The Cambridge Science Festival will host Borealis — a free light-and-sound installation simulating the magic of the Northern Lights — at the Kendall/MIT Open Space in Kendall Square in Cambridge 8PM-11PM on the nights of October 6-9. The public is invited to come and go, move around, and enjoy its constantly changing aurora. The works’ creator, Dan Acher, is an international artivist based in Switzerland, an Ashoka Fellow and the founder of Happy City Lab.
TYE Entrepreneurship Academy for 2022-23, Grades 9-12, Apply by Sept. 30
The TYE Entrepreneurship Academy is a rigorous, school-year extracurricular program for Boston-area students in Grades 9-12 interested in STEM, business, and social innovation. It meets biweekly on Saturdays at the Cambridge Innovation Center, September-May. It uses a proven curriculum in entrepreneurship and business acceleration, taught by experts in the field, to help students tackle real-world problems. Along the way, it helps students identify and develop pathways to reach personal and professional goals. In teams, students build products, apps or service-based businesses using design thinking, customer feedback, iteration, and lightweight business models. Financial aid may be available. Applications are due September 30. Register to attend an informational webinar (5PM-6PM) on September 6 or September 13 or September 20.
McAuliffe Center: Open House, Stargazing and Planetarium Show, Sept. 2 & 6
The Christa McAuliffe Center at Framingham State University will host free Open Houses and evenings of stargazing and observation on September 2 and September 6, 7:30PM-9:00PM (weather permitting), in FSU’s O’Connor parking lot by Maynard Road in Framingham. Telescopes will be aimed at the Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Albireo (double star), Mizar (star), and Epsilon Lyrae (multiple star system).
As part of the Open House, the Center will offer tours of the Challenger Learning Center and present a planetarium film, Big Astronomy: People, Places, Discoveries. Masks are required indoors. For more information, email cmc@framingham.edu.
The McAuliffe Center recently received $5 million in state funding for a major redesign project to create five multifunctional, technology-enabled learning spaces offering modern visualizations and simulation capabilities.
CSRecitations: Fall Classes, In-Person, Start Sept. 12
CSRecititations (5 Michigan Drive in Natick) is registering students (ages 8-18) for its in-person after-school classes starting on September 12. Classes are for all levels — from beginner to competitions — in Scratch, JavaScript, HTML/CSS, and Python. Founded by local MIT alumni, the center also hosts math and coding competitions and offers private and semi-private sessions in math and computer science.
EiE Offers Seeks Pilot Sites for Family Engineering Activity for STEM Nights
The Museum of Science’s EiE Families curriculum development team seeks pilot sites for its new family engineering resources. If you are hosting a STEM night for ages 4-11 between October 15 and December 16, you may apply to run an EiE activity during your event. Apply by September 15. Sites that are selected will be notified by September 22 and will receive a free materials kit, an activity guide, visual resources, and a $200 stipend for your time in running the activity and providing online feedback.
Empow Studios: BUILD After-School, One-Day Holiday Camps, Vacation Camps
Empow Studios‘ award-winning BUILD After School Program is enrolling for the fall semester (September 6 – December 2). Classes meet for 90 minutes per week with an 8:1 student:instructor ratio for all on-campus classes. Empow’s Project-Based-Learning (PBL) encourages students to progress through lessons at their own pace. Register here.
Empow’s One-Day Holiday and Vacation Camps run on days when schools are closed, offering STEM projects and exploration in Video Game Design, Digital Animation, Stop-Motion Animation, 3D Art & Printing, 3D Architecture, and Coding/Programming Fundamentals.
Discovery Museum webinar: Coding, Computational Thinking, and Robotics in Early Childhood, Sept. 22
The Discovery Museum will host an online presentation — Playgrounds vs. Playpens: Coding, Computational Thinking, and Robotics in Early Childhood — on September 22, 7PM-8:30PM on Zoom. The speaker, Prof. Marina Umaschi Bers, holds appointments in Tufts University’s Department of Child Study and Human Development and Department of Computer Science. Drawing on her recent book, Beyond Coding: How Children Learn Human Values through Programming, she will speak about how coding should be taught not only as a technical skill but as a new literacy, enabling children to express themselves and engage with the world and others. Registration is free, and a $5 donation to the Discovery Museum is appreciated.
Discovery Museum: Nature Explorers, Ages 6-9
The Discovery Museum (177 Main Street, Acton) will host Nature Explorers, a four-part series of outdoor explorations for children 6-9 years old with their caregivers. It will be held 10AM-11:30AM on September 11, 18, 25, and October 2 in the Great Hill conservation land. Children and their caregivers should plan to attend all four sessions. This is not a drop-off program. Cost is $40 per child. Register here.
TechGirlz: Free, Online Workshops for Girls in Grades 5-8
TechGirlz, a nonprofit program of CompTIA, is hosting an ongoing series of free, online workshops running in two-hour sessions for girls in Grades 5-8. The topics between now and mid-October are:
- Artificial Intelligence: How Computers Learn
- Python Programming
- Intro to Encryption – How to Protect Your Information
- Architecture and Design: Build Your Own 3D House
- Designing Mobile Apps
- Cybersecurity Basics: How to Manage Cyber Risks
In addition, TechGirlz will run a one-day, virtual Code Some Chords Mini-Camp on August 27, 10AM-3PM.
Empow Studios: Open House and STEM Demo in Newton, Aug. 27
Empow Studios will hold a STEM Demo and Open House on Saturday, August 27, 1PM-3PM at its Newton Studios (180 Needham Street, Newton). Empow will show how its talented teaching staff and project-based classes and camps have helped Empow win the most STEM program awards in Massachusetts. Demonstrations will start at 1PM, 2PM, and 3PM. Register here.