STEM

Jamie Lei and Kenneth Nosaka, air quality measurement tools in hand, were surprised by the readings inside a local fast food restaurant during lunch hour. The numbers were even worse than those taken from a nearby freeway overpass. “I was not expecting that,” Nosaka said.

Xploration Station, the country’s only E/I broadcast destination dedicated exclusively to STEM programming for teens and their families, announced the return of its #StudentAstronaut video contest today. This will be the fourth iteration of the nationwide competition tied to the popular TV series Xploration Outer Space. And this year, we’re headed to Russia!

On a national level, Ignite My Future in School has a goal of engaging 20,000 teachers and one million U.S. students by 2021. As a first step towards this objective, TCS and Discovery Education have partnered with U.S. school districts in the D.C area, Georgia, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin as early adopters and launch sites of this transdisciplinary approach. Since its debut, the program has engaged educators from every state, over 3,300 in total, while impacting more than 185,000 students.

Girls Inc. of Metro Denver is working to close the STEM gender gap, one girl at a time. In 2016, with support from Comcast NBCUniversal, the nonprofit became one of the newest affiliates of the national Girls Inc. organization to launch a program geared specifically to underserved middle and high school girls at that pivotal point in their educational development.

Named Eureka!, the five-year program begins with a STEM-focused four-week summer course for 30 girls preparing to enter eighth grade.

For many of us, making connections or finding information online is second nature. But for others, navigating the internet is a small triumph that can lead to life-changing independence. It’s the spark that can ignite a new passion and open doors to future career paths.

The keys that unlock these life-changing moments? Digital literacy and access to technology — two areas of strategic investment at Comcast NBCUniversal that empower people and create opportunities for those who need it most.

More than 65 million people around the world have been forcibly displaced, a record high since World War II, according to the U.N. Refugee Agency. Only a small number of refugees — less than 1 percent of 17.5 million in 2016 — will ever be resettled. In communities of refugee crisis, we’ve seen technology prove a powerful tool in enabling and empowering refugees to build better, more prosperous lives.

As corporations push to add women in tech fields, some leaders say they are seeing results in Central Florida. Organizers behind the programs, which feature female employees leading activities designed to reach female workers and students directly, say they can serve two purposes: show female students potential career paths and help businesses foster future workers.

GPS: The Series engages students with a team of teens from around the globe who use technology to solve real-world problems. The mission of the series is to inspire students to become global problems solvers — global citizens ready to thrive in an increasingly connected and digital future by thinking like entrepreneurs, innovating like technologists, and acting as social change agents.

Young minds dream big, and when given the opportunity, they have the innate ability to spark change for the betterment of communities large and small. Today, Discovery Education (@DiscoveryEd) and 3M (@3M) announced 10 finalists from across America as part of its Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge (#YoungScientist). This competition recognizes students in grades 6-8 who exude curiosity in the scientific process and inspire peers to solve the biggest challenges of the present and future.