For the first time, STEM Day at the Iowa State Fair will take place virtually. On Sunday, August 23, 2020, Iowans took take part in fun STEM activities and experiments online, from the comfort of their homes by visiting the Iowa State Fair’s website.

We encourage you to check out, and/or participate in, all the fun activities that took place!

1. Visit the Iowa State Fair website to watch all the fun activities that took place!
2. Share your activities using the hashtags #ISF2020, #FairAtHome and #STEMDayIAFair

Exciting News! John Deere FIRST Team grant applications for 2020 -2021 are now open for U.S. teams for:

• FIRST LEGO League – Discover
• FIRST LEGO League – Explore

To fill out an application click here!

Grants for all countries for FIRST Robotics Competition are scheduled to open on 15 Sep 2020.

If you received John Deere support for your FIRST team for the 2019 – 2020 season, please make sure and fill out the post season survey before requesting a new grant for 2020 -2021.

We wish your teams a healthy, successful season. Thank you for doing your part to care for the FIRST® community during this challenging time with COVID-19.

Collins Aerospace has announced their new Redefining Futures FIRST Team Grant program. This FIRST team grant program is available to FIRST teams in key Collins Aerospace operations locations including Iowa with two or more of the following attributes:

• Rookie team
• Significant socioeconomic need; 50% or more of team members qualify for free or reduced lunch rates
• 50% or more of team members from underrepresented populations in STEM fields

The Iowa is an eligible region and teams in Iowa qualify for the program. Collins Aerospace has asked us to distribute this link to teams that you think meet the following criteria. Please read through this page for full information as well as here.

The Collins Aerospace Redefining Futures FIRST team grant program will be closed on the dates listed below next to the respective FIRST program:

• FIRST LEGO League Explore – Friday, 8/14
• FIRST LEGO League Challenge – Friday, 8/14
• FIRST Tech Challenge – Friday, 8/14
• FIRST Robotics Competition – Friday, 11/6

To learn even more click here!

Hello Iowa State Engineering Kids!

This summer we are bringing camp to your screen! Join us every week for our new ISEK Virtual Summer Camps. Each week we will release 3-4 videos showing a STEM activity that you can do at home. Even though we can’t be together we can still learn, create and innovate!

Our first week of camps will include activities related to sports and movement. We will explore aerodynamics, physics, measurements and other related stem concepts.

You can get started right now! Just click on the Camp tag at the top of the page and then navigate to the ISEK Virtual Summer Camp link on the right side of your screen or click here! We hope you have fun and enjoy all the activities!

If you have any questions contact isek@iastate.edu.

It’s another Wednesday launch of a new LEGO Free Build Challenge! Shout out to all the Iowa State Engineering Kids out there. Whether you truly are a kid or just a kid at heart doesn’t matter, because who doesn’t love LEGO?!

Here’s your weekly opportunity to show off those LEGO build skills and share your creativity with the world.

This week, we are excited to see what you can come up with for your free build challenge is Build Your Favorite Outdoor Activity or Thing You Enjoy in Nature.

Once you have completed your model, with adult permission, snap a picture or two, tell us a little bit about it and yourself in an email to us at isek@iastate.edu, or again with adult permission, submit it to our Facebook or Instagram.

We can’t wait to see what you come up with and as a way of saying thanks, we will be sending each entry a unique recognition.

Have fun and be creative – join us in being an Iowa State Engineering Kid!

Keep checking out our daily Fun At Home activities, and we will be thinking up our next LEGO challenge for you going live each Wednesday! Stay safe and be well!

Share your creativity and love of lego with the world! Join us for this week’s ISEK LEGO Build Challenge!

This week, we are excited to see what you can come up with! Your free build challenge is Build Your Favorite Holiday

Once you have completed your model, with adult permission, snap a picture or two, tell us a little bit about it and yourself in an email to us at isek@iastate.edu, or again with adult permission, submit it to our Facebook or Instagram. Each submission will receive recognition for their build.

Have fun and be creative – join us in being an Iowa State Engineering Kid! Also, check out our daily Fun At Home activities and stay tuned for next weeks LEGO Build challenge

Stay safe and be well!

Each Wednesday we launch a new LEGO Free Build Challenge to all Iowa State Engineering Kids out there. Whether you truly are a kid or just a kid at heart doesn’t matter, because who doesn’t love LEGO?!

Join us each week to practice your LEGO build skills and share your creativity with the world.

This week, we are excited to see what you can come up with! Your free build challenge is Build Your Favorite Carnival or Amusement Park Ride.

Once you have completed your model, with adult permission, snap a picture or two, tell us a little bit about it and yourself in an email to us at isek@iastate.edu, or again with adult permission, submit it to our Facebook or Instagram.

We can’t wait to see what you come up with and as a way of saying thanks, we will be sending each entry their very own recognition for their build.

Have fun and be creative – join us in being an Iowa State Engineering Kid!

Keep checking out our daily Fun At Home activities, and we will be thinking up our next LEGO challenge for you going live each Wednesday! Stay safe and be well!

Each Wednesday we will be launching a new LEGO Free Build Challenge to all Iowa State Engineering Kids out there. Whether you truly are a kid or just a kid at heart doesn’t matter, because who doesn’t love LEGO?!

Join us each week to practice your LEGO build skills and share your creativity with the world.

This week, we are excited to see what you can come up with! Your free build challenge is Build Your Favorite Movie or Movie Scene. We will also be posting weekly build challenge videos, click here to see this weeks video!

Once you have completed your model, with adult permission, snap a picture or two, tell us a little bit about it and yourself in an email to us at isek@iastate.edu, or again with adult permission, submit it to our Facebook or Instagram.

We want to thank you all for sharing your passion for STEM with us! We can’t wait to see what you come up with, and as a way of saying thanks, we will be sending each entry recognition for their build.

Have fun and be creative – join us in being an Iowa State Engineering Kid!

Keep checking out our daily Fun At Home activities, and we will be thinking up our next challenge for you going live each Wednesday! Stay safe and be well!

Check out our new fun activities to have some STEMtastic good times. We have compiled a list of daily activities that you can do from home. Each day has its own STEM-related theme and additional resources available if you would like to explore more (with parent permission)! Want to start now? Just click here to go to our Fun at-Home Activities.

Due to the current and potential threat of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) and in accordance with university and public health recommendations, Iowa FIRST® LEGO® League and Iowa State Engineering Kids events will be postponed until further notice. We regret this disappointing news. Our primary concern is always the health and safety of our participants, staff and our volunteers.

In the meantime, please check out our new Fun At Home activities page where each day we are sharing STEM activities, movie suggestions and more for the whole family. We will also be posting a LEGO build challenge each Wednesday for all ages.

We will continue to follow recommendations from the CDC, the State of Iowa, University and local health departments as we monitor and assess the situation over the coming weeks to develop a plan to resume our FLL Jr. season and related Iowa State Engineering Kids (ISEK) events.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at ISEK@iastate.edu. We wish everyone the best. Thank you for your interest in our programs. We hope very much that we are back together again very soon. Stay safe – be well.

For business-related Coronavirus information, including how to protect your business, how to address supply chain disruptions and other general resources, please visit – https://www.ciras.iastate.edu/covid-19.