Rutgers 4-H Youth Development has extensive experience in Design It! and Explore It! projects and is ready to train and equip after-school organizations to bring this fun, engaging and inquiry-based STEM program to children at their sites.
By enrolling in a Design It! (engineering) or Explore It! (science) training program, afterschool organizations will receive all of the professional development over the course of three full-day training workshops, including curriculum guides, materials kits and ongoing support to implement year-round STEM programming.
Online enrollment is now open for the 2020-2021 school year, with a deadline of June 15. Enrollment packages can be found on the Design It! and Explore It! Afterschool Training Program website.
These comprehensive and high-quality programs were developed by the Education Development Center, Inc. in Boston and the National Partnerships for After School Science (NPASS) through the support of the National Science Foundation. Rutgers 4-H leads the NPASS project in New Jersey.
The Design It! Afterschool Program offers six engineering projects and the Explore It! Afterschool Program includes six science projects.
- Design It! topics include Balls and Tracks, Gliders, Paper Bridges, Rubber Band-Powered Cars, Stomp Rockets and Trebuchets. During afterschool programs, youth work in teams to design their project, test it and make adjustments.
- Explore It! topics include Cake Chemistry, Heating a House and an Oven, Measuring Ourselves, Sinking and Floating, Siphon Systems and Wiring a House. During these projects, youth work in teams to explore familiar phenomena using simple materials to foster science learning.
Each workshop series includes the professional development workshops curriculum guides and materials kits needed to implement engineering and science projects throughout the year in an afterschool or out-of-school setting. In addition, Rutgers 4-H will provide ongoing support and technical assistance to school and community-based afterschool organizations that register for the workshop series.
For questions regarding the program or enrollment, contact Chad Ripberger, Rutgers 4-H of Mercer County, via email at ripberger@rce.rutgers.edu or by calling 609-989-6830.
