Girl Scouts introduces girls of every age to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) experiences relevant to everyday life. Whether they're discovering how a car's engine runs, how to manage finances, or exploring careers in STEM fields, girls are fast-forwarding into the future.

Girl Scouts' Unique Approach to STEM

• STEM experiences are framed within the context of leadership: As girls participate in Girl Scouting, they develop leadership skills to make the world a better place. Research shows girls are more interested in STEM careers when they know how their work can help others.

• The Girl Scout Leadership Experience engages girls through the three Girl Scout processes of: girl-led, learning by doing, and cooperative learning.

Here's how these processes provide quality STEM experiences for girls:

Girl-led: Even when a girl has an interest in STEM, she might find that boys take the lead in a school environment due to unspoken assumptions about gender roles. Girl Scouts offers a safe, supportive place for girls to seek challenges. The girl-led process encourages girls to decide which topics they want to explore and how they want to go about it.

Learning by doing: Research shows that, particularly with STEM, youth need to be hands-on, active learners. The learning-by-doing process encourages this approach. In addition, Girl Scouts' learning-by-doing process involves a reflection step that asks girls to think about how a given activity worked and what they would do differently in the future—a key skill in scientific testing and conducting experiments.

STEM and the National Program

Every girl needs a chance to explore the fascinating world of STEM. Girl Scouting encourages girls of all ages by offering "fun with purpose" through its K–12 national program. The Girl Scout program includes two curriculum resources: National Leadership Journeys and National Proficiency Badges. Leadership Journeys are core to Girl Scouting because they lead girls to discover what they care about and change the world. Girls explore a variety of interests along a Journey, everything from the arts to the outdoors and, of course, STEM.

There are three Leadership Journeys:

It's Your World—Change It!                   It's Your Planet—Love It!                       It's Your Story—Tell It!

STEM and It's Your Planet—Love It! Journey Series

Here are examples of what girls are doing on the It's Your Planet—Love It! Journey:

• Girl Scout Daisies explore the world of nature.
• Girl Scout Brownies learn about the water cycle.
• Girl Scout Juniors complete energy audits in buildings.
• Girl Scout Cadettes learn to assess air quality.
• Girl Scout Seniors calculate their "food print" and learn kitchen science while preparing a locavore meal.
• Girl Scout Ambassadors "do the math" to figure out how much trash is created and how to reduce it.

GSNMT & FLL

The Girl Scouts of New Mexico Trails is proud to be an Affiliate Partner with the New Mexico FIRST® LEGO® League.

2012 FLL season is:

January 26, 2013 -  9:00am-5:00pm at New Life Baptist Academy

New Mexico FLL State Championship Tournament - FLL® Challenge -  Senior Solutions
New Mexico Jr.FLL State Expo - Jr.FLL® Challenge – Super Seniors, exploring quality of life for senior citizens

more info at www.nmfll.org

Click here for the 2013 FLL Flyer

STEM and Proficiency Badges

In Girl Scouting, girls learn skills on specific topics when they earn badges. Girl Scout badges were recently refreshed to reflect girls' interests and to focus on 21st century skills. Many badges use STEM activities in fun ways. For example, the Cook, Artist, and Athlete Legacy badges all involve STEM. In addition, several new badge categories specifically relate to STEM:

	The Naturalist badges invite girls to explore the outdoors. As girls learn to love nature, they're inspired to protect the environment. Girls can earn the Naturalist badge at each level from Brownies through Ambassadors: Bugs (Brownie), Flowers (Junior), Trees (Cadette), Sky (Senior), and Water (Ambassador).
	Activities linked to the Digital Art badges help girls build valuable technology skills. These badges include Computer Expert (Brownie), Digital Photographer (Junior), Digital Movie Maker (Cadette), and Website Designer (Senior).
	Science and Technology badges connect girls to science topics they love from the development of video games to the physics of roller coasters to the technology used to create new fabrics. These badges include Home Scientist (Brownie), Entertainment Technology (Junior), Science of Happiness (Cadette), and Science of Style (Senior).
	As girls earn their Innovation badges, they solve problems by using methods from many fields such as anthropology, engineering, graphic design, and business. These badges include Inventor (Brownie), Product Designer (Junior), Entrepreneur (Cadette), and Social Innovator (Senior).
	Financial Literacy badges prepare girls for a sound financial future. Girls learn how to save, spend, and give to others. These 13 badges cover a full K–12 curriculum, with Money Manager (Brownie), Philanthropist (Brownie), Financing My Future (Senior), and Good Credit (Ambassador) a sample of the badges girls can earn.

Finally, every girl can earn a Make Your Own badge each year. This option allows girls to design their own learning experiences (an important skill in becoming a lifelong learner) around any topic that interests them, including STEM.