Enrichment Programs

After School Science and Engineering is an inventive STEAM enrichment program run by Dartmouth students (undergraduate and graduate) who enjoy sharing their passion for science and engineering with children in elementary school and junior high. Weekly during each academic term, Dartmouth students lead hands-on activities that exemplify fundamental concepts in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. In the past, students have built everything from boats and rockets to mouse trap dragsters and gumdrop towers under the guidance of experienced student mentors. Projects and lessons are tailored to the ages of the students and the group is currently seeking volunteers. Please be in touch if you are interested in helping out.

• When: Ongoing
• Where: Samuel Morey Elementary School, Thetford Elementary School, and Westshire Elementary School.

The Department of Biological Sciences Greenhouse houses an extensive and varied plant collection with a wide range of diversity, utility and beauty. Among its most popular collections is the Brout Orchid Collection, which includes thousands of species of orchids. There is also a tropical plant room, a sub-tropical room, and xeric room. While continuing its primary educational mission, this living botanical museum is available for community and school tours. It's open to the public from 8:30 am to 4 pm Monday through Friday. The Greenhouse is located on the 4th floor of Class of 1978 Life Sciences Building at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.

• Cost: None
• When: Ongoing
• Contact: Kim DeLong, Greenhouse Curator and Manager (603) 646-2382, or email

The Biological Sciences Department invites classes or small groups of students to visit the microscopy teaching lab for a hands-on microscopy experience.  Students will learn how microscopes are used in the study of cell biology in 60/90-minute sessions led by Dartmouth Ph.D. candidates and post-doctoral scholars.  Lessons are developed in collaboration with the classroom teacher and are best suited for middle or high school students studying cell biology.  Students will learn about the types of cell biology research taking place at Dartmouth and the session leaders will give examples and demonstrations of how light microscopy is used as a tool in their research. The sessions will also introduce students to a variety of light microscopy techniques including, bright-field, phase-contrast, differential interference contrast (DIC), and fluorescence microscopy. Students will use research-grade microscopes and digital image capture systems to view a variety of fixed and live cell specimens. They can also image their own cheek cells!

Teachers or administrators who are interested in this program should contact Jessica Warren and/or Ann Lavanway for more information.

Dartmouth LEGO League, which is run by students from the Thayer School of Engineering, sets up mentoring partnerships between Dartmouth students and local FIRST LEGO League teams each year for the entire season - September through November. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) was founded by New Hampshire inventor and entrepreneur Dean Kamen in 1989 to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders by engaging them in mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership. Since 2008, Thayer has also hosted the area's regional tournament, which takes place in the middle of November.

• Where: Team mentoring takes place in local communities; the tournament takes place at Thayer School.
• When: Annually, September – November,
• Cost: Attendance at the tournament is free to the public; school teams must pay a registration fee, purchase a robot, and buy each year's playing field of missions. There is also a standard fee for tournament participation.
• Contact: Dartmouth students interested in mentoring a FIRST LEGO League team and schools who would like to participate in the Dartmouth LEGO Leagues should contact Dartmouth LEGO League.

Dartmouth ManyMentors is a GSC-recognized service group on campus that works "to make opportunities in STEM more visible, valuable, and viable" for underrepresented middle and high school students in rural Vermont and New Hampshire.  Any Dartmouth affiliates in STEM, including undergraduates, graduate students, professors and staff, medical, and engineering students are welcome to join us! 

Mentors can register with us and follow steps to sign up at https://www.dartmouthmanymentors.org/become-a-mentor. Time commitment is very flexible and can vary event to event. In person mentoring usually involves regular visits (a few hours every 1 to 2 weeks) but online mentoring commitment starts at only 15 minutes/week. 

To learn more, check us out at dartmouthmanymentors.org or email avery.tishue.gr@dartmouth.edu

Exploring Mathematics Workshops are two week-long summer programs open to all interested students in the region who have had at least 1 year of high school algebra. Instructors are currently enrolled as Ph.D. candidates in mathematics, have completed their Masters degree and have had two years of tutoring experience. They teach the summer program simultaneously while taking the graduate student teaching seminar. Teaching the Exploring Mathematics program is done in partial fulfillment of the Ph.D. requirement in Mathematics.

Junior Solar Sprint is a model solar car competition for middle school students that is sponsored by the US Army Educational Outreach Program and is part of the STEAM educational initiative. The Thayer School of Engineering chapter of Tau Beta Pi works with engineers in the local community to host the competition for Upper Valley schools. Participating middle school students develop teamwork and problem solving abilities, investigate environmental issues, gain hands-on engineering skills, and use principals of science and math to get the fastest, most interesting, and best-crafted vehicle possible. Teams can enter their cars in local design and race competitions. Dartmouth students and faculty are welcome to participate in this outreach.

• When: Annually
• Where: Lebanon CCBA, Lebanon, NH
• Cost: Please contact organizers for entry fee details.
• Contact: Douglas Van Citters

Karen E. Wetterhahn Science Poster Symposium, Dartmouth's annual poster session and celebration of undergraduate science research at Dartmouth, is open to the public. Area math and science teachers and their students are encouraged to attend. The Symposium, usually held the last Thursday in May, features a prominent woman scientist as keynote speaker and showcases the work of 80-100 enthusiastic undergraduate Dartmouth women and men across all of the sciences and engineering. 

