On March 10, 11AM-4PM, the MIT Museum will hold its twice-yearly event, Girls Day, celebrating women in STEM. It’s designed to encourage girls (and boys) ages 10+ (but all are welcome!) to explore, build, create, and investigate with MIT faculty, students, and volunteers. This day will focus on Environmental Science. All hand-on activities, talks, and demonstrations are included in the cost of museum admission.

MIT’s Edgerton Center holds free Science on Saturday programs approximately monthly during the school year for elementary, middle, and high school students — as well as their parents and teachers.  Each is a fun, one-hour, interactive presentation beginning at 10AM in MIT’s Kresge Auditorium, 48 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge.  Kids under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. Attendees also receive same-day admission to the MIT Museum at half-price. No pre-registration is necessary but seating is limited and first-come, first-seated.  The next program will be March 10: Rockets and Flight. For more information, contact Dr. Todd H. Rider, Mad Scientist in Residence, at thor@mit.edu.

Registration is open for the 10th annual SET in the City, for girls in Grades 9-12 to spend a day exploring academic paths and careers in STEM.  It will be held 9AM-5PM on April 7, with an agenda starting at the Boston University Photonics Center, then traveling to Brandeis or Emmanuel or Harvard or Simmons, then visiting Biogen in Cambridge. Girls will participate in hands-on activities and interact with STEM students and professionals.  The cost is $25 (or $10 for students meeting financial guidelines). Register and pay and submit waivers. The program is sponsored by Boston University, Emmanuel College, Harvard University, Northeastern University, Simmons College, Wentworth Institute of Technology, Vertex, and WGBH.

NEPTUN (a Northeastern University student group) has announced the courses for this spring’s Splash, a free program for high-school students in the Boston area to take mini-classes led by Northeastern undergraduate and graduate students, 10AM-3PM on March 17 and 24. It takes place at Northeastern’s Ryder Hall, next door to Ruggles MBTA station.  Registration requires setting up a free student account.  For more information, contact nu.neptun@gmail.com.  Courses include these STEM offerings:

• Cookie assembly line (industrial engineering)
• Intro to Game Artificial Intelligence
• All About Arthritis (and other injuries!)
• From Observation to Application: Discoveries in Biotechnology!
• NEURONS
• Neuroethics: the Effects of Captivity on Neural Systems and Behavior
• Climate Change in the Era of Trump: Impending Doom?
• How (not) to Die in a Chemistry Lab
• Science Experiments!
• Protein Engineering
• How to Clone a Mammoth
• Universe In Your Body
• Psychiatric and Neurological Disorder
• Stem Cells Investigation
• This is Your Brain on Drugs

Worcester Polytechnic Institute will offer a free showing of the new STEM film, Dream Big, on February 20 at 4:30PM.  This film presents surprising human stories of some of the most exciting inventions and structures across the world — life-saving, world-altering marvels that make the world safer, more connected, more equal, and more awe-inspiring. Register here for a limited number of pre-registration spaces that are available. There will also be some walk-in spaces available on a first-come, first-served basis. (If you miss this, the film is also at Boston’s Museum of Science.)

The MIT Museum will hold its Citizen Science Fair on February 24, 1-4PM, during which students and adults can meet with researchers from many local organizations to learn how they can participate in “citizen science” research projects.   This form of crowd-sourced science enlists the public’s participation in data collection, analysis, and reporting to potentially lead to discoveries that would be nearly impossible to achieve alone.  Admission to this event is included in the price of admission to the museum.  Participating organizations include Arnold Arboretum, bloomWatch, Boston Harbor Islands, City Nature Challenge, CoCoRaHS, Exoplanet Explorers, EyeWire, Fathom, ISeeChange, and Mass Audubon Society.

Registration is open for spring-semester Design and Engineering workshops at Tuft’s Center for Engineering Education and Outreach (CEEO), on weekends and after school.  Register ASAP, using the links below, as space is limited and will be assigned as paid registrations are received.

Weekend Workshops

• Galaxy in a Jar:  March 31, 1-4PM, Grades K-2, $50
• Bubble Bonanza:  April 7, 1-4PM, Grades K-2, $50
• LEGO MINDSTORMS: Building a “Smart” Obstacle Course:  April 14, 9AM-12PM, Grades 3-5, $50
• Exploring Wind-Power:  April 14, 1PM-4PM, Grades 3-5, $50

After School Workshops

• 3…2…1… Blast Off!:  March 28, 3:30-5:30PM, Grades 3-5, $40
• Little Coders:  April 4, 3:30-5:30PM, Grades K-2, $40
• Digital Fabrication Workshop:  April 11, 3:30-5:30PM, Grades 6-8, $40

STEM Pathways — a Boston University/MIT outreach program for synthetic biology — will host its annual Mini-Jamboree on Saturday, February 17 , 9:30AM-4PM on the BU campus, to expose high school and undergraduate students — particularly those from underrepresented communities — to synthetic biology, international competition, and recruiters for next season’s Boston University & MIT iGEM teams. Registration is free, required, and a few places remain open for high-school and undergraduate students as well as educators, representatives of companies and organizations, and volunteers. High-school students must be accompanied by an adult (parent, teacher, chaperone). Read about the 2017 mini-Jamboree.