Million Girls Moonshot | May 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
What is an Engineering Mindset?
Presented by: Christine Cunningham & Shannon McManus
Learn more about the engineering mindset. Now more than ever, we need to help create and elevate a new generation of problem solvers, and this webinar will help you better understand how engineering education can accomplish that. This approach prioritizes equity and inclusion as primary elements in establish learning opportunities.
Deep Dive Into Engineering Practices
Presented by: Christine Cunningham & Shannon McManus
This 3-part webinar series takes a deeper dive into the 10 critical features of an engineering mindset. This series is designed specifically for program staff facilitating STEM activities in afterschool.
Role Models Matter Training for STEM Volunteers
Presented by: Techbridge Girls Inc.
In this webinar, participants will explore three strategies for connecting to and preparing role models to work with youth. Strategies will consist of making a connection, talking about your work in age-appropriate ways, and using culturally relevant and youth development practices.
Best Practices & Professional Development
Best Practices, Resources, and Tools
The IF/THEN Collection is the largest free resource of its kind dedicated to increasing access to authentic and relatable images of real women in STEM. In this library, you'll find thousands of photos, videos, and other assets that authentically represent women in careers as diverse as shark tagging, fashion design, and training Olympic athletes, including:
Transformative Practices
These resources highlight different aspects of working in STEM. These can be used in marketing, social media, and in programs to attract and sustain girls in STEM programs.
Together At Home
Additional Engineering & STEM Resources for Afterschool and Home
  • Student Activity: Building Bridges 4-H STEM Lab Activity - In this activity, youth will apply STEM to community issues through the engineering design process and the basic mechanics behind building bridges while designing their own bridge. This is a spin on an activity frequently seen in afterschool programs but with a serious focus on the design process. Kids re-visit the hands-on experience with new meaning.

  • Student Activity: Robotic Arm Challenge | NASA - This activity is part of NASA’s Engineering in the Classroom tool for educators! In this challenge, students will use a model robotic arm to move items from one location to another as they engage in the engineering design process to design, build and operate the arm.

  • Student Activity: Race for the Planet: Spring ’21 Edition - Project Green Schools has selected a sampling of activities from their larger program to give your students a way to apply environmental education to community issues. Join the coastal cleanup challenge, the upcycle challenge, the scavenger hunt, or other activities as a group or individually.

  • Student Activity: Toxic Popcorn Design Challenge - This lesson introduces youth to the engineering design process (EDP)—the process engineers use to solve design challenges. Youth work in teams to solve the challenge by designing both a product and process to safely remove “toxic” popcorn and save the city.

  • Student Activity: Engineering a Flotation Device - Youth design a device that uses simple chemical reactions to create a floatable device for a cell phone. Youth experimenting with "chemical" (citric acid, cream of tartar, baking soda) to engineer the type and amount of chemical that will float a model cell phone.
Additional Virtual Professional Development
Build Upon Your Understanding of Engineering, Equity & Inclusion, and STEM
May 25 | 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EST
Join IF/THEN Ambassadors in a conversation about representation and why it is important for girls to see role models in STEM. In this webinar, learn why representation matters and how to use the IF/THEN Collection to increase representation of women in STEM. You’ll hear from inspiring women STEM professionals who serve as IF/THEN Ambassadors. Resources from the IF/THEN Collection that support equity in STEM will be shared.

June 22 | 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EST
GoldieBlox is educating and empowering girls by creating engaging content, fun toys and interesting resources. In this webinar you’ll learn more about the IF/THEN Collection and Curiosity Camp resources, produced by GoldiBlox, and how to use them to support gender equity in STEM programs. Hear from the founder of GoldiBlox, Debbie Sterling, and the stars of Curiosity Camp, about why having role models and resources for girls in STEM is important.