Get ready to spark your students’ curiosity and imagination with science stories that make learning come alive! In this full-day, hands-on session, Stories that Spark Science: Harnessing NSTA Kids and Award-Winning Children's Books, we will dive into a treasure trove of children’s literature perfect for connecting literacy and science.

The morning will be an inspiring journey through three engaging segments:

1. The Next Time You See Series Explore this beloved NSTA Kids series, discover strategies for using it in your classroom or program, and hear real-world examples of how these books inspire wonder and inquiry.

2. Spotlight on New and Timeless NSTA Kids™ Books From timeless favorites to exciting new releases, you’ll get a guided tour of NSTA Kids titles and supporting resources, along with practical tips for bringing them to life for your learners.

3. Award-Winning Reads: NSTA–CBC Best STEM Books & Outstanding Science Trade Books Learn about the rigorous criteria behind these celebrated titles, explore ways to engage students with them, and see how they connect to NSTA Press resources.

Along the way, we will model strategies for selecting high-quality literature, creating text sets that support diverse learners, and integrating science and literacy with ease. You’ll also have time to browse the books, share ideas with fellow educators, and discover helpful NSTA resources.

In the afternoon, roll up your sleeves and put inspiration into action! Working in grade-band groups, you will develop lesson plans and activities using the featured books, aligned to shared themes and standards. Plus, you’ll have the chance to win a free NSTA Kids™ “Text Set” to jump-start your own classroom library.

Come ready to read, collaborate, and leave with lessons, ideas, and resources you can use right away to get kids excited about science through story.

Our work with educators demonstrates that compassion can be a powerful resource for maintaining hope, connecting with purpose, and sparking joy, even in difficult times. We invite you to join this workshop to develop perspectives and learn practices for mindfulness, kindness, and compassion for self and others that support emotional regulation and overall well-being. You will also engage in activities and practices to integrate compassion into your classroom and everyday life. Anchored in teaching about climate change, this workshop is relevant to any educator who has experienced uncertainty, overwhelm, or stress.

Are you looking for better ways to design meaningful, standards-aligned classroom-based assessments that reflect your students' thinking? In this full-day workshop, we'll work together to create three-dimensional (3D) science assessments—supported by a powerful generative AI tool and guided by your teacher's expertise. Using the Next Generation Science Assessment (NGSA) Design Framework, we will show you how to develop 3D knowledge-in-use assessment tasks by walking through how to unpack performance expectations, craft learning performances and evidence statements, and co-create tasks responsive to your students' diverse backgrounds and learning needs. You'll learn how to write effective prompts for AI, evaluate and adapt AI-generated content, and ensure that what you create is instructionally useful and meaningful. Along the way, we'll also engage in honest, practical conversations about the ethical and appropriate uses of AI in education. This session is designed specifically for upper elementary and middle school teachers but is open to all who are interested. You will leave with ready-to-use assessment tasks, access to customizable prompts and design templates, new strategies you can apply immediately in your classroom, and knowledge of how to craft 3D assessment tasks.

TAKEAWAYS:
-Learn how to design knowledge-in-use aligned with NGSS using Generative AI tools. -Gain practical experience writing prompts, generating and refining tasks, and applying a systematic design framework. -Explore ways to responsibly integrate GenAI into your work that honors student voice, local context, and teacher judgment. -Walk away with a complete prototype assessment, classroom-ready resources, and a deeper confidence in your ability to design assessments.

SPEAKERS:
Tingting Li, Joseph Krajcik, Selin Akgun

Navigate your first National NSTA Conference with ease! Join our session for an orientation to the conference, tips on selecting sessions, and an opportunity to meet other first-time attendees. We will share a few insider tips from experienced conference attendees and give an overview of the conference app. This session will help you discover why you belong at NSTA and how to make the most of your experience.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to get the most out of your conference experience in addition to becoming an engaged learner.

Join us for an opening reception to mark the start of NSTA ANA26! We’ll keep it casual—enjoy beverages and small bites while networking with old and new friends. The event is complimentary and open to all registered conference attendees.

Navigate your first National NSTA Conference with ease! Join our session for an orientation to the conference, tips on selecting sessions, and an opportunity to meet other first-time attendees. We will share a few insider tips from experienced conference attendees and give an overview of the conference app. This session will help you discover why you belong at NSTA and how to make the most of your experience.

Please note, this is a repeat of the session from Wednesday afternoon.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to get the most out of your conference experience in addition to becoming an engaged learner.

How can we inspire young learners to see themselves as future innovators, problem-solvers, and leaders in STEM? This session explores how computer science and STEM can be meaningfully integrated into elementary classrooms in ways that are both engaging and accessible. In our district’s Imagineer Studio, teachers help students build problem-solving, algorithmic thinking, and logical reasoning skills while fostering a classroom culture that emphasizes creativity, collaboration, and innovation. Through hands-on STEM experiences and career-focused investigations, students begin to recognize clear connections between their classroom learning and real-world STEM careers. Participants will gain practical strategies and classroom-tested approaches that make STEM and computer science exciting, relevant, and aspirational, while equipping young learners to envision their own futures in STEM fields.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave this session with practical strategies to make STEM and computer science engaging, relevant, and tied to real-world careers, helping students develop skills and envision future opportunities in STEM fields.

SPEAKERS:
Sharon Wiggins, Christopher Bowen

Imagine a classroom where every child, regardless of background or ability, is engaged in collaborative science experiences that lead to meaningful learning outcomes. By harnessing the power of Learning Through Play and applying the principles of Universal Design for Learning, teachers can unlock meaningful science learning for every student. LEGO® Education teams up with industry experts to equip teachers with strategies and best practices to transform their science classrooms today. In this session, participants will get hands-on with a standards-aligned science lesson and explore how Learning Through Play and inclusive practices can create meaningful impact. This session empowers participants to think critically about their classroom needs and how to integrate best practices in order to enable every student to believe “science is for me”. Participants will walk away with concrete strategies to bring inclusive playful learning to their classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
By harnessing the power of Learning Through Play and applying the principles of Universal Design for Learning, teachers can unlock meaningful science learning for every student. Participants will receive tips and tricks to bring inclusive playful learning to their classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Debi Hanuscin, Stacia Jackson

Did you know that there are nearly 300,000 STEM professionals at the DoW? And did you know that those DoW STEM professionals, along with partner organizations, are leveraged to provide unique STEM learning experiences for students and educators? Participants will have the opportunity to explore STEM resources and opportunities offered by the Department of War. From hands-on learning activities to paid internships and college scholarships, learn how DoW STEM can help you power the next generation of innovators.

TAKEAWAYS:
Discover how the Department of Defense’s extensive STEM workforce and programs, ranging from hands-on activities to internships and scholarships, can provide powerful learning opportunities that inspire and prepare the next generation of innovators.

SPEAKERS:
Dr. Marquis Mason, Kristen McInerney

Sponsoring Company: Vernier Science Education

Do you know where your electrical energy comes from? How is energy captured from the wind? Find out with KidWind Renewable Energy Kits! Introduce students of all levels to renewable energy by exploring energy generation. Optimize your wind turbine by building prototypes and testing blade design.

SPEAKERS:
Tom Smith

Ready to transform your science teaching? Discover Cultural Bridges - an equity strategy connecting students' lived experiences with NGSS phenomena through culturally responsive questioning. This hands-on workshop guides PreK-8 educators through adapting existing lessons using the Framework's emphasis on connecting to students' interests and experiences. Participants will experience student perspectives while transforming their chosen lesson using Cultural Bridge questions, witnessing increased engagement for multilingual learners and students who may face barriers to access or engagement. Leave with your revised lesson, implementation rubric, and practical tools. Bring any PreK-8 science lesson you teach. Address equity while maintaining three-dimensional learning rigor.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will adapt an existing science lesson using Cultural Bridge questions, experiencing how this simple addition transforms student engagement and deepens NGSS learning for multilingual learners and students who may face barriers to access or engagement.

SPEAKERS:
Almitra Berry

Sponsoring Company: Kiddom

What does it take to make sense-making of phenomena through investigating the center of science instruction, not just in theory, but in daily practice? Join Dr. Mike Flanagan and explore how intentional curriculum design, when paired with powerful learning intelligence technology (LIT), can transform instruction and empower all learners. Featuring actionable strategies, this session will leave you inspired and equipped to design learning experiences that are coherent and genuinely engaging.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how thoughtful curriculum design and digital tools work together to support sense-making in science instruction, with practical strategies they can apply immediately to create more coherent, equitable, and engaging learning experiences.

SPEAKERS:
Mike Flanagan

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Science

Come experience what Carolina + OpenSciEd Elementary is all about through a hands-on model lesson in which students explore water in natural systems, determine if it is healthy or unhealthy, and discuss what can be done. Discover how the new Carolina Certified Version of OpenSciEd’s high-quality instructional materials are more accessible, more user-friendly, and enhanced for classroom safety. Participants will walk away with valuable resources for their classroom.    

SPEAKERS:
Hoover Herrera

Participants will make sense of a phenomenon by engaging in 3D tasks that require the explicit use and application of Disciplinary Core Ideas to develop system models and construct explanations. Participants will discuss how the Principles of Learning (How People Learn, 1999) and recommendations from the Framework (NRC, 2012) require us to rethink the role of Core Ideas to promote conceptual understanding. We will show and discuss several unique classroom videos to illustrate what this looks like in a classroom and how it motivates all students to learn science. We will share examples of student models and explanations and as well as tools and strategies to support students in using and applying Core Ideas to phenomena. Participants will have open access to these tools, which can be used with any investigation, and they will leave with strategies that build community, spark passion for science, and ensure all learners have access to meaningful science experiences.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will deepen their understanding of Core Ideas in science learning and gain strategies and tools to help all students use and apply these ideas to explore and explain phenomena in any 3D investigation.

SPEAKERS:
Wil Van der Veen, Brielle Tesauro

Current teaching and practice in preschool classrooms often includes limited exposure to informational science texts; which are essential to building all children’s sensemaking of disciplinary core ideas. In this 60-minute presentation, participants will learn strategies for embedding language-rich discussions into read-alouds of informational science texts focused on life, Earth and Space, and physical science topics. Participants will also learn about conducting hands-on science activities based on informational science texts and real-life phenomena. High-quality nonfiction science texts and hands-on activities will be presented. Videos and pictures captured in authentic preschool classrooms will be used to help participants gain firsthand accounts of evidence-based discussion strategies for building children’s language around science using information science texts and hands-on activities in preschool classrooms. Feedback from teacher implementation will also be included.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will take away practical, evidence-based discussion strategies and hands-on activities that foster understanding of disciplinary core science ideas for all children in preschool classrooms. Participants will also come away with a list of texts and materials for classroom use.

SPEAKERS:
Robin McGinnis

Join us to explore how science teaching and learning in elementary classrooms can be leveraged to improve student learning across subjects. Participants will start by sharing their experiences and perspectives around barriers to making time for science in elementary classrooms, and then start to look for solutions. We will engage in three dimensional, integrated literacy and science learning activities and reflect on the instructional strategies and how phenomena-based learning promotes growth in both disciplines. The session will culminate with an overview of current research in the field highlighting how increased time spent on science instruction is beneficial to growth across content areas. This session is designed to support K-5 educators and education leaders in advocating for increased science time in their schools or regions.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will take away both the research and the instructional strategies learned in the session to advocate for increased science instructional time in K-5 classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Leslie Stenger, Vanessa Lujan

Sponsoring Company: TCI

Learn to promote interest and engagement while helping students achieve specific learning objectives with games. Join us as you learn simple and valuable ways to gamify your lessons. We will be sharing a few creative game ideas for building relationships and reviewing and learning content.

SPEAKERS:
Katherine Hall

Explore the phenomena of shorebird migration to figure out the amazing journeys of these birds. Engage in What  Can I Eat investigation connecting to how internal and external features support survival. Many birds such as loons, hummingbirds and ospreys  migrate using the flyways but this  session focuses on the  migration data and flyway maps of sanderlings and other shorebirds. We will figure out how patterns of parental behavior influence migration..

We will demonstrate how to use phenomena-based learning tools as we explore the migration of a sanderling called Gilbert during a fall migration...

We will use an interactive read aloud guide to demonstrate the connections between science and literacy. Discussions will include how we leverage migration to do science and how we are explicitly  teaching  reading at the same time.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with inquiry investigations to use in their classroom, access to real time data, strategies for using phenomena-based and place-based pedagogy in the elementary classroom, a read-aloud guide and a list of resources for using literary to teach science.,

SPEAKERS:
Kathy Renfrew

How can a greenhouse become more than a structure, serving as a space for equity, sustainability, and student voice in science education? The Greenhouse Initiative at New Brunswick Public Schools showcases how place-based, three-dimensional learning can transform science education through sustainability, equity, and community engagement. Created as a living lab, the greenhouse provides equitable spaces for Multilingual Learners and Ability Diverse Learners to engage in authentic, NGSS-aligned learning experiences that honor student voice and foster inclusion. This initiative led to the development of an elective course that naturally integrates science, health, and environmental problem-solving, positioning students as leaders in addressing local and global challenges tied to UNSDG #11: Sustainable Cities & Communities. District leadership, science specialists, teachers, and community members collaborated to design and sustain this work, ensuring alignment with system-wide priorities.

TAKEAWAYS:
We will explore how a Greenhouse Initiative promotes a place-based approach to environmental challenges, while advancing equity for all and cultivating strong community partnerships. This initiative deepens three-dimensional learning and drives system-level advocacy for sustainable practices.

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Nunez

Broaden young students’ environmental literacy while developing skills in scientific inquiry, modeling and data analysis. In this hands-on session, engage in creative games and collaborative problem solving on natural resource use, ecosystem health and pathways to sustainability. Create 3-D representations of global land use, model natural resource extraction, and simulate carrying capacity in nature and habitat fragmentation. Discuss the power of cumulative action for environmental stewardship with an elementary art project. The NGSS-aligned activities nurture students’ sensemaking, critical thinking and communication skills. Participants will receive lesson plans and background materials in an electronic format.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn ways to introduce elementary students to human ecology concepts, including natural resource use and interdependence in ecosystems with NGSS-aligned hands-on activities (3D simulations, collaborative problem solving and games).

SPEAKERS:
Helen De la Maza

Join NSTA Early Childhood-Elementary & BSB Committees as they explore how these award-winning books support STEM learning. Educators will engage in interactive activities, leaving with a head full of ideas on how these books enhance science & engineering practices (SEPs) in the classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants view and discuss the ten years of Best STEM Book winners and ways to incorporate them into their classrooms to teach the SEPs.

SPEAKERS:
J Carrie Launius, Anne Lowry, Simone Nance, Jennifer Williams

Sponsoring Company: Discovery Education

Grab your goggles and dive into the Discovery Education Phenomena Science Playground. Explore hands-on experiments and walk away with classroom-ready resources, fresh ideas, and practical tools to bring science to life. Step into the Discovery Education Phenomena Science Playground—a hands-on experience designed to spark curiosity and connect classrooms to real-world science. Participants rotate through interactive stations featuring engaging activities and classroom-ready resources. Through a phenomena-driven approach, educators explore tools and content co-created with industry partners that support inquiry-based learning and student engagement. Whether the goal is to enhance hands-on instruction, integrate STEM, or bring more relevance into the classroom, this session offers both inspiration and practical takeaways.

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Hampton, Justin Karkow

All students have the right to develop a deep understanding of how the world works in ways that support their personal goals and the interests of their community. Science education can help build a more just and equitable world. Come explore how instruction can support science learning that is consequential to your students, their communities, and the broader world.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn about and apply two equity project frameworks for science education to support professional learning and implementation projects. They will learn how open education resources (http://stemteachingtools.org/) can help them develop equitable approaches to science teaching.

SPEAKERS:
Kelsie Fowler, Philip Bell

Discover how food can bring science to life in the classroom! In this interactive 60-minute workshop, we will model Pilot Light’s integrated food education approach, connecting science concepts to real-world experiences. Participants will engage in a sample live lesson, experiencing firsthand from the student perspective how food-based learning deepens understanding of NGSS-aligned practices. Through reflection, discussion, and hands-on activities, attendees will learn strategies to overcome barriers such as time, access, or uncertainty in linking food to standards. The session provides practical tools, frameworks, and digital resources to design authentic, student-centered lessons that connect science, nutrition, and sustainability, foster curiosity, and strengthen classroom and community connections.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will gain hands-on strategies to connect food-based experiences to science learning, and leave with practical tools, resources, and ideas to design engaging, NGSS-aligned, student-centered lessons that make science tangible and relevant.

SPEAKERS:
Megan Gottlieb

Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the education landscape, with new tools and features transforming what’s possible for science teachers. This session will explore both the how and the when of using AI intentionally in everyday teaching practice. Participants will learn strategies for writing effective prompts, selecting the right tools for different tasks, and creating classroom-ready materials during the session. They will also consider how to decide when AI can serve as a powerful support for teachers and when more traditional methods remain the most effective. Throughout the session educators will consider AI as a teacher-directed tool that enhances instruction through teacher-expertise. Participants should bring a laptop or device capable of connecting to AI platforms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to select appropriate AI tools for both instructional and non-instructional tasks, practice writing effective prompts, and create a classroom-ready resource. They will also develop a personal framework for deciding when and how AI can support teachers.

SPEAKERS:
Ariela Ikezawa

In a science classroom, accountable and productive talk is essential for developing students’ understanding of scientific concepts and for fostering critical thinking. In this session, participants will engage with a breakdown of what this looks and sounds like, and how it contributes to student growth. Included learnings in the session: how to encourage students to actively participate in discussions, not just listening passively; how to encourage peer-to-peer dialogue, not just student-to-teacher talk; teaching respectful debate and understanding of multiple viewpoints; and encouraging students to apply concepts to new situations or real-world problems.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn and practice the classroom-tested practices of accountable and productive talk that turns science class into a space for thinking, not just knowing and helps students become inquirers, analyzers, and communicators (core components of scientific literacy and critical thinking.

SPEAKERS:
Annette Venegas

Join us for a discussion on how to advocate for and build capacity in elementary science education in rural, high-needs school districts. As part of an NSF-funded project, we've launched the Midwest STEM Alliance to elevate science teaching in rural elementary schools in Iowa, Minnesota, and Kansas44. This roundtable will explore the initial strategies we've implemented in Year 1 to recruit and select a small number of STEM Teacher Corps members from this often-overlooked demographic of teacher leaders. We will share key findings from our Rural Elementary Science Needs Assessment to identify and address the specific challenges faced by rural elementary teachers. We invite participants to share their own experiences and collaborate on developing an advocacy agenda that centers on the unique needs of rural schools and creates a foundation for a long-term professional network that extends beyond the project's funding period.

TAKEAWAYS:
Engage in a dialogue about how to advocate for and support elementary science teachers in rural areas by establishing a sustainable professional community.

SPEAKERS:
Selin Akgun, Gillian Roehrig, Imogen Herrick, Dana Atwood-Blaine

Sponsoring Company: BrainPOP

What if the background knowledge you build in science helped students write better arguments in every class? This session explores how BrainPOP and BrainPOP Science work together to support Claim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER) across subjects. Whether students are explaining why ecosystems change or analyzing a primary source document, the same thinking framework applies. You'll see how giving students the shared understanding they need to construct evidence-based arguments—from ecosystems to the Electoral College —and leave with strategies that transfer across your curriculum

SPEAKERS:
Bobbi Bear

Sponsoring Company: LEGO Education

How can you get middle school students to collaborate, communicate, and think critically and creatively about science? Join Compton USD and LEGO Education to learn how hands-on, collaborative science lessons equip students with 21st century skills while deepening their understanding and interest in science. Experience an interactive, inquiry-based lesson, and walk away with hands-on materials, sample lessons, and practical strategies to build transferable skills and ignite student’s curiosity and success in science.

SPEAKERS:
Amelia Crespo, Amber Holloway

Sponsoring Company: TCI

Elevate your students’ science thinking with CER Writing! This interactive workshop will equip educators with practical strategies for guiding students in constructing Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning. Learn how to scaffold the CER process, integrate it seamlessly into science lessons, and support students at all ability levels in developing strong scientific explanations. Participants will analyze student work, share best practices, and take away ready-to-use resources that foster critical thinking and effective science communication in the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Brian Ladd

Sponsoring Company: Discovery Education

Literacy instruction does not have to compete with science for instructional time. When thoughtfully designed, science lessons can serve as a powerful context for building reading, writing, and academic language skills—particularly in elementary classrooms. In this session, participants will explore how phenomena-driven science instruction advances literacy by using purposeful reading, evidence-based writing, and structured discussion to support student sense-making through the Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs). The session focuses on practical approaches to lesson design that support diverse learners and promote sense-making across disciplines. Participants will review classroom examples from Discovery Education’s Science Techbook, illustrating how three-dimensional, phenomena-driven lessons can be structured to deepen engagement and reinforce core literacy skills within science instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Hampton, Justin Karkow

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Science

Join our interactive workshop where literacy meets exploration! Experience through hands-on modeling, playing a card game, and reading stories about how students can build explanations of confusing weather phenomena. Learn strategies to build your students’ literacy skills. Leave with classroom resources. Smithsonian Science for the Classroom earned an All-Green rating from EdReports. 

SPEAKERS:
Hoover Herrera, Rachel Patton, Dr. Sarah Glassman

Sponsoring Company: Switch Classroom

Get ready for a session that’s bright, squishy, and full of “aha!” moments! Using colorful Play-Doh, LEDs, and batteries, participants will explore Switch Classroom’s Intro to Electricity lesson and bring foundational circuit concepts to life. You’ll investigate conductivity, resistance, open and closed circuits, and series versus parallel designs through playful, hands-on exploration. Designed for elementary through high school classrooms, this adaptable lab makes abstract electrical concepts tangible while supporting NGSS science and engineering practices. Optional extensions allow the challenge to be simplified for younger learners or expanded for grades 9–12. Leave with free Switch Classroom resources, classroom-ready strategies, and the confidence to spark curiosity—and light up learning—in any classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Jillian Swets

Join us to explore how rural New Mexico elementary teachers teamed up with the NM Museum of Natural History & Science to create fossil kit lessons that bring local geology and paleontology into the classroom. You’ll discover how place-based partnerships can transform “fun” community activities into inclusive NGSS-aligned, standards-driven learning. Our teacher-tested 3rd and 4th grade fossil lessons feature storytelling connections to ELA, hands-on investigations, and easy-to-use assessments that work for all learners, including multilingual, neurodiverse, and culturally diverse students. Walk away with strategies for: (1) co-creating engaging lessons that reflect your students’ place and culture, (2) building stronger community partnerships, and (3) ideas for aligning participatory, real-world science with classroom standards. Come get inspired to design lessons that spark curiosity, honor equity, and are ready to be adapted to your community!

TAKEAWAYS:
Elementary teachers will leave equipped with strategies for: (1) co-creating engaging lessons that reflect your students’ place and culture, (2) building stronger community partnerships, and (3) ideas for aligning participatory, real-world science with classroom standards.

SPEAKERS:
Amy DeGroat, Deena Gould, Liz Gilroy

This poster will share information from an NSF-funded teacher professional development program focused on "Two Eyed Seeing"-- the braiding together of Western and Indigenous science in a place-based curriculum focused on exploring marine habitats. In the Ocean Tech unit, students learn how First Nations harvested dentallium shells, which were used as currency, from 60 feet beneath the ocean surface. They also learn how local tribes are engineering clam gardens to restore local habitat health and nourish communities. Engineering and technology are integrated through students designing and building a remote-operated vehicle (ROV) that they can use to answer questions about their local marine environments and engage in stewardship projects based on what they learn. We will showcase real examples of Western and Indigenous scientists collaborating, and how ROVs are being used in scientific work.

TAKEAWAYS:
Poster visitors will learn how in-service and pre-service teachers adapted and implemented the Ocean Tech unit to incorporate students' own culture and funds of knowledge while introducing them to ways Western and Indigenous scientists are working together to address environmental problems.

SPEAKERS:
Debi Hanuscin

This study examined the perceptions of agriculture and science-technology teachers regarding inquiry-based teaching in elementary schools. Through semi-open interviews with ten teachers, teaching methods and perceptions were explored with an emphasis on developing scientific and emotional identity. The results show differences between the curriculum: while the science-technology curriculum focuses on developing cognitive knowledge, the agriculture curriculum emphasizes emotional aspects and scientific identity. However, in practice, teachers in both fields integrate scientific identity into their teaching processes, emphasizing the connection of science to daily life, critical thinking, and the promotion of environmental values. The study highlights the importance of scientific identity in teaching as a tool for improving student engagement and motivation and recommends expanding the research to all teachers to deepen understanding and improve teaching methods.

TAKEAWAYS:
The research emphasizes the importance of developing scientific identity in inquiry-based learning in elementary school to increase student's engagement and motivation in science subjects. In class, teachers implement approaches that integrate scientific identity with cognitive and emotional skills.

SPEAKERS:
Amichai Yavlovich

In collaboration with the USGS, and as a spin-off of ShakeAlert Ready Schools, the Hero in You Foundation is developing “Rocket’s Rules” materials for Grades K-2 children to build understanding of earthquakes, protective action, and how to Be ShakeAlert Safe with Rocket (BSSWR). Principles underlying design of the new materials include making things active for children, prioritizing key information (e.g., Drop! Cover! Hold On!) and encouraging children to share materials with their family and friends. The new BSSWR materials feature a range of resources suitable for the classroom and other venues, such as safety fairs, children’s museums, park settings, and beyond. Resources include a video, a poster and pop-up banner, giveaways (pin, sticker, postcard, certificate), worksheets, a comic, and gifs suitable for use on social media or in presentations. A Facilitator Guide/Tool-Kit, Quick Reference, and FAQ are also included to help facilitators (e.g., teachers, emergency managers, park personnel) quickly assemble relevant resources, activities, and scripts tailored to the timeframe of their specific interactive setting.

TAKEAWAYS:
The new Hero in You Foundation materials promote children and families’ knowledge of earthquakes, earthquake early warning, and how to Be ShakeAlert Safe with Rocket.

SPEAKERS:
Katrina Arras, Dare Baldwin

In today’s classroom, adding STEM and 3D printing can transform learning by giving students hands-on experiences that bring their ideas to life. Along the way, they build critical thinking and problem-solving skills while practicing collaboration, creativity, and innovation. These tools provide real-world applications of learning and prepare students with the skills needed for future careers. By engaging in design and creation, students also develop adaptability and resilience, using technology as a bridge to master the essential skills of the 21st century. . Come ready learn practical strategies, see student-driven projects, and gain resources to bring hands-on, problem based creative learning into your classroom. Learn how to integrate this into all subject areas to bring STEM to life.

TAKEAWAYS:
Whether you're new to 3D printing or want to expand its use, this session will provide ideas, resources, and confidence to integrate 3D technology into your classroom. Learn how to use free software to bring science and engineering concepts to life, engaging students in real world projects.

SPEAKERS:
Scott Woodard, Nicole Hucks, Alicia Yewcic

St. Jude partners with 24 MSCS elementary schools annually, split into fall and spring cohorts of 12 schools each. Clubs run for 10 weeks, meeting once a week for one hour, Monday–Thursday, led by St. Jude College Interns. The curriculum includes two 5-week modules: first, a case study of Stacey, a 12-year-old girl diagnosed with osteosarcoma, exploring her symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and recovery. Students learn key concepts in medicine and biology while developing empathy. The second module is an engineering challenge where students design and build a prosthetic hand capable of picking up a ping pong ball and placing it in a cup. This hands-on activity fosters creativity, teamwork, and problem-solving, connecting science to real-world innovation.

TAKEAWAYS:
The St. Jude Afterschool STEMM Club empowers elementary students with hands-on learning in medicine and engineering, combining empathy-driven case studies and creative design challenges to inspire future innovators.

SPEAKERS:
Krisderlawn Motley, Hailey Wolfe, Anika Britton

Discover the fun and fundamentals of STEM with this hands-on workshop on building balloon cars from recycled materials. This session is designed to inspire creativity and innovation using everyday items like plastic bottles, cardboard, and bottle caps. Participants will learn key engineering principles, including Newton's laws of motion, aerodynamics, and friction, through an engaging, project-based activity. This is more than just a craft project; it's a practical lesson in sustainable design and problem-solving. We will cover the entire design process, from brainstorming and material selection to construction and testing. You'll leave with a fully functional, self-propelled balloon car and a new perspective on upcycling. This workshop is perfect for educators, students, and anyone interested in making science accessible and exciting. Join us to transform trash into a thrilling race car!

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to set up an engaging, hands-on lesson using simple recycled materials like plastic bottles and cardboard to teach core engineering and physics principles, foster creative problem-solving, and highlight the benefits of sustainable design in a fun, educational activity.

SPEAKERS:
Daniell Cossey

Transform your classroom into a hub of engineering innovation using everyday items! This interactive session will equip 3rd-8th grade science teachers with practical strategies and engaging activities for integrating STEM engineering challenges using readily available household items without breaking the bank. Participants will dive into hands-on activities that demonstrate how common household materials can spark critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity. Learn practical strategies to make engineering accessible, exciting, and highly effective, proving that impactful STEM learning is within reach for all. Join us to ignite curiosity and cultivate the next generation of innovators with resources you already have!

TAKEAWAYS:
Discover how to turn everyday household items into engaging STEM engineering challenges, equipping students with problem-solving, creativity, and critical thinking skills while making hands-on, accessible STEM learning fun and effective.

SPEAKERS:
Shannon McWhorter, Allyson Sauter

Join the NSTA PL committee for one or all of the interactive sessions in our Interdisciplinary Connections strand to explore the what, why, and how of interdisciplinary science teaching and learning. Each session will engage participants in interactive experiences to solve problems or investigate phenomena using science while focusing on a particular pairing of interdisciplinary opportunities. In this session, you'll explore how engaging in purposeful ELA activities during a phenomenon-based lesson is essential to both figuring out phenomena in science and boosting literacy development! Participants will engage in a science learning sequence in which they read, write, listen, and speak in authentic ways like scientists do and will discover how ELA can be leveraged and integrated into science instruction.

TAKEAWAYS:
Experience a model lesson and learn how to align ELA standards with authentic science practices like reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Discover how integrating purposeful ELA activities into phenomenon-based science boosts both literacy and science sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Rebecca Garelli, Rebecca Abbott, Kathy Renfrew, Jesse Wilcox

Sponsoring Company: Discovery Education

Ready to experience the next generation of science instruction? In this interactive session, educators will explore how real-world phenomena drive authentic three-dimensional learning. Using Discovery Education’s Science Techbook as a model, participants will see how coherent, phenomena-based storylines engage students in the Science and Engineering Practices to make sense of Disciplinary Core Ideas through Crosscutting Concepts. Be among the first to experience this innovative approach to learning, featuring classroom-ready slideshow lessons, phenomena-driven investigations, built-in differentiation, and hands-on learning designed to strengthen literacy and math while supporting authentic three-dimensional learning. You will leave with practical tools and a clear framework for moving from activities to deeper understanding—empowering students to think like scientists.

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Hampton, Justin Karkow

The relatively new emphasis on engineering across educational settings and standards, has early childhood educators working to understand how to best engage young children in engineering experiences that develop children’s interest and skills and prepares children for future engineering learning. To do this, early childhood educators need to be aware of the foundational knowledge and skills needed for our young learners to engage in age-appropriate engineering experiences and to learn systematic ways for developing children’s engineering knowledge and skills throughout their preK and early elementary years. This session will present a continuum for Early Childhood Engineering, describing appropriate engineering experiences for preschool through the primary grades and explaining how each set of experiences prepares children for the next. And, of course, we will do some engineering!

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will understand what engineering is and appreciate the need for and benefits of engineering experiences in early childhood education, while learning meaningful classroom strategies for implementing engineering with young children.

SPEAKERS:
William Straits

As classrooms continue to retool for the Next Generation Science Standards, many teachers are finding that they and their students are uncomfortable with the sustained uncertainty that is central to phenomenon-and-problem-driven instruction. However, uncertainty is an important and valuable aspect of sensemaking, as students draw on their prior knowledge and grapple with new information to figure out and explain complex scientific ideas. In this session, attendees will workshop a series of hands-on activities that require students to sit with unanswered questions for multiple lessons. Participants will practice new strategies for mitigating students’ anxieties with not knowing the answer, and share their own experiences managing students' different levels of comfort with uncertainty in their classrooms. Attendees will walk away with a new set of elementary lessons and strategies they can put into practice right away.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participate in a series of hands-on phenomenon-based lessons, and practice new strategies for encouraging K-5 students to embrace uncertainty as an exciting opportunity, rather than a potential risk. Receive print copies of high-quality instructional materials to bring back to your students.

SPEAKERS:
Rachel Patton, Dr. Emily Harrison

Virtual field trips (VFTs) blend active, place-based learning with immersive digital exploration, connecting science content to real-world places. Come sample three VFT experiences to bring ecosystems and adaptations (LS2.A and LS4.C) to life! Introduce – Ecosystems BINGO: Travel across diverse U.S. ecosystems to investigate biotic and abiotic factors and see how they shape ecological communities. See if your team can complete your bingo board first! Develop – Create Your Own VFT: Step into the role of science communicator and design a virtual field trip that highlights the unique features and importance of an ecosystem of your choice. Apply – Alien Habitat Rescue: Apply your understanding of ecosystems by recommending a suitable Earth home for a stranded alien, based on its traits and needs. After learning about and exploring parts of these activities, participants will brainstorm ways they might use them in their classrooms. All related teacher and student resources will be shared.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will experience three ecosystem-focused virtual field trip activities and explore how place-based, immersive learning technology can support learners in making sense of science concepts through exploration, application, and creation.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Williams-Habibi, Kyla Cook

How can we empower students to explore, understand, and protect ecosystems? This interactive session highlights how 5th grade students combined hands-on fieldwork with AI tools such as image recognition, sound classification, and digital modeling, to investigate habitats, track species, and model environmental changes. The case study features Florida’s Everglades, coral reefs, and red tide–impacted waters, but the strategies and activities can be applied anywhere. Participants will experience a hands-on design sprint, ideate AI-powered solutions, prototype projects, and share insights. Educators will leave with adaptable classroom-ready projects, make-and-take activities, and strategies for integrating AI, digital inquiry, and design thinking to inspire environmental stewardship.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with a replicable framework for student-led conservation projects, practical strategies for integrating AI and design thinking, and adaptable classroom activities that combine fieldwork, digital inquiry, and hands-on environmental problem-solving.

SPEAKERS:
Vicki Spitalnick, Traci Phillips

Discover how NSTA Kids Press books can move from page to practice in your classroom. Presenters will share encore favorites and premiere new titles, highlighting how these books support the Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs). Participants will see practical ways to launch inquiry projects, connect to other curricular areas, and integrate literacy into science instruction. Each featured book will include classroom-ready ideas, from hands-on activities to assessment strategies, plus suggestions for extending learning with related texts. Whether you are looking to spark curiosity, strengthen student understanding, or make cross-curricular connections, you will leave with new ideas for teaching science and engineering practices through engaging stories.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore the integration of science and engineering practices and children’s literature through cross disciplinary connections and hands-on activities. Resources provided.

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Parks, Patricia Vermillion, Rina Zampieron, Katie Morrison, Simone Nance, Jennifer Williams, Anne Lowry

Sponsoring Company: Kiddom

What does it take to make sense-making of phenomena through investigating the center of science instruction, not just in theory, but in daily practice? Join Dr. Mike Flanagan and explore how intentional curriculum design, when paired with powerful learning intelligence technology (LIT), can transform instruction and empower all learners. Featuring actionable strategies, this session will leave you inspired and equipped to design learning experiences that are coherent and genuinely engaging.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how thoughtful curriculum design and digital tools work together to support sense-making in science instruction, with practical strategies they can apply immediately to create more coherent, equitable, and engaging learning experiences.

SPEAKERS:
Mike Flanagan

Sponsoring Company: Publisher Spotlight

Let’s be real: the word “research” doesn’t exactly make most students' hearts race with excitement. But when research becomes an act of curiosity, discovery, and storytelling—suddenly, it’s irresistible. As an award-winning STEM author and illustrator for kids, I’ve spent years turning tricky science topics into page-turners. (Yes, even farts and garbage.) And in the past year, I’ve taken that process into classrooms—guiding students to not only love research…but write about it, too. This interactive workshop is the grown-up version of those popular school sessions, built for educators who want to help their students investigate like scientists and communicate like authors. You’ll learn how to help kids ask curious questions, spot stronger sources, and—here’s the “cheat code”—write nonfiction using narrative structure and their unique author’s voice. When students start to see how STEM topics show up in their everyday lives, everything clicks.

SPEAKERS:
Bethany Barton

Educators are trying to find the time to engage students in authentic science learning experiences, but they are restricted by schedule and curricular demands. INTEGRATING science and literacy ALLEVIATES challenges such as time constraints, disconnected learning, and low engagement. Utilizing science trade books stimulates knowledge building, which engages, equips, and empowers our students by contextualizing their comprehension. This session includes evidence-based research, practical insights, and hands-on application. Participants will: EXPLORE an integrated lesson using the 5E model and literacy strategies for reading, writing, speaking, and listening that deepen students’ understanding of science content connected to NGSS standards. CREATE an integrated lesson using a template and collection of science trade books. REFLECT on their experience, challenges encountered, and key takeaways. They will leave the session empowered with practical tools to elevate their teaching practices.

TAKEAWAYS:
INTEGRATING science and literacy ALLEVIATES challenges (time constraints, disconnected learning, low engagement). This presentation includes evidence-based research, practical insights, and hands-on application, to empower educators with knowledge and practical tools to contextualize comprehension.

SPEAKERS:
Stephanie Westhafer

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Science

What we can’t see still matters. Explore how scientists reveal the hidden materials in air and bring abstract concepts to life. This session models an engaging Smithsonian Science for the Classroom investigation teachers can use to help students visualize, question, and understand the unseen world.

Science sparks students’ excitement and curiosity about the world! Explore research and discuss how to build your toolbox for engaging others in prioritizing phenomenon-based instruction in elementary students’ curricular experiences; go beyond special activities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with strategies to advocate for integrating science into students’ elementary classroom experiences, on par with ELA and Math.

SPEAKERS:
Yanira Vazquez

Sponsoring Company: BrainPOP

Unlock the full potential of multidimensional science learning through engineering! Discover how to engage students with hands-on learning and digital tools that bridge science content and practices. Boost critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity!

SPEAKERS:
Hannah Bonville

The Next Generation Science Standards describe a vision of scientific literacy that emphasizes informed and participatory citizenship on issues related to science in society. Many elementary teachers, however, avoid debatable socioscientific issues such as whether we need zoos, the value of a national space program, or whether certain sports are too dangerous for children because of concerns about arguments in their classrooms and fear of broaching moral/ethical issues. During this interactive session, participants will be introduced to the theoretical framework behind the Socioscientific Issues (SSI) approach. They will then collaboratively engage in an activity from the NSTA Press book, It’s Still Debatable, during which they will model negotiation of a debatable issue while analyzing the lesson’s use of SSI, NGSS three-dimensional science learning, alignment with interdisciplinary standards, and multiple means of assessment for all learners.

TAKEAWAYS:
During this interactive workshop, participants will learn an array of strategies for using debatable societal issues related to science to develop their elementary students’ scientific literacy while modeling interdisciplinary, inclusive, three-dimensional science teaching and learning.

SPEAKERS:
Sami Kahn

A hallmark of three-dimensional assessment is making student thinking about a DCI, a CC, and an SEP visible at the same time. In this interactive session, you’ll step into the role of a student to experience two example 3D assessments and see how they bring sense-making to life. Together we will unpack what makes an assessment useful, identify key features of strong 3D tasks, and practice a “thinking analysis” of student responses to reveal patterns in learning. The agenda includes discussion, hands-on assessment experiences, analysis of student work, and time for questions. You’ll leave with strategies for designing meaningful assessments that surface student thinking and inform next steps in instruction.

TAKEAWAYS:
Three-dimensional assessment mirrors three-dimensional instruction and can be used to make students thinking about, and with, DCI, CCs, and SEPs visible.

SPEAKERS:
Victor Sampson

Explore the possibilities of combining Science, Poetry, and Art as each is an act of discovery; all require keen observational skills, new perspectives, and thrive on productive communication. Understanding more about the Earth we share is a lifelong learning experience, a chance to broaden students’ horizons. Join award-winning Author/Poet Joan Bransfield Graham, a former teacher, traveler, and avid photographer, whose newest book is AWESOME EARTH:  Concrete Poems Celebrate Caves, Canyons, and Other Fascinating Landforms, for a world tour of landforms, poetry writing tips, ideas for student activities, and projects. What better way to examine the amazing landforms on our Earth than with shape itself--concrete poetry. Brevity, shape, and rhyme provide helpful clues for students acquiring English. Learn how to make shape poems, “mask” poems, and employ other “voices,” and writing techniques you can use next week, and every day, with your students! Handout will be available. K-5.

TAKEAWAYS:
Combine Science, Poetry, and Art to learn about some of our awesome landforms. Using Joan’s Five Favorite Poetry Tips, a variety of “voices,” and shape itself, you’ll learn how to help your students write their own poems to better understand our Earth’s “unfolding story” and their own stories.

SPEAKERS:
Joan Graham

What does it mean to teach science in ways that honor students’ cultural identities, lived experiences, and language resources? In this session, participants will explore how culturally competent science teaching creates more meaningful and equitable opportunities for students to engage as sensemakers. Using classroom examples and instructional routines, we will examine how students’ language practices—such as sharing noticings, asking questions, and building ideas together—can be intentionally leveraged to support rigorous, phenomenon-based science learning. Participants will reflect on their own instructional choices and consider practical moves that help all students use language to make their thinking visible and see themselves as capable contributors to scientific understanding.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with concrete approaches for designing and facilitating science instruction that values students’ cultural and linguistic assets, strengthens engagement, and supports equitable participation in classroom sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Susan Gomez Zwiep, Rachel Myers

The presenter situates Hip Hop pedagogy in children’s literature as a tool for helping students discover their STEM identity. Hip-hop pedagogy and identity-centered teaching practices bridge students' cultural knowledge with mathematics. This interactive workshop will demonstrate how educators can utilize identity-centered teaching as one pathway to accessing high-quality STEM instruction and one approach that empowers students to envision themselves as future STEM leaders. Attendees will gain insights into instructional strategies and activities that support the development of student agency in STEM.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to apply a cultural identity framework in conjunction with hip-hop pedagogy to design culturally relevant STEM tasks that enhance student agency and foster inclusive environments in STEM classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Sherita Flake

Students bring amazing intellectual resources to make sense of science phenomena based on their personal and community experiences—including languages, perspectives, gestures, as well as knowledge, interests, and values. Come learn how to notice and leverage those intellectual gifts in your teaching! By analyzing a series of awesome learning situations, this session asks participants to work with others to ‘learn to see’ students’ diverse sense-making resources—and connect these pedagogical strategies to their own classroom practice. Come join us for this fun, interactive session!

TAKEAWAYS:
Culturally responsive education supports student sensemaking and learning in science. Inclusive science strategies help teachers learn to see and leverage students’ diverse sense-making resources. These methods help us create and adapt curriculum that is equitable and centered on justice.

SPEAKERS:
Philip Bell

Join the professional learning team from The Lawrence Hall of Science to explore three transformative leadership practices that can help you take tangible steps towards increasing phenomena-based, 3D science learning in elementary classrooms in your school or district. We will dive into a case study of one district and examine strategies leadership used to shift their system from little-to-no elementary science instruction towards a burgeoning commitment to phenomena-based science teaching and learning for all. Using a systems lens, participants will engage in a process to analyze the concrete strategies that the district took to work towards equitable science learning across the district. By considering how these strategies relate to three areas: high-quality instructional materials, increasing instructional time, and engaging in professional learning, participants will start to formulate ideas and next steps for enacting these three transformative practices in their own contexts.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will take away concrete strategies that can be used to boost science in elementary classrooms and a systems-based framework for analyzing these strategies. They will also take away next steps for increasing time and capacity for science education in their own school or district.

SPEAKERS:
Leslie Stenger, Shannon Wachowski

Sponsoring Company: Activate Learning

Transform your elementary science program with OpenSciEd Elementary, now available through Activate Learning. By leveraging the principles of inquiry-based learning, OpenSciEd Elementary empowers young learners to explore scientific concepts through real-world phenomena, sparking curiosity and fostering a lifelong love for science. As a certified OpenSciEd partner, Activate Learning is here to help your team make the shifts to 3-dimensional teaching and learning. In this session, come see what makes us different! We’ll engage like students and learn deeper as educators. Additional supports and resources will be shared to help anyone return to the classroom with a plethora of resources and support.

SPEAKERS:
Tracy Marmolejo, Jen Gutierrez

Experience the joy of inclusive science learning! This interactive session begins with a brief review of NGSS instructional shifts and its three dimensions: Disciplinary Core Ideas, Science & Engineering Practices, and Crosscutting Concepts. Engage in a collaborative "Notice and Wonder" exercise, followed by a two-part pen dissection using the "Parts, Purposes, and Complexities" routine. Participants will explore Strategic Shifts from the Exploratorium’s Institute for Inquiry—Discourse, Equity, and 3D Learning—through a hands-on Making Thinking Visible activity from Harvard’s Project Zero. This session emphasizes modeling, reflection, and strategies to support multilingual learners and students with disabilities. Walk away with practical tools to make science accessible, meaningful, and fun for every student.

TAKEAWAYS:
Empower every learner through inclusive, NGSS-aligned engineering instruction that advances students’ cognitive, emotional, and social growth.

SPEAKERS:
Bella Githere, Delgel Pabalan

Participants will learn how using children's literature in science instruction can help students get interested in science topics, gain needed context about phenomenon, and share prior knowledge. We will share how interactive read alouds can generate student collaboration and facilitate discussions.

TAKEAWAYS:
We want participants to take away a list of recent children's literature about science topics and how to use these books in their science teaching and learning. Techniques will be shared and lesson plans tied to NGSS will be handed out.

SPEAKERS:
Alexandra Chester, Jordan Kobielus, Jim McDonald

Sponsoring Company: Anatomy in Clay

In this workshop, attendees will build replicas of human anatomy using clay and a specially designed skeletal model in a classroom setting. Educators will learn how to implement a unique curriculum system which helps students create a kinesthetic map of the human anatomy. They will acquire the knowledge to engage science students with immediate, hands-on learning using a proven method that is nationally recognized to increase student retention and test scores.

SPEAKERS:
Christine Simonsen

Engineering in K-5 classrooms creates rich, authentic opportunities for students to communicate and make meaning. In this hands-on workshop, you will experience an engineering design challenge that optimizes opportunities for language learning and sensemaking. You will discover how engineering can surface students' assets and connect to their community and lived experiences - and how it naturally encourages all students to communicate. We will share tools to support multilingual students that include and go beyond scaffolding. You will then apply these insights to your own work and context by modifying and adapting your existing curriculum materials, or creating your own activities, to amplify opportunities for sensemaking in engineering. This session builds on work done in collaboration with teachers in the San Diego Unified School District as a part of the Elevating Engineering with Multilingual Learners (EEMLs) research project.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to amplify language learning opportunities for all students through engineering! You will leave the workshop with practical tools and strategies to take back to your classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Tanya Warren, Nico Janik

Capture your students’ imagination with a journey into the world of bats! From blood-loving vampires to tiny bumblebee bats and giant flying foxes, this unit explores the science behind these misunderstood creatures while answering the question, “Why should we save bats?” Students dive into science, engineering, math, and literacy activities, learning about bats’ structure, function, and role as keystone species. The session highlights how to use trade books to teach science and literary standards. The culminating activity—a Save the Bats Breakout—immerses teachers in an escape-room style challenge that applies ELA standards, Greek/Latin stems, science, and math. Along the way, students uncover how misconceptions create prejudice and how knowledge empowers them to advocate for positive change. Fly away with a unit full of unforgettable, hands-on learning!

TAKEAWAYS:
This integrated STEAM/Literary unit immerses learners in the fascinating world of bats to explore science, math, engineering, and literacy. Discover how bats function as keystone species, bust myths, and learn how to use argumentation to advocate for this misunderstood creature.

SPEAKERS:
Wendy Wing

Join us for boppin' lessons that address NGSS K-2 (force & motion, biomimicry, pollination). We integrate computational thinking, literacy, robots, science, and sense-making! We show how we adapted for students' cultural, and linguistic (Apache, Navajo, Spanish) backgrounds.

TAKEAWAYS:
The attendees will learn to analyze and implement interdisciplinary K-2 STEM teaching and learning using 3D NGSS standards, sense-making, aligned assessment and also integrates the language, culture, and place of a community in ways that position young students as leaders for their communities.

SPEAKERS:
Sophie Forbes, Mesina Kee, Deena Gould, Megan Smith

Workshop Overview Through hands-on exploration and collaboration, teachers will engage in three-dimensional learning using The Three Billy Goats Gruff. This workshop builds confidence in designing and teaching lessons that integrate children’s literature to support science content, science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts. Participants will experience how stories can drive meaningful connections between literacy and science while engaging in real-world inquiry, storytelling, creative problem-solving, and classroom discourse—speaking and writing about science. Emphasis will be placed on three-dimensional assessment and sensemaking as essential components of authentic science teaching and learning. Teachers will leave with practical strategies, classroom-ready lesson ideas, and a deeper understanding of how to use literature to inspire curiosity, strengthen science understanding, and promote student voice through talk and writing.

TAKEAWAYS:
3D assessment and sensemaking are key components of science learning. Teachers will leave with practical strategies, lesson ideas, and a deeper understanding of how to utilize literature to spark curiosity, enhance science comprehension, and foster student voice through discussion and writing.

SPEAKERS:
Jason Harding, Julie Jackson

Come explore how immersive project-based learning can be paired with AI to deepen science learning and engagement! Put on your student hat as we guide you through the first steps of creating a virtual field trip to showcase your science sense-making. Then, practice using our new AI Feedback Tool - designed to align to the project’s content requirements and used to provide students formative or summative feedback. Experience first-hand how design-thinking helps students develop their ability to obtain, evaluate, and effectively communicate information. We’ll share lesson plans, examples of student work related to ecosystems and biodiversity (LS4.D and LS2.A), and access to our AI Feedback Tool. No fancy tech or tech expertise needed—just bring your curiosity and a laptop. You’ll leave with a virtual field trip of your own creation, experience using AI for the classroom, and free resources to help students connect science content with the world around them.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to guide students in creating virtual field trips and use AI-powered feedback to support rapid iteration, helping students refine their work, deepen science understanding, and connect learning to real-world phenomena.

SPEAKERS:
Rachel Wolf, Kyla Cook

This session will introduce and compare various open generative chatbots, as well as several that are explicitly geared towards supporting educators. We will discuss ways these can help teachers plan cohesive lessons and assessments that promote critical thinking and student-centered instruction, empowering learners and the community. We will also address pitfalls and challenges when using AI that can impact students' STEM voices, identities, and concepts.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session will equip teachers to thoughtfully integrate generative AI chatbots into science teaching in ways that strengthen critical thinking and community-centered learning, while recognizing and mitigating the challenges AI may introduce to students’ STEM identities and understandings.

SPEAKERS:
Christa Jackson

Data collection and robotics are accessible, engaging learning experiences, offering ALL students opportunities to explore, engage in hands-on learning, and experience success, using technology-rich devices, while learning essential science processes and concepts. Testing variables, analyzing their effects, and watching a device ‘work’ are positive learning experiences. Attendees will actively engage with a wide range of technology-rich devices and learn how to implement engineering design processes and robotics concepts, providing accessible portals of learning for ALL K-6 students, including ELL’s and special needs learners, as students develop computational and critical thinking skills and become successful, innovative problem solvers. Attendees will learn how to add complexity and rigor to tasks, as students gain skills and understanding. Practical strategies and applications will be explored, maximizing opportunities for equitable, accessible learning for ALL students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to design accessible learning experiences using innovative devices, helping students learn essential science concepts, data collection and analysis, engineering design processes, and robotics, and how to add rigor and complexity as learners gain skills and understanding.

SPEAKERS:
Donna Knoell

Sponsoring Company: TCI

K–5 teachers juggle many subjects and limited schedules, but meaningful science learning is still possible. Learn how thoughtfully designed lessons help you drive engagement and get the most from science investigations—even when time is tight.

SPEAKERS:
Brian Ladd

Many educators, families, and communities understand that STEM learning can lead to rewarding careers that support strong, stable futures. The question then becomes: how do we let our students know that everyone has a place in STEM? And, if everyone has a place in STEM, how do we expose all students to meaningful STEM opportunities? Together, schools and communities can create intentional pathways to make STEM opportunities available to all students. In this session, we will explore some of these strategies with a particular focus on how schools can partner with families and communities to infuse STEM into in- and out-of-school learning experiences and tap into the local STEM assets that can be found in every community if we look for them! We will also explore how to build multiple pathways into STEM that allow for students to engage from kindergarten into postsecondary pursuits into STEM careers, as well as how schools, families, and communities can embed career connections int

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how schools, families, and communities can work together to create meaningful STEM pathways, helping every student see themselves in STEM and access engaging, real-world opportunities from early childhood through postsecondary careers.

SPEAKERS:
Rebecca Stanley, Kristen McInerney

This session will highlight activities that we have done K-5 to weave science lessons with math and ELA standards to make sure all subjects get the time they deserve. They also use real world experiences to make the ideas tangible and relatable for students. The presentations will include background information of how we narrowed down the standards taught, and how we developed the lessons. THen participants will get to try out some of the activities and walk away with lesson plans and worksheets .

TAKEAWAYS:
Science lessons easily incorporates ELA and Math standards, so why not write your lessons this way? Making science an interdisciplinary study allows students to use their lessons in a new and meaningful way, and allows teachers to hit all their standards in a reasonable amount of time!

SPEAKERS:
Samantha Levine

How can assessments support three dimensional sensemaking? Explore how the OpenSciEd Elementary assessment system illuminates the brilliance and strengths of students, teachers, and classroom communities as they figure out science ideas.

TAKEAWAYS:
OpenSciEd Elementary curriculum units have three-dimensional assessment opportunities woven throughout the unit. Five different assessment types work together as a system to support teachers, students, and the classroom community in responding to ideas, reflecting, and checking progress.

SPEAKERS:
Amy Belcastro, Gen Zoufal, Gail Housman

In this session, we will integrate science with language arts to share hands-on activities about observable patterns in space, including the sun, moon, and stars. The activities address NGSS progressions for elementary space standards. Several children’s books and language arts strategies will be shared. Integrating science and language arts provides students an opportunity “to develop reading and writing skills and to apply comprehension strategies while simultaneously learning about science concepts and processes” (Clark & Lott, 2017, p. 702). Attendees will leave with strategies that integrate science with the six language arts: reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and visually representing. Please join us for an out of this world experience!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with strategies that integrate science with the six language arts: reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and visually representing.

SPEAKERS:
Sandra Lampley, Frances Hamilton

How can a toy chicken spark wonder, ignite curiosity, and anchor deep scientific sensemaking? In this interactive hands-on workshop, participants will experience how every day objects can be transformed into powerful phenomena that hook students in authentic STEM explorations. Aligned with NGSS and guided by the 5E instructional model, we will facilitate an inquiry sequence beginning with a toy chicken that chirps when a circuit is completed. Next, participants will engage in guided exploration, questioning, and sensemaking to uncover which materials conduct electricity, compare similar phenomena, and build conceptual understanding of circuits. The learning cycle concludes with an integrated STEM challenge that connects the science concepts to the children’s book, Lion Lights by Richard Turere, applies computer science through micro:bits and coding, and explores engineering design to solve real world problems using knowledge of electrical circuits.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore how everyday phenomena can spark curiosity and support sensemaking using the 5E model. Through hands-on science, literacy, computer science, and engineering activities, attendees gain ready-to-use strategies, resources, and assessments for classroom integration.

SPEAKERS:
Jennifer Ponder, Amanda Cramer

This interactive workshop supports teachers of grades 3–5 in designing interdisciplinary science experiences related to earthquakes for a variety of learners. Participants explore NGSS 4-PS4-1 by modeling P- and S-seismic waves with a long spring, then analyze seismograms from a recent earthquake to see how waves travel at different speeds and affect matter differently. Building on this, students investigate the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System as one way to reduce the impacts of earthquakes. Then, to address 4-ESS3-2, they investigate their own preparedness ideas so they can compare multiple solutions to keep themselves and their communities safer. The workshop also provides strategies for integrating reading, storytelling, health, and other science standards like 5-ESS2-1 by modeling tsunamis to illustrate interactions among Earth’s spheres. Educators will leave equipped to bring authentic, place-based interdisciplinary, place-based science learning to their students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn to guide students in participatory science by modeling seismic waves, analyzing real earthquake data, exploring ShakeAlert and other preparedness solutions, and connecting science with reading, health, and Earth systems standards through interdisciplinary, place-based learning.

SPEAKERS:
Katrina Arras

Scientific modeling is central to NGSS, yet teachers often struggle to provide timely feedback on student-created models. This interactive workshop introduces ScienceSketch, a free, AI-powered tool developed by NC State and WestEd that supports real-time feedback on hand-drawn science models. Participants will explore how the tool evaluates student models against NGSS-aligned rubrics, delivers targeted feedback, and promotes revisions that deepen learning. Through hands-on experience, participants will create models, receive AI feedback, and compare their evaluations with student work and the system’s analysis. The session also invites educators to contribute insights on usability, classroom integration, and future enhancements. Attendees will leave with practical strategies for incorporating AI-supported modeling by ScienceSketch into elementary science instruction to boost student engagement and conceptual understanding.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how AI-powered tools like ScienceSketch can provide real-time, individualized feedback on elementary school student-drawn science models—making scientific modeling more practical, engaging, and instructionally powerful in NGSS-aligned classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Wong, Mingyu Feng

What happens when organizations with different strengths, audiences, and expertise come together around a shared goal? The Elementary Science Topical Working Group (TWG) of the Collaborative for Advancing Science Teaching and Learning in K-12—an Action Collaborative of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine—is finding out. In this showcase, members of the Elementary Science TWG will highlight complementary and collaborative work underway to strengthen science teaching aligned to A Framework for K-12 Science Education in the elementary grades. Learn how cross-sector organizations are leveraging their unique positions to tackle shared challenges—from instructional materials to teacher learning to assessment — and discover what becomes possible when collaboration moves beyond coordination into collective action.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will see how diverse organizations within CASTL-K12's Elementary Science Topical Working Group are aligning complementary strengths to advance equitable, high-quality science teaching in the elementary grades.

SPEAKERS:
Lauren Ryan

Led by NSTA Early Childhood-Elementary Committee members, the session addresses the relationship between the NSTA book series and natural phenomena, providing an interactive platform for educators to discover how this series of books can support & enhance SEPs in the classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore the integration of this series with science and engineering practices through cross-disciplinary connections and hands-on activities. Resources provided.

SPEAKERS:
Simone Nance, Anne Lowry, Melissa Parks, Jennifer Williams

Children are natural wonderers—always noticing, questioning, and imagining. This session explores how natural phenomena can spark curiosity and serve as a powerful provocation for learning. Through crosscutting concepts such as patterns, cause and effect, and structure and function, we will discover how nature inspires inquiry, reimagines how we live and learn, and opens engaging opportunities for children to explore science with joy and wonder.

TAKEAWAYS:
Discover how nature transforms science from abstract ideas into real, hands-on experiences making rich, interdisciplinary connections while sparking curiosity and deep, authentic learning.

SPEAKERS:
Christie Wylie

What happens when art becomes a lens for exploring science and intelligence? In this hands-on workshop, participants will investigate how nature, technology, and humanity intertwine to shape our future. Attendees will engage in participatory science by observing natural and technological artifacts, sketching and recording patterns, and comparing their perceptions with an AI’s interpretation of the same objects. These layered perspectives will be transformed into collaborative “intelligence tiles” and assembled into a collective mural. Along the way, facilitators will model how storytelling, place-based exploration, and cross-curricular art-making can deepen student engagement and enhance sensemaking. Participants will leave with a replicable process for classroom use: observe, analyze, translate across mediums, and create. This session highlights how art-infused science learning can connect students to timely conversations about intelligence, technology, and humanity.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to blend observation, participatory science, AI, and art-making into a replicable process that helps students explore the interplay of natural, human, and digital intelligence through hands-on, interdisciplinary learning.

SPEAKERS:
Lisa Robinson, Katie Musick, Jesse Wren

Engaging students in real world science is an important first step in three-dimensional science instruction, but what do you do with phenomena once students are hooked? In this session, we look at the next steps of learning through phenomena, getting students to ask questions, collect evidence, and make meaning using claim, evidence, and reasoning. Attendees will dive into what makes a good phenomenon, eliciting questions from students, and how to structure instruction to guide students through the CER process. They will leave with strategies for creating a true 3D environment and graphic organizers to help them on their way.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to build true NGSS learning off of strong phenomena, taking the "next steps" in thinking like real scientists.

SPEAKERS:
Obie Martin

Sponsoring Company: BrainPOP

Some science concepts are hard to teach because students can't see them — molecular reactions, energy transfer, plate tectonics. Animation makes invisible processes visible. But it's not just about the visuals; this session explores the learning science behind why BrainPOP's animated movies support understanding. You'll learn before/during/after movie strategies that turn watching into active sensemaking, grounded in research you can reference and results you can see in your classroom

SPEAKERS:
Hannah Bonville

AI is here to stay. Students and educators are increasingly interacting with AI tools, yet too many lack a clear sense of what those tools can, and shouldn’t do. Districts and schools need systemic sense-making, not one-off fixes. Curriculum, teacher professional learning, leadership planning, and community engagement must be aligned so that AI supports learning without introducing bias. Equity and ethics aren’t optional add-ons, they’re central. Students must learn to interrogate fairness, data use, and real-world impact. To act at scale, districts need regionally relevant guidance, strategic roadmaps, and trusted partners who translate research into practical policy, procurement, and classroom-ready practices that help leaders, teachers, and students decide when to use AI and when restraint is wiser. Join us in this interactive session to learn more about an emerging network of K-12 systems taking this on! You will hear real examples and learn about a framework for thinking more dee

TAKEAWAYS:
Session participants will learn about what colleagues in other districts and schools are doing as they utilize a systems-level approach, in addition to learning about a framework for planning for AI literacy for all students.

SPEAKERS:
Vanessa Lujan

Sponsoring Company: BrainPOP

Reading comprehension doesn't start in ELA — it starts with knowing something about the world. This session shows elementary teachers how to use science instruction to build the concepts, vocabulary, and schema students need across every subject. Explore how BrainPOP movies and connected texts turn your science block into the knowledge foundation that makes reading and discussion possible. Walk away with strategies you can use this week.

SPEAKERS:
Hannah Bonville

Discover how the 2025 and 2026 Best STEM Books were selected and explore practical ways to bring them into your classroom. This session will highlight the award criteria, selection process, and the unique power of STEM-rich literature to spark curiosity and critical thinking. Attendees will gain strategies for connecting books to the science and engineering practices (SEPs), along with concrete examples of classroom projects and activities inspired by specific titles from the recent award lists. Whether you are new to STEM literature or already use it in your teaching, you will leave with fresh ideas and ready to use projects that link literacy and STEM learning in meaningful ways

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to integrate the 2025 and 2026 Best STEM Books into their classrooms by connecting them to science and engineering practices and adapting sample projects that make STEM learning meaningful, engaging, and literacy-rich.

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Parks, Simone Nance, Katie Morrison, J Carrie Launius, Jennifer Williams

Ditch the workbooks, coloring pages, and foldables! Discover how sensemaking notebooks can transform your K–5 science lessons into powerful tools for learning. In this session, you’ll explore how to help students document their thinking, analyze data, and build literacy while strengthening their 3-dimensional understanding of NGSS. Together, we’ll tackle key questions: What should an elementary science notebook look like? What belongs inside? How do we guide students to record observations, explain their reasoning, and make sense of phenomena? You’ll see examples of how notebooks support the Science and Engineering Practices, integrate writing and drawing, and provide a window into student thinking. Sensemaking notebooks give you the flexibility to adapt to your teaching style and your students’ needs—all while centering the four essences that drive meaningful, lasting learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will walk away with clear strategies and examples for designing flexible sensemaking notebooks that help K–5 students record observations, explain reasoning, analyze data, and connect literacy with 3D NGSS learning—making science meaningful and accessible for all learners.

SPEAKERS:
Lesley Gates

This interactive session presents a research-based Career Connected Learning (CCL) Framework and design elements to assist leaders in decision making around career-connected learning experiences and pathways. The session bridges national research, in- and out-of-school learning, and workforce demands driven by DoW priorities. We will detail the CCL Framework design process, share practical vignettes of successful CCL programs in action, and provide a roadmap for how to leverage the CCL Framework in your community.

TAKEAWAYS:
Explore a research-based Career Connected Learning Framework that helps leaders design effective career pathways, align learning with workforce needs, and apply practical strategies to strengthen CCL opportunities in their communities.

SPEAKERS:
John Lee, Marc Siciliano

This workshop tackles the challenge of preparing students for future career success by adopting a backward design approach. We will demonstrate how early, intentional exposure to career fields—starting in the elementary grades—can mitigate the narrowing of student choices that typically begins in middle school. Participants will learn how to select and design Project- or Problem-Based Learning (PBL) units that align with real-world phenomena and connect to the core competencies outlined in the state's pathways. Key strategies will include mapping existing science standards to relevant career clusters and developing AI-supported systems to support student success.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave equipped to use backward design and equitable project-based learning to intentionally align K–5 STEM instruction with future career pathways, ensuring daily classroom experiences connect real-world phenomena to long-term student awareness and success.

SPEAKERS:
Annette Larson

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping how scientists and engineers ask questions, analyze data, and solve problems. To prepare students for this future, teachers must develop AI literacy—understanding how to integrate AI tools ethically, inclusively, and meaningfully into instruction. This interactive workshop builds teacher confidence and competence in using AI by demonstrating how to enhance NGSS-aligned, three-dimensional learning. Participants will explore AI tools to support key Science and Engineering Practices. Throughout the workshop, we will include equity and inclusion strategies (UDL, scaffolding, multiple representation, student voice and choice) for English Learners and students with disabilities. Educators will explore student work samples that integrate AI and then participate in the design of a short, NGSS-aligned lesson.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will develop AI Literacy by exploring classroom applications and supports to make science learning accessible for all students, including English Learners and students with disabilities.

SPEAKERS:
Ortavia Manning-Dixon, Leilani O'Dell

Speaker will help attendees grasp the vast scientific concepts and exploration opportunities that comprise the young child’s everyday world. She will actively engage attendees with explorations and discourse, and offer strategies and ideas teachers can implement, to set up Science and STEM explorations and simple engineering problems for young children that support NGSS. She will discuss the importance of nurturing a child’s natural curiosity and will offer strategies to help children develop their observation and thinking skills. She will emphasize the importance of engaging young children in manipulation of objects and materials so they can recognize the effects of their actions. She will offer strategies to help children develop their science vocabulary. She will model how instruction that starts with children’s questions and provides rich opportunities for exploration and investigation is the most engaging way to introduce and teach science concepts to young children. Handouts.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn strategies and engaging exploration ideas, to create sense-making opportunities for young children, and to inspire children’s sustained curiosities. Activities will be easy and inexpensive to replicate and will help launch a trajectory of learning for young children.

SPEAKERS:
Donna Knoell

Participants will actively engage with authentic, research-based science phenomena that illustrate core physics concepts and support NGSS-aligned instruction. They will observe and analyze demonstrations such as a child on a sled remaining stationary when a dog pulls the sled (illustrating inertia), the Whack It! experiment comparing the motion of ping pong and golf balls, and a pendulum showing how force affects motion. Attendees will practice prompting student reasoning, connecting observations to Crosscutting Concepts and Science and Engineering Practices, and translating phenomena into strategies that foster curiosity, questioning, and deep conceptual understanding.

TAKEAWAYS:
By the end of the session, participants will leave with ready-to-use examples, tools, and approaches for making sense of science in the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Annie Smith, Stephanie Wendt

This session bridges the Science of Reading and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) to help educators design interdisciplinary learning that builds strong readers and critical thinkers. Participants will explore how the five essential components of reading—phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension integrate into the NGSS science and engineering practices when viewed through the STEM4Real Connect, Create, Cultivate Framework. Using this framework, attendees will learn how to connect foundational literacy with real-world scientific phenomena, create lessons that engage students in discourse and evidence-based reasoning, and cultivate a culture of language-rich, inquiry-based classrooms. Through hands-on examples and model lessons, educators will discover how to leverage NGSS to reinforce reading comprehension and vocabulary development without replacing existing curricula. Leave with a curriculum-agnostic lesson that supports reading, literacy and STEM.

TAKEAWAYS:
Walk away with a practical, culturally-responsive and adaptable learning sequence aligned to the Science of Reading and NGSS that strengthens literacy, builds background knowledge, and supports all learners; regardless of curriculum or grade level.

SPEAKERS:
Leena McLean

With the quickly expanding interest in and integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into education, we believe it is vital to explore fundamental questions about when, how, and even if it should be used in education. Initiatives and products focused on educational applications of AI are outpacing the discussion of responsible and ethical approaches to doing so. This concerns us. The session will offer principled and evidence-based analysis of the implications of AI for teaching, lesson planning, tracking and supporting student progress, assessment, and educational monitoring. Together, we will learn about AI and how to think with and against its use in education in specific ways. Productive approaches for framing the use of AI with students will be shared. We invite you to join us for this important and urgent discussion of AI in education.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about uses of AI in science education along with ways to think about ethical dimensions and the evidence base for specific pedagogical uses. We will explore possibilities, tensions, trade-offs, uncertainties, and strategies of resistance in this quickly shifting landscape.

SPEAKERS:
Deb Morrison, Philip Bell

Lots of things are made of plastic in our world. One of the unintended consequences is plastic waste and in particular microplastics, which are found in every environment. In this interactive workshop, you’ll step into your students’ shoes as we explore microplastics using a 5E teaching model that integrates science, math, and ELA strategies. Using Algalita’s standards-aligned classroom toolkits, you'll engage in hands-on investigations to identify microplastics, uncover where they’re found, and connect these to actionable solutions students can take in their own lives to address one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time. Standards addressed include: Human Impact, Synthetic Materials, Water Pollution, Physical and Environmental Science. We’ll end with discussions of classroom extensions such as action guides, lesson plans, mini-grants, etc. Algalita is an environmental education nonprofit specializing in plastic pollution research and education.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about microplastics and how to use this as a science lesson to engage students in a relevant, timely science topic and think about solutions. This session will also show teachers ways that they can use science to build ELA and Math connections in 3-5 and 6-8 classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Emily Wanous, Virginia (Gini) Oberholzer Vandergon

Culturally relevant teaching begins with the tasks we design. In this workshop, participants will learn how to unpack and redesign STEM standards that validate culturally acquired knowledge, which affirms every learner’s cultural identity. Guided by the presenter’s Justice Centered Task Framework, the presenter will model how to transform traditional standards into inclusive, high-cognitive-demand tasks that connect rigorous content with students’ cultural experiences. Grounded in research and real classroom experiences, this session equips educators with practical tools to create STEM classrooms where generational currency drives engagement and deep learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn a process for unpacking and designing STEM tasks to embed culturally acquired knowledge and create tasks that affirm identity, promote agency, and sustain rigorous learning for all students.

SPEAKERS:
Sherita Flake

Playing STEM: Through free choice hands-on play in earliest years learners acquire basic Holistic STEM (STEM-E) skills and explore object and loose parts in a sequence, the cross cutting basic skills and foundational experiences are encountered laying a foundation for Parental and practitioner interactions within their culture and the everyday in their community n developing the instinctive learning of these youngest of learners before preschool and formal curricula. Observations were made particularly in England, Nigeria , Bangladesh and the Caribbean that contributed to recognition of STEM E and Holistic STEM , a basic for formal learning and teaching.

TAKEAWAYS:
Identify the intuitive basic STEM in action in the youngest (non verbal) children's free choice hands-on play through interactions with toys, everyday objects Be able to recognises the the PLAY STEM CYCLE and developmental progression as the child gradually masters the complete sequence.

SPEAKERS:
Sue Dale Tunnicliffe

o Explore integrated professional learning models that center joy, relevance, and collaboration. This session highlights innovative approaches to professional learning that bring educators across disciplines together to explore environmentally focused phenomena and connect science, mathematics, computer science, and the arts through outdoor learning. Hear firsthand from County Office educators who will share how this approach became a catalyst for reimagining professional learning in their local contexts, resulting in redesigned PL that is more engaging, collaborative, and impactful. Participating educators will engage in activities that model outdoor- and arts-connected learning and explore planning tools and supporting resources.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with practical strategies and ready-to-use tools that build educator confidence and deepen student engagement.

SPEAKERS:
Chelsea Cochrane, Rachel Myers

Reading science text can be challenging for students, especially for those who are learning English. Join us for a hands-on learning experience where we will model and discuss evidence-based reading strategies that elicit and leverage students' prior knowledge, lived experiences, and language skills to increase comprehension of complex science ideas.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be able to implement reading comprehension strategies that support multilingual students in reading complex science texts.

SPEAKERS:
Claudio Vargas, Diana Velez

Sponsoring Company: Elenco Electronics, LLC

This session introduces educators to Snap Circuits as a hands-on way to teach foundational electronics concepts. Designed for classroom and STEM center environments, this session emphasizes short, guided builds that lead to quick wins and high engagement. Educators will learn how to introduce concepts like power, current flow, inputs, and outputs through play-based exploration and structured challenges that foster curiosity and problem-solving.

Attendees will participate in a national science and social studies aligned lesson created by the City of Lexington, Kentucky’s environmental education team. They will analyze maps, satellite imagery, and other data to compare and contrast green space, alternative transportation, and sanitary sewers in three cities across the U.S. They will then determine if the practices in each city are considered sustainable using a shared definition. The lesson allows for individual or group work depending on students’ needs and incorporates various learning modalities to support multilingual learners. Educators will learn about resources for locating similar data on their community and gain access to a template for presenting the data to students and the accompanying worksheet. This lesson can be part of a 4-lesson unit that delves further into sustainable urban planning topics. Student and teacher experiences participating in this lesson will be shared along with data from the unit assessment.

TAKEAWAYS:
What makes a city sustainable? Participants will answer this question by evaluating data from three communities. Educators will learn how to adapt the lesson to include sustainability data on their city to promote place-based learning and how the introductory lesson can fit into a 4-lesson unit.

SPEAKERS:
Sagan Goodpaster

Sponsoring Company: Savvas Learning Company

Standards alignment is only the starting point. Join us for a complimentary breakfast and an engaging panel discussion with district leaders, educators, and experts to examine what truly distinguishes effective science programs—from phenomena-based learning and coherence to usability and measurable outcomes. We will explore the characteristics of high-quality instructional materials (HQIM), markers of implementation success, teacher support, equity, OER, and the role of AI in K-12 science instructional materials.

SPEAKERS:
Rosamond Kane

As borderlands educators, we support Mexican American students by differentiating processes, assessments, and classroom culture to navigate language/ cultural dynamics in NGSS-based, inquiry-driven lessons. In break-out groups, we: 1. explore strategies for communication, such as vocabulary charts, sentence starters, data visualization, to support science and engineering practices; 2. illustrate formative (storytelling, drawings, surveys) and summative assessments (one-page infographics, interviews) that provide multiple ways to elicit student thinking; 3. link investigations into students’ cultural and community knowledge through daily experiences with food, weather, biodiversity, and environmental issues; and 4. foster equitable participation in groups shaped by gender/ cultural dynamics, such as machismo. Finally, we showcase a 5th-grade ice cream inquiry lesson tied to NGSS outcomes with these strategies and invite you to brainstorm ways to apply them in your classroom!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will apply differentiated strategies across processes, assessments, and classroom culture to support Mexican American students in NGSS-aligned lessons, such as an ice cream activity with 5-PS1-3 and its related 3D learning outcomes to observe and compare material properties.

SPEAKERS:
Leanne Trevino, Jahdaly Rios, Karla Quintanilla Garza, Gustavo Perez, Andrew Kipp, Cecilia Marin, Samuel Rivera, Gabriela Ristaino

In this featured session, researcher and author Dr. Amanda Sullivan invites participants to explore how intentional, play-based science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning can disrupt the early development of gender stereotypes and shape children’s scientific identities. Drawing on empirical research from her books Breaking the STEM Stereotype: Reaching Girls in Early Childhood and Playful STEAM Learning in the Early Years, Dr. Sullivan highlights early childhood as a critical developmental window for building curiosity, science self-efficacy, and positive associations with scientific thinking and problem solving.

Grounded in research on cognitive development and identity formation this session demonstrates how hands-on investigations—such as observing, predicting, testing, and revising ideas—support young children’s engagement with core scientific practices. Participants will examine how low-cost, screen-free, and interdisciplinary activities can introduce foundational concepts in physical, life, and earth sciences, as well as engineering design and computational thinking, for learners in preschool through the early elementary grades.

Attendees will leave with evidence-based strategies and resources developed by the National Girls Collaborative Project that translate research into practice, helping educators transform early childhood classrooms and informal learning environments into inclusive laboratories of discovery—where all young learners, especially girls, are encouraged to see themselves as capable scientists, engineers, and innovators from the very start.

SPEAKERS:
Amanda Sullivan

What do recipes, kitchens, and food science have to do with STEM? Everything! This session will explore how culinary arts provide a powerful and engaging way to teach science, technology, engineering, and math. Participants will discover hands-on strategies and classroom activities that connect cooking to STEM concepts such as chemistry, heat transfer, measurement, ratios, data analysis, and the engineering design process. From scaling recipes to experimenting with food science, educators will walk away with practical ideas they can bring back to their classrooms. The session will also highlight career connections—from nutritionist and dietitian to food scientist and agricultural engineer—showing students the many STEM pathways that begin in the kitchen. Join us to learn how food can spark curiosity, creativity, and problem-solving while making STEM meaningful and memorable.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use food and culinary arts as engaging, hands-on tools to teach core STEM concepts—linking science, technology, engineering, and math to real-world experiences and career pathways.

SPEAKERS:
Daniell Cossey

Do you have an innovative idea for improving Science, Technology, Engineering or Math learning in your classroom? Is your idea project-based learning with measurable outcomes? What do you need to make learning math and science fun for your students? Engage with teachers who received funding for their ideas and learn tips on how to apply.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn about a grant funding opportunity to implement an innovative idea in their classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Sue Whitsett

Curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking are hallmarks of strong scientific thinking. In this high-energy session, experience four quick, engaging games that spark these skills in just 15 minutes. Walk away with ready-to-use activities that engage learners in science practices—no extensive prep required. Come play, discover, and leave inspired to make your science teaching more interactive and fun!

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with everything they need to implement 4 mini-lessons that build sense-making and can be done in only 15 minutes.

SPEAKERS:
Terra Tarango

This hands-on workshop introduces Teach Engineering, a free digital library of 1,900+ classroom-tested, peer-reviewed, standards-aligned K-12 STEM lessons and activities. Participants will act as students and tackle a real-world design challenge in a hands-on activity from the Teach Engineering collection, where they design adaptive features for animals to thrive in specific environments. Through this phenomena-based and three-dimensional learning experience, educators will see how sensemaking and design thinking can be seamlessly integrated into instruction, using science and engineering practices to drive inquiry, modeling, and problem-solving. The session emphasizes interdisciplinary learning by showing how engineering design enriches science instruction, making STEM more relevant, engaging, and accessible for students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use Teach Engineering's free resources to integrate phenomena, sensemaking, and design thinking into STEM instruction, equipping students with deeper understanding and problem-solving skills.

SPEAKERS:
Ellen Sukovich

How can we know which teaching strategies will truly engage students and move their learning forward? The answer lies in listening. In this interactive presentation, participants will explore how teachers can use student talk and questioning to make instructional decisions that directly support sensemaking in science. I will share how I purposefully had students engage as active contributors to figure out phenomena, utilizing science and engineering practices to uncover the necessary disciplinary core ideas. This session will highlight ways to gain real-time insight into what students know, think, and wonder. These insights help educators decide whether to probe deeper, clarify students' initial thinking, or shift instructional strategies altogether.

TAKEAWAYS:
When teachers intentionally listen to students, they gain the clarity needed to choose the most effective instructional strategies to ensure student success through engagement while meeting the needs of all students.

SPEAKERS:
Tonya Woolfolk

Engage in an authentic scientific experience that demonstrates how science evolves through evidence-based discovery. As a mystery skeleton is progressively revealed, participants use the ladder of inference—a systems thinking tool—to make their thinking visible as they move from observations to interpretations to conclusions about the animal's identity. Drawing on their knowledge of animal anatomy and adaptations, participants form and revise hypotheses with each new piece of evidence, experiencing firsthand that changing one's mind is the hallmark of good scientific practice. The lesson integrates literacy through the picture book "Boy, Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs!", which extends the learning by showing how paleontological understanding has evolved over time. Participants leave with a complete 5E lesson plan differentiated for PreK-12, ready-to-use templates, and strategies for helping students develop metacognitive awareness about their reasoning processes.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use progressive evidence revelation and the ladder of inference, a systems thinking tool, to help students understand that revising conclusions based on new data is the essence of scientific thinking.

SPEAKERS:
DaNel Hogan

Explore how a large, diverse school district tackled the challenge of implementing K–12 Science and Engineering Practice (SEP) progressions to ensure access for all stakeholders. In this interactive session, participants will engage in collaborative sensemaking strategies designed to unpack the SEP progression of Developing and Using Models. Participants will engage in a strategy that can be used in K-12 professional learning and classrooms, making it accessible for all learners through scaffolding and differentiation. Authentic examples will drive participant reflection and planning for their own school communities.

TAKEAWAYS:
The experience provides a professional learning model that can be adapted for multi-functional implementation. Participants will analyze and take action on the SEP progression, leaving with an equity driven strategy that can be applied in professional learning communities and K-12 classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Vikki Romanoski, Noel Wagner, Kenneth LeCompte, Eve Case

Discover how to use Project Based Learning to foster a learning environment where students produce original ideas, objects, and structures through STEM.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to effectively implement STEM PBL’s (Project Based Learning) by integrating the components of STEM and PBL in order to grow students' capacity for creativity, fun, and back-loaded learning in a STEM context.

SPEAKERS:
Adero Carter

Sponsoring Company: InventiBotz

Attendees will get to try assembling our robots; learning about electronics, robotics, and coding. After putting together the robot, play robot soccer or design a dance!

SPEAKERS:
Larry Boyer

Sponsoring Company: TCI

Join our session to learn how to harness the power of three-dimensional Performance Assessments! Beyond evaluating learning, these assessments offer students a meaningful context to demonstrate understanding. Explore the role of performance assessments in teaching core science concepts effectively.

SPEAKERS:
Nathan Wellborne

This interactive workshop introduces a novel model for training all educators in foundational Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) pedagogy. Participants will engage as learners in a short, free curricular unit designed to highlight key NGSS principles. These sensemaking opportunities include phenomenon-based unit design, facilitating student dialogue/questions, and student-as-scientist experimentation. Evaluation methods for measuring training effectiveness will also be presented. Formal and informal educators will deepen their understanding of NGSS teaching methods. Instructional Coaches will also benefit from exploring a research-informed training model that can be adapted for professional learning in diverse educational settings.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with a free digital toolkit, including a curriculum, training guide, and support materials for training all educators in foundational NGSS-aligned pedagogy.

SPEAKERS:
Michael Kennedy, Maranda Don, Emily Mathews

Words are the currency of science instruction, tools teachers use to teach and students use to demonstrate understanding. This session empowers educators to make vocabulary a purposeful part of three-dimensional science learning. Participants will explore a research-based vocabulary selection framework to identify and prioritize key academic terms that anchor lessons in meaningful context. Through hands-on activities, attendees will design age-appropriate, vocabulary-rich experiences that strengthen students’ ability to read, interpret, and produce domain-specific science texts. This vocabulary-driven approach promotes equity, supports standards alignment, and ensures coherent, conceptually focused instruction that deepens students’ sensemaking in science.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to use a research-based framework to review science standards and select academic vocabulary, ensuring that word choice, instruction, and assessment align to promote deeper student understanding and three-dimensional sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Julie Jackson

Sponsoring Company: ECA Science Kit Services

Can you build a kit that works? Budget vs. Reality Race the clock in a supermarket-style game to “shop” and set up materials within your team’s budget using an OpenSciEd lesson (from DIY to buying premade Kits). Uncover teacher realities, kit usability, and hidden costs while building practical strategies for short-term and long-term implementation success.

SPEAKERS:
Heidi Harlan

Integrate STEM seamlessly into read-alouds to boost comprehension and engagement without extra time. Learn to pair beloved stories with simple engineering challenges that bring texts to life while also building STEM skills. Discover new favorite picture books, and walk away ready to enrich your read-alouds with interactive, story-based STEM activities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Discover three engaging read-alouds and three complimentary STEM activities that encourage curiosity, creativity and critical thinking.

SPEAKERS:
Terra Tarango

Sponsoring Company: Girls Who Code

This interactive session introduces CodeJam, Girls Who Code’s new coding platform designed to make computer science accessible, approachable, and playful for every student. Participants will experience how CodeJam’s block-based editor, BlockJam, empowers all educators, regardless of coding background, to facilitate meaningful coding experiences through guided exploration and project-based learning. In addition to exploring hands-on coding lessons, participants will get an exclusive look into the intentional ways Girls Who Code builds community and Sisterhood through our approach to coding, creating learning spaces where students support one another, take creative risks, and see themselves as belonging in tech. You’ll walk away from this session with exposure to a free coding platform, ready-to-teach coding activities, and practical strategies to bring coding to every student.

SPEAKERS:
Kibret Yebetit

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Science

Explore how Smithsonian Science for the Classroom and STCMS—supported by structured coaching and ongoing professional learning—drive high-quality NGSS instruction. Engage in a hands-on task, see how NGSS-aligned lessons build academic growth, and identify common classroom pitfalls. Participants leave with practical strategies for building sustainable, high-impact science instruction. 

SPEAKERS:
Holly Baldwin, Heather Toothaker

Science in the elementary school is meant to be focused on sensemaking of phenomenon that are accessible to all students. Young children have the right to engage in science explorations daily toward the goal of them having the tools to explain their world. This session is created by COESEE - a collaboration of several science educators who are focused on equity in elementary science. In this session, we (COESEE) will engage participants in examples of elevating student-led sensemaking as an integral part of science learning by leveraging the science and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts. We will provide opportunity for supported discussion around elementary school science learning as a transdisciplinary experience and offer arguments that can be used to advocate for extended, high-quality, science learning time in the elementary school.

TAKEAWAYS:
Elementary science is a critical part of every students' school learning experience and is a right of every child.

SPEAKERS:
Mary Starr

How can we design science learning that allows multilingual learners to shine? This session explores instructional approaches, and teacher moves that create rich opportunities for students to use their full range of meaning-making resources. Through classroom examples—such as building consensus ideas or sharing noticings and wonderings about puzzling phenomena—we’ll examine moments when students make their thinking public, collaborate, and grow as sensemakers.

TAKEAWAYS:
Multilingual learners are brilliant and capable of engaging in rich and rigorous scientific sensemaking when classrooms make space for their ideas. Walk away with practical tools and routines that elevate student thinking and strengthen whole-class science sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Susan Gomez Zwiep

Multilingual learners often need extra support to fully engage with science content, but the goal is independence. In this session, elementary teachers will explore strategies for creating scaffolds that provide just the right amount of support, then systematically fade them as students gain knowledge, language skills, and confidence. Through examples, hands-on activities, and discussion, participants will learn how to scaffold science investigations, discussions, and writing so students can move from guided participation to independent problem-solving. Teachers will leave with practical, classroom-ready approaches to support multilingual learners’ language and content growth while fostering independence, curiosity, and a love of science.

TAKEAWAYS:
Develop strategies to fade scaffolds effectively for multilingual learners in science, supporting a transition from guided participation to independent thinking while fostering curiosity and mastery.

SPEAKERS:
Maria Cieslak

n this presentation, you will learn how our students engaged in purposeful collaboration to effectively integrate outdoor learning into the science classroom. The presenters will discuss key design challenges and strategies for transitioning learning environments beyond the traditional classroom setting. Facilitators will showcase diverse approaches that provide students with authentic opportunities to explore and engage with nature. The session will cover practical methods for establishing outdoor gardens, implementing documentation and journaling practices, and enhancing data collection techniques. Attendees will discover how to leverage technology to enrich and bring student learning to life in outdoor settings. Together, we will explore meaningful technological tools—including Micro:bits, podcasting, and iPads—that inspire and deepen outdoor scientific inquiry and creativity.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave the presentation equipped with practical tools and design principles to create outdoor classrooms that not only enhance scientific inquiry through real-world data collection but also support holistic student development.

SPEAKERS:
Jesse Wren, Paula Eschbach

Ready to cultivate a sustainable, district-wide culture of science teaching excellence? This session reveals how to build a powerful Science Leader Cadre—a model for partnering with teacher leaders to drive systemic change. In this session, participants will discuss critical aspects of a robust pathway for teacher leadership in science education by building capacity to characterize high-quality science instruction, developing systems for sustaining success through ongoing support and partnership, and amplifying influence by supporting teacher leaders in leveraging their expertise to support fellow educators. Learn the course of action that supports passionate educators in leveraging their voice to be influential school leaders, igniting the trail for district-wide impact. This session is good for leaders in the K-8 span.

TAKEAWAYS:
Cultivate a district-wide culture of science teaching excellence. This session provides a model for a Science Leader Cadre, equipping teachers with knowledge of high-quality science instruction, ongoing support and partnership, and empowering influential leaders who drive systemic change.

SPEAKERS:
Kristin Lilley, Kristoffer Carroll, Dawn Bien, Anna Radef, Anne Craddock, Audri Rosen

Recent reports show millions of higher-skilled jobs are going unfilled because workers don’t know what skills they need, educators don’t know what skills to educate for, and employers don’t know what skills workers have. How can we bridge STEM opportunity gaps for all learners and mitigate the STEM shortage in the near future? Let's discuss partnerships and how to leverage DoD STEM and the Defense STEM Education Consortium (DSEC) to provide hands-on STEM experiences that meet students where they are, bring the workforce into the classroom, and take students to the workrooms. Anchored in the STEM Ecosystems framework, this model demonstrates how connecting K–12, higher education, community and industry partners can strengthen pathways from classrooms to careers.

TAKEAWAYS:
Discover how strategic partnerships can close STEM opportunity gaps by connecting classrooms, communities, and industry to build clear, hands-on pathways from school to high-demand careers.

SPEAKERS:
Ashley Carter, LaToya Parker, Jason Porter, Peter Branca

This interactive workshop highlights The Great Indoors, a free, NGSS-aligned unit for grades 3–5 that blends storytelling, inquiry, and design challenges to turn science learning into real-world action. Students follow Mira, a curious learner investigating the air in her new home, and conduct hands-on experiments to test factors such as ventilation, humidity, and particulates. As they observe, ask questions, and design solutions, they build the competence to apply science in meaningful ways. Students share findings and make plans with their families and extend ideas into their communities. This unit integrates the three dimensions of NGSS, fosters sensemaking through authentic phenomena, and builds student agency. Lessons are modular, adaptable to different schedules, and accessible to all learners. Teachers will participate in sample activities, discuss implementation strategies, and leave with turn-key resources that make science engaging, empowering, and action-oriented.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will discover strategies from a ready-to-use unit that engages students in investigating indoor air quality and empowers them to take meaningful actions - first at home and in class, then in their wider communities.

SPEAKERS:
Chris Link, PhD

Sponsoring Company: Savvas Learning Company

High-quality instructional materials (HQIM) have the power to transform student learning when implemented with clarity, confidence, and support. This session tackles implementation head on, equipping you with a proactive consensus-building strategy that begins from day one. Using real district data, we will provide a practical framework to build the infrastructure needed for long-term fidelity and monitor classroom impact. Leave the guesswork behind and walk away with concrete leadership moves that turn adoption into transformation.

SPEAKERS:
Kelly Suarez, Courtney Toht

As instructional coaches, we understand the difficulties of trying to “teach it all” and yet deal with time constraints and demands of solely focusing on ELA and math, meeting students' needs and behaviors, and lack of time for planning and preparation. Because science plays a huge role in increasing student engagement and intrigue, provides background knowledge and experiences, and increases vocabulary, we need a way to bring science into the classroom on a consistent basis. The solution is to bridge together the content and strategies of both science and ELA through reading, writing, speaking, and listening. In this session, we will begin with the 5E instructional model and how literacy plays a role in this model. We will then dig into engaging strategies that teachers can use to increase collaboration, discourse, and sensemaking. Finally, we will look at strategies that support English language learners in both science and increasing language.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with engaging strategies and activities that can be used within classrooms to bridge science with literacy, ideas on how to bring literacy into science, and science into ELA.

SPEAKERS:
Eric Corso, Kelli Conner

Science education has a key role to play in supporting a just transition to the climate crisis.. Participants will learn about 20 priority areas associated with climate and environmental justice—and then will explore educational approaches, resources, and groups related to these areas. Many free resources that support climate justice education will be shared.

TAKEAWAYS:
Working towards climate justice involves a multifaceted set of issues and priorities. Teachers will identify which priority areas relate to their goals and context and learn about related resources. A climate justice framework will help teachers learn about different dimensions of climate justice.

SPEAKERS:
Deb Morrison, Kelsie Fowler, Philip Bell

Join Mary Beth Hatch in hearing how a few inches separate students from learning in a space that truly engages them in all content areas, the outdoors! This session will dive into how the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is utilizing outdoor learning to truly unlock best practices, promote health and well being, and connect to core content areas for students and teachers. Through a structured process, the Education Division of the Commission has created a playbook for schools to truly unlock the power of real world learning through conservation and outdoor recreation experiences that are tied directly to state learning standards.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how educators are implementing outdoor learning into core content and elective courses in partnership with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission as well as student and teacher leadership opportunities in grades PreK-12.

SPEAKERS:
Mary Hatch

Localizing science instruction is a powerful way to boost student engagement, and it’s invigorating for teachers, too! Join the professional learning team from the Lawrence Hall of Science to explore three low-effort, high-impact strategies to localize your science instruction. By diving into an example 3D lesson, you’ll engage with successful teacher-designed localized adaptations that incorporate students' ideas, experiences, and local phenomena to support students to make sense of science ideas. You will come away with a planning tool and a framework for how you can make small changes to phenomena-based storylines that have a big impact on students' connections to science in school.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will take away a planning tool along with ideas for three practical and low-effort ways they can localize their science instruction in K-12 classrooms to support all students in making meaningful and relevant connections in science.

SPEAKERS:
Leslie Stenger, Rebecca Abbott

Sponsoring Company: Switch Classroom

Get ready for a session that’s bright, squishy, and full of “aha!” moments! Using colorful Play-Doh, LEDs, and batteries, participants will explore Switch Classroom’s Intro to Electricity lesson and bring foundational circuit concepts to life. You’ll investigate conductivity, resistance, open and closed circuits, and series versus parallel designs through playful, hands-on exploration. Designed for elementary through high school classrooms, this adaptable lab makes abstract electrical concepts tangible while supporting NGSS science and engineering practices. Optional extensions allow the challenge to be simplified for younger learners or expanded for grades 9–12. Leave with free Switch Classroom resources, classroom-ready strategies, and the confidence to spark curiosity—and light up learning—in any classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Jillian Swets

Sponsoring Company: Savvas Learning Company

The Science of Reading shows why background knowledge is essential for language comprehension. Let’s discuss how teachers can use science experiences to grow students' background knowledge and strengthen essential literacy skills before they're introduced to nonfiction/ informational text. Reframe your approach to reading comprehension—through the lens of science!

In an age where catastrophic damage from environmental-related events circulates through social and print media, it is important to build communities of hope for our elementary students. Placed-Based education is a vehicle for creating hope and building strong, resilient communities where students are empowered to act for themselves and their natural surroundings. Local phenomena can be leveraged to engage elementary students in civic responsibility and science and engineering practices, inspiring students to take action through proposing solutions to community issues.

TAKEAWAYS:
As environmental-related events occur, it is essential to build communities of hope for children. Place-based experiential learning builds resilient communities where children are empowered to act for themselves.

SPEAKERS:
Candace Penrod

Science teachers must create learning environments where ALL students, regardless of their language proficiency and ability, have equal access to meaningful STEM/STEAM curriculum (Lems & Stegemoller, 2019). Session shows how integrating second language acquisition principles and constructivist STEAM content is effective for diverse students (Lee & Stephens, 2020). Presenters focus on Ecosystem lessons based on goals from Arizona Science Standard: LS2C Ecosystems Culturally relevant STEAM curricula and strategies for Latino, Indigenous, and Filipino populations will be demonstrated. Examples focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion via Indigenous Web of Life Curriculum and Hispanic Community Science Projects. Culturally/linguistically diverse STEAM lessons enable teachers to effectively teach Multilingual learners, Neurodiverse learners, and diverse students with disabilities. Takeaways are STEAM lesson examples and activities teachers can immediately use in their classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers experience STEAM strategies and curriculum materials for instruction of Diverse Multilingual Learners, Neurodiverse Learners, and Diverse Students with Disabilities so they can replicate the effective materials and teaching strategies for similar students in their own schools and community.

SPEAKERS:
Gerry Madrazo, Ph.D, Elaine Luzbert, Patricia Peterson

In this session, participants will discover how integrating structured conversations around visuals can significantly enhance their students' academic language development. By engaging with thoughtfully designed visuals, educators can foster an environment where students actively participate and articulate their understanding, leading to deeper learning outcomes. Also, attendees will take part in an interactive lesson simulation that models these strategies in action. This hands-on experience will provide insight into how visuals can be effectively paired with discussion to ignite curiosity and promote equitable participation. In addition, participants will also gain access to free, high-quality resources tailored to support classroom implementation. These resources are designed to seamlessly integrate into various subjects and grade levels, empowering teachers to craft language-rich lessons that inspire students and build confidence in their academic language abilities.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this session, participants will discover how integrating structured conversations around visuals can significantly enhance their students' academic language development while ensuring equity and active participation.

SPEAKERS:
Isaac Marquez

Youth need opportunities to learn about green colonialism and how Native Science and Indigenous sovereignty are fundamental to addressing the climate emergency. Workshop participants will engage in talk activities designed to support non-Indigenous youth in learning and processing these topics.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session will support educators in understanding that climate experts across the globe are calling for the broad recognition of Indigenous sovereignty and climate expertise as fundamental to mitigating climate change and building a just future.

SPEAKERS:
Kelsie Fowler, Philip Bell

Discover how to make engineering accessible for all students. Learn powerful strategies to integrate engineering into your curriculum without taking extra time, making it fun and relevant. Walk away with practical tools to ensure every student can participate in meaningful engineering experiences!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will explore the Van Andel Insitute's model of engineering design and learn strategies to make engineering more integrated and accessible to students. Teachers will walk away with lesson ideas and resources to bring engineering concepts (aligned with NGSS) into the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Dawn McCotter

Sponsoring Company: IEEE TryEngineering

TryEngineering is a collection of resources developed by the members of IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional association, committed to inspiring the next generation of engineers and technologists. During this session, you will learn how to introduce elementary students to the engineering design process with fun challenges and low cost materials. We will complete an engineering design challenge during this session and share resources to help you bring engineering to your classroom. Engineering habits of mind are important for all children to learn, as they foster creativity, resiliency and problem solving. As a public charity, all of TryEngineering’s resources are free to everyone. Come to the session and learn more!

SPEAKERS:
Debra Gulick

For more than 50 years, the National Inventors Hall of Fame has celebrated inventors while advancing creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship. At the heart of this work is Invention Education, a powerful approach that helps students become confident creative problem solvers and critical thinkers—guided by the stories and mindsets of Our Nation’s Greatest Innovators™. In this interactive session, participants explore how Invention Education blends design thinking, inquiry, and real‑world relevance to deepen engagement and support transdisciplinary STEAM learning. Educators experience the invention process in action, moving ideas from 2D to 3D to market. Along the way, participants examine the research behind the process, discover how Invention Education aligns with state and NGSS Standards, and leave with an Invention Portfolio kickstarted!

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how Invention Education empowers students to become creative, empathetic problem solvers by integrating design thinking, inquiry, and real-world STEM practices, with tools and strategies to foster engagement and innovation across grade levels.

SPEAKERS:
Veronica Kormos

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Science

Come experience what Carolina + OpenSciEd Elementary is all about through a hands-on model lesson in which students explore water in natural systems, determine if it is healthy or unhealthy, and discuss what can be done. Discover how the new Carolina Certified Version of OpenSciEd’s high-quality instructional materials are more accessible, more user-friendly, and enhanced for classroom safety. Participants will walk away with valuable resources for their classroom.    

SPEAKERS:
Hoover Herrera

Sponsoring Company: Ward's Science

Ward's OpenSciEd Elementary Kits invite students to solve problems through reading and science. Join us for a sampling of the activities that teach everyday topics like weather, landform changes, and water testing. No need to take time away from reading: books are included with each unit to address literacy skills.

SPEAKERS:
Norman Marshall

This session will present theoretical viewpoints and research, including the federally-funded M2-Si grant, that illuminate the value within funds of knowledge and how those perspectives lead to higher quality science. Researchers will share how their rigorous revision process infused students’ assets and families’ funds of knowledge into formative assessment activities. They will grant access to formative assessments and other materials for the science classroom that bolster students’ assets and involve their families along with preliminary findings. They will walk attendees through strategies that engage students’ voices and experiences, assessment materials and activities that can be shared with families, and resources to support bringing funds of knowledge into the science classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn about the Multilingual Multimodal Science Inventory (M2-Si) grant and research-backed findings. Researchers will share formative assessment activities, a modified task screener, and a family engagement template. Attendees will also leave with strategies and resources.

SPEAKERS:
Brittany York

Are your students busy building and designing, but not quite connecting their projects to core scientific concepts? Engineering design is more than hands-on fun; it’s a powerful tool for linking abstract learning to real-world applications. When students work with physical materials, they test ideas, discover new solutions, and deepen their grasp of scientific principles. In this interactive session, you’ll take part in an engineering design challenge that spotlights how different materials shape students’ learning experiences. Discover practical strategies to help your students make sense of science through hands-on designing, problem-solving, and real classroom connections.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will engage in an activity that emphasizes the importance of selecting the right materials to facilitate sensemaking, leaving with ideas on how to incorporate this approach into their own engineering design instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Briana Trager

Music and computer science are highly connected. In fact, most of the popular music we hear now has been created with computers. To engage young children (and teachers!) In programming, we have created MFLOW, a web-based computer programming platform that makes it extremely easy to play with sounds and create sound compositions while learning the basics of programming. MFLOW has an associated curriculum created at UCSD, in collaboration with the Chula Vista Elementary School District, and aligned with the Computer Science Standards. It is super engaging and easy to learn by children as young as fourth grade, and by teachers with no previous experience in programming. In this workshop, participants will learn how to code with MFLOW to create sound compositions through chains, loops, and the manipulation of sounds. Additionally, participants will learn how to launch an engineering design challenge with their own students to code sound compositions that represent different emotions for u

TAKEAWAYS:
You will learn how to use MFLOW to sound engineer and code your own sound or music composition. Also, you will learn how to engage your students with coding through engineering design challenges.

SPEAKERS:
Alec Barron

Sponsoring Company: NOAA

NOAA’s Ocean Service has a number of activities and lesson plans focused on ocean and climate literacy. We also know the value of using multimedia in the learning settings to teach not only complex topics, but to also reach visual learners. A new component of our education materials will include hands-on demonstrations to accompany the lesson plans and activities that so many educators already use. This session will provide a sneak peek into the brand new videos and gauge interest on which topics should be prioritized for additional content.

SPEAKERS:
Symone Barkley

Leading educators in Science Studio can act as a catalyst for instructional transformation. Participation in Science Studio can deepen teachers’ understanding of science content and pedagogy while ensuring that all students—regardless of background—can access, engage with, and succeed in rigorous science learning. The features of Science Studio include Collaborative professional learning, Focus on high-quality, standards-aligned instruction, Equity and student access, and Reflection, leadership and capacity building. In this session, participants will engage with a 4-part science studio course that covers how the core practices of developing and using models, summary tables, accountable and productive student talk change how science looks and sounds in the classroom and how a variety of sense-making activities can be used to explore and explain a phenomenon. The course will be shared with participants; it can be adapted to meet their school or district needs.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers learn how a series of four professional development sessions in Science Studio can build deeper science content understanding and pedagogical skills in their classroom and across their school community.

SPEAKERS:
Annette Venegas

Effective implementation of HQIM requires visioning and planning. Join BSCS to learn how one district developed a plan to ensure equity for all learners in the system through broad and effective implementation of HQIM.

TAKEAWAYS:
Consider how high-quality instructional materials can be used to design more equitable systems.

SPEAKERS:
Jenine Cotton-Proby

Come learn directly from California schools and districts who have successfully integrated science into their elementary programs. These schools have seen positive benefits in reading, attendance, and science scores. Engage in examples of hands-on learning that promote literacy and hear from teachers and leaders in a panel discussion.

TAKEAWAYS:
Schools can successfully integrate science in Elementary grades and have a positive impact on literacy, attendance, and test scores.

SPEAKERS:
Peter A'Hearn, Melissa Marcucci, Rachel Myers

In the storyline instructional approach, elementary students draw on their questions, interests, and identities to make sense of real-world phenomena and explore solutions to problems. Students see their science work as figuring out questions and problems their classroom has identified rather than learning about something their teacher asks them to learn. In this session, you will experience the process of developing questions from an anchoring phenomenon and explore videos of elementary students making progress through investigation and sensemaking discussions to develop the target science ideas and practices.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore how to work with students’ ideas and questions through classroom discourse, establishing a meaningful context that provides a reason to figure out science ideas and enables students to connect what they learn to what they and their communities care about.

SPEAKERS:
Brian Reiser, Gail Housman

Sponsoring Company: Diffit for Teachers

What if one sentence could generate a full science lesson, including student inquiry prompts, data analysis, vocabulary, real-world applications, and hands-on activities? Diffit does exactly that — and more. In 20 minutes, we'll show you how to go from minimal input to standards-aligned, differentiated student-ready science resources sets for any grade level.

Sponsoring Company: Inquisitive K-5 Science

Practical workshop for K–5 educators on Visible Thinking Routines in phenomena-based science. Learn simple, research-based strategies that make student thinking visible, deepen reasoning, and guide inquiry. Experience routines in action and leave with a ready-to-use digital toolkit to immediately support engagement, understanding, and mastery of grade-level science standards.

This lesson incorporates an engaging phenomenon that has been a part of Louisiana history for generations. With our warm an mostly tropical climate, we have become home to several invasive species. Students will first hear about our great states law makers radical resolution for one aggressive plant species in particular and also fix the decline in meat on the bayous! Can you guess the species our dear Huey P was trying to bring into our waterways? The solution was not only 2 fold, but utterly ridiculous! But, this lesson in ecosystem balance, biodiversity, natural selection, and invasive species shines light on how far we have come and how biotechnology may pave the way ahead in ecosystem balance in the future.

TAKEAWAYS:
Ecosystems present as a delicate balance. Our Bayous, though complex and brackish, have a very delicate composition of abiotic and biotic components that make it such a magnificent sanctuary. Solving the problem of invasive species is more difficult due to this balance.

SPEAKERS:
Karen Marshall