Beantown Bash is an “anti-hackathon” to be held at Tufts University (Joyce Cummings Center, 177 College Avenue, Medford) on April 1. Unlike other hackathons, it’s focused on creating, without presentations; the creations do not have to be tech-related; and results will be judged by peer participants. Suggested project tracks include:

• Refry Rehash: Mixing and matching favorite things to make something new
• New Connect: Finding new ways to meaningfully connect people
• Small Data, Big Ideas: Exploring information on the community level

It’s free. While it’s focused on high school, middle-school students are welcome. Register by March 17 — individually or as a team of up to four.

Each spring, NEPTUN (a Northeastern University student group) hosts Splash!, a free program for students in Grades 8-12 to take fun and informative mini-classes led by Northeastern undergraduate students. This year, Splash! will again be held in-person at Ryder Hall on the Northeastern campus, on March 18, 8:30AM-6:40PM. The $0 cost includes free pizza and a T-shirt. Registration is now open and is first-come/first-served and requires setting up a free student account. For more information, see the FAQs or contact nu.neptun@gmail.com. You can also access online recordings of Digital Splash! courses from 2020. Among the 26 in-person Splash! courses this year are these STEM offerings:

• Need a Hand?
• The Spaghetti Challenge
• Electronics and Soldering Workshop
• Egg Drop Challenge
• Origami for fun and profit, part 2
• Thinking Outside the Cardboard Box: Prototyping with Cardboard!
• Medical Devices, Medicine, 3D Printed Organs: Let’s talk Bioengineering!
• The Key to Unlocking Data: An Intro to Database Management
• The Lore of Languages: How Coding Came to Be
• The Entire Internet in an Hour!
• AI Q&A with an introduction
• The Fermi Paradox: Where is Everyone?
• Miraculous 3-Pound Jell-O
• Speculative Evolution
• Funky Science: DIY Lava Lamps
• Color me Intrigued: Playing with ROY G BIV
• We all scream for ChemE Ice Cream
• Real Life Sci-Fi: Gene Editing

Nitsch Engineering invites girls in Grades 6-12 (optionally with adult chaperones) to their Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day on March 22, 9AM-2PM at Tufts University (Joyce Cummings Center, 177 College Avenue, Medford). The focus is on transportation engineering and roadway design. It’s free. Register by March 17, 6PM.

Clark University’s Spring Splash — a one-day program offering classes for students in Grades 5-12 — will be held April 2, 10AM-5PM on the Clark campus (950 Main St., Worcester).  Students should register as soon as possible because classes fill up.  The day is free, with lunch included.  For more information, email clarkuesp@gmail.com.  See the course catalog for STEM classes such as:

• Astronomy
• The Science of Sleep and Dreams

On March 12, 10AM-4PM, the Discovery Museums (177 Main Street, Acton)  will invite the public to play with and test new toy designs created by MIT’s Toy Product Design class. Students from the class will be there with interactive posters to present their ideas and to  gather feedback from the public about their designs and which should move forward to production. Have some fun being part of the engineering design process!

Run by MIT undergraduate and graduate students, SPARK offers students in Grades 7 and 8 a variety of short, interesting classes on the MIT campus over one weekend, March 18-19 (10AM-5PM on Saturday, 9AM-5PM on Sunday). The registration lottery is open now through 5PM on March 4, and until that deadline all course preferences will be treated equally in the lottery. After that, any remaining seats will be open first-come/first-served. Students may choose from over 70 courses and must register on their own. To fill your schedule, rank your top 3 classes and star at least 10 classes per time block. A $50 fee covers two days of classes and lunch and lots of walk-in activities. Generous financial aid is available. For more information not covered here, email spark@mit.edu. Here are STEM courses offered:

Computer Science

• Can a computer solve it? P vs NP
• Intro to JavaScript & Web Development
• A brief history of computer science

Engineering

• Build Your Own Solar Powered Car
• How to Run an Airline
• Crystals and Crystallography
• CAD 101
• Create your own board game
• How to build a space mission

Mathematics

• Fun with math: puzzles, games and a bit of history
• Can you draw a house without lifting your pen? What about a computer network?
• The Magic of Higher Powers
• Cut & Reassemble: From a cat to a bird
• Game Theory and Chomping Monsters
• Pretty Patterns in Pascal’s Triangle

Science

• Take Flight!
• Let’s Talk about the Weather
• Incarcerated Rights to Healthcare
• Light: The coolest thing in the world
• Climate Change and the Future of Human Health
• Microbiology: Microbe Biology
• What’s in a Nuclear Reactor?
• Make Your Own Metamaterial
• Minerals Lab: Earth’s Materials
• Underwater Earthquake Science: An Intro to Performing Research on Ships as a Marine Geophysicist
• Herbal Medicine: Not Just Essential Oils!

Harvard Museums of Science and Culture will host Science Spotlights, a series of in-person discussions with scientists, for ages 10+, 2PM-3:30PM on these Saturdays: March 11, April 8, May 13, and June 10. They are free for those admitted to the museum.

Harvard Museums of Science and Culture will host a free public lecture — When Evolutions Hurts — on March 2, 6PM-7PM. It will take place both in-person (Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge) and online. In either case, registration is required. Harvard Professor Terence D. Capellini will discuss genetic research that is helping scientists better understand the relationship between bipedalism and our risk of developing knee osteoarthritis—a degenerative disease that afflicts at least 250 million people worldwide. By understanding the evolutionary history and genetics of this condition, preventive screenings and potential treatments may be developed.

The Boston Public Schools STEM Fair will showcase students’ work to the public, in-person on March 4, 8AM-2:30PM, at Northeastern University’s Curry Student Center (360 Huntington Avenue, Boston).

If you can volunteer to be a Judge at the Fair (8AM-11:30AM) on March 4, apply here.

STEMVAULT* is an MIT student video competition that aims to make STEM exciting, understandable, and fun for middle school students. On April 8, 9AM-1PM, all in Grades 6-8 are invited to gather for a symposium to view the results and get informed and inspired. Sign up here to learn more.

*Yes, STEMVAULT stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Videos for Accessible Understanding of “Locked” Topics! It’s organized by MIT’s School of Engineering, MITES, and MIT students Malik and Miles. Here’s their video of guidelines for MIT student creators and a sample video they created.