About
A-LIFT: Pre-College Programs – K-12 STEM Education includes activities such as STEM Career Talks, After School Science Hour, Let’s Talk About STEM, Live Science, STEM Shows, STEM Activities and Platforms, and High School STEM Days. Students can also access StoryMaps, Berkeley Lab Podcasts, Environmental Education Virtual Field Trips for Nature Lovers, External Summer Programs and Internships, and specific hands-on activities like Make Your Own Circuit Card, What Are Stars Made Of?, Microscopic Explorations, and Chibi Traffic Lights. Additional offerings include Subject Explorations and Career Chats that feature a wide range of STEM and STEM-adjacent professions.
• Ages: 5–18 years old
• Schedule: Each Let’s Talk About STEM session is one hour long.
The A-LIFT team at Berkeley Lab develops educational programs to teach and support the next generation of scientists, with a focus on connecting Berkeley Lab experts with students around the Bay Area to excite them about STEM, explore STEM careers, and gain experience to pursue STEM in college and beyond. The A-LIFT: Pre-College Programs umbrella brings K-12 STEM Education and Higher Education programs together. The A-LIFT team connects Berkeley Lab experts with students around the Bay Area, and High School STEM Days are invite-only, once-a-month events for eligible local public high school students to tour Berkeley Lab, network with employees, participate in job shadowing, and learn more about summer programs and high school internships at Berkeley Lab. Eligibility for High School STEM Days is currently limited to schools in Alameda and West Contra Costa public school districts, and the main goal of these days is to share what life in STEM and STEM-adjacent professions is like.
STEM Career Talks are themed talks with Berkeley Lab staff, Bay Area professionals, and other guest experts, and they are recorded and open to the public. StoryMaps use a web-based platform to share multimedia narratives with photos, videos, writing, and illustrations, and each StoryMap includes a finished StoryMap, a recorded walkthrough and Q&A with scientists, and materials for learning more. After School Science Hour connects young students with the diversity of STEM subjects and the people who study them through a short lesson, a conversation with experts, and a hands-on project to follow along at home; it is aimed at grades K–5 but open to all, and episodes are recorded for later viewing. Let’s Talk About STEM involves Berkeley Lab staff volunteering to virtually share their experiences and work in STEM with classrooms, including meeting researchers, learning about careers, asking questions, and getting an inside look at STEM professions; sessions can include a deep-dive into a specific subject, hands-on activities, STEM career talks, or a virtual tour of Berkeley Lab’s facilities, and the program is open to school groups and out-of-school organizations, recommended for grades 6–12 with a requested minimum group size of 10 students.
Live Science highlights activities and hobbies of Berkeley Lab staff and relates them to research at the lab, is aimed at grades 6–12 but open to all, and episodes are recorded for later viewing. For 2025, specific in-person hands-on activities for 6th grade classes include Make Your Own Circuit Card, What Are Stars Made Of?, Microscopic Explorations, and Chibi Traffic Lights. Subject Explorations connect researchers’ expertise in a wide range of STEM subjects to concepts covered in the classroom. Career Chats feature researchers, communicators, project managers, and administrators who demonstrate a wide variety of career paths in STEM and STEM-adjacent professions.
Berkeley Lab ranks among the world’s top research institutions, with a $1.1 billion annual budget, 17 Nobel Prizes, and 16 discovered elements on the Periodic Table.
Last updated February 25, 2026.
• Ages: 5–18 years old
• Schedule: Each Let’s Talk About STEM session is one hour long.
The A-LIFT team at Berkeley Lab develops educational programs to teach and support the next generation of scientists, with a focus on connecting Berkeley Lab experts with students around the Bay Area to excite them about STEM, explore STEM careers, and gain experience to pursue STEM in college and beyond. The A-LIFT: Pre-College Programs umbrella brings K-12 STEM Education and Higher Education programs together. The A-LIFT team connects Berkeley Lab experts with students around the Bay Area, and High School STEM Days are invite-only, once-a-month events for eligible local public high school students to tour Berkeley Lab, network with employees, participate in job shadowing, and learn more about summer programs and high school internships at Berkeley Lab. Eligibility for High School STEM Days is currently limited to schools in Alameda and West Contra Costa public school districts, and the main goal of these days is to share what life in STEM and STEM-adjacent professions is like.
STEM Career Talks are themed talks with Berkeley Lab staff, Bay Area professionals, and other guest experts, and they are recorded and open to the public. StoryMaps use a web-based platform to share multimedia narratives with photos, videos, writing, and illustrations, and each StoryMap includes a finished StoryMap, a recorded walkthrough and Q&A with scientists, and materials for learning more. After School Science Hour connects young students with the diversity of STEM subjects and the people who study them through a short lesson, a conversation with experts, and a hands-on project to follow along at home; it is aimed at grades K–5 but open to all, and episodes are recorded for later viewing. Let’s Talk About STEM involves Berkeley Lab staff volunteering to virtually share their experiences and work in STEM with classrooms, including meeting researchers, learning about careers, asking questions, and getting an inside look at STEM professions; sessions can include a deep-dive into a specific subject, hands-on activities, STEM career talks, or a virtual tour of Berkeley Lab’s facilities, and the program is open to school groups and out-of-school organizations, recommended for grades 6–12 with a requested minimum group size of 10 students.
Live Science highlights activities and hobbies of Berkeley Lab staff and relates them to research at the lab, is aimed at grades 6–12 but open to all, and episodes are recorded for later viewing. For 2025, specific in-person hands-on activities for 6th grade classes include Make Your Own Circuit Card, What Are Stars Made Of?, Microscopic Explorations, and Chibi Traffic Lights. Subject Explorations connect researchers’ expertise in a wide range of STEM subjects to concepts covered in the classroom. Career Chats feature researchers, communicators, project managers, and administrators who demonstrate a wide variety of career paths in STEM and STEM-adjacent professions.
Berkeley Lab ranks among the world’s top research institutions, with a $1.1 billion annual budget, 17 Nobel Prizes, and 16 discovered elements on the Periodic Table.
Last updated February 25, 2026.
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