**2.2 STEM in classrooms in rural schools**

Most schools in rural areas, whether government, private or community owned are extremely resource constrained. There are barely enough rooms to accommodate all students and in most cases there aren't any computer labs or libraries. Constructing a new facility for STEM activities is out of question. So what to do in these cases? For situations like these, the lesson plans are adapted to make them locally relevant and the associated STEM activities are designed such that these can be conducted either in the classrooms or in an open area usually used as playground or assembly area.

#### **Figure 1.** *STEM Lab: A project of Durrani STEMs @ Service (DS@S) at Qadir Nagar High School, Buner, Pakistan.*

Here it will be pertinent to mention that STEM is not so much about the equipment, materials and tools used to perform activities but it is the iterative process of brainstorming ideas, creating plans, crafting solutions and testing and reflecting upon this process. If we carefully examine this process, STEM sessions can be effectively carried out with very limited and meager resources. The ideation, planning and reflection phases of the process simply require a piece of paper, a pencil and some peers to discuss, record and communicate whereas the creation and testing part can be carried out using mostly recyclable and reusable materials.

## **2.3 STEM on wheels**

In one of our visits to a remote area in the North of Pakistan, where we were starting to implement STEM in community owned schools with the help of an organization that was actively involved in improving the infrastructure and quality of education in these schools, we came across one of their initiatives in which a pickup van was converted into a mobile library. The van was filled with colorful children's books of all sorts. The van visited around 30 schools a month and every school would receive one visit a month. The coordinator of program mentioned that since these schools didn't have libraries, the students waited eagerly for the Mobile library van to show up. Quite remarkably, the coordinator had fitted in a couple of boxes of sports goods and gardening tools in the van as well to give children opportunities to play and also learn the basics of gardening.

This gave us an idea. If we can't have a dedicated STEM lab in each of these schools for the students to experience the wonders of science, why not use the Mobile library as a vehicle to reach out to these kids by including some very basic STEM kits and activities that will pique their interest and nurture their curiosity. The van will visit each school in the area and the students will not only have the option to read books but also experience the wonders of science with their peers.
