13 Virtual STEM Summer Camps for Middle School Students
If you’re a middle school student interested in STEM fields, participating in a virtual STEM summer camp can be an enriching opportunity. These camps are a great way for you to engage with real-world projects, experiments, and collaboration with peers under the guidance of experienced instructors. As you get ready to enter high school, these insights and interests can guide you in selecting more focused courses, extracurricular activities, and even early college programs.
Eligibility: Students in grades 6-8 are eligible to apply.
Application Deadline: Summer cohort - March 24, 2024 (early admission) | Spring cohort - February 25, 2024. Apply here!
Program Dates: AI Trailblazers - Runs for a total of 25 hours over 10 sessions | AI Junior Fellowship - 12 weeks
Cost: AI Trailblazers - $1,790 | AI Junior Fellowship - $2,900. Need based financial aid is available
Veritas AI, founded and run by Harvard graduate students, offers virtual AI programs for middle and high school students. Middle school students can pick from two options - the AI Trailblazers bootcamp and the AI Junior Fellowship. Through the AI Trailblazers program, you will learn the fundamentals of artificial intelligence and machine learning, along with the basics of Python. You'll work on hands-on, real-world AI projects in areas like medicine, finance, autonomous vehicles, and more under the guidance of mentors from top universities like Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and more! This is best suited for students who are beginners.
If you have already gone through the bootcamp or have some experience with Python, the AI Junior Fellowship is a good option for you. You get to work 1-1 with a mentor to build out your own project or research paper over 12 weeks. This is a great way to work with AI at the intersection of various topics and showcase your passion.
Eligibility: Students in grades 6-8 are all eligible to participate
Application Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis
Program Dates: June 24 - 28, 2024
Cost: $595 per week
Running since 1977, the National Computer Camp (NCC) is America’s oldest computer camp. At NCC, you can choose to attend for one week or engage in multi-week sessions with the curriculum designed to enhance your computer literacy from any level. You will have access to an extensive list of courses and activities. This includes diving into programming languages such as Python, JavaScript, C++, and Java, exploring web development through CSS, Web Design, and HTML 5, and enhancing your graphics skills with OpenGL, Flash–Animation, and Photoshop. If you’re interested in game design, you can start from 2D Game Design to advanced 3D Game Design, including hands-on experiences with Arduino Computer Lab and Minecraft Modding. Additionally, unique offerings like 3D Printing, Cryptography, and even flying the NCC Drone are available to you.
3. Stanford Middle School Scholars Program
Eligibility: Low-income students currently in grades 6 or 7 who reside in and attend school in the United States.
Application Deadline: March 29, 2024
Program Dates: July 8 - 26 and August 26, 2024 - December 13 2024
Cost: Free
The Stanford Middle School Scholars Program (SMSSP) is a tuition-free and highly enriching program to check out if you’re keen to explore subjects in STEM. The program starts with a 3-week intensive summer course in July, followed by weekly meetings from mid-August through December. These sessions include live, instructor-led discussions and workshops on topics such as high school preparation, academic writing, and math enrichment. The virtual classroom experience fosters real-time interactions with instructors and peers across the United States. With 65% of instructors holding PhD’s in their fields, you're guided by experts committed to helping you achieve your full academic potential. The program also emphasizes building a close-knit community with approximately 12 students per session.
4. Lavner Technology and STEM Camps
Eligibility: Students aged 6-14 can participate
Application Deadline: Enrollment is open until the start of each camp session, with sessions running from June 3, 2024 - August 30, 2024.
Program Dates: Weekly camps from June 3, 2024 - August 30, 2024
Cost: Most courses are priced at $399, with select courses at $449 or $549.
Lavner Camps' Virtual Tech and STEM programs are a great way for you to dive into the technology world. Camp Tech Revolution Online was developed by a leadership team with educational backgrounds from the University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School, Columbia University, Cornell University, Brandeis University, UCLA Graduate School of Educational Leadership, Harvard Graduate School of Education, and more. With a staff to camper ratio of approximately 1:4 to 1:8, and live online instruction provided by expert instructors, Camp Tech Revolution Online is a great STEM camp experience for campers ages 6 to 14. They offer over 35 camps including Robotics, Coding, Game Design, Minecraft, Roblox, Content Creation for YouTube, Digital Art, Spy Tech, STEM & Medicine, and more, so you will have many avenues to explore your STEM interests.
