The Newton Free Library will host a session of Little Lab Coats to explore Landforms on Tuesday, December 14, 6PM-7PM, for ages 6-9. The topic includes mountains, canyons, glaciers, waterfalls, plateaus, plains, valleys, islands, and more.  Registration is required and opens at 8:30AM on December 6. Space is limited.  A Zoom link will be sent to registered participants the day before the program.

MassBay Community College in Wellesley will offer these free online STEM events this month:

• Virtual STEM Expo:  MassBay’s twice-yearly celebration of students’ STEM projects, December 13-17.  There’s no need to register.  You can access the STEM Expo online here during those days.
• STEM Stories: A free, online session on December 15 at 11AM for STEM faculty, staff, students, graduates, and industry professionals to learn about MassBay’s STEM resources and career options. Register here.

The Christa McAuliffe Center at Framingham State University will host these “virtual mission simulations” as family events during the December school break. The cost is $10 per individual or $15 per team of two on one device. Register here.

• Destination Moon: Individuals ages 10+ (under 10 years with an adult). December 27 at 10AM, December 28 at 11AM
• Mars Sample Return: Individuals ages 13+ (under 13 years with an adult). December 27 at 3:30PM, December 28 at 3PM
• Exoplanets: December 29 at 7PM

Harvard Museums of Science and Culture will present a free, live, online event, Evolution and Conservation in the Deep Sea, on December 2 from 6PM to 7:15PM. Advance registration is required. The speaker will be Rus Hoelzel, Professor of Molecular Ecology at Durham University (UK) and a Visiting Fellow in Conservation Biology at Harvard’s Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology.

Harvard Museums of Science and Culture will host a free, online, public lecture, Biogeography Across Broken Continents and Sunken Islands, on November 10 from 6PM to 7:15PM, as part of its Evolution Matters series. Register here.

MIT Splash will be held virtually November 20-21, during which students in Grades 9-12 take mini-courses taught by MIT undergraduates (9AM-9PM on Saturday and 9AM-6PM on Sunday). The initial course lottery registration has closed, and now remaining spaces will be filled first-come/first-served for those registering November 11-15. The cost is $40 regardless of the number of courses taken, and financial aid is available. This year’s catalog includes over 160 courses in Computers and Programming, Engineering,  Mathematics, Science, and other subjects. For more information, email splash@mit.edu.

The Christa McAuliffe Center at Framingham State University will host these “virtual mission simulations” as family events during upcoming school breaks. The cost is $10 per individual or $15 per team of two on one device. Register here.

• Destination Moon: Individuals ages 10+ (under 10 years with an adult). November 26 at 3:30PM, December 27 at 10AM, December 28 at 11AM
• Mars Sample Return: Individuals ages 13+ (under 13 years with an adult). December 27 at 3:30PM, December 28 at 3PM
• Exoplanets: December 29 at 7PM

The International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Foundation hosts the annual iGEM Jamboree, which this year will be held virtually, November 4-14. It’s part of the iGEM Competition, which grew from an independent study course at MIT in 2003 to a worldwide network of teams, competitions, and events related to synthetic biology. Most teams consist of college students, and there’s also a track for high-school students, with five high-school teams from the U.S.

Harvard Museums of Science and Culture will host another free, online session of Animal Encounters called Teeming Tidepools on November 9, 4PM-4:45PM. Register here at least 30 minutes prior to the event.