When: Annually
Where: Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center

This science enrichment activity, suggested by a 9th grade science teacher in Thetford, Vermont, is designed to support students who are learning to create high-school level science posters describing their research projects. These involve five to six graduate students and postdoctoral who give a short (5-6 minute) poster talk then respond to student questions. Participating Dartmouth students receive a “poster talk” training, and many past participants have been winners of Dartmouth’s Graduate Student and Postdoctoral poster sessions. Mini-poster sessions are usually scheduled after the high-school students have begun work developing their own posters.

• Cost: None
• When: Ongoing; duration is one class period
• Contact: Amanda Skinner, Assistant Director of Outreach

NACLO is an olympiad consisting of language puzzles, conducted across the US and Canada for students in grades 6-12. More than 1500 students are expected to participate this year. The test will be of particular interest to students who enjoy logic, math and/or language. No background in computer science, linguistics, or second languages is required. The top scorers will represent the US in the International Linguistics Olympiad in the summer. NACLO has been conducted since 2007, but this is the first time a test site will be hosted in the Upper Valley. Registration is free, and you are encouraged to sign up by January 20. An information session will be held at Dartmouth in early January to discuss problem-solving strategies for the test, and answer questions about studying linguistics, computer science, and computational linguistics in college.

• When: Annually
• Cost: Free
• Contact: naclo@cs.dartmouth.edu 

This school-based program for sixth- to high school level students is based on the public Science Cafés that began in the late 1990s in the United Kingdom as a means of engaging a broader segment of the public in science and its impact on daily life. Held in a common room or school cafeteria during lunch period or classroom time, these sessions involve a guest scientist — a Dartmouth graduate student or postdoc in the “STEAM” disciplines of science, technology, engineering or math — who talks with students about his or her research and career path in science. Sessions are designed to be highly interactive, and the goal is to engage students in studying science and in considering STEAM careers. Graduate students and postdocs who participate in this outreach are offered professional development training in communicating science with school children. School Science Café is a program developed by Dartmouth’s Office of Science and Technology Outreach and the Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning (DCAL) in collaboration with local teachers and Dartmouth graduate students and postdocs.

A current list of graduate students and postdocs who can visit your school and their research topics can be found here.

If you have a particular topic in mind that is not on this list please let us know and we may be able to help you.

• Cost: None

Area students are invited to visit Dartmouth College laboratories to learn about scientific research and meet real scientists-in-training. All students must be accompanied by an adult. Dartmouth graduate students, from a variety of scientific disciplines, will lead fun and interactive activities/demonstrations. Spend the day with us and learn just how exciting research can be!

The Institute for Security, Technology and Society (ISTS) will convene summer workshops for high school students on the Dartmouth College campus. 

The INTRODUCTORY program runs Monday, July 8th - Friday, July 12th 2019 and will focus on: cryptography, digital forensics, privacy, and security awareness. Lessons will integrate lectures with hands-on and interactive activities, augmented with field trips and guest speakers. 

The ADVANCED program runs Monday July, 29th - Friday, August 2rd 2019 and will expand from the base that was laid by the introductory course and will appeal to those with a solid understand of basic cybersecurity concepts who are looking to expand their knowledge.

• Where: Dartmouth College Campus
• Cost: Free; Participants must apply
• Contact: If you have any questions about the program, please email ISTS or call 603-646-0700

The Dartmouth Department of Mathematics will host a Sonia Kovalevsky Math Day. This is a program of hands-on workshops and talks for middle and high school female students and their teachers, both women and men. The purpose of the day is to encourage young women to continue their study of mathematics and to assist the teachers of female mathematics students.

Free and Fun! Continental Breakfast and Lunch will be provided.

• When:  Annually
• Where: Department of Mathematics, Kemeny Hall
• Cost: Free
• Contact: http://www.math.dartmouth.edu/~orellana/SKMD2012.html

Each Spring, Thayer School welcomes the public into its laboratories and work areas to see how engineering prepares students to innovate in medicine, public policy, law, architecture, design, technology, entrepreneurship, and more. Enjoy tours, exhibits, and demonstrations by engineering faculty, staff and students as well as engineers from local industry.

• When: Annually each Spring
• Where: Thayer School of Engineering
• Cost: Free; Food and refreshments provided
• Contact: Jenna Wheeler or call (603) 646-3677 or visit http://engineering.dartmouth.edu/events/open-house/

The Brain Bee is a fun and educational neuroscience competition for high school students. Self study materials available and Dartmouth graduate students are available to visit your school to help you train. See info link for details. We hope to show students the fun in learning about the brain and to provide an opportunity to experience what the field of neuroscience is all about!

• When: Annually
• Where: Dartmouth College, Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center, Room 200
• Cost: Free to all; Registration required by April 11, 2019
• More Info and Registration