5. The University of Texas at Dallas Coding Camps
Eligibility: Students aged 11-14 are eligible
Application Deadline: Enrollment is open until the Wednesday prior to the start date of the week’s camps.
Program Dates: Weekly camps from June 3, 2024 - August 2, 2024
Cost: $150
Through The University of Texas at Dallas Coding Camps, you will learn how mathematical concepts come to life by integrating them with computer programming, using platforms such as Scratch and JavaScript. Students will delve into various mathematical concepts including angles, 3-dimensional space, random numbers, and recursion.
One of the highlights of the program is the "Bring Math to Life!" camp, where participants will focus on applying programming to understand geometry, object resizing, transformations, arithmetic and geometric sequences, and recursive shapes throughout a fun and engaging week. Additionally, the "Modding with Minecraft" camp allows students to step into the world of their favorite video game, Minecraft, and learn to create mods using programming concepts. For those who are new to programming, the camp offers an "Enjoyable Coding with Alice" segment, which utilizes the Alice programming environment to teach 3D animation and game development without the hassle of syntax errors. This camp is especially suited for beginners and provides a solid foundation in programming concepts through a user-friendly, drag-and-drop interface.
6. UC Berkeley Coding Academy - Data Science to AI
Eligibility: Students aged 12-18 are eligible
Application Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis
Program Dates: June 17 - 28, 2024 | July 8 - 12, 2024
Cost: $2,495. Limited scholarships are available.
If you are a middle school student who wants to explore how data is used in various fields, from social media trends to environmental changes, the UC Berkeley Coding Academy is a good option for you. With tools like numpy, pandas, matplotlib, seaborn, and sklearn, you'll get hands-on experience analyzing big data and constructing machine learning models, all while mastering the Python code that powers AI.
You will work on projects, with the program culminating in a presentation, backed by blockchain-authenticated certificates, giving you a tangible link to your achievements. You will also gain lifetime access to an extensive suite of resources, including over 100 4K Data Science videos, Colab Notebooks, slides, and all materials generated for the class.
7. Girls Who Code Python Activities
Eligibility: All female middle school students are eligible.
Application Deadline: No deadline.
Program Dates: Self paced, available year-round
Cost: Free
With the Girls Who Code Python Activities, you can learn how to program in one of the most popular text-based languages, Python. The program offers you the chance to work on real-world, practical projects by creating a chatbot, learning how to depict data using various types of graphs, or drawing information from a dataset to observe possible trends.
Through various projects, you'll explore how to represent data through line, bar, pie, histogram, and scatter plot graphs using Python. One of the exciting projects involves analyzing data from Kickstarter projects, a popular crowdfunding platform. This hands-on experience will introduce you to the many roles of data scientists, from cleaning data to ensure its accuracy and relevance, to analyzing it with sophisticated algorithms, and finally presenting findings to stakeholders, who could range from policy makers and business leaders to researchers.
8. Create and Learn Data Science with Python, Pandas, and ChatGPT Class
Eligibility: All middle school students are eligible.
Application Deadline: No deadline
Program Dates: 6 weeks at ~1 hour per week
Cost: $262.80 for six sessions
Create and Learn Data Science with Python, Pandas, and ChatGPT Class is a live online class, designed for small groups of 2-3 students and lasting 75 minutes per session. Students begin with an introduction to data science, exploring the purpose and features of the powerful Pandas library. You'll delve into essential techniques for data cleaning, data processing, and data analytics, setting a strong foundation for your journey in data science.
You will also learn how to leverage ChatGPT for developing higher quality code and expanding your learning beyond the classroom. This program opens up new avenues for exploration and enhances your coding skills in practical, real-world applications. You will leave with a capstone project where you'll apply everything you've learned to your own dataset.
9. Code HS Introduction to Python
Eligibility: All middle school students are eligible.
Application Deadline: No deadline
Program Dates: Self-paced for 30 hours
Cost: Unspecified
The CodeHS Introduction to Python course is perfect for middle school students who are curious about data science and want to get started with one of the most versatile programming languages – Python. Through engaging lessons with Tracy, a virtual turtle, you'll learn to command her to create various scenes on a canvas.
