Middle School STEM Program

The Middle School STEM Program provides hands-on activities to make electronics and programming accessible to those who are unfamiliar with STEM skills
Young girls build a closed circuit during a STEM workshop
Workshop participants learn programming as they create a closed circuit.

The Middle School STEM Program is an outreach opportunity for middle school students to learn about careers related to science and engineering. This program holds workshops throughout the year to let students get hands-on practice in engineering and show what careers can be considered in the scientific realm. Our goal is to increase interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

In Middle School STEM workshops, participants learn about various electronic components while building their own circuits using MIT’s Scratch programming language and a Makey Makey board. The course instructors help students understand the basic programming needed to enable piano keys to change sound, color, and position while responding to different commands.

Workshop lectures can be applied to middle school students, and can be set up as a series of afterschool hands-on engineering workshops. The Laboratory team plans to develop the experience into a standalone online workshop to introduce more children to programming and engineering.

Two such workshops are already offered in an online format through MIT OpenCourseWare: 

  • Girls Who Build Cameras - An introduction to camera technology that includes reverse engineering a DLSR camera, building a Raspberry Pi camera, and designing Photoshop tools and Instagram filters. 
  • Girls Who Build Wearable Technology - An sampling of computer science, electrical and mechanical engineering though 3D printing of jewelry, laser cutting a purse, and programming light-up LEDs in shoes.