Girl Scouts can earn a bunch of new badges by building and programming robots

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Pretty soon, the Girl Scouts may be as well known for prepping girls for careers in robotics and software coding as it is for its cookies.

The American youth organization is expanding its STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — program. Soon the organization's 1.8 million scouts will be able to earn badges in robotics, coding, engineering, and cybersecurity.

"We've seen girls being users of technology but not necessarily programmers, and robotics is a great way to learn how to code," said Sylvia Acevedo, CEO of the Girl Scouts. "It lets girls have a fun experience with friends while learning a skill."

The organization will unveil 23 new badges on Tuesday. They'll range in scope and skill level, from the Daisy-level "What Robots Do" to the Junior-level "Programming Robots." The Girl Scouts plans to unveil 18 more badges, all focused on cybersecurity, between now and 2019.

Acevedo, an engineer herself, said her experience building a rocket while in Girl Scouts inspired her to pursue a career in tech. She spent a long time in the industry, including stints at NASA, Apple, IBM, and Dell.

Now, as CEO of the Girl Scouts, she gets to help design and choose programs she hopes will work in the same way, inspiring girls to choose STEM careers.

"[These girls] want to be hackers. They want to protect against cybersecurity and cyberterrorism. They want to do that kind of coding," Acevedo said. "If you think about it, that's solving a problem in their community — and that's the core of what we do at Girl Scouts."

While technically you have to be a child to participate in the Girl Scouts, anyone can enjoy a slideshow. Here are some of the new badges in the collection and what scouts have to do to earn them.

What Robots Do

This Daisy-level badge helps kindergartners and first-graders understand a concept that most adults haven't full grasped: what robots are and how they are used.

The Daisies also learn about engineers and what jobs may lie in their futures.

How Robots Move

This badge is where the computer programming begins. The Daisies are taught about computational thinking and algorithms. They also learn a core concept about robots: they work by following instructions.

Design a Robot

To earn this badge, Daisies must build a robot prototype. The goal is to design something that can fix an everyday problem, through a mix of gears, levels, and pulleys.

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