You'll master Python commands, functions, and control structures by solving puzzles and crafting creative programs for Tracy to execute. The learning environment is a blend of digital and hands-on activities, allowing you to write and run code directly in your web browser while also participating in collaborative exercises with your classmates. With 45 lessons, 43 videos, 76 exercises, 11 challenges, and numerous offline handouts, each lesson includes short, formative quizzes to help consolidate your learning and gauge your progress.
10. Lumiere Junior Explorer Program
Eligibility: Students in grades 6 - 8 can apply
Application Deadline: May 12, 2024 (Summer cohort) | February 18, 2024 (Spring cohort)
Program Dates: 8 weeks starting March 11 (Spring cohort) and June 3 (Summer cohort)
Cost: $1,990
The Lumiere Junior Explorer Program is an 8-week program that allows you to work one-on-one with a mentor to explore their academic interests and build a project they are passionate about. The mentors are scholars from top research universities such as Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Yale, Duke and LSE.
During this program, spanning weeks 1 to 4, participants will delve into four distinct topics within their selected track. In weeks 5 and 6, the focus intensifies as participants embark on a deep dive into one specific topic area and finally, weeks 7 to 8 are dedicated to project implementation, with participants receiving guidance and support from their mentors as they bring their projects to life. You can find the application form here.
11. Northwestern CTD Online Enrichment Courses
Eligibility: Students in grades 3 - 8 are eligible
Application Deadline: June 5, 2024
Program Dates: June 12, 2024 - July 26, 2024
Cost: $600
Through Northwestern's Center for Talent Development (CTD) Online Enrichment Courses, you can take courses that cover a wide array of subjects from "Climate Detectives: Discovering Paleontology" to "The Smartest: The Future of Artificial Intelligence". With courses like "Engineering the Future," "Scratch: Animations & Games," and "Exploring Genetics," students will delve into the practical and theoretical aspects of STEM fields, encouraging a deep, hands-on understanding of the subjects. Each course is structured to require 2-5 hours of engagement per week. This self-paced approach is supported by weekly pacing guides from dedicated instructors, who also facilitate online discussions to enrich the learning experience. In addition to STEM-focused topics, the CTD Online Enrichment Program offers courses in areas such as "Creative Writing" and "Classical Mythology”. The program emphasizes the importance of effective communication skills, both via written assignments and participation in online discussions.
12. Johns Hopkins CTY Online Course
Eligibility: Students in grades 3 - 8 (varies per course) can apply
Application Deadline: June 5, 2024
Program Dates: Varies per course
Cost: $1,325
The Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) online courses are a great way for you to dive into computer science and technology, as well as other interdisciplinary areas. Among the diverse offerings, you can explore "Arduino® Prototyping," where you'll learn to build and program your own electronic devices, or delve into "Bioethics in the Age of Pandemics," to understand the ethical implications of medical decision-making during global health crises. Other courses include "Coasters and Corkscrews: Amusement Park Physics," which reveals the principles of physics through the thrilling context of amusement park rides, and "Color of Law," focusing on the intersection of law and societal issues. "Diagnosis: Be the Doctor" offers a hands-on approach to medical diagnostics, while "Disease Modeling" introduces you to the mathematical modeling of infectious diseases, an essential tool in epidemiology. For those inclined towards engineering and design, the "Engineering Design" course challenges students to think critically and creatively to solve real-world problems.
13. Pearson Online Academy Middle School Summer Program
Eligibility: Students in grades 6 - 8 are eligible
Application Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis
Program Dates: Varies per course
Cost: $325 or $225 per course
At the Pearson Online Academy Middle School Summer Program, you will explore a broad spectrum of STEM courses as well as other subjects, including language arts and Spanish. With course offerings like "Math 6 A" and "Math 6 B" through to "Math 8 A (Pre-Algebra)" and "Math 8 B (Pre-Algebra)”, you can strengthen your foundation in mathematical concepts, prepare for high school-level mathematics, and engage in challenging concepts that stimulate critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Additionally, the "Summer Smarts Math" series, available for grades K-8 provides a more focused review and enrichment opportunity to solidify your understanding of math concepts over the summer. Beyond math, the program includes "Summer Smarts Reading" courses designed to enhance reading comprehension and analytical skills, essential for success across all STEM fields. These courses, along with language offerings like "Middle Spanish I" and "Middle Spanish II”.