Northwestern Launches Innovative Science Curriculum in Collaboration with Boys & Girls Clubs of America

Children and teens across the U.S. will be part of a first-of-its-kind science curriculum, thanks to a collaboration between Science in Society (SiS) at Northwestern, aerospace and tech conglomerate RTX and Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

Research-based evidence shows that using everyday items found in homes and grocery stores can break down barriers to learning and serve as an entry point to youth education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). The teaching model, known as “phenomenon-based learning,” asks teachers to demonstrate something (a natural phenomenon), then have students attempt to replicate the demonstration and explain what is happening. The new curriculum will reach more than 3 million young people at over 5,400 Boys & Girls Clubs across the country.

While STEM curriculum has been a part of Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s programming for many years, SiS took a fundamentally different approach to a revamped curriculum, this time centered in Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which is recognized by education experts as the gold standard for learning.

STEM teaching is historically heavy on memorization, with instructors acting as “sages on the stage,” said SiS founding director Michael Kennedy. But over 10 years ago, the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academy of Sciences published a framework outlining best practices for K-12 science education, indicating they believed the U.S. global economy was in decline “in part because U.S. workers lack fundamental knowledge” in STEM.

The new program is the first effort in the country by a national organization to incorporate the updated framework in teaching. It is designed to help kids learn science in a practical, welcoming environment that shifts away from “learning about” to “figuring it out,” Kennedy said. It encourages students to ask questions, work collaboratively and learn that what is impossible is as important as learning what is — much like professional scientists. Teachers become “guides on the side,” offering suggestions and gently guiding students toward data-backed conclusions, according to Kennedy.

One of Kennedy’s favorite “phenomena” involves placing a paper plate on top of a cup filled with water. When the cup is flipped and the paper plate is removed, the water, miraculously, remains in the cup. Kids are prompted to wonder about the cause and design their own experiments — what happens if we use a different plate material? A different liquid? — to test it out.

“We’re thrilled to support Boys & Girls Clubs of America staff across the country with the training and curriculum they need to enable young people to realize their potential in STEM,” Kennedy said. “Not only does this collaboration immerse Club youth in the field of science, but it also reinforces the idea that STEM is a career option for everyone.”

Kennedy, also a research professor in neurobiology at Northwestern, said that in piloting the curriculum across Chicago Public Schools (CPS) over the past 10 years through a National Institutes of Health-funded program, he has seen kids “owning their learning” in a way that is difficult through traditional teaching models.

In addition to working with CPS and Boys & Girls Clubs of America, SiS hosts a community science club for young people and introduces other programming to Chicago communities that is tailored to their needs and strengths.

“We are honored to work with Northwestern to deliver a curriculum that allows young people to tap into the curiosity of STEM and science,” said Susan Ciavolino, senior director of Youth Programs and Innovation at Boys & Girls Clubs of America. “When youth are guided by their own questions, thinking on their own and problem-solving in a fun, experimental way, they are empowered to continue learning and connecting to science in a meaningful way.”

The ongoing work to introduce culturally relevant, diversity-, equity- and inclusion-focused STEM programming continues to create access to learning opportunities for both educators and students. Angela O’Neil, STEM director at Boy & Girls Clubs of North Alabama, said the updated curriculum and associated training “fundamentally changed” how she teaches, and that she has already used the approach with dozens of Club staff and school teachers across the state.