How These STEM Scouts Are “Bee”-ing Part of a Solution
Story by Jay Shipinski of the Pathway to Adventure Council
A group of elementary boys and girls in the Pathway to Adventure Council accepted the fun challenge of learning more about science, technology, engineering, and math by becoming STEM Scouts.
STEM programs are taking the nation by storm because they are great way to help pique curiosity in science, increase logical and mathematical thinking skills, and help kids realize the possibility of being a part of technology related careers. The STEM Scouts are not just finding out more about science, they are becoming more active in their community, learning they can make a difference in the world, and are excited about it.
BSA’s STEM Scouts pilot program teaches career based skills, the virtues of the Scout Law, and the value of fun learning. You could say these Scouts are having their ice cream and eating it too. For example, not only did they learn the science of endothermic reactions by making ice cream, they were environmentally conscience and thrifty in making sure they didn’t waste the ice cream. They took special care in putting the ice cream into what Sean J. called, “environmentally safe containers” (the rest of the Scouts called it their bellies).
Throughout the last two years they’ve seen how sweet it is to extract strawberry DNA and see it with the naked eye, exploded with excitement as they determined which soda products have the best nucleation with Mentos, cracked cases by learning how forensic science works, made robots perform through programming, and performed their own bubble show to show off their new-found learning of surface area.
Scouts are now seeing the benefits of being helpful, kind, and thrifty. Over the summer, the STEM Scouts also got to be a part of their community by marching in the 4th of July parade with fellow Scouts from local packs, troops, and crews. Passing out candy and smiling ear to ear, these young third through fifth graders got to show off how much fun STEM and Scouting can be.
Perhaps the most rewarding activity for the Scouts was one that involved duty to other people and the world. A lab entitled “Creepy Crawly Fun” taught the Scouts about bug and animal roles in composting, providing nutritional value for humans (yes, they did eat flavored bugs with spices and candy), and the importance of bees as pollinators.
The Scouts took it to the next level when they donated the carpenter bee houses (built out of lumber) to a local nature museum. You can imagine their excitement a month later when they learned the bees loved their houses so much that they laid eggs in them, covered the larvae up in saw dust, and prepared for flight the next year.
For some of the STEM Scouts, the experience didn’t stop there. They entered a contest sponsored by the WNBA’s Chicago Sky and a local power company to showcase STEM and environmentally conscious projects. The Scouts researched more about the importance of bees as pollinators, which perhaps was best summarized by Maximillian T., who shouted, “I can’t believe bees are 90% of the world’s pollinators. What would we do without them?”
They finished second in the contest, got recognized on the floor at halftime, and two Scouts even received a game ball during the opening lineup ceremony for coming up with their program, “Bee-ing a Part of the Solution.”
Now in their second year, the elementary STEM Scouts are continuing to learn about the fun of science and how they can help make a difference in their community and the world.
STEM Scouts provides boys and girls with experiences that last a lifetime. Imagine how awesome they felt when they found out their bee houses are now official Pokémon Go stops! These Scouts are excited, feel good about science and themselves, understand the importance of learning, and can’t wait to meet every week.
Learn more about these spectacular STEM Scouts by watching the video below, then head to STEMscouts.org to find a lab near you!
(Photo and video credit: Jay Shipinski)
Special thanks to Jay Shipinski of the Pathway to Adventure Council for submitting this story.
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