{"id":10843,"date":"2013-08-28T07:47:45","date_gmt":"2013-08-28T00:47:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/?p=10843"},"modified":"2013-08-28T07:47:45","modified_gmt":"2013-08-28T00:47:45","slug":"a-stem-app-for-girls-that-encourages-discovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/a-stem-app-for-girls-that-encourages-discovery\/","title":{"rendered":"A STEM App for Girls that Encourages Discovery"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Lori Cunningham<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\"SMART<\/p>\n

STEM stands for\u00a0Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics and a new STEM App for girls, called S.M.A.R.T. Adventures<\/a>, shows young girls, ages 9+, how these subjects can empower them to be more than they imagined.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

My fifth grade daughter is good in math, and she has been for awhile. \u00a0But lately, when I ask her to figure out about a discount at a store or quiz her on her multiplication (9’s – 12’s), she pushes back and tells me she’s on Summer vacation and she’s not going to answer such questions. \u00a0She’s becoming unsure of herself, mathematically, and finds an excuse to get the pressure off of her. \u00a0She’s beginning to lose her confidence in math. \u00a0That happened to me once. \u00a0I was in advanced math in 4th grade. \u00a0But somewhere down the line, I began to think I wasn’t good in this subject. \u00a0I began a downward spiral that caused strife in my life because I didn’t believe I was good in math. \u00a0I remember all the extra help I needed to get me through my homework in high school and college. \u00a0I was mostly an A student…but not in math. \u00a0My parents expected all A’s. \u00a0To this day, I’m hesitant in using my math skills, I have never been able to shake it. \u00a0I don’t want this fate for my daughter.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Math Made Fun with the STEM App for Girls<\/span><\/h2>\n
S.M.A.R.T Adventures is an app designed for girls in particular with a focus on STEM learning and interactive STEM problems to open girls’ eyes on how Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) can be used to solve problems in a fun way. \u00a0S.M.A.R.T Adventures is a single person game (though you can have up to three profiles so other people can play) where you find yourself in a space shuttle headed for the Shuttle Space Station in outer space. \u00a0Once you arrive you find that they are having some \u00a0major issues with their equipment due to sabotage.<\/div>\n
\"SMART<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
As a Junior Agent, you conduct certain tasks to help fix things in the space station. \u00a0Before beginning a task, you are taught a brief lesson like the difference between perpendicular and parallel to identify wires you need to use to begin to fix a robot. \u00a0Another task is identifying wires that correspond to a particular 20, 40, 60, 90, or 180 degree angle to fix a portion of the robot.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\"SMART<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
As a Junior Agent, you go to the different “Labs” on the spaceship to see how you can work on robots, repair wires, translate Mandarin to discover codes, make formulas in the chemistry lab, and much more. \u00a0And best yet? \u00a0You need to use your math skills to figure out the answer. \u00a0 Does my daughter hesitate sometimes before a problem set? \u00a0Yes. \u00a0But she completes it because she’s anxious to see what happens next.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\"SMART<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
As you solve more projects in the Labs, you begin to receive clues as to who may have sabotaged the equipment. \u00a0S.M.A.R.T. Adventures is well thought out with great graphics, and intriguing story line, thought-provoking games involving STEM, and touch interactivity which makes solving the projects more fun.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
THe S.M.A.R.T Adventures app sells for $7.99 and is available on the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch through iTunes<\/a>.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\"WellConnectedMom<\/div>\n

A Mom’s Perspective<\/span><\/h2>\n
What I love about S.M.A.R.T Adventures is that the tasks (or learning exercises) are a part of the storyline so it makes the story and the exercises more engaging. \u00a0You actually do feel like an employee of the space program as you fix things and learn things along the way. \u00a0\u00a0S.M.A.R.T Adventures makes learning fun and it is definitely a STEM app for girls with a focus is on the task at hand, not the fact that they are using their math skills. \u00a0And that is where the opportunity lies… take the focus off the pressure to respond, and instead focus on the project to be solved.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
My daughter and I have enjoyed playing this app together and it gives me an opportunity to tell her that she will be studying interesting subjects like science, technology, engineering, and mathematics as she progresses further in school. \u00a0Seeing the bigger picture of how these subjects can be applied, can help get her past the “solve the math problem,” and focus on possible career options in her future. \u00a0With apps like these and future developments in technology, I have great hope that my daughter will gain confidence in math once again.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Our daughters are smarter than they believe, and it’s up to us as parents to remind them. \u00a0Is your daughter starting to doubt her math abilities?<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
* \u00a0I was given the S.M.A.R.T Adventures app in exchange for my honest opinion. \u00a0All opinions are my own.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A a new STEM App for girls, called S.M.A.R.T. Adventures, Mission Math, shows girls how these subjects can empower them to be more than they imagined.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11090,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,13,14,16,498],"tags":[1974,1877,1976,1975,1971,1970,1969,2793,1972],"class_list":["post-10843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iphone","category-kids","category-moms","category-phones","category-tablets","tag-apps-for-girls","tag-kids-apps","tag-learning-games","tag-math-apps","tag-mission-math","tag-smart-adventures","tag-smart-girls","tag-stem","tag-stem-app","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/p-content\/themes\/atahualpa342\/images\/articles\/2013\/08\/SMART-Adventures-STEM-App-for-Girls-6-R.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}