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STEM Spark loves Women in STEM. STEM Spark loves NASA. STEM Spark loves Lego. So put them all together, and STEM Spark loves the Women of NASA Lego set! We're going to review this product a little different this month. Since it's Women's History Month here in the States, we're going to share a little bit of history about each woman featured in the Women of NASA Lego set! Photo Credit Lego Margaret Hamilton Margaret Hamilton is a computer scientist, systems engineer, and bu

Happy Women's History Month here in the US! To celebrate, STEM Spark is going to do special posts centered around women in STEM. First up is STEM Champion Annie Easley. Annie Easley was a mathematician, computer programmer, and rocket scientist. Annie Easley worked at NASA, where she worked on one of the first-ever computer programs to enable space navigation. This computer program was used on the Centaur project, which is still considered one of NASA’s most important resea

As a female engineer, supporting diversity in my profession is close to my heart and supporting diversity in children's book is an extension of that. It's why I'm excited to be participating in Multicultural Children's Book Day ( MCBD ), which is on January 25 this year, and especially thrilled to receive a copy of the picture book How to Code a Sandcastle from the author, Josh Funk, to review for STEM Spark! Here's a little about MCBD . Multicultural Children’s Book Da

I had a scary dream, but with a happy ending, the other night. My family and I were flying somewhere overseas (the destination I forget, but it's not relevant to the story). We're on a 747, so it's commercial flight with 300 something passengers. All of sudden, we have to make a crash landing on the sea. Luckily, our pilots manage to land use on the ocean with minimal damage. Passengers have bumps and scraps, but no major injures. And no deaths (woo subconscious for makin

My character Annie Aardvark is named after fellow mathematician Annie Easley. In addition to being a mathematician, Annie Easley is also a computer programmer and rocket scientist. Annie Easley has worked at NASA, where she worked on one of the first-ever computer programs to enable space navigation. This computer program was used on the Centaur project, which is still considered one of NASA’s most important research projects. She also performed important research on power

Hello STEM Spark readers! I’m excited for today’s post, as it’s STEM Spark’s first guest post! I have invited my friend and colleague H.A. Burns to pen the first guest post—Burns and I know each other through the Society of Women Engineers. Besides both being engineers, we’re both authors. While I write children’s picture books, Burns writes science fiction books. And her sci-fi books are pretty cool, imagining a future with cyborgs designed with the aid of viruses and bacter

I believe there really is no age limitation when it comes to science experiments. You just have to put a little more thought into what would be safe for babies and toddlers. That’s why I really liked the rainbow explosion science experiment when a friend shared it with me; I was really excited to do baby’s first science experiment with my then 18 month old son! It's a good twist on the classic baking soda and vinegar science experiment. I explained to my son how the vinegar

Hello! Welcome to my new blog, STEM Spark! Thank you for virtually being a part of the launch for STEM Spark! I'm Suzie Olsen, engineer, author/writer, mother (of humans, not dragons), wife, lover of pun jokes, and so on. While I'm not new to the blog-o-sphere (https://momeezee.blogspot.com/), this blog is a new platform for me to focus on everything in my life that is science, technology, engineering, and math. Hence the STEM part in STEM Spark. I'll be writing about wh

With Arizona teachers walking out tomorrow, which I totally support!, you might find your kid at home and looking for something to do. Or maybe you're in a state where there is no walk out, but you'll need something to do this weekend. Enter Edible Starburst Slime-- the science experiment is sure to give your kids a sugar high and then a sugar crash, so let's call it a win? YOU'LL NEED: Starbursts Powdered Sugar Double Boiler Pot Non-Stick Cooking Mat if you have one Parent