamental Space [...]

Look Up! Featured Activity- Sorting Games: How Big? How Far? How Hot?2021-10-04T16:16:18-06:00

Nature Journaling – Art, Science, Observation, and Fun!

2021-05-28T22:05:55-06:00

Folks know what Nature is. Folks know what a journal is. But Nature can't write... no thumbs, among other things. Sooo. . . what is a nature journal? That depends. If you are an adult, a nature journal is a fantastic way to get away from the hustle, bustle, and rush, and practice patience, observational skills, and art.  It can be an opportunity to get out and have an outdoor adventure.  Keeping a nature journal is a way to become acquainted or reacquainted with the natural world.  It can become the place where an artist or future artist takes notes and [...]

Nature Journaling – Art, Science, Observation, and Fun!2021-05-28T22:05:55-06:00
Go to Top