Free vocabulary hub
Agency, inquiry, and habits that last beyond one camp
Student agency and self-directed learning are about purposeful choices and metacognition. Inquiry is more than “hands-on”—it is doing the work of science with evidence, as Smithsonian materials stress.
The ability and willingness to influence one’s own learning through purposeful choices and actions—active participation rather than passive receipt of content.
Real-world extension: Supports long-term motivation and learning how to learn.
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Students manage important parts of their own learning process—choices, strategies, and self-monitoring—involving motivation, strategic action, and metacognition.
Real-world extension: Matters in maker projects and optional extensions where learners decide how far to push an idea.
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Students ask questions, make observations, test ideas, and develop explanations using evidence. Inquiry is more than hands-on—it is doing the work of science.
Real-world extension: Inquiry skills transfer to engineering, civics, and evidence-based media literacy.
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The drive to ask, notice, and seek out what is not yet understood—connected to deeper thinking and intrinsic motivation.
Real-world extension: Especially powerful in informal STEM because it can sustain effort without grades or prizes.
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Deciding what you want to accomplish and how you will know you are getting there.
Real-world extension: In camp, goals can stay small—finish one robot behavior, compare two designs, or answer one question well.
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Thinking about thinking: planning, monitoring, evaluating, and adjusting your approach while learning.
Real-world extension: Helps students decide when to persist, switch strategies, or ask for help.
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Learners investigate, explain, and build with others rather than only working alone.
Real-world extension: Real engineering and science are usually team efforts—collaboration is realistic practice.
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Using an idea or habit learned in one setting in a different setting.
Real-world extension: Project Zero routines like Connect–Extend–Challenge and Reflect–Connect–Project make those bridges explicit.
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