PBS affiliates across the US are set to premiere the first of 10 new half-hour episodes of STEM-based, cross-platform, live-action series SciGirls this October.

The series, which targets girls ages nine to 13, taps into the online sensibilities of today’s kids by linking interactive content to its Big Bad Tomato Interactive-developed website including online games, STEM videos and activities.

SciGirls features real girls who embark on learning adventures that incorporate aspects of science, technology, engineering and math. The show also lets its scigirls help solve problems for two animated characters named Izzie and Jake.

Cross-platform games for season two include Pick ‘m Stick ‘m (an online game that starts when kids find clues during the TV show), Aquabot (where players can engineer an underwater remote operated vehicle and help Izzie and Jake find lost treasure), and Busy as a Bee, a Farmville-like social networking game where users can grow gardens and protect bee hives.

Richard Hudson, Twin Cities Public Television’s director of science content heads up the series’ creative team while Kathleen Shugrue handles co-executive producing duties.

SciGirls‘ cross-platform efforts recently garnered a “New Approaches” Daytime Emmy Award.