STEM(in) with Steph

 A few weeks ago, I was saddened to hear that the summer (in-person) programming we partnered with the Montrose Public Library District (MPLD) on would be canceled due to the current COVID status. Not wanting to leave any stone un-turned, we asked the library if there was any way we could still partner with them in programming, albeit from a distance. We were excited to hear they are doing activity bags for the youth of Montrose County all summer long! We immediately started brainstorming how we could participate in this venture and offered to produce a series of STEM at Home self contained kits in a bag for individual kids. Kits would serve kids ages 5-13. The library was on board with the kit idea, so all last week we assembled STEM kits! We made over 200 kits to be distributed out to local kids for summer fun! The kits we assembled included a Plant in a Bag science project and a Spoon Catapult engineering project. We made approximately 100 of each kit, which contained all supplies a

It's been a month, and yes I'm still working from home...but while at home I've taken to gardening! Let me show you a little bit of what's happening around the yard! Top Photo: This spring, I was privileged to have a family member help build a raised garden bed. Now usually, they aren't this wide, but I am a big garden fan and wanted a lot of room; plus I'm not afraid to get a little dirty when it comes to harvest time. Strawberry Patch! Because who doesn't want fresh strawberries in the middle of June? Hydro-buckets! This fun science experiment uses the wicking ability of water  (Wick means to travel against the flow of gravity) to keep the bucket planted plants hydrated for longer periods of time. It's cheap to do and saves on water and time! The process is pretty simple. Materials I used for each plant included: (1) 5 gal bucket 1 recycled lidded coffee container (30oz) 2 ft of water line (but you can use old hose or PVC as well!) Duct tape A drill S