STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

Fun with STEM! Branch members are working with the Glen Ellyn Public Library this fall (2023) to provide monthly after-school STEM activities for children in grades 2nd through 5th. Tuesdays: September 19, October 24, and November 28. Each activity will be held 4 to 4:15 PM in the North and South Meeting Rooms.

Below is the description of the projects, copied from the new GEPL Guide. Open to all. No enrollment needed. Call the library for more information. Glen Ellyn Public Library: (630) 469-0879

SCIENCE GIRLS ON THE GO™

During the pandemic, the branch developed Science Girls on the Go™ boxes as a way for parents to help their children stay connected to the fun of doing science at home. We continue to periodically offer these projects in three locations in Wheaton and Glen Ellyn.

For free science projects to do with children, visit our
Science Girls on the Go™ boxes in Wheaton at 1445 Brentwood Lane and 1516 Paula Avenue and in Glen Ellyn at 373 Oak Street. 

For many years, AAUW nationally and locally, our branch, have supported initiatives to encourage girls and young women to develop interest in the STEM fields of study. Women have historically been underrepresented in these fields.

Our current initiative, Science Girls on the Go™, was inspired by the restrictions of the pandemic. Students (K-12) in our communities weren’t able to physically meet with us to do science projects. How might our branch accomplish hands-on science and feel that we are continuing to participate in a Wheaton-Glen Ellyn Branch STEM event? How can
we have a STEM event for children with social distancing? We came up with Science Girls on the Go™, modeled on the “Little Free Libraries” popular in our communities.

In the summer of 2020, we installed “Go” boxes in Wheaton and in Glen Ellyn. Each box contains science kits in zip-lock packets that a parent and child can do together with ingredients typically found around the house.  The first project, “A Cartesian Diver” was very successful. The second project will involve making a kaleidoscope. Click here for more information.

Pictured is a Science Girls on the Go™ kit related to chromatography!