STEM PROJECT
One of the goals of Peace For All Canada (PFAC) is to engage with community and inspire confidence in kids and youth. PFAC is running a home-work support program at its center towards this goal. We have found from our experience that these kids can perform much better in school if they are mentored in STEM based activities. This will help to alleviate many of the knowledge and skill gaps that have been found in kids.
Problem Statement
There is a need to increase science literacy and the participation of Canadians in STEM, including under-represented groups like women and Indigenous communities. In 2021 3M State of Science Index results revealed that 68 per cent of Canadians acknowledge underrepresented minority groups often do not receive equal access to STEM education.
There are several reasons why marginalized kids may be lagging in engineering careers.
For example, girls’ lower self-confidence is linked to gender gaps in their STEM engagement, interest and enjoyment [https://www.unicef.org/globalinsight/stories/mapping-gender-equality-stem-school-work].
By the time students reach middle school, more than twice as many boys as girls intend to work in science or engineering related jobs. (article here)
Additionally, 49.2% of women who originally intend to major in Science and Engineering as a first-year switch to a non-STEM major, compared to 32.5% of men.
Objective
Introduce kids of age group 6 to 14 years to STEM concepts like design, engineering and maths through robotics activities.
Expected Outcomes
Understand basic robotics and STEM concepts
Understanding of coding & programming languages
Help kids transform abstract science, engineering and technology (SET) concepts into concrete real-world understanding.