STEM & Scouting

Session Objectives

During this session you will learn the following items:

1. What is STEM?

2. What is the BSA response?

3. What are “Counselors” and “Mentors”?

4. How will the Old North State Council become “STEM-focused”?

5. What support is available?

What is STEM?

Science

Technology

Engineering

Mathematics

Stacey Alston

Principal of the STEM Early CollegeAt North Carolina A&T University

Chair and Spokesman,Old North State Council

STEM Committee

WHY STEM?

WHY STEM?• Our nation is at a crossroads…• We live in a time of great opportunity, when the

spirit of innovation can help us overcome challenges and ensure a prosperous and secure future. 

• To seize these opportunities we must position ourselves at the cutting edge of scientific discovery and technological innovation.

WHY STEM?• Our country is falling behind in science,

technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM):• In 2009, just 34 percent of U.S. 8th graders were

rated proficient or higher in a national math assessment.

• In an international exam given, U.S. high school students ranked 21st out of 30 industrialized nations in science and 25th in math.

• Only 43 percent of U.S. high school graduates in 2010 were ready for college work in math and 29 percent were ready in science.

WHY STEM?• STEM is the future. • STEM education is an economic imperative. Experts

say that technological innovation accounted for almost half of U.S. economic growth over the past 50 years, and almost all of the 30 fastest-growing occupations in the next decade will require at least some background in STEM. 

• STEM literacy is also critical because it has a profound and growing impact on our day-to-day lives. The National Science Foundation “estimates that 80% of the jobs created in the next decade will require some form of math and science skills.”

WHY STEM?

THE BSA RESPONSE

THE BSA has partnered with ExxonMobil to increase STEM awareness in youth and offer

them the opportunities to

Be “Prepared for Life”

THE BSA NOVA AWARDCub Scout Science Everywhere (Science) Tech Talk (Technology) Swing! (Engineering) 1-2-3 Go! (Math)

Boy Scout Shoot! (Science) Start Your Engines (Technology) Whoosh! (Engineering) Designed to Crunch (Math)Venturing Launch! (Science) Power Up (Technology) Hang On! (Engineering) Numbers Don’t Lie (Math)

SUPERNOVA AWARDS• CUB SCOUT and WEBELOS• BOY SCOUT• VENTURING

Earning the NOVA award is not a prerequisite for the Cub Scout and Webelos Supernova Awards but is required for Boy Scout and Venturer Supernova Awards.

Supernova Mentors operate like MB Counselors

Award is more involved and challenging than the NOVA award.

Supernova

Awards Dr. Luis W. Alvarez

Wolf/Bear Cub ScoutBronze medal

Dr. Bernard Harris

Bronze medal

Thomas Alva Edison

Silver medal

Dr. Sally RideBronze medal

Wright BrothersSilver medal(Must be a registered Venturer)

Dr. Albert EinsteinGold medal(Must be a

registered Venturer)

Venturer

Boy Scout

Cub ScoutDr. Charles H.

TownesWebelos ScoutBronze medal

Supernova

Awards

Dr. Luis W. Alvarez

Wolf/Bear Cub Scout

Bronze medal

Cub ScoutDr. Charles H. Townes

Webelos ScoutBronze medal

Supernova

Awards Dr. Luis W. Alvarez

Wolf/Bear Cub ScoutBronze medal

Dr. Bernard Harris

Bronze medal

Thomas Alva Edison

Silver medal

Boy Scout

Cub ScoutDr. Charles H.

TownesWebelos ScoutBronze medal

Supernova

Awards Dr. Luis W. Alvarez

Wolf/Bear Cub ScoutBronze medal

Dr. Bernard Harris

Bronze medal

Thomas Alva Edison

Silver medal

Dr. Sally RideBronze medal

Wright BrothersSilver medal(Must be a registered Venturer)

Venturer

Boy Scout

Cub ScoutDr. Charles H.

TownesWebelos ScoutBronze medal

Supernova

Awards Dr. Luis W. Alvarez

Wolf/Bear Cub ScoutBronze medal

Dr. Bernard Harris

Bronze medal

Thomas Alva Edison

Silver medal

Dr. Sally RideBronze medal

Wright BrothersSilver medal(Must be a registered Venturer)

Dr. Albert EinsteinGold medal(Must be a

registered Venturer)

Venturer

Boy Scout

Cub ScoutDr. Charles H.

TownesWebelos ScoutBronze medal

How Tough Are The Requirements?

Cub Scout“Science Everywhere” Nova Award

3. Act like a scientist! Do EACH of the following:

A. With your counselor, choose a question you would like to investigate. B. With a parent or your counselor, use the scientific method/process to investigate your question. Keep records of your question, the information you found, how you investigated, and what you found out about your question. C. Discuss your investigation and findings with your counselor.

How Tough Are The Requirements?

Boy Scout“Start Your Engines!”

4. Design and build a working model vehicle (not from a kit). A. Make drawings and specifications of your model vehicle. B. Include one of the following energy sources to power your vehicle: solar, wind, battery. C. Test your model. Then answer the following questions:

1. How well did it perform?2. Did it move as well as you thought it would?3. Did you encounter problems? How can they be corrected?

D. Discuss with your counselor:1. Any difficulties you encountered in designing and building your model2. Why you chose a particular energy source3. Whether your model met your specifications4. How you would modify your design to make it better

How Tough Are The Requirements?

VenturingDr. Albert Einstein Supernova Award

4. With guidance from your mentor, select an area of current STEM-related concern and develop a research project or experiment related to that area. This research project or experiment should be challenging and should require a significant investment of time and effort on your part. (A guideline would be approximately 100 hours.) If your mentor is not a specialist in the area of your project or experiment, he or she will solicit assistance from a specialist to serve as a STEM consultant. Execute the project or experiment. Prepare a complete and well-documented written report AND an oral presentation. Present both to your mentor and your local council Nova/STEM Committee.

HelpHints

Requirements

VS.

counselors

mentors

Youth Protection Guideline

s

• STEM is FUN!

• Be safe!

• Encourage youth.

• Age makes a difference.

• Group size.

• There is no time limit.

• Know your youth!

Benefits to Scouting

•School Relationships

•Community Perception

•Relevance

COUNCIL & DISTRICT SUPPORT

• WHAT CAN WE DO TO SUPPORT? Integrate the STEM related Cub Scout awards

and Merit Badges at Day Camps/Summer Camps now

Inform/Educate the Commissioner Staff to help inform unit leaders

Recruit a STEM committee to organize and promote the integration.

Hold STEM-based events to promote awareness

COUNCIL SUPPORT• How will the ONSC become STEM focused?

Nova/Supernova programs can be introduced at summer and day camps along with encampments

Blast CarsCouncil STEM-themed Merit Badge Day in 2013Council-Sponsored Science Fair in 2014Robotics Venture Crews and Explorer PostsRobotics Merit Badge eventsSTEM web page on ONSC website – coming soon

National Council Support

www.scouting.org/stemFacebook under Nova Award, BSA

Conclusion and Review• STEM is a meta-discipline important to the future

of learning and education.• NOVA Awards are designed as a way to make

learning fun!• SUPERNOVA Awards are designed to challenge

those who like the STEM fields.• THE BSA has begun to integrate the NOVA

awards throughout the BSA literature, trainings and outdoor program.

THINK STEM!