Project STEM Stars
Project STEM Stars is STEM Innovator's free in-person workshop program, where we combine STEM with hands-on learning so students can not only learn but enjoy the process at the same time.
Our Workshops
Mars Mission
The workshop launches with a ten-minute space mission brief detailing the environmental hazards of Jezero Crater and defining how a simple ping pong ball represents their probe.
Students take five minutes to study the Engineering Design Process and examine structural options like parachutes, shock absorbers, or protective cages. The main building phase gives teams thirty minutes to sketch a blueprint, distribute their budget of straws and popsicle sticks, and construct a physical landing prototype. Next, teams enter a high-stakes testing arena where they drop their spacecraft from exactly five feet to earn points based on survival, descent speed, and design creativity out of a maximum score of twenty.
The workshop concludes with a five-minute NASA engineer reflection where kids cross-examine their structural failures, analyze real rover landings, and brainstorm modifications to improve their spacecraft.
Kitchen Chemists
In a mission briefing, elite student chemists discover how a real plant pigment called anthocyanin acts as a molecular sensor to expose hidden chemical properties.
Teams then take a few minutes to analyze a mystery grid of household items and map out color-change predictions. The main experiment phase features students using pipettes and test trays to physically mix the liquids and watch them morph into atomic pinks or emerald greens. Following the tests, teams tackle a ten-minute "Neutralization Matrix" challenge where they must systematically engineer a chemical recipe to bring an acidic solution back to a perfect neutral purple.
The session closes with a short reflection where students review their recipes, analyze where their ratios overshot the scale, and discuss how to improve their chemical formulas.
DNA Detectives
The workshop opens with a bio-security briefing framing the cell wall and nuclear membrane as a high-security vault holding nature's ultimate software. Next, teams spends a few minutes mapping out their extraction strategy and analyzing how everyday kitchen materials like dish soap act as molecular scissors to cut through cellular barriers.
The action peaks during a hands-on lab phase where students smash strawberries to mechanically break down tissue and mix their custom extraction buffer.
Students then experience the gamified climax named "Operation: Precipitation," ice-cold alcohol is layered over the solution to force ghost-like web strands of pure DNA to instantly materialize.
A final geneticist reflection challenges the students to evaluate their biological yield, judge the purity of their extraction, and brainstorm real-world engineering solutions.
