Inspire2Dev invites students entering Grades 6-9 to its free online 2022 Summer Hackathon on August 6, 9AM-4:30PM. Students with or without experience in STEM or coding are welcome. There will be opportunities to collaborate with peers on projects, meet STEM mentors, and hear presentations by speakers in STEM fields. Various prizes and awards will be presented in the closing ceremony. Sign up here.
Boston Tech Mom has an interview with Inspire2Dev founder Charlotte Law.
The Discovery Museum (177 Main Street, Acton) will host STEM + Movie Night on the Lawn on July 21 (rain date July 22). Admission to the event is free; the museum will be closed except for access to bathrooms. Activities start at 7:30PM and the movie, FernGully, will start at 8:30PM. Advance reservations are not required.
The New England Sci-Tech (NEST) STEM education center is working with ARISS and NASA to provide students across New England with opportunities to talk to astronauts aboard the International Space Station. NEST will provide select space science and amateur radio classes for free to eligible children entering Grades 4-12 and will host the astronaut contact at the BIG E state fair in West Springfield, MA in the last week of September. Learn more about NEST’s Space Science Club.
NASA will release the first images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope on July 12 in a live broadcast beginning at 10:30AM. Images will simultaneously be available on social media and this website. The images will be of these objects:
Separately, the Christa McAuliffe Center at Framingham State University will host a free open house on July 29, 6PM-9PM, to celebrate the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope. Participants will be able to ask NASA Solar System Ambassadors questions about the universe and explore the night sky with telescopes. A keynote presentation will talk about the Webb Space Telescope and the first images received from it, and there will be free-choice learning activities related to astro imaging. For directions, use 7 Maynard Rd in Framingham. Face masks are required indoors.
Boston’s Museum of Science will host a free, evening-long, locally focused, deliberative, in-person forum — Extreme Heat Boston — on July 20, 7PM-9PM. Using materials developed by working with community groups and civic partners, participants will explore local extreme heat issues using community science collected data, local resilience plans, and a strong call to action. Snacks will be provided. Masks and optional and encouraged. This event is supported by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration and the Lowell Institute. Register here.
The Discovery Museum (177 Main Street, Acton) will offer free admission on summer Fridays, 4:30PM-8PM. (Treehouse and Discovery Woods close at dusk.) Reservations are required and can be made 10 days in advance. Donations of non-perishable food will be gratefully received for Open Table and the Acton Food Pantry.
The Discovery Museum will also host drop-in sessions of the amazing Caterpillar Lab on July 5-6, 9AM-Noon and 1PM-4PM.
The Blue Hill Observatory and Science Center seeks to raise the remaining $125,000 needed to complete the Mish Michaels Exhibit Hall for Scientific Discovery, planned for completion this fall and dedicated to the memory of the late Mish Michaels — broadcast meteorologist, environmental reporter, scientist, educator, and BHO board member. Here’s a short video introducing the BHO. The Exhibit Hall will serve the 10,000 who visit the BHO annually. You can donate here, and all contributors will be invited to the dedication ceremony.
Empow Studios has opened registration for its popular BUILD after-school STEM program, offered in-person in Newton and Lexington, as well as online. BUILD runs September 6 – December 2 and consists of 90 minutes of STEM classes weekly, 8:1 class sizes, project-based learning, academic advisors, and flexibility to switch among classes. To learn more, you can schedule a free, online, 30-minute BUILD consultation with an Empow academic advisor.
As part of its 40th anniversary celebration, the Discovery Museum (177 Main Street, Acton) will host its first STEM + Movie Night on the Lawn on June 23 (rain date June 24). Admission to the event is free; the museum will be closed except for access to bathrooms. Activities start at 7:30PM and the movie, A Bug’s Life, will start at 8PM. Advance reservations are not required. Upcoming STEM + Movie Nights on the Lawn will be: