Every Fall, students from across Arizona go on a STEM adventure while their teachers engage in professional development! There is always a lot of excitement, and the 2024 STEM Adventure was no exception.
This year, 1,740 students participated in the virtual event and 569 attended in-person at Pima Community College Northwest. Fifty-three teachers received professional development.
At the virtual event, students from across 7 different Arizona counties input data and watched live as results came in. Then, John Muir Laws, a nationally renowned nature journalist, discussed the importance of noticing and wondering about the world around you as well as documenting your observations. As a part of his session, students went outside, explored their own environment, and collected more data to analyze on their own.
At the in-person event, students explored over 40 exhibits throughout the Pima Community College Northwest Campus, from arthropods to marine biology to space exploration to cancer research. For many of the students, it was their first experience on a college campus.
“My favorite part of the AZ STEM Adventure was the little cool experiments that include you to answer and interact with all of it,” one student shared. Another loved “the people [they] met, the activities [they] did, and the amazing science.”
Teachers attended a professional development focusing on teaching engineering in the classroom and walked away with more than $150 in materials.
“I loved learning from content area experts with an educational background. They shared amazing tips for teaching as well as resources. The supplies are also a very important part. We can now implement the learning without spending our personal funds,” shared a participating teacher.
Around 100 volunteers helped to make this event possible, and we want to thank them for the time and enthusiasm they shared with students. We also wanted to thank the community partners that made this event possible, especially our amazing guest speakers and exhibitors! Last but certainly not least, a special thank you to our Event Partners: Pima Community College, The University of Arizona Office of Early Academic Outreach, MESA, Waters Center for Systems Thinking, and Raytheon.