STEAM Family Day

STEAM Family Day

This one-day outdoor/indoor event is an opportunity for youth ages 8–18 to participate in STEAM activities, meet STEM professionals, and explore future career paths in a fun and engaging way!  Come on over to La Brea Tar Pits to be a part of this exciting STEAM celebration! The STEAM Family Day celebration will include:

Fun Activities

• Welcome Table: Learn more about the program, pick up a scavenger hunt, and grab a STEAM Family sticker.
• Live Music: Listen to DJ Wenluv spinning music on the Great Lawn!
• Raffles: Participate in regular giveaways of exciting, fun, and educational gifts before each stage presentation!
• Research & Collections Tables: Meet scientists from the Natural History Museum and La Brea Tar Pits and get up close to some amazing items from the Museum's collections!
• Museum Educator Tarpits Tour: Take an outdoor walking excavator tour to learn all about the history of the Tar Pits and the specimens discovered here.
• Hands-on Activities: Get crafty and explore your inner artist with some hands-on activities.
• La Brea Tar Pits Mobile Museum:  Take a peek inside La Brea Tar Pits’ Mobile Museum and discover Ice Age Los Angeles, fossils, and more!
• Food Vendors: Enjoy a lineup of food vendors with different food options, from sweet to savory!

STEAM Resources Fair | Great Lawn

Meet and interact with local STEAM-based organizations:

• Pasadena Audubon Society is a chapter of the National Audubon Society. Our mission is to bring the excitement of birds to our community through birding, education and the conservation of bird habitats.
• USC Paleosciences is an interdisciplinary research consortium at the University of Southern California focusing on the study of past life and environments. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees (Ph.D. in Earth Sciences, Integrative Anatomical Sciences, Biological Sciences) with hands-on learning at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, using cutting-edge tools to study fossils, anatomy, and environmental changes.
• CSULB Shark Lab is a research lab that works to study the physiological and behavioral ecology of marine animals, particularly elasmobranchs, along California’s coastline. In addition to our research efforts, we are committed to outreach and education.  Through various programs and initiatives, we engage with the community to increase public awareness and knowledge of beach safety and our oceans.
• Graduate Society of Women Engineers at UCLA advocates for women graduate engineers and provides resources, tools, and opportunities for professional development and networking. UCLA GradSWE’s mission is to support, inspire, and empower the current and future female engineering community to excel in all endeavors.
• L.A. Zoo is leading the way in saving wildlife and connecting Angelenos to the natural world by providing exemplary animal care, delivering distinctive and diverse learning opportunities, and facilitating unforgettable experiences. We aim to create a just and sustainable world where people and wildlife thrive, together. Saving Wildlife. Enriching Our Communities. Creating Connections to Nature.
• Heart of LA SciArts aims to offer a free curriculum that integrates Science Technology Engineering Arts and Math (STEAM) and maker-style education, in which students learn by doing and become self-starters. Through project-based learning and utilizing modern technology students learn to experiment, create, ask questions, and are introduced to emerging careers.  Students are encouraged to think out of the box, engage with their peers, explore and research, elaborate on their findings, and evaluate how their community is impacted by such findings. With a multit-cultural approach in mind, we move more towards culturally and socially relevant activities that promote agency and social responsibility.  We want students to see themselves and feel comfortable in the world of science and arts.   
• SACNAS UCLA Chapter is dedicated to increasing the number of underrepresented students in higher education and in science. We are open to undergraduates, graduate students, transfer students, community college students, post-docs, faculty and staff of any major or program who share a common concern about equal access to education, who has interest in outreach and/or is in need of opportunities in academic leadership and participation.
• Nova Community Arts is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit art studio in Los Angeles. We offer art classes, workshops, open studio access, and guest programming at our studio in Atwater Village. Nova is committed to providing arts education, access to materials and equipment, and a platform of creative expression for the community.

Other participating organizations:

• Girls in STEM Club at Columbia Memorial Space Center
• Think Tank Science
• Lil’ Libros
• Mobile Museums

Vendors:

• Plant Magic Club is the hands-on activity box for nature-loving families. Think botany, herbology and geology meet anthropology, history and language arts, for kids!  Our STEAM focussed, holistic educational approach, fosters critical thinking and creativity, and captures a sense of wonder for our natural world. Created by a California credentialed teacher for her family and yours... Welcome to our garden!
• GIGIL STEM Kits offers hands-on learning activities for kids in Pre-K - 8th grade. Each STEM kit includes five activities with all of the supplies you need to do them!  Each STEM kit has a unique theme with a pre-recorded video lesson led by a California credentialed teacher.
• Snow Wolpard presents artwork and merchandise inspired by paleontology and zoology.

STEAM Stage | La Brea Tar Pits Museum (on the Great Lawn) 

Come and listen to inspiring conversations with STEM professionals who have all taken different journeys to arrive where they are today!

Full lineup:

• 12:30pm | For the Love of Animals: Slither in and sit for an animal presentation with the Wildlife Learning Center.
• 2 pm |  Book Reading with Lil’ Libros: Come on over and get “stuck” with Lil’ Libros for storytime.
• 3 pm |  Women in STEM Panel : Join us in conversation with our very own scientists as they share their journey and pathways into science. 

2025 Girls in STEM Day: