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.

SPEAKERS:
Dr. Alicia Conerly

Join us for an opening reception to mark the start of NSTA MINN25! 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.

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

Curious about AI but not sure where to start? This session is for you! Discover how artificial intelligence is transforming science classrooms and helping do the heavy lifting of teaching. This session will empower you to use AI to personalize learning, boost engagement, and streamline NGSS-aligned lesson planning and assessment—without replacing the essential role of the teacher. Participants will explore examples of how AI can help teachers adapt high-quality instructional materials to local contexts, effectively manage assessment and feedback, and differentiate learning activities to support student sensemaking. The session also will include strategies for how to critically evaluate AI tools to ensure technology integration promotes equitable access to rigorous and meaningful science instruction. Whether new to AI or ready to go deeper, educators will be equipped to integrate AI into their teaching practices responsibly, ensuring alignment with student needs and educational goals.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will be equipped with practical strategies and tools to use AI responsibly in middle level science classrooms. They will be able to use AI to adapt NGSS-aligned science learning activities to personalize student learning and streamline lesson planning, assessment, and feedback.

SPEAKERS:
Michelle Forsythe

Join us to explore how to teach climate change from a human centered perspective; engaging students in place-based, equity-centered science education that inspires and engages beyond the science classroom. Using Climate Generation’s resources, we will discover how climate education can build connections between classrooms, communities and the environment, and inspire sustainable thinking and action. Attendees will be introduced to activities from two multi-lesson units, Climate Generation’s newly revised Next Generation Climate and Experience Energy curricula, that integrate NGSS-aligned climate education with culturally sustaining teaching practices.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be able to identify age-appropriate ways to engage students in climate change education, describe strategies for connecting climate learning experiences to community-centered and national current events, and use Climate Generation’s resources to explore and practice climate education.

SPEAKERS:
Danielle Hefferan

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 explore educational approaches, resources, and groups related to these areas.

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, Nancy Price, Kelsie Fowler, Philip Bell

Science is a social endeavor! Gain strategies to transform your classroom into a community of learners in which students and teachers actively try to make sense of the natural and built worlds.

TAKEAWAYS:
Leave with strategies for developing classroom norms in collaboration with your students.

SPEAKERS:
Emily Mathews, Kristen Moorhead

In this session participants will dissect an LED shadow box that is 100% student made. As we unpack this project, participants will see how multiple STEM disciplines can come together to create something new and unique while linking together applied STEM topics. You'll observe how 3D modeling and design, coding, soldering, and art come together to create a 3D light shadow box. This project's applied concept approach can be adapted to fit any classroom, all it takes is a little creativity and out of the "box" thinking. In this session you'll gain some tips and strategies for creating your own multi-disciplinary project to use in your own educational setting.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will become inspired to create projects of their own and walk away with some tips and strategies for creating their own unique multidisciplinary projects.

SPEAKERS:
Becca Grumdahl, Beth Peppersack

Literacy in science and technical subjects (LST) is increasingly important to develop in our society. Yet, as students learn science they are often just presented with basic vocabulary strategies that do not get to the heart of the literacy standards. By using Common Core, LST 3 and combining with a visual and creative response as listed in LST 4, all students have the opportunity to develop meaningful literacy connections needed to understand text and develop their own writing. In this interactive session, specific strategies for attendees include participating in a concept mapping routine used in a Biology class. Participants will use both student and teacher lenses to review a concept map template, examine student work in a gallery walk and assess using a one-point rubric as they develop an understanding of how and why to implement this framework. The session structure will also provide time to collaborate with other educators to adapt instructional strategies to their own practice.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this interactive session, educators will use vocabulary, concept mapping, student work, and revision practices to develop their own literacy instruction. Resources will be provided to aid in implementation for students to make deep and equitable connections to science content.

SPEAKERS:
Alexander Dafforn, Kirby Selle

Do you ever feel exhausted by the end of the day AND wonder if the students gained understanding? Do you have students who demonstrate excellent thinking on lab days but not on daily, written tasks? Do you wonder how to best group students of different abilities for success? This session will help you meet all students where they are and engage them in sensemaking all while energizing yourself as a teacher through applying ideas from Peter Liljedahl's "Building a Thinking Classroom in Mathematics" in your science classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
You will leave with a set of easy-to-implement strategies that will engage your students in thoughtful participation and sense making, allow you to interact with students in meaningful and fulfilling ways, and help build a community of thoughtful, independent learners in your classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Sharon Churchwell

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

This authentic case study analyzes microbial DNA from the International Space Station. Available as a hands-on gel electrophoresis experiment or a free virtual lab. This session will also feature Genes in Space, a free experimental design competition that sends student experiments to space!

SPEAKERS:
Emily Gleason

In this hands-on workshop, participants will explore a fun and easy way to teach science using everyday materials, such as straws and cotton swabs. Through playful blow dart activities, students explore how the strength of a push and the time it is applied affect how things move, offering a simple entry point into motion. This lesson is based on the Hypothesis-Experiment Class (HEC), a student-centered approach from Japan. Students make predictions, share ideas, try experiments, and reflect on their findings. Examples from Japanese classrooms show this method helps build curiosity, confidence, and critical thinking in science. A small trial in Kenya also showed positive engagement. The workshop supports NGSS and STEM goals by promoting Science and engineering practices, such as asking questions, making predictions, investigating, and communicating results. Using low-cost, everyday materials makes science more accessible, promoting equity in STEM learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to use the Hypothesis-Experiment Class (HEC) approach with simple materials to create NGSS-aligned, inquiry-based science lessons that support prediction, experimentation, and communication, making science more accessible and engaging for all students.

SPEAKERS:
Mariko Kobayashi, Haruhiko Funahashi, Tomoko HASEGAWA, Koji Tsukamoto, Momoko Sanada, Kumiko Matsudaira

Discover practical strategies for integrating data analysis and graphing into science instruction. This interactive workshop guides participants through hands-on activities involving data collection, linear modeling, and prediction using lines of best fit. Learn how to help students interpret graphs as scientific tools, explore the correlation coefficient to evaluate model strength, and use the Desmos Graphing Calculator for dynamic visualization. Leave with classroom-ready resources aligned to NGSS and math standards.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to help students use data, linear models, and correlation to make scientific predictions, supported by tools like the Desmos Graphing Calculator, and leave with ready-to-use strategies for integrating graphing meaningfully into NGSS-aligned science instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Stirling

This hands-on, immersive experience is designed to help teachers deepen their understanding of an effective, 5-step instructional routine for developing student’s proficiency with the Science and Engineering Practice of Developing and Using Models. Educators will experience a OpenSciEd Middle School lesson that includes observing a phenomenon, using models to make sense of the phenomenon they observed, collaborating with a small group using intentional discourse structures and strategies, which showcases how to engage students in equitable discussions. A digital resource collection of all resources used will be provided.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will gain an understanding of an effective, 5-step instructional, collaborative routine for developing student’s proficiency with the Science and Engineering Practice of Developing and Using models and discover how it supports sensemaking and phenomena-based instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Rebecca Garelli

Sponsoring Company: Switch Classroom

Attendees will leave equipped with a student-tested wind energy lesson, incorporating hands-on activities and collaborative learning, adaptable for grades 4-12, fostering a deeper understanding of renewable energy concepts aligned with NGSS standards.

SPEAKERS:
Lynn Kistler

Sponsoring Company: PASCO Scientific

Join us to explore the OpenSciEd Certified PASCO version Grade 6 curriculum. First discover a unit's storyline through a tour of PASCO Portal, our online platform for organizing and distributing teacher and student OpenSciEd resources. Then dive into the unit's first lesson to experience the anchoring phenomenon, used to elicit student questions that they'll work to answer throughout the unit. Finally participate in a hands-on activity from a subsequent lesson, using PASCO technology to develop an evidence-based response to one of those student questions. In this lesson, you will use our One-Way Mirror Model and Wireless Light and Color Sensor to measure the amount of light transmitted and reflected by a one-way mirror.

SPEAKERS:
Shelly Riley

Come learn about ways that you can help advance the field of Science Education and improve your teaching through the many different leadership opportunities that exist which also allow you to stay in your classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how participation in teacher advisory committees supporting museums and science centers, or other organizations such as Science Olympiad, NSTA, and NSELA can allow them to improve their teaching and be Science Education leaders while remaining in the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
John Loehr

Sponsoring Company: Teachers' Curriculum Institute (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:
Sara Kumar

This session invites participants to explore before, during, and after reading strategies and computational thinking opportunities to enhance sensemaking in the middle school science classroom. Attendees will construct an argument and make a claim based on evidence from an investigation and use writing strategies to strengthen their understanding while communicating scientific information.

TAKEAWAYS:
Leverage the science of reading and computational thinking strategies to boost sensemaking in science.

SPEAKERS:
Madison Weary, Dina Dormer

The Mission Moon traveling space camp is a dynamic educational initiative designed to ignite interest in space exploration and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) among youth in grades 4-8. The program offers immersive, hands-on experiences that simulate real-world space missions and challenges. Key elements of the experience include collaborating to complete mission tasks, learning about space careers, and using a variety of platforms to share learning with others. During the presentation, learn more about these key elements and how they work to support state and national STEM standards. Additionally, pilot data and the key role that partnerships played in the development and implementation of the program will be discussed. At the end, walk away with Mission Moon material lists and lesson plans that could be used to replicate this experience in your community.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educational simulations, like Mission Moon, let students apply STEM concepts in hands-on, interactive ways that deepen understanding, and engagement. They foster problem-solving, collaboration, and innovation while making complex ideas more relatable for all learners.

SPEAKERS:
Dennis Culver, Sara Nelson

Sponsoring Company: InnerOrbit

We'll dive into how NGSS assessments can drive sensemaking and 3D performance in the classroom. We’ll explore practical strategies for using these assessments to support students’ growth and engagement in science.

SPEAKERS:
Brendan Finch

Problem- and place-based units are highly engaging, and they lead students to develop real solutions to problems in their community. How do we know which of the solutions is best? A decision matrix is a mathematical engineering tool that students can use to evaluate and rank possible solutions when making complex decisions. Useful across a spectrum of real-life situations, it’s especially appropriate for classrooms deciding the best actions for solving local problems. Attendees will work through several phases of our free 5E lesson introducing students to the Decision Matrix tool. Anchored Science by Mi-STAR is a middle school curriculum project, created by classroom teachers in collaboration with engineers and scientists from Michigan Technological University, and dedicated to quality NGSS-aligned curriculum since 2015.

TAKEAWAYS:
A decision matrix is a sophisticated tool used by engineers to evaluate and rank potential solutions to make objective, informed decisions. After experiencing a variety of classroom-tested activities, teachers will be ready to use our free 5E, NGSS-aligned Decision Matrix lesson with their students.

SPEAKERS:
Tony Matthys, Lindsey Watch

Explore how leaders can use the new BSCS Anchored Inquiry Learning (AIL) instructional model to support teachers in creating learning experiences that motivate students with significant, real world phenomena and problems! Learn how AIL cycles of inquiry and sensemaking culminate in student agency! The BSCS Anchored Inquiry Learning instructional model succeeds the 5Es and utilizes authentic phenomena/problems to anchor multiple cycles of inquiry and sensemaking, culminating with student explanations/design solutions. The research-based AIL model emphasizes coherence from students’ perspective. In this session, participants will consider how AIL integrates elements of the 5E instructional model, NextGen Science storylines, and problem-based learning instructional models, the role of an instructional model in high quality instructional materials, and their own education contexts and how they can apply AIL to design meaningful learning experiences to support their teachers.

TAKEAWAYS:
The research-based BSCS Anchored Inquiry Learning instructional model succeeds the 5Es as the basis for implementing HQIM. Leaders leverage this model to support teachers in developing a shared vision of effective science teaching and learning and creating a student-centered classroom for all.

SPEAKERS:
Cynthia Gay

Sponsoring Company: Stile Education

Bring your Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs) to life with captivating, interactive simulations! Dive into a dynamic toolkit filled with powerful, curriculum-aligned digital resources. You'll leave fully equipped with (free!) access to a huge collection of engaging simulations that vividly illustrate science concepts and get students engaging meaningfully with the science and engineering practices, making lessons memorable and meaningful.

SPEAKERS:
Clayton Forest

Join us to consider how leveraging high quality instructional materials in professional learning can strengthen the shared vision of the instructional shifts called for by the NGSS and engage educators in three dimensional phenomena driven teaching and learning. Hear how a state level partnership with multiple district’s deepened teacher’s knowledge of the NGSS and three dimensional instructional practices.

TAKEAWAYS:
Using high quality instructional materials as a lever to further NGSS implementation across multiple district/school contexts can support teachers and leaders to deepen their understanding of the NGSS and three dimensional teaching and learning.

SPEAKERS:
Jenine Cotton-Proby, Guy Ollison, Nancy Hopkins-Evans

Amid a groundswell of exciting instructional materials and meaningful professional learning that reflects A Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards, our assessments are still a black box. Science assessments remain confusing, and often disappointing: most science assessments, and guidance for assessment practices, that are currently available fail to achieve that precise balance between reflective of our teaching and learning priorities, practical for classroom implementation, and useful to both students and teachers for guiding learning. In this interactive session, we focus on four practical and distinctive priorities for science assessment: things that really distinguish meaningful, future-focused assessments from all the noise. Participants will engage with each of the priorities, inventorying their existing assessments, and planning for ways they can incorporate these strategies—and sample tasks—into their practice immediately and over time.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this interactive session, we focus on four practical and distinctive priorities for future-focused science assessment: the things that really distinguish meaningful assessments designed to prioritize learning for our rapidly changing world from all the noise.

SPEAKERS:
Aneesha Badrinarayan

Sponsoring Company: LEGO® Education

Be one of the first to experience the power of inquiry-based, hands-on learning through our new and innovative LEGO® Education Science solution! We will explore a lesson designed to promote engagement, collaboration, and solution diversity in the classroom and inspire students to see themselves in science. Participants will explore how state standards come to life by developing and using models to explore authentic, real-world phenomena. Engaging in science and engineering through hands-on learning has never been so easy or fun!

What if your students could use programming and technology not as an extra, but as a core part of making sense of science? In this session, explore a new model for STEM integration through free and open OpenSciEd + Computer Science middle school units. These phenomenon-driven units engage students in real-world investigations where they build and use technology, including programming, to explain scientific ideas and design solutions for local challenges. Career-connected features highlight pathways in STEM and computer science. Think of STEM integration like a soundboard, where disciplines can be “turned up” based on learning goals. These units are turned and designed with support for teachers new to computer science!

TAKEAWAYS:
Explore how new OpenSciEd + Computer Science units authentically integrate science and computer science. Students use programming and build tools to explain phenomena and solve problems. Educators will see how integration is accessible, engaging, and aligned to three-dimensional teaching and learning.

SPEAKERS:
Michael Novak, Nicole Vick

We will begin by exploring opportunities to use AI as a partner for brainstorming phenomena that enhance learning and assessment, including ways to customize existing high-quality instructional materials like OpenSciEd. After selecting a focal Performance Expectation (PE), we will utilize MagicSchool AI along with a phenomenon brainstorming script to create an initial list of potential phenomena. These will include natural, everyday, historical, contemporary, culturally significant, and justice-oriented phenomena, as well as design challenges and starting points for data sources. Collaborating with colleagues and receiving support from the 5D Assessment Project team, we will ask follow-up questions to refine our results. Finally, we will consider our knowledge of students' interests and identities, along with a brief unpacking of the standard, to select 2-3 top candidates for further development. We will also reflect on the ethical considerations of using AI tools in our practice.

TAKEAWAYS:
Join us to explore how to use AI to assist in brainstorming NGSS-aligned phenomena that enhance 3D instruction and assessment and connect to students’ interests and identities. These tools come from the 5D assessment project, a collaboration between inquiryHub and BSCS Science Learning.

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Campanella

Sponsoring Company: Switch Classroom

This presentation will showcase best practices to address that “all forms of energy production” have “risks as well as benefits.” The free, online Switch Classroom provides non-partisan content in this critical area of NGSS instruction. Adaptable for grades 4-12.

SPEAKERS:
Lynn Kistler

Sponsoring Company: Activate Learning

A shift to three-dimensional assessments provides opportunities for students to demonstrate their use of science practices, application of crosscutting concepts, and understanding of science content. Participants will learn about the elements of three-dimensional assessments, analyze assessments with student work, and become familiar with the OSE Assessment System and OSE Grading Planning Tool.

SPEAKERS:
Brian Klaft, Michelle Tindall

Sponsoring Company: InnerOrbit

Join us as we dig into real district case studies showing how performance on summative assessments can predict and support readiness for state science tests. We’ll explore key findings, insights, and practical takeaways to help you align your assessments and boost student success.

SPEAKERS:
Emily Miller

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Assume the role of a crime scene investigator to solve a realistic crime scenario. Students use fingerprint, hair analysis, tire track impressions, blood typing, forensic entomology, and a police log review to identify a primary suspect from a pool of 6 alleged perpetrators.

SPEAKERS:
Laurie Nixon

Sponsoring Company: PASCO Scientific

Join us to explore the OpenSciEd Certified PASCO version Grade 7 curriculum. First discover a unit's storyline through a tour of PASCO Portal, our online platform for organizing and distributing teacher and student OpenSciEd resources. Then dive into the unit's first lesson to experience the anchoring phenomenon, used to elicit student questions that they'll work to answer throughout the unit. Finally participate in a hands-on activity from a subsequent lesson, using PASCO technology to develop an evidence-based response to one of those student questions. In this lesson, you will use our Wireless CO₂ and Oxygen Gas Sensors to produce data showing the relationship between carbon dioxide and water in the air surrounding plant leaves exposed to light.

SPEAKERS:
Shelly Riley

Through a pre-post survey and empathy and semi-structured interviews, this dissertation in practice examined identity development using classroom observations, note taking, looking at student work, and interviews to gain a deeper understanding of science identity development.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how teachers can prioritize culturally sustaining pedagogy within the science classroom to help Black girls develop a positive science identity.

SPEAKERS:
Tasha Jordan

Experience a small-scale demo of the Watershed Game, where students become community leaders solving real-world environmental challenges. This transdisciplinary tool engages learners in systems thinking by integrating science, social studies, math, and civics as they tackle water quality, land use, and flood resilience. Aligned with NGSS and state standards, the game promotes collaboration, equity, and local problem-solving. Participants will explore how students use data, policy, and engineering strategies to develop innovative, community-based solutions. Free to borrow, with lesson plans and teacher support included.

TAKEAWAYS:
Inspire student action with a game that connects environmental science, policy, and community planning.

SPEAKERS:
Maggie Karschnia

This study explored how Project-Based Learning (PBL) could improve student interest and engagement in 7th grade science. It looked at how hands-on and collaborative projects affected students’ attitudes and academic performance. Data was gathered through pre- and post-surveys and tests. The goal was to see if PBL made science more meaningful and helped students better understand and enjoy what they were learning. Results will help determine how PBL can improve science teaching and support student learning in real-world ways.

TAKEAWAYS:
A key takeaway from the study is Project-Based Learning allows students to explore science in meaningful ways by making real-world connections and applying what they learn to practical, everyday situations.

SPEAKERS:
Rosario Arellano, Jennifer Kopec

Given the persistent lack of STEM teachers who have sufficient knowledge of engineering and the design process to teach an integrative transdisciplinary approach to STEM that addresses today’s increasing technologies and digital innovations, this NSF Noyce Project, Mechatronics Integrated into STEM Teaching for Transformative Inclusive Communities (MISTTIC) supports 20 district Master Teaching Fellows (MTFs) to implement convergence mechatronics learning by creating innovative solutions in K-12 settings that are steeped in real-world, socially-relevant context that draws on knowledge across multiple disciplines to address the technological demands within society, acknowledging that early exposure to mechatronics can impact students’ decision to pursue STEM career pathways.

TAKEAWAYS:
MISTTIC has prepared teachers to catalyze change and advance the integration of mechatronics within their curriculum, including experiential education activities to enhance inclusivity and broaden the pipeline to bridge the school to STEM field workforce for a larger group of students.

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Holman, Dodi Cline, Stephanie Arthur

This poster details a ready-to-implement curriculum and comprehensive teacher guide that empowers middle school students to be scientists. Students are introduced to moths (Lepidoptera) and, through a scaffolded process, develop their own original scientific questions about moths in their local habitats. They then design and build moth traps, collect authentic field data, and analyze their results to answer their research questions. The MothEd experience can be implemented fully offline using printable, paper-based lessons, or enhanced through an online platform called CLUE (Collaborative Learning User Environment). All materials are linked to NGSS performance expectations. The MothEd experience was co-developed with teachers and tested over four years across multiple states. This curriculum offers a low-cost, high-impact way to engage students in real-world ecological science.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers can easily implement a curriculum that empowers students to ask authentic scientific questions about their local environments—and to experience the full process of being scientists, from discovery to data analysis.

SPEAKERS:
Peter White

Are you tired of the same three students raising their hands while others seem to sit back and let them carry the discussion? Do you not feel quite right about the anxiety your students feel around popsicle sticks? Then we’ve got a routine for you: Silent Counts. Silent counts are incredibly effective at giving students time to think of responses before sharing with a partner. They are extremely effective regardless of the age of the students you teach. Come learn about the Silent Count routine and its uses. The Silent Count begins by having students put their fists to their chest and then raise one finger on the fist when they have one idea and other fingers as they have different ideas. The students turn and talk once the teacher sees everyone has at least one finger raised. We will then share some ways the Silent Count can be valuable for launching Initial Ideas, Building Understanding, and Consensus-Type Discussions. The Silent Count is particularly effective for questions.

TAKEAWAYS:
You can use the Silent Count Routine to engage ALL your learners in thinking and talking scientifically. You’ll experience the routine, explore why this routine matters, understand how to introduce the routine, and find ways to incorporate this routine into your sensemaking discussions.

SPEAKERS:
Joel Donna

OpenSciEd’s 3-dimensional Middle School Science + Computer Science units help students concurrently figure out science ideas and computer science in the context of explaining phenomena. The first of these upcoming, free units, 8.1, focuses on collisions between objects. This poster emphasizes the unique pedagogical approach that leverages hardware (micro:bits and sensors) and software (Makecode block coding) to help students explain collisions and develop force measurement solutions for a wide variety of applications. The presenter can also share more information about the other upcoming CS-integrated units (6.3 Weather, Climate & Water Cycling; 6.5 Natural Hazards; 7.6 Earth's Resources & Human Impact; and 8.2 Sound Waves).

TAKEAWAYS:
Computer science can be used as a tool to help explain science phenomena and develop engineering solutions, with computer science learning integrated with science learning in true STEM fashion.

SPEAKERS:
Dan Voss

There is a critical shortage of professionals in the healthcare industry. This shortage has increased efforts to educate and attract students to the field. With this presentation, we share exemplar lessons and encourage teachers’ involvement in a professional development program aimed at cultivating the next generation of cancer researchers.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session provides attendees with in-depth content and engaging pedagogy related to inquiry-based biomedical career education. This is conveyed through exemplar classroom-ready, hands-on lessons for the middle school classroom that align with actual cancer research and the Next Generation Science Standards.

SPEAKERS:
Gayle Buck

The research examines the effects of inquiry-based learning (IBL) materials on educational outcomes and teaching strategies in Science 8. Physics concepts are complex which frequently results in student disengagement when educators rely on memorization-based teaching techniques. IBL moves student education from passive listening to active engagement through exploration and problem-solving activities that improve understanding and critical thinking capabilities. Practical application-based physics instruction inspires students to choose science and technology as their future career paths. The educational market does not have validated IBL materials that are adapted to the Science 8 curriculum. The research project focuses on creating IBL resources that match K-12 academic standards to boost both student performance and engagement levels. The instructional framework enables teachers to apply IBL while overcoming preparation and resource.

TAKEAWAYS:
The participants will examine ways inquiry-based learning materials boost Science 8 teaching through improved student participation and academic success. The session will demonstrate new physics IBL resources while discussing educational challenges and providing a detailed implementation approach.

SPEAKERS:
Princess Margaret Paz

This poster session highlights high-impact strategies for developing vocabulary and building background knowledge in upper elementary through secondary science classrooms to support student sense-making of science phenomena. Participants will explore how to select and teach Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary aligned to science standards and how to embed those terms into reading, writing, and classroom discourse. The session features effective reading routines—such as morphology-based instruction, concept mapping, and close reading of informational texts—that help students access complex ideas and use scientific language accurately. Emphasis will be placed on practices that promote both conceptual understanding and language development. Attendees will leave with planning tools, word-learning templates, anchor chart examples, and instructional supports designed for immediate classroom application.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn practical strategies for integrating vocabulary and knowledge-building routines into science instruction to support student sense-making of science phenomena through reading, writing, and discourse in upper elementary through secondary classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Wenger, Wendy Towery-Stove

We show how instructional materials can be adapted for local contexts—and how to elevate issues of climate justice and ethical responses to the climate crisis. Participants will learn about how a high school physics unit from OpenSciEd was adapted to attend to Indigenous land rights and sovereignty.

TAKEAWAYS:
In relation to science and engineering projects in society (e.g., associated with the energy transition, ecological restoration, urban development), teachers will learn how to engage students in exploring moral and ethical dimensions of trade-offs in project approaches.

SPEAKERS:
Kelsie Fowler, Philip Bell

Leaders will share their purpose for joining this session and then engage in a simulation as a “common experience” and use that experience to consider how key lessons about change played out in the simulation and how the lessons play out in their work. Leaders will read and discuss the Change Management text from The Elements: Transforming Teaching through Curriculum-based Professional Learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Join other leaders to consider key lessons from change and dig into Change Management from The Elements: Transforming Teaching through Curriculum-based Professional Learning.

SPEAKERS:
Jody Bintz

In this hands-on session, educators will experience the power of real-time data in engineering design and iteration. Building on insights gained through collaborative NIH grant development, participants will engage in a rapid prototyping challenge, using easily accessible live data to test, refine, and improve a solution within a short cycle—just as real engineers do. This interactive workshop will model data-driven decision-making, helping teachers bring NGSS-aligned, iterative engineering practices into their classrooms. By the end, participants will leave with practical strategies to integrate real-time data tools into their lessons, empowering students to make informed design choices and develop future-ready problem-solving skills.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to integrate real-time data into engineering challenges, guiding students through rapid prototyping and iteration.

SPEAKERS:
Emine inci Birkan, Gillian Roehrig, Todd Hunter

If you have done inquiry based learning you know that it can be challenging when students don’t seem to have any questions they want to investigate! The good news is that you can build and foster a classroom community that makes curiosity the default rather than something you have to manufacture. Whether they realize it or not, students want to understand the world around them, they just often don't think it's worth the work to actually do so. By creating a culture where questions are normal, expected, and encouraged, I'm able to push students to continue working towards content mastery rather than deciding they "know enough to pass the test". Strategies like question boxes, science hot seat, question stems, and others have been invaluable in bringing back the curiosity in my middle and high school students that is so inherently present in younger grades.

TAKEAWAYS:
Curiosity isn’t something that exists naturally in all groups of students, but fear not and come join me to discover how to build a curious classroom culture!

SPEAKERS:
Anneliese Johnson

Human DNA is more alike than different, so how do we find the differences? Restriction enzymes are proteins that recognize and cut specific DNA sequences. These can be used to determine whether a particular DNA sequence is present and to see differences between samples from different individuals – a DNA Fingerprint. This technique is called Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP), and it was the first way detectives analyzed DNA at a crime scene. In this activity, participants will use agarose gel electrophoresis to compare three DNA samples and “solve” an art heist. This lab is great to teach about restriction enzymes and agarose gel electrophoresis in a fun and hands-on way – perfect for life science, biology, and forensics classes.

TAKEAWAYS:
Digesting DNA with restriction enzymes yields a “DNA Fingerprint” that can help investigators identify suspects at a crime scene. In this lab we will use digested DNA and agarose gel electrophoresis to “solve” an art heist.

SPEAKERS:
Arie Kaz, Kelsie Anson

This session focuses on designing, building, and using three-dimensional formative assessment tasks. The session will feature ways to use assessment within scientific investigation to inform teachers and students of learning three-dimensional science learning progress. The role of crosscutting concepts in focusing performance tasks will be modeled in the sessions. The session will feature discussions about the effective alignment of assessment tasks to three-dimensional science standards.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will take away lessons that include formative assessment tasks and how to use formative assessment to enhance classroom instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Brett Moulding

While student investigation using authentic data-driven phenomena can be a powerful tool for sensemaking, the process of identifying and integrating high-quality data can be overwhelming and time consuming. This session supports educators in tackling both of these challenges. Join us as we highlight sources and strategies for identifying locally relevant data-driven phenomena and share practices for transforming these into engaging and accessible phenomena for your students. Participants will leave with a curated directory of data-sources and classroom-ready strategies to bridge the gap between raw data and rich phenomena-based learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with a curated directory of data-sources and classroom-ready strategies to bridge the gap between raw data and rich phenomena-based learning.

SPEAKERS:
Christopher Like, Tiffany Morgan

Sponsoring Company: Teachers' Curriculum Institute (TCI)

Join us for an innovative and interactive session where engineering meets speed dating! Dive into hands-on engineering challenges and activities inspired by TCI's middle school science programs. In this dynamic workshop, attendees will participate in a series of "speed dates" with engineering experiences, uncovering valuable lessons and insights.

SPEAKERS:
Sara Kumar

Engage in hands-on, standards-aligned investigations across physics, life science, and Earth-space science that use real-world data to uncover patterns and drive inquiry. Participants will analyze phenomena such as pendulum motion, global temperature trends, and population growth through the lens of mathematics—graphing, calculating rates, identifying trends, and modeling relationships. This session will provide practical strategies for embedding mathematical thinking into science instruction and equip teachers with ready-to-use lessons, data sets, and planning tools to help students use data to make sense of the world.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to engage students in science inquiry by using real-world data and mathematical analysis to identify patterns, build models, and make evidence-based claims across physics, life science, and Earth-space science investigations.

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Szentmiklosi

Why do some materials feel warmer or cooler to the touch? This hands-on session guides educators through a lab experience where students measure temperature changes in various materials to explore thermal conductivity. Participants will calculate averages, compare rates of heat transfer, and discuss implications for insulation and energy efficiency. Digital graphing and collaborative whiteboard tools will be used to help students visualize and interpret their findings.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will gain a hands-on lab and data analysis activity that helps students explore heat transfer in everyday materials and understand thermal conductivity through real measurements and visual tools.

SPEAKERS:
Mike Szydlowski

Sponsoring Company: PASCO Scientific

Join us to explore the OpenSciEd Certified PASCO version Grade 8 curriculum. First discover a unit's storyline through a tour of PASCO Portal, our online platform for organizing and distributing teacher and student OpenSciEd resources. Then dive into the unit's first lesson to experience the anchoring phenomenon, used to elicit student questions that they'll work to answer throughout the unit. Finally participate in a hands-on activity from a subsequent lesson, using PASCO technology to develop an evidence-based response to one of those student questions. In this lesson, you will use our Smart Cart with its built-in force and position sensors to graph the relationship between applied force and deformation for different materials.

SPEAKERS:
Shelly Riley

Research shows that providing opportunities for youth to interact with and learn from diverse STEM role models can break stereotypes and increase motivation to pursue a career in STEM. Join Twin Cities PBS as we share research-based strategies for incorporating role models into STEM learning spaces, created through 20 years of award-winning research and outreach as part of the SciGirls television series on PBS Kids. This session will outline: ways for teachers to prepare students for meeting a role model; how to prepare the role model for talking with youth (including specific talking points for role models and self-paced training for role models); how to find STEM Role Models; and printed guides on Role Model strategies and gender equitable teaching strategies.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn research based strategies for incorporating role models in formal and informal learning environments, with a focus on how to prepare youth and role models to get the most from the experience!

SPEAKERS:
Katie Hessen

Sponsoring Company: LEGO® Education

Middle school learners benefit from science instruction that is hands-on, visual, and rooted in real-world exploration. In this interactive workshop for grades 6–8 educators, participants will engage in activities that guide students through the modeling cycle: building physical representations of phenomena, creating annotated diagrams to explain systems and interactions, and collecting and visualizing data to refine their models. Educators will leave with practical ideas on how to use LEGO Education Science to make abstract ideas tangible and inquiry-driven learning accessible for all students.

Sponsoring Company: Flinn Scientific, Inc.

Experience Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) for yourself in this interactive, hands-on session. Learn how this student-centered strategy builds critical thinking, teamwork, and conceptual understanding through guided inquiry.

Is it important to distinguish between data and evidence in science? YES! We’ll observe young students engaged in analyzing data and then broaden our focus to explore how data and evidence are woven through the science and engineering practices and across students’ K-12 science experience in school.

TAKEAWAYS:
Distinguish between data and evidence and why the difference matters in the science classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Kristen Moorhead, Ann Guglielmo, Brianna Reilly Oliveira

Equitable grading isn’t a one-size-fits-all journey. In this how-to session, two science educators share lessons from 12 years of working with public, private, and charter schools, navigating the shift from standards alignment to equitable grading. Learn how to address resistance, support uneven adoption, and overcome both real and perceived barriers while bridging the gap between early adopters and hesitant stakeholders. Whether your school uses standards-based grading or traditional gradebooks, this session offers practical strategies to shift mindsets, align assessment practices, and move grading systems forward.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will gain actionable tools to support teachers in moving from unpacking standards to selecting aligned assessments and implementing equitable, standards-based grading, tailored to meet educators at different stages of change.

SPEAKERS:
Kathleen Kaywood, Melinda Campbell

Engaging students in phenomenon-based 3D science learning is challenging; when students are absent, it can feel impossible. In this session, participants will take away strategies for supporting absent students in staying engaged in learning when they miss classroom instruction.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will take away strategies for supporting absent students in staying engaged in learning when they miss classroom instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Delaney

Generative AI is everywhere—but whether it can be useful or not in designing meaningful science curriculum and assessment has been much less clear. In this interactive workshop, participants will learn about genAI and what it is designed to do—and what that means for science curriculum and assessment. Participants will then use a custom-designed AI collaborator—designed specifically to support meaningful science assessment--to support assessment development of an assessment they can use in their unique classroom contexts. Participants will leave with a practical framework for AI use in science teaching and learning as well as a series of custom-designed AI tools they can use in their own practice.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn the specific ways genAI can support better science assessment, using a custom-designed AI collaborator—designed specifically to support meaningful science assessment--to co-create an assessment they can use in their unique classroom contexts.

SPEAKERS:
Aneesha Badrinarayan

In this workshop participants will engage with our innovative computational thinking curriculum unit. Our approach is grounded in phenomena, science storylines, coherence and student modeling. We have innovated upon these time tested NGSS teacher practices by incorporating computational thinking through physical computing (Micro:Bit). In our approach, students use programmable sensors to ask questions, define problems and engage in the rest of the science and engineering practices. The participants will experience these practices in student-hat so that they better understand the student experience and how to implement the units. Participants will write computer programs, collect/analyze data and connect investigations to place-based contexts. Participants will walk away with a co-designed, classroom ready toolkit of resources that they are ready to implement based on the workshop experience. No prior experience using sensor technologies or programming is needed.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to effectively bring computational thinking., data collection, and programming into the middle school classroom, based on curriculum units developed by inquiryHub at the University of Colorado Boulder. Our place-based focus is a powerful promoter of equity for all student

SPEAKERS:
Jeffrey Bush, Greg Benedis-Grab

This session offers a detailed look at using virtual reality to help middle school students explore real-world water challenges. We examine the rationale behind VR-based learning—why immersing students in digital environments can deepen their understanding and empathy regarding climate change and water scarcity. Next, we discuss the necessary classroom setup, including device options, low-cost alternatives, and troubleshooting tips to ensure smooth implementation. We then walk through the main features of a VR-centered unit, highlighting how to align activities with curriculum standards, scaffold student inquiry, and connect these lessons to sustainability issues. We share observations about student engagement, project pacing, and safety considerations along the way. Attendees will leave with a clear framework for planning VR lessons, practical solutions for managing technology, and strategies to help students feel responsible for addressing critical environmental issues.

TAKEAWAYS:
Gain knowledge of VR-based lessons tackling environmental issues, meet curricular goals, and use technology to transfer these skills to other areas or science learning.

SPEAKERS:
Constance Leung, Yujiro Fujiwara

Do your students struggle with data interpretation? We have a student-centered, classroom-proven lesson to help students at any level learn how to read graphs. Come experience how students use metacognitive prompts to make their thinking visible, and then compare their thinking process with both peers and experts. Along the way, students build a personalized, step-by-step tool they can use to make sense of new graphs. No matter the curriculum you use, this lesson helps students more confidently approach a variety of graphs, make their thinking visible and reflect on their sensemaking process. Participants will leave with the resources and activities needed to implement this lesson in their classroom tomorrow. Anchored Science by Mi-STAR is a middle school curriculum project, created by classroom teachers in collaboration with engineers and scientists from Michigan Technological University, and dedicated to quality NGSS-aligned curriculum since 2015.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees experience a classroom-proven, NGSS-aligned lesson plan with activities to help students create their own graph interpretation tool. In the process, teachers facilitate making student thinking visible and improve students’ ability to interpret any graph used in the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Tony Matthys

The NSTA Atlas of the Three Dimensions maps out learning progressions based on the Framework for K–12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The 62 maps in the Atlas organize all of the elements from standards on a particular topic (e.g., modeling, patterns, or definitions of energy) on a single page. The elements from grades K–2 are at the bottom of the page, and those from grades 9–12 are at the top. Arrows connect elements to indicate how ideas in a particular topic build on each other and how elements in different topics connect to one another. Studying the maps in the Atlas and the additional resources in the appendixes can provide educators with new insights about the standards. This session will provide an overview of how to read a map, the other features of the Atlas, and how educators can use this powerful navigational tool to develop and implement curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to read the maps and use other tools in the Atlas to understand and interpret standards and plan instructional sequences as part of their work in curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

SPEAKERS:
Ted Willard

Join the NSTA PL committee for one or all of these 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 will explore the connection between math and science. Attendees will engage in activities to demonstrate how math can be vertically aligned and supported throughout a student’s education, K-12. Participants will use the phenomenon of why some storms cause more damage as an example of how math and science learning are inextricably linked. Using real-world data to analyze and model storm effects and develop risk assessments using probability and statistics, attendees will learn how every age can collect and use real-world data to explore a phenomenon and increase their learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will explore how teaching math is inextricable from teaching science and be given examples of how that looks when vertically aligned K-12. Participants will use real-life data to model a phenomenon mathematically, boosting both math and science understanding in a meaningful way.

SPEAKERS:
Erik Wade, Jesse Wilcox

Accessing a suite of regional data exploration tools can broaden the ways that students make sense of complex climate stories and science ideas while connecting to their own stories and curiosities. A teacher-researcher partnership designed a learning progression where students access and use climate data visualization platforms and interpret social science-derived future narratives that connect data with human impacts (SEP: Analyzing & interpreting data; CCC: Stability & change; DCI: ESS3.C Human impacts on Earth systems and ESS2.D Weather and climate). Together, learners use this evidence to make sense of phenomena rooted in projections and uncertainties around climate impacts that they already see and will see in their communities. This session shares a learning progression that embeds approaches to localizing anchoring phenomena in context, means of engaging students’ initial and emergent ideas, platforms and resources embedded in the progression, and examples of students’ work.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will experience a data- and sensemaking-driven learning progression, explore its three-dimensional and phenomenon connections, and consider how to connect to student ideas. They will leave with concrete ideas for accessing data and helping students explore the stories data tell.

SPEAKERS:
Clare Gunshenan, Martha Inouye

Corn is the most important food crop grown in the U.S., yet climate change threatens our ability to improve yields to continue meeting rising human demand. Solving this global problem requires knowledge of science, technology, engineering, and math. In this session, we will bring real-world STEM to life through modern agriculture. This hands-on session reveals how agriculture extends far beyond traditional farming as we dive into authentic storylines that connect students to pressing global challenges. Framed around the journey of corn’s artificial selection and the real-world problem of feeding our growing population can spark critical thinking and problem-solving skills among students. You’ll leave with activities and strategies that can be easily implemented that showcase cutting-edge technology and engineering in food production. Join us to see how agriculture offers powerful, real-world STEM career pathways that are accessible for all students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Explore how food can provide relatable entry points for students using STEM skills to solve real world problems. Engage in several activities from a new storyline unit that challenges students in figuring out how to solve this food production challenge as they engage in 3-dimensional learning.

SPEAKERS:
Rachel Skelton, Alicia Burge, Chris Embry Mohr, Kristin Rademaker, Jessica Holman

Sponsoring Company: Rayn Growing Systems

EdRack is the latest in horticultural ed systems designed to bridge all STEM categories through interactive labs. This hydroponic growing system brings industry standard cultivation methods to the classroom. We built in NGSS alignment to ensure compatibility with your educational requirements.

SPEAKERS:
Hannah Ball, Jarred Joffe

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:
Deb Morrison, Kelsie Fowler, Philip Bell

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Rockets zoom and race cars zip through hands-on activities that engage your middle and high school students. Apply creative problem-solving skills and engineering practices to chemistry and physical science challenges. Experience how Carolina makes it easy to incorporate STEM into your classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Laurie Nixon

We know two things: 1) the purchase of new instructional materials represents a significant district investment and 2) effective classroom use of high-quality instructional materials improves student learning. NextGen TIME can help districts ensure investment in the best possible instructional materials and provide them to teachers prepared to use them effectively. NextGen TIME is a suite of tools and processes to support districts in evaluating, selecting, and implementing instructional materials designed for the NGSS. NextGen TIME is also designed as a professional learning experience for teachers to deepen their understanding of NGSS as they analyze instructional materials. It addresses the needs of states, districts, and schools for a deep understanding of the NGSS to make selection decisions for instructional materials, plan for implementation of those materials, and provide teacher professional learning that enables effective implementation of NGSS‐aligned teaching and learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how NextGen TIME supports the evaluation of current instructional materials to strengthen their design for NGSS and how NextGen TIME tools and processes can serve as critical components of curriculum-based professional learning. You’ll walk away with free access to NextGen TIME resources.

SPEAKERS:
Jenine Cotton-Proby

The Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science (TIES) empowers middle school educators to teach evolution with confidence by providing free, standards-aligned resources and professional development opportunities. In this session, educators will experience hands-on activities, NGSS-aligned lessons, and online tools designed to clarify key concepts such as natural selection, common ancestry, and biodiversity. Participants will explore the TIES website, test out interactive classroom activities, and receive a complete evolution unit ready for immediate use. TIES has hosted over 350 workshops nationwide and continues to support teachers through webinars and direct communication with evolutionary scientists. Whether you're new to teaching evolution or looking to enrich your instruction, this session will leave you with practical tools and expert-backed content to meet your curriculum needs.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will gain access to free, NGSS-aligned resources—including a complete unit with materials, engaging classroom activities, and effective strategies—to teach evolution confidently and meet science standards.

SPEAKERS:
James Finch, Alison Peterson

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Come experience a hands-on model lesson from OpenSciEd for Middle School and discover how the Carolina Certified Edition enhanced these high-quality instructional materials, making them more accessible, user-friendly, and safer for classroom use. Engage in the featured light box model activity from the 6.1: Light & Matter unit. Participants will walk away with valuable resources to take back to the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Meredith Currie

Writing effective assessments in science can be challenging for any teacher, especially to meet the needs of diverse students in the modern classroom. Come explore the criteria for high-quality 3D science assessment items and learn strategies for writing them. Your session leader is a widely-published writer of science assessments and curriculum, and he has a wealth of experience to share.

TAKEAWAYS:
By applying the proper criteria, you can write assessments that reinforce science learning and develop critical thinking.

SPEAKERS:
Joseph Berman

Sponsoring Company: LEGO® Education

Learn how educators are using LEGO® Education to deliver science learning while fostering creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills in students. This session explores innovative approaches from early adopters who have successfully integrated LEGO® Education solutions into their curricula. Whether you are an educator seeking fresh ideas, a school administrator aiming to improve science achievement scores, or simply passionate about science education, this session will provide valuable insights and inspiration.

Sponsoring Company: Switch Classroom

Create and test Play-Doh electrical circuits to explore conductivity, resistance, and circuit design. This fun, hands-on lab provides an engaging way to teach foundational electricity concepts and energy science, making complex ideas accessible for students of all ages.

SPEAKERS:
Lynn Kistler

This session explores the Inquiry By Engineering Design (IBED) instructional model as an innovative approach to teaching STEM through climate science and sustainability topics. IBED blends inquiry-based learning with engineering design thinking, empowering students to investigate real-world environmental challenges and create solutions grounded in scientific principles. Through this model, students develop critical thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving skills while engaging in relevant, impactful learning. The session will showcase classroom-tested examples where students designed prototypes to address local climate concerns, such as hurricanes. Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources to integrate STEM using IBED in their science curriculum, aligning instruction with NGSS and sustainability goals. Join us to discover how IBED can transform your classroom into a hub for climate action and STEM innovation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Integrating the engineering design process into the classroom mirrors the real-world practices of engineers, introducing students of all ages and educational levels to a culture of problem-solving. Attendees will leave with practical strategies for incorporating STEM into their science instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Azka Kiran

Explore how middle school students can integrate life science, computer science, and social studies to design sustainable hydroponic systems informed by both data and Indigenous knowledge. In this hands-on workshop, participants will program micro:bits to collect environmental data (light, temperature, humidity) and analyze how these variables influence plant growth. They’ll also examine how cultural perspectives on land and agriculture can inform innovative, equity-centered STEM instruction. Using a classroom-friendly HydroBitBucket system, attendees will participate in activities modeled from an NGSS-aligned unit and walk away with replicable strategies, sample student work, and access to lesson materials that emphasize transdisciplinary problem solving.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore how to implement an NGSS- and CSTA-aligned unit that integrates computer science, data analysis, and Indigenous knowledge to engage students in solving real-world agricultural challenges.

SPEAKERS:
Tom Cozzolino, Justin Cannady

Take a deep dive into the practice of developing and using models! We’ll explore how creating and using models help students build science ideas and can support students’ in developing and writing explanations. Experience the power of building science ideas together as part of a learning community.

TAKEAWAYS:
Developing models individually, in groups and as a class makes all students essential members of the knowledge-building community.

SPEAKERS:
Ann Guglielmo, Brianna Reilly Oliveira

Sponsoring Company: Stile Education

Discover over 20 powerful strategies guaranteed to transform student collaboration, connection, and comprehension in the science classroom! Participate in lively, hands-on activities designed to immediately boost classroom interaction and deepen learning. Take home your own set of Stile Enhancing Engagement Toolkit cards, complete with QR code links to videos showing each strategy in action in real science classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Erika James

You have a coherent phenomenon-based learning plan for your students, and midway through, you get sick or jury duty - now what?!? This session will highlight approaches to substitute plans that are flexible, easy to implement, and support student learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
When students are tasked with sensemaking and figuring out day in and day out, it is easier to have that happen without the teacher present. Utilizing a quality curriculum that supports student coherence and phenomenon-based learning is the best tool to make that a reality.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Delaney

In this workshop we will explore the AIK12 standards through an unpacking activity. We will then explore tested lessons that can engage students in learning about the nature of AI and how to responsibly use it. During the session we will use the lesson materials to have participants reflect on the value of learning about AI and to deepen the conversation on the role of AI in the classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
You will gain a deeper understanding of AI, its role in education and how to incorporate AI in your classroom. You will leave with proven lessons that you can add to your classroom to get students thinking about and be critical of AI.

SPEAKERS:
Jeffrey Bush, Greg Benedis-Grab

"Unleashing the Scientist Within" refers to tapping into and maximizing one's natural scientific curiosity and potential for learning and problem-solving. It encourages educators to implement teaching methods that foster inquiry, critical thinking, and emphasizing the importance of embracing scientific thinking and innovation in students. The goal is to empower students to explore the world around them. As we embark on the journey of hands-on assessments and 3D learning, prepare to get your hands dirty, use your thinking skills, and learn ways of summative assessments that can also have a formal part to it.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will learn how to take an assessment given and raise it to the next level, change it to something more interesting, design it to be curiosity driven, and/or take some assessments with them already tried and proven.

SPEAKERS:
Melanie Hansel

Heat stress is the major cause of weather-related morbidity and mortality in the U.S. In a changing climate, all learners, teachers, schools and communities must be attentive to risks posed by increased heat and humidity. Workshop participants will engage with the "Earth and Human Body Systems" unit developed and implemented with science, math, ELA and SPED middle school teachers in the Linking Science, Mathematics and Literacy for All Learners program (https://scienceandliteracy.missouri.edu/). This unit incorporates NGSS, CCSS-ELA-RST and CCSS-Math standards, complex informational texts adapted from recent peer-reviewed literature, generative AI and computer-assisted simulations of future climate conditions and potential risks and mitigation approaches. Data collected over multiple years indicates that with appropriate content and instructional scaffolds, diverse learners strengthen shared NGSS and CCSS-ELA/Math practices for claim-evidence-reasoning and science argumentation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will take away evidence-based resources and instructional practices for diverse learners, addressing human risk, mitigation and resilience to heat stress in a changing climate.

SPEAKERS:
John Lannin, William Folk

FieldScope is a collaborative platform empowering communities to visualize and analyze environmental data that fosters a deeper understanding of science. This workshop introduces you to a tool transforming how participants engage with citizen science, moving beyond data collection to meaningful interpretation and storytelling. FieldScope is a common portal for collecting, sharing, and analyzing diverse data, a tool to help participants create place-based stories using data, and support for making sense of environmental information. Experience hands-on exploration of FieldScope tools, examination of partner projects featuring intergenerational collaborations, school/park partnerships, and public health initiatives, and guidance for integrating data storytelling into community programs. Join us if you want to enhance your programs with data-driven approaches or engage communities in participatory science. You'll leave with concrete steps for implementing data explorations.

TAKEAWAYS:
Leave with the next steps for planning data explorations in existing or future projects, examples of how to learn with data generated by participatory science projects, particularly in middle and high school settings, and how to host your own project data.

SPEAKERS:
Jamie Noll

Sponsoring Company: Teachers' Curriculum Institute (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:
Sara Kumar

Although concerns about navigating a commitment to high-quality science teaching and learning for every student amidst increasingly polarized rhetoric are acute right now, they are not new. In this session, participants will discuss why assessment practices that account for students backgrounds and experiences are necessary for achieving our vision for science education, and how to pursue this goal in the face of increasingly difficult and systemic pushback. We will discuss the neuroscience of equitable learning and assessment, frameworks for culturally relevant assessment that intentionally navigate around political pushback, and engage in scenario-based practice for participants to consider how they might respond to specific situations with grace, savvy, and a commitment to meaningful assessment for all.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this session, participants will engage with ideas about science assessment for every learner that intentionally balances an equity- and justice-orientation with navigating current political realities.

SPEAKERS:
Aneesha Badrinarayan

Using Interactive notebooks (INBs) in Science classes is a great way to build inquiry, study skills, and a deeper understanding of the material covered in your class. In science classes of all ages, INBs are a great tool to organize topics, thoughts, and learning progress. This session will focus on middle-level classes, but can be adapted for elementary and high school. We will view different types of Interactive notebooks, including physical and digital. We will be putting together a physical and a digital INB for you to take with you.

TAKEAWAYS:
One main takeaway from this session is the many benefits of Interactive notebooks and samples to use in your classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Katrina Davidson

Soil is more than just dirt—it’s a dynamic system that controls how water moves through the environment. This session explores the essential concepts of soil porosity and permeability through engaging, inquiry-based investigations. Examination of different soil samples, measuring porosity and permeability using simple tools, and analyzing how these properties affect water retention, drainage, and environmental sustainability will be highlighted throughout the session. Soil porosity and permeability play a crucial role in water movement, nutrient transport, and environmental health. This interactive session will immerse participants in a field-style investigation where they measure porosity and permeability in different soil types. Educators will engage in hands-on testing, data interpretation, and real-world applications that support the NGSS Crosscutting Concepts of Systems and System Models and Stability and Change. Participants will receive classroom-ready resources and strategies

TAKEAWAYS:
This hands-on workshop guides participants through the investigation of soil porosity and permeability using NGSS-aligned inquiry methods. Attendees will collect data, analyze results, and explore applications in environmental science, agriculture, and water management.

SPEAKERS:
Jessica Sadler

OpenSciEd’s free, upcoming middle school Contact Forces + Computer Science unit helps students develop a deep conceptual understanding not just of forces, but also of computer science and engineering principles. Rooted in the phenomenon of collisions (just like the science-only unit), students figure out that their work would be easier if they could measure forces with a digital sensor. They engage with a variety of sensor systems, make sense of hardware and software, and develop and test a series of increasingly complex and independent designs that allow for measurement of forces in collisions or a variety of other applications. Participants will see how micro:bit devices and MakeCode block coding are integrated into the unit and leveraged for deeper physical science sensemaking.

TAKEAWAYS:
Students’ investigations of forces are enhanced by development of sensor systems that measure forces for a variety of applications, with students also having opportunities to build computer science and engineering practices and understandings along the way.

SPEAKERS:
Dan Voss

See exciting energy, motion, laser, and wave demos plus learn how to access and compare the sensor data on the impact forces experienced by the crash-test dummies during the IIHS’s famous “Vintage Car vs New Car Crash Inquiry” of a 1959 Bel Air vs 2009 Chevy Malibu. Which car is the most crashworthy in a 40-mph, “head-on” crash-test? Make students predict the outcome then learn how to use “notice and wonder” questioning routines to kickstart students’ engagement in the free “Crash Science in the Classroom” activities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will see a selection of engaging discrepant events plus exciting crash-tests; and learn how to access free lessons plans with formative and summative assessments, teacher and student tips videos, lab sheets, and answer keys to teach crash-related science and engineering concepts.

SPEAKERS:
Pini Kalnite, Griff Jones

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Join the excitement, escape the rat-race, and experience the superior quality of Carolina's Perfect Solution® specimens with our preserved rat dissection! During this hands-on guided dissection, each participant explores the rat’s external anatomy, internal body systems, and individual organs. We also discuss the relationship between structure and function, as well as the interdependence between systems. These specimens are economical, simple to dissect, and great mammalian models for your next lab!

SPEAKERS:
Laurie Nixon

Corn is the most important food crop grown in the U.S., yet climate change threatens our ability to improve yields to continue meeting rising human demand. Solving this global problem requires knowledge of science, technology, engineering, and math. In this session, we will bring real-world STEM to life through modern agriculture. This hands-on session reveals how agriculture extends far beyond traditional farming as we dive into authentic storylines that connect students to pressing global challenges. Framed around the journey of corn’s artificial selection and the real-world problem of feeding our growing population can spark critical thinking and problem-solving skills among students. You’ll leave with activities and strategies that can be easily implemented that showcase cutting-edge technology and engineering in food production. Join us to see how agriculture offers powerful, real-world STEM career pathways that are accessible for all students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Explore how food can provide relatable entry points for students using STEM skills to solve real world problems. Engage in several activities from a new storyline unit that challenges students in figuring out how to solve this food production challenge as they engage in 3-dimensional learning.

SPEAKERS:
Rachel Skelton, Alicia Burge, Chris Embry Mohr

Learn about and apply lessons learned from Saint Paul Public Schools and BSCS Science Learning’s partnership to customize high quality instructional materials to align with state-specific 3D standards and local contexts.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn what considerations are important for developing a well-crafted plan for implementing and customizing high quality instructional materials for use in local contexts. Leaders will review examples of customized units that are aligned with the MN Academic Standards for Science.

SPEAKERS:
Molly Leifeld, Abraham Lo

This session focuses on designing, building, and using three-dimensional performance tasks to assess learning of science. The session will feature ways to find analogous phenomena to assess three-dimensional science learning. The role of crosscutting concepts in focusing performance tasks will be modeled in the sessions. Participants will analyze a set of three-dimensional performance tasks aligned to NGSS Performance Expectations. The session will feature discussions about the effective alignment of assessment tasks to three-dimensional science standards.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will take away summative assessment tasks for each NGSS and the Minnesota Science Standards. They will gain insights into how to develop their own assessment tasks and how to use summative assessment to evaluate teaching and learning appropriately.

SPEAKERS:
Brett Moulding

Sponsoring Company: JoVE

Join our hands-on workshop to learn how to use AI tools and JoVE videos to create interactive STEM lessons & rubrics for middle and high school. Explore real-world applications, tailor activities for diverse learners, and leave with resources to transform your classroom into an engaging STEM hub! Bring your laptop or tablet.

SPEAKERS:
Shauna Carlson

Educators need supports to create climate learning for their students. Now is the time to explore how to broaden climate learning across your school, district, region, or state. This session will provide pragmatic tools and design advice on how to best engage in this work for your specific context.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will come away from this session with an action plan and the tools they need to begin to collaboratively design systemic climate learning efforts in their own contexts, sensitive to their particular local phenomena, socio-political norms, and educator capacities.

SPEAKERS:
Kimberly Talarico-Wolff, Deb Morrison

Satellite data can be a powerful tool for engaging students in real-world science, especially when exploring climate change and urban heat islands. In this interactive workshop, participants will discover how to incorporate satellite data into their classrooms—no GIS background required. We’ll explore free, user-friendly tools like NASA’s Eyes on the Earth and the Landsat Explorer app to investigate environmental changes over time and space. Attendees will engage in hands-on activities that support data literacy and scientific reasoning while making connections to key Earth and environmental science concepts. Resources and classroom-ready materials will be shared, empowering educators to bring authentic satellite data into science investigations at the middle and high school levels.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to access and use free, easy-to-navigate satellite data tools to engage students in climate and environmental investigations—no GIS experience needed.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Slack

It can be hard to know what to do with relevance in assessment. What counts as “relevant enough”? Is it a must-have, or a nice-to-have? How can we make a single assessment relevant to a whole class—or school, or district, or state—worth of students without personalizing every test? Some topics or core ideas might simply not be interesting to some students—don’t they still need to develop and demonstrate proficiency? What is the difference between cultural and personal relevance? In this session, participants will examine the neuroscience of relevance to better understand exactly why, how, and when relevance matters in assessment. They will then explore evidence-based strategies for approaching relevance in appropriate, manageable, and meaningful ways such that every assessment has the opportunity to surface brilliance and learning edges from each learner.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will examine the neuroscience of relevance to better understand exactly why, how, and when relevance matters in assessment. We will explore strategies for approaching relevance in appropriate, manageable, and meaningful ways.

SPEAKERS:
Aneesha Badrinarayan

This session will help educators apply the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to adapt and enhance science materials and assessments in support of three-dimensional (3D) teaching and learning. Participants will learn how to identify barriers in instructional design and explore strategies to support engagement, access, and rigorous sense-making for all learners. Specific examples will include flexible approaches to instruction and assessment- both formative and summative- that honor student voice, choice, and varied modes of expression while maintaining alignment with NGSS dimensions. Participants will leave with practical strategies and planning tools to ensure that every student can meaningfully engage with phenomena and science practices.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session will equip educators with practical tools to apply Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles in science instruction and assessment, enabling all students to access and engage in three-dimensional (3D) learning through flexible, inclusive strategies that support voice and choice.

SPEAKERS:
Shennel Hunte

Empower your teaching with Scientist Circles! Discover research-backed strategies to foster collaborative learning, critical thinking skills and ignite curiosity in the classroom. Engage in immersive activities, share best practices and leave empowered to implement Scientist Circles effectively.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave equipped with proven methods and practical implementation tips to enhance student engagement and communication skills in the middle school classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Ann Guglielmo, Brianna Reilly Oliveira

Join the NSTA PL committee for one or all of these 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. Step into this immersive workshop where participants will tackle a real-world engineering challenge: designing an air-powered vehicle to reduce carbon emissions. Using the engineering design process, attendees will brainstorm, prototype, test, and revise their vehicles while documenting data, analyzing performance, and justifying design choices through Claims-Evidence-Reasoning (CER). This hands-on experience models how transdisciplinary STEM learning—combining science (energy, forces), math (cost, measurement), and engineering (constraints, iteration)—can drive student innovation and engagement.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to engage elementary students in the engineering design process through a hands-on, transdisciplinary challenge that integrates science, math, and engineering to build and refine air-powered vehicles while applying NGSS-aligned practices and student-centered strategies.

SPEAKERS:
Deanna Taylor, Jesse Wilcox

Virtual Reality Goggles have great potential for providing unique and immersive experiences for students. While this technology is still in its infancy, the implications for teaching and learning are limitless. From experiencing virtual field trips in 360, or working collaboratively to solve problems, VR offers a unique learning experience. This session will introduce attendees to the potential for teaching and learning science virtually through the Metaverse .

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will be introduced to the learning potential of Virtual Reality and some student-tested ideas for teaching in a virtual environment.

SPEAKERS:
Chantelle Renaud-Grant, Donna Governor

Yale professor Laurie Santos' course "Psychology and the Good Life" became a campus phenomenon in 2018, attracting nearly 25% of Yale undergraduates. Its free Coursera version has since enrolled almost 5 million people worldwide. This workshop offers educators a condensed experience of the science behind happiness and well-being through targeted mini-lessons and interactive activities. Drawing from Santos' research and "How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier," participants will explore why our intuitions about happiness often mislead us and examine the cognitive biases that distort our expectations. The seminar introduces evidence-based strategies from gratitude science and positive psychology for authentic happiness. Teachers will gain practical tools to implement these techniques in their personal lives and classrooms, fostering student well-being and creating school communities that promote genuine flourishing and positive habit formation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn evidence-based strategies to enhance personal well-being and discover practical tools to implement happiness science in their classrooms, helping students develop authentic happiness practices while addressing common misconceptions about what truly drives human flourishing.

SPEAKERS:
Stephen Kos

Sponsoring Company: Switch Classroom

Design, construct, and test a waterwheel to demonstrate the conversion of water power into mechanical power, capable of lifting several pennies. This lab will reinforce the concepts of renewable energy and energy transformation.

SPEAKERS:
Lynn Kistler

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Take a deeper dive into understanding the importance of learning progressions in 3-dimensional learning using Smithsonian’s STCMS. Experience the importance of a coherent storyline in student understanding and engage in a learning progression using density. Participants will walk away with valuable resources to take back to the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Hoover Herrera

This workshop will offer participants learning opportunities as to how to use DiscoverE’s Future City program to implement multiple STEAM and non-STEAM disciplines to develop solutions to the real-world problem of “How Can We Make the World A Better Place?” The session will introduce participants to the Future City Program (futurecity.org) and the four program deliverables: the City Essay, the City Model, the Team Presentation/Q and A, and the Project Plan. Participants will then work collaboratively to brainstorm how they could use various academic disciplines such as humanities, literacy, science, technology, engineering, visual and performing arts, and math, as well as concepts like research skills, teamwork, public speaking, and project management to guide students to complete each deliverable through the lens of the Engineering Design Process before concluding with a share-out and discussion of learnings.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will come away with an understanding of the Future City program and strategies to incorporate transdisciplinary learning to solve real-world problems within and beyond the program.

SPEAKERS:
TRAVIS KOUPAL

This session will explore how high-quality, research-based PBS media can enhance STEM learning through a transdisciplinary approach. Using content from trusted sources like PBS LearningMedia, NOVA, and SciGirls, educators will learn to engage students in solving real-world problems by applying concepts from science, technology, engineering, math, humanities, arts, and computer science. Participants will explore classroom-ready tools that foster creativity, collaboration, and innovation. This session also highlights best practices and strategies for using media in the classroom to promote deeper understanding and active engagement. Attendees will leave with effective methods and access to thousands of free, standards-aligned PBS resources that support rich, cross-disciplinary STEM instruction.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will discover how to use PBS media and best practices to create engaging, transdisciplinary STEM learning experiences that prepare students to think critically and solve real-world problems.

SPEAKERS:
Caylee Haus Reger

This hands-on, immersive experience is designed to help educators deepen their understanding of the effective and practical strategies to facilitate academic discourse that promotes inclusive science classrooms. Educators will engage as learners in a variety of intentionally planned instructional strategies and collaborative group discourse structures, that promote access to scientific discourse and opportunities to collaborate with peers. In addition, we will be discussing how teachers can shift away from traditional talk patterns- like I-R-E (Initiate, Response, Evaluation)- and towards Productive Talk to promote inclusive science classrooms. Resources from the Talk Science Primer and OpenSciEd will be incorporated. A digital resource collection of all resources used will be provided.

TAKEAWAYS:
This hands-on, immersive experience offers practical strategies to help teachers transition from the IRE (Initiate-Response-Evaluate) pattern to productive talk, promoting deeper student engagement and meaningful dialogue.

SPEAKERS:
Rebecca Garelli

Sponsoring Company: Lab-Aids

The carbon cycle plays a crucial role in life and in Earth's systems. Why is carbon dioxide discussed as a driver of climate change? In this hands-on lesson, we will model the molecular structure of gases in our atmosphere and analyze data about carbon sources and sinks to understand the role of carbon in climate change. This activity is from Lab-Aids' EDC Earth Science, an NSF-supported high school earth science program that uses an active, data-oriented approach to the student of earth science and earth systems, but can also be used as an individual kit to support climate change instruction in other courses.

SPEAKERS:
Stephanie Wallace

How can one rubric serve as a roadmap for sensemaking, assessment, and student feedback? In this session, explore how educators use NGSS-aligned, three-dimensional, standards-based rubrics to design instruction that supports phenomena-based learning and centers student thinking. Participants will learn how to create rubrics that integrate SEPs, CCCs, and DCIs using NGSS evidence statements and apply them across multiple grade levels. We’ll highlight student work, formative checkpoints, and summative tasks that show how these rubrics support equitable, transparent expectations for all learners. Classroom-tested examples will illustrate how 3D rubrics make student sensemaking visible and support lesson coherence. Participants will leave with adaptable templates, classroom samples, and strategies for using rubrics to design, assess, and advance student learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to design NGSS-aligned, 3D rubrics that center student sensemaking, clarify expectations, and guide assessment. Leave with templates, student work examples, and strategies to plan, assess, and give feedback that supports equitable and coherent science learning.

SPEAKERS:
Deborah McMullen, Vincent Fosco, Frankie Valenzia

Dive into Earth's climate history through the lens of paleoclimatology and proxy data in this hands-on workshop designed for middle and high school STEM educators. Participants will explore evidence of climate change while engaging in authentic explorations of data, engineering design challenges, and strategies for sharing scientific thinking that will easily translate to a variety of classroom settings. We will model oxygen isotope fluctuation, simulate ice core extraction, engineer solutions for core transport, and synthesize data from a wide range of sources to build a compelling case about Earth's past climates and the current rate of climate change. With skills developed in this workshop, educators will help students understand that scientific claims become stronger when supported by multiple lines of evidence, just as no single piece of evidence proves a case in a courtroom, the convergence of many climate indicators provides confidence in our understanding of climate history.

TAKEAWAYS:
Explore how scientists develop an understanding of prehistoric and modern climate change by analyzing proxy data from multiple sources in a hands-on, interactive workshop for middle and high school STEM educators.

SPEAKERS:
Stephen Kos, Sarah Slack

AI is rapidly reshaping the educational landscape and will soon become a regular part of your students' daily lives. Join me to explore how you can harness AI tools to enhance your professional development and classroom instruction. We’ll also examine the potential challenges of AI, including ways it may inadvertently mislead both educators and learners.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn how to explain the functions of AI tools like ChatGPT, use AI to strengthen their professional skills, and effectively integrate it into their planning and instruction. They will also gain an understanding of the limitations of AI, particularly in areas such as safety and the use

SPEAKERS:
Christine Anne Royce

In addition to the two-yearly national conferences on science education, NSTA provides year-round in-person, online, and blended personalized professional learning experiences for groups of K–12 educators. This is the ideal formula for best professional learning, as it must be high quality and on-going. So, what are your plans for the teachers in your district? Join us to learn what NSTA has to offer. The online option, known as the NSTA Partner Program, provides educators with access to digital resources, virtual events, the online community, expert staff, and digital professional membership for all participants. A variety of in-person workshops are available, including OpenSciEd. Presenters will share case studies that are representative of the different professional learning options available.

TAKEAWAYS:
Education leaders will learn about professional learning opportunities that NSTA offers, delivered in-person, online, and blended that give their teachers the power to personalize their learning as well as the ability to learn with their peers. Some programs include membership for all participants.

SPEAKERS:
Flavio Mendez

We will share insights from a research project to test middle school formative assessments that reduce language barriers. One of the participating educators will discuss how the design of the tasks and specificity of the rubrics helped improve communication between the teacher and students. Incorporating the materials positively contributed to a classroom culture where assessments are understood to be FOR learning, not OF learning; and students at all levels developed and used a common language for learning based on the three dimensions of NGSS.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with 3D formative assessments and rubrics ready for their middle school classrooms, as well as research-based strategies for adapting their existing assessments to meet the needs of learners at all levels.

SPEAKERS:
Katrina Pommerening, Esther Brown, Sara Krauskopf

This session will focus on effective strategies for fostering STEM vocabulary development for newcomer multilingual learners. I will start with a quick activity to highlight the challenges and opportunities in learning STEM terminology. Participants will then engage in a series of hands-on, collaborative tasks that model vocabulary-building strategies such as listener/speaker bookmarks, differentiated word banks, and context-based sentence stems specific for Newcomers. The session will feature sample STEM activities with embedded language supports, showcasing how to teach key academic vocabulary through inquiry-based learning. Attendees will have the opportunity to share ideas in small groups. The session will close with a reflection and resource share to help educators create vocabulary-rich, inclusive STEM classrooms for multilingual learners.

TAKEAWAYS:
Discover practical, research-based strategies to build STEM vocabulary for newcomer multilingual learners. Explore engaging activities, scaffolding techniques, and tools to support word learning in context while promoting inquiry, collaboration, and language growth.

SPEAKERS:
Maria Cieslak

Learn how OpenSciEd’s new middle school units are intentionally designed to expand access to computer science by integrating it directly into science instruction. This session will introduce an instructional model that addresses longstanding equity gaps in computer science education by embedding programming, computational thinking, and engineering design into phenomenon-based science investigations. Explore how this approach not only deepens science understanding but also inspires students—especially those historically underrepresented in STEM—to pursue advanced computer science courses and careers. Participants will also learn about the career exploration opportunities woven into the units that help students make meaningful connections to their futures in STEM fields.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will understand how OpenSciEd’s integrated model expands access to computer science by embedding it in science instruction, engaging all students in authentic, career-connected learning that builds pathways to future STEM opportunities

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Vick, Tiffany Neill, Michael Novak

Sponsoring Company: Vernier Science Education

Get started with Vernier! Explore our top sensors for chemistry, biology, and physics and learn how to integrate real-time data collection into your curriculum. Support student-led science learning with hands-on, sensor-based investigations that help students make sense of the world around them!

SPEAKERS:
Tom Smith

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Take a tour through the mammalian heart and trace the path of a blood cell on its journey to oxygenation. Participants take blood pressure readings. Then dissect a preserved sheep heart to model blood flow and connect BP to heart anatomy. Don’t skip a beat - it’s going to be hands-on fun!

SPEAKERS:
Laurie Nixon

Sponsoring Company: Savvas Learning Company

Immerse your students in a 3D learning experience where problem-solving and real-world phenomena drive engagement. This session shows how storyline-based instruction deepens understanding of science and engineering practices, core ideas, and crosscutting concepts. Discover how phenomena can shift students from asking “What?” to exploring the “Why?” and “How?” while building motivation and mastery. Explore the 5E model, CER, engineering design challenges, and the structure of today’s standards in an interactive, high-impact workshop.

SPEAKERS:
Monica Morton, Mike Larson, Greg Sloan

Unlock student potential in writing and reasoning skills! This session dives deep into Claim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER), focusing on the crucial link between evidence and reasoning. Explore feedback strategies to empower students to apply their knowledge and construct strong scientific arguments.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will explore resources that expand literacy skills, specifically targeting writing, in the middle school science classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Robert Vossel

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek, Inc.

Bring inquiry into your lab with food science! Start by extracting food dyes from candy to analyze using gel electrophoresis and paper chromatography. From there, expand the exploration to different foods, encouraging students to design and test hypotheses, and use STEM techniques to analyze data.

SPEAKERS:
Maria Dayton

Sponsoring Company: Rayn Growing Systems

Explore hydroponics with a hands-on, scalable activity linking light, sustainability, and plant biology. Use Foldscopes to view plant cells and take home NGSS-aligned lessons; receive free classroom-kit templates, posters, and product discounts from RAYN Growing Systems and the National STEM Honor Society (NSTEM). Attendees are eligible to win a RAYN EdRack system and an NSTEM Chapter package. Ideal for K–college educators integrating STEM with real-world applications.

SPEAKERS:
Hannah Ball, Eric Magers

Sponsoring Company: Flinn Scientific, Inc.

Learn the essential practices and protocols every science teacher needs to ensure a safe lab environment. This session covers hazard analysis, GHS labeling, PPE, and risk mitigation—critical tools for protecting your students and yourself.

SPEAKERS:
Mike Marvel, Ph.D.

Bring mathematics to life in the science classroom with engaging, hands-on STEM integration! In this interactive session, discover how math can deepen students’ understanding of scientific concepts through real-world problem solving and cross-disciplinary exploration. From calculating force and motion to analyzing experimental data and modeling natural phenomena, you'll explore practical strategies that connect math meaningfully to science content. Learn how to use activities like bridge building, geometric pattern analysis, and data-driven investigations to reinforce key math skills while making science more accessible and exciting. Walk away with classroom-ready resources, implementation tips, and a renewed vision for using math as a powerful tool for scientific discovery.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to enhance science instruction by integrating meaningful mathematics through hands-on STEM activities that promote problem-solving, data analysis, and real-world application of math concepts.

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Szentmiklosi

What if your students could remember more without studying harder? This session dives into practical, research-backed strategies from cognitive science that make learning stick. Participants will explore how to “hack the brain” using techniques like spaced retrieval, elaboration, interleaving, and dual coding- all applied within the context of 3D science instruction. We’ll examine why traditional methods often fall short, and how small shifts in lesson design and assessment can lead to big gains in retention and reasoning. Participants will leave with classroom-ready tools and routines to increase engagement, deepen sense-making, and build long-term mastery.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to integrate brain-based learning strategies into science lessons and assessments to improve retention, metacognition, and student engagement—without sacrificing depth or rigor.

SPEAKERS:
Shennel Hunte

Sponsoring Company: Stile Education

Discover over 20 powerful strategies guaranteed to transform student collaboration, connection, and comprehension in the science classroom! Participate in lively, hands-on activities designed to immediately boost classroom interaction and deepen learning. Take home your own set of Stile Enhancing Engagement Toolkit cards, complete with QR code links to videos showing each strategy in action in real science classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Erika James

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. Come explore how instruction can more equitably support science learning that is consequential to your students and their communities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will develop an understanding of an equity project framework for science education for supporting 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:
Philip Bell

Building data skills in today’s learners can often feel very dry, but it’s arguably the most essential skill to succeed in the future workforce. And in a time where so many adults use data poorly to prove a point, why not use these “What not to do” stories to help teach these skills and build their digital literacy at the same time! In this session, we’ll describe multiple data misuses such as Cherry-Picking, Correlation vs Causation, and Sampling Bias to help learners see and interpret data through a more sophisticated lens. While highlighting the type of error, students also break down fundamental components of graphic organizers and how they should be decoded. Pulling from relevant and familiar examples of how data is misused in society to make arguments allows for a natural bridge to your 6 - 12 science classroom and builds confidence in analyzing the data you provide them!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will be provided with multiple student-friendly examples of how data misuses and biases lead to argument fallacies that span the societal spectrum. They will also see the learning opportunities found within each example and how they can be implemented immediately in any 6-12 classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Ramy Mahmoud

This session will highlight how two middle school teachers embedded a model of Indigenous Ways of Knowing into a curricular unit focused DCI in aquatic ecosystems. We highlighted Indigenous perspectives on issues of water as biotic or abiotic, the importance of water quality, the interconnectedness of beings within an ecosystem, and solutions to water quality. Attendees to this session will participate in lesson activities including games, readings, short videos, online content, writing, individual work, small group work and entire class discussions. We will share our formative and summative assessment strategies. Participants will gain