Million Girls Moonshot | December Resources
The Indiana Afterschool Network is proud to be part of the Million Girls Moonshot initiative, working to inspire and prepare the next generation of innovators by engaging one million more girls in STEM learning opportunities through OST programs over the next five years. The Million Girls Moonshot is an initiative of the STEM Next Opportunity Fund.

The Million Girls Moonshot seeks to re-imagine who can engineer, who can build, who can make. See below for some information and resources that can help advance this goal!
Featured Webinars
Develop Professionally While Supporting Equity
Engineering Design Challenges Three-Part Webinar Series
Over three hour-long sessions with Technovation, you’ll become an expert in leading engineering design challenges online that help students develop the following engineering mindsets:

  • using the engineering design process
  • working in teams
  • evaluating and iterating
  • persisting and learning from failure
  • identifying as engineers

Get ready for hands-on building during each session. You’ll be part of a supportive learning community. If you are looking for a way to step up your STEAM game in a fun and active way with your kids, this is for you. Help them think like engineers to build solutions to any sort of problem.
December 15 | 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM EST
Working with the National Girls Collaborative Project, STEM Next developed an Equity and Inclusion Framework to use as a guide for supporting programs as they identify resources and strategies that broaden participation. This webinar dives more deeply into the Skill Development concept and the strategies of: 1) curriculum, 2) professional development, 3) collaboration, and 4) connected pathway. The webinar highlights research-to-practice as well as resources that can help educators and leaders center youth voice, experience, and leadership within their programs.
Engineering Practices Supporting Equity
Interested in developing professional development focused on engineering mindset in youth? Wondering how to do this in equitable ways that encourage engagement and participation of girls and other underrepresented youth? This three-part series focuses on just that.

Educators and professional development providers will leave with a deeper understanding of the specific practices and concrete ideas on how to implement within engineering programming and training.
Best Practices & Professional Development
Best Practices, Resources, and Tools
Developing and Expanding Partnerships

  • Are We A Partnership Yet? - This rubric allows partners to assess the maturity of a partnership and provides some direction for growth.

Broadening Participation in STEM



  • Best Practices: Techbridge Essential Elements - Techbridge Girls’ Essential elements are guiding principles for high-quality, equitable STEM programs for girls. These essential elements are based on Techbridge Girls’ 18 years of experience, their evaluation and research, and research from the field.
Together At Home
Additional Engineering & STEM Resources for Afterschool and Home

  • Materials and Manufacturing - In this activity based on the story of the three little pigs, students examine the properties, limitations, and durability of a variety of materials, then evaluate which of the materials would be best for building a model house.

  • Engineering Solutions to Freshwater Problems - In this activity, students are introduced to six freshwater supply problems in various locations around the world. Students brainstorm their own ideas for solving each problem and then learn about the specific solutions that engineers have proposed.

  • How High Can a Super Ball Bounce? - In this activity students explore how engineers might use elasticity of material to help them design products. Working in pairs, they drop bouncy balls from a meter height and determine how high they bounce. Youth measure, record and repeat the process to gather data to calculate average bounce heights and coefficients of elasticity.

  • Community Engineering - This website provides engineering challenges that are community-based and includes learning modules on topics like school gardening, classroom renovation, and designing an accessible playground.

Additional Professional Development
Build Upon Your Understanding of Engineering, Equity & Inclusion, and STEM
  • Gender Equity in Online STEM Learning - In this webinar recording from the National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP), find out what works for girls from preschool and early elementary to middle school and high school, potential adaptations, and new ideas to consider when teaching girls STEM online.