MathWorks and Discovery Museum Partner to Bring Hands-on STEM to PreK-8 Classrooms for the 16th Year
Acton, MA – Discovery Museum and Natick-based MathWorks announced today their continued partnership to bring the Museum’s Traveling Science Workshops to classrooms throughout Massachusetts and beyond for the 2025-2026 school year. This is the 16th consecutive school year that MathWorks has invested in hands-on STEM for students with the Museum.
Traveling Science Workshops (TSW) are state curriculum-aligned, small group, in-classroom workshops that use simple, everyday materials and a hands-on approach to allow students to be scientists by exploring, observing, asking questions, and sharing discoveries. Museum educators deliver workshops on 23 STEM topics—including Sound, Weather & Climate, Physical Changes of Matter, and Force & Motion—to give elementary and middle school students direct experience with how things work in the physical world. It is the only classroom-based program of its kind in Massachusetts.
Strong and continued growth. During the 2024-2025 school year, Discovery Museum delivered more than 3,000 workshops to schools in 123 towns, reaching more than 58,000 students in their classrooms with hands-on science. This is a 5% increase from the prior school year. Workshop delivery has tripled over the last 15 years of Discovery Museum’s partnership with MathWorks, with more than 500,000 students reached in total.
“At MathWorks, we believe curiosity and hands-on learning are essential to empowering students,” said Kevin Lorenc, director of corporate communications at MathWorks. “Our long-running partnership with Discovery Museum reflects the company’s commitment to engaging kids early with STEM, sparking an interest in science and engineering that can potentially shape their future. We’re proud to help create those moments of discovery that inspire tomorrow’s innovators.”
“We are so proud to have the support of MathWorks in our work to get hands-on science to kids in the most equitable way we know how—by bringing it directly to them in their classrooms,” said Discovery Museum CEO Marie Beam. “Taking the mystery out of science at an early age—and letting students experience how fun it can be—can completely change how a young student looks at themselves and their abilities. They realize they can “do” science.”
Discovery Museum recently announced an ambitious plan to double the size of its Traveling Science Workshops program to serve 120,000 students in their classrooms with hands-on STEM by 2030. The Museum is seeking a $1.6M catalyst investment to expand capacity to serve both the north and south shore regions of Massachusetts.
MathWorks has partnered with Discovery Museum since 2010 to bring TSW to PreK through 8th grade school classrooms. The company also supports community access to the Museum by funding free-access Friday nights and a week of reduced admission pricing in the fall. MathWorks staff members undertake on-site and off-site volunteer projects several times each year.
************
About Discovery Museum
Discovery Museum is a hands-on museum for families that blends science, nature, and play. The museum and its Discovery Woods accessible outdoor nature playscape and giant treehouse blend the best of STEAM learning on a beautiful 4.5-acre campus abutting 180 acres of conservation land in Acton, MA, about 20 miles west of Boston. Originally founded in 1982 and expanded to two museums in 1987, the museum reopened in a single, 16,000sf accessible building after a complete renovation and expansion in early 2018. Hands-on, open-ended exhibits developed by professional educators inspire curiosity and exploration, providing a fun and engaging experience for children and adults to discover their world together. Serving families and schools from towns throughout the region, the museum is devoted to informal education that enhances classroom learning. Discovery Museum is committed to accessibility and is a proud recipient of the Massachusetts Commonwealth Award, the only winner in the Access category, and a LEAD® Community Asset Award from The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. In 2024 Discovery Museum was awarded a National Medal for Museum Service from the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the nation’s highest honor awarded to museums that make “significant and exceptional contributions to their communities. Discovery Museum is a community-supported non-profit organization.
About MathWorks
MathWorks is the leading developer of mathematical computing software. MATLAB, the language of engineers and scientists, is a programming environment for algorithm development, data analysis, visualization, and numeric computation. Simulink is a block diagram environment for simulation and Model-Based Design of multidomain and embedded engineering systems. Engineers and scientists worldwide rely on these products to accelerate the pace of discovery, innovation, and development in automotive, aerospace, communications, electronics, industrial automation, and other industries. MATLAB and Simulink are fundamental teaching and research tools in the world’s top universities and learning institutions. Founded in 1984, MathWorks employs more than 6500 people in 34 offices around the world, with headquarters in Natick, Massachusetts, USA. For additional information, visit mathworks.com.
###