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Facilitators: NASA’s New Recipe for Celebrating Women in STEM

Facilitators: NASA's New Recipe for Celebrating Women in STEM


The Girls STEAM Ahead with NASA (GSAWN) team (part of the NASA's Universe of Learning project), in partnership with National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP), provides support and resources to facilitators hosting events for girls and their families. One of the resources the GSAWN team created is the Girls STEAM Ahead With NASA Program Cookbook. The Program Cookbook is organized by astrophysical topics (the “recipe”) that include a menu of event resources, activities, and other Universe of Learning materials that facilitators can use to tailor events to their community’s needs. Facilitator reviews and feedback on the Program Cookbook inform the team’s strategy for future updates to the resource. All of the facilitators who have reviewed the cookbook found it very or extremely useful, whether they were least or most comfortable with science and astronomy content. Some facilitator comments included:

In July 2022, the GSAWN team added a new recipe to the Cookbook, “Celebrating Women in STEM,” that specifically focuses on engaging girls. Participants using the recipe’s resources will learn about female scientists and STEM professionals and what they do when they “do science.” Participants will have the opportunity to participate in activities and/or use resources to help them see themselves as future scientists or STEM professionals. The updated Program Cookbook also includes content about working with Subject Matter Experts and engagement strategies for girls and STEM.

NASA’s Universe of Learning is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AC65A and is part of NASA's Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about NASA’s Universe of Learning: https://science.nasa.gov/science-activation-team/universe-of-learning

Side profile of a person’s head overlayed with stars, a crescent moon, and a shooting star, encircled by a ring made by the numbers 0 and 1, circuit board icons, a galaxy within a circle, the equation “E=mc2”, and text “NASA’s Universe of Learning. Girls STEAM Ahead with NASA Program Cookbook, Recipe 3: Celebration Women in STEM”. Another graphic of three women's faces appears alongside DNA, a telescope, microscope, comet, and beaker.
Side profile of a person’s head overlayed with stars, a crescent moon, and a shooting star, encircled by a ring made by the numbers 0 and 1, circuit board icons, a galaxy within a circle, the equation “E=mc2”, and text “NASA’s Universe of Learning. Girls STEAM Ahead with NASA Program Cookbook, Recipe 3: Celebration Women in STEM”. Another graphic of three women's faces appears alongside DNA, a telescope, microscope, comet, and beaker.