SciGirls is in the house! And on the street, at the beach and in the park. From their own backyards to a NASA research center, the bright, relatable, real girls featured on the groundbreaking PBS series are seriously into science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM. And Season Three of SciGirls finds these STEM adventurers tracking toads, counting clouds and much more, all in the name of citizen science. The brand-new season of the Emmy-winning show, featuring six stand-out episodes, debuts April 2015 on PBS KIDS (check local listings) and online.
Citizen science is the hottest new STEM frontier that engages the general public –and kids! – in real science. Scientists worldwide invite ordinary people—like the SciGirls—to observe and record data about everything from birds to beaches, monarch butterflies to maple trees. The data is then shared with scientists, who use it to generate new scientific knowledge.
In six exciting new episodes, middle school girls and their female STEM professional mentors hit the great outdoors, cataloging frog calls, tracking the changing seasons, verifying satellite imagery of clouds, monitoring fragile butterfly populations, improving urban bird habitats, and advocating for healthy oceans. In addition, animated characters Izzie and Jake are back and finding themselves in sticky situations that can only be solved by STEM—and the SciGirls. When the SciGirls share their data with professional scientists, they save the day for Izzie and Jake and help save the environment!
And since all citizen scientists are on-the-go, the series that snagged a “New Approaches” Daytime Emmy Award is unleashing mobile-friendly web upgrades that let kids play new games, watch episodes and videos, and connect with fellow STEM explorers anywhere, anytime.
“Collaboration is the key to successful citizen science,” said SciGirls executive producer Richard Hudson. “Since SciGirls’ beginning, working together—making discoveries, mistakes and friends—is one of the important research-based methods we use to engage girls around STEM. This new season underscores the importance of collaboration within the scientific research community and workforce. SciGirls is fortunate to have powerful partners advising us about citizen science, including the University of Cornell Department of Ornithology, NASA and FrogWatch USA.”
The third season of SciGirls, the show Parenting Magazine calls “cool stuff” and the New York Times says makes science “downright enjoyable,” brings even more inspirational, authentic hands-on science content to girls from coast-to-coast, turning STEM viewers everywhere into STEM doers. Every girl can be a SciGirl – and a citizen scientist!
The SciGirls creative team is headed by Twin Cities Public Television’s Director of Science Content Richard Hudson, Executive Producer of the long-running PBS children’s science series Newton’s Apple and creator of DragonflyTV and the SciGirls initiative. Animation is created by Soup2Nuts, producers of PBS’ WordGirl.
Gaming and mobile website is developed by Curious Media. SciGirls is made possible by a major grant from the National Science Foundation. Additional funding is provided by INFOR, Northrop Grumman Foundation, and PPG Industries Foundation.