Synopsys Outreach Foundation

Synopsys Outreach Foundation We help make science engaging—and fun!—by supporting and celebrating students and teachers developing science projects and participating in science fairs.

Our vision is to ignite interest, nurture potential, and empower all students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Welcome back, educators! As a new school year begins, we celebrate educators who create spaces where students feel encou...
08/18/2026

Welcome back, educators! As a new school year begins, we celebrate educators who create spaces where students feel encouraged to ask questions, test ideas and discover how the world works.

Caregivers also play an important role in helping children develop a lifelong love of science. Curiosity can begin with simple questions:

Why did that happen?
What do you notice?
What do you think will happen next?
How could we test that idea?

This school year, let’s encourage students to explore, experiment and remain curious—even when the answer is not immediately clear.

In STEM, an unexpected result is not always a failure. It is often new information and an opportunity to learn, improve and try again.

Here’s to a school year filled with discovery, creativity and plenty of “why” questions.

National Science Week begins today, and we are starting with a question students have been asking for generations:Why is...
08/15/2026

National Science Week begins today, and we are starting with a question students have been asking for generations:

Why is the sky blue?

Sunlight may look white, but it contains all the colors of the rainbow. When sunlight reaches Earth’s atmosphere, it collides with tiny molecules in the air. Shorter wavelengths of light—especially blue light—scatter more widely than most other colors, making the sky appear blue to our eyes.

This process is called Rayleigh scattering.

Try this simple demonstration:

Fill a clear container with water, add a small amount of milk and shine a flashlight through it from the side. Observe how the light changes as it passes through the mixture.

What other everyday science questions would your students like us to explore?

Let's kick off the school year with community, conversations, and TACOS!Explore ways first responders leverage STEM, net...
08/15/2026

Let's kick off the school year with community, conversations, and TACOS!

Explore ways first responders leverage STEM, network, participate in activities, and (of course) eat tacos!

📅 September 11, 2026
⏰ 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
📍 The Santa Clara County Office of Education - SCCOE (1290 Ridder Park Drive)

Participate in fun science activities, get free supplies, relax, network, have fun, and of course eat tacos! Eat tacos, make friends, and play – that’s it! More details to come.

Register today: link in BIO!

Tag an educator who deserves an evening of STEM inspiration, community and tacos!

Applications are now open for Building STEM Classrooms and STEM Opportunity Fund grants! 🔬📐🧪We’re big believers that stu...
08/11/2026

Applications are now open for Building STEM Classrooms and STEM Opportunity Fund grants! 🔬📐🧪

We’re big believers that students should have opportunities to explore STEM through meaningful, hands-on experiences. Building STEM Classrooms helps eligible educators obtain supplies that support classroom investigation, experimentation, engineering and discovery.

Review the eligibility requirements and submit your applications as soon as possible.

Apply here:

➡️bit.ly/buildingstemclassrooms
➡️bit.ly/STEMopportunityfund

Please share this opportunity with teachers and schools in your network.

This week, look up! ☄️The Perseid meteor shower is expected to peak overnight on August 12–13, offering students an oppo...
08/09/2026

This week, look up! ☄️

The Perseid meteor shower is expected to peak overnight on August 12–13, offering students an opportunity to experience astronomy outside the classroom.

The Perseids occur when Earth travels through debris left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle. Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli helped establish the connection between the Perseid meteor shower and the comet in the 19th century.

For the best chance of seeing a “shooting star”:

🌟 Find a safe location away from bright lights.
🌟 Give your eyes time to adjust to the darkness.
🌟 Look up without a telescope or binoculars.

Educators, consider asking students to keep a sky-observation journal this week. Families can make it a stargazing night.

Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement, showed the world how environmental action, community leadership, an...
07/28/2026

Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement, showed the world how environmental action, community leadership, and innovation can create lasting change.

World Nature Conservation Day is a reminder that sustainability starts with problem-solving and students can be part of designing a healthier future.

07/24/2026

Watercolors are beautiful  and scientific. Color comes from how light interacts with pigments, how water spreads on paper, and how colors mix to create new shades.

Teacher tip: Use watercolor as an entry point into chemistry, physics, and observation. Try a simple color-mixing activity and ask, “What changed, and why?”

Art and science blend perfectly together.

Pi is more than 3.14. It helps us understand circles, waves, wheels, planets, engineering designs, and so much more.On P...
07/22/2026

Pi is more than 3.14. It helps us understand circles, waves, wheels, planets, engineering designs, and so much more.

On Pi Approximation Day, invite students to look for circles in the world around them — then ask: How could math help us measure, build, or understand this?

Here’s a simple classroom challenge: measure the circumference and diameter of circular objects, then compare the results.

PiApproximationDay

07/20/2026

Coral reefs are living ecosystems, and robotics can help protect them.

Underwater drones and marine monitoring systems allow scientists to study reef health, track changes, and gather data in places that are difficult for people to reach.

This is a perfect STEM connection between robotics, environmental science, engineering, and ocean conservation.

Artificial intelligence is already being used to support doctors, study climate patterns, improve accessibility tools, a...
07/16/2026

Artificial intelligence is already being used to support doctors, study climate patterns, improve accessibility tools, and solve complex problems.

Learning about AI is not just about technology.

It is about asking thoughtful questions:
How does it work?
Who does it support?
How can we use it responsibly?

AI can open important conversations about data, ethics, engineering, and real-world impact.

Here at Synopsys Outreach Foundation, we’re being thoughtful about how we use AI and thinking through the implications of our actions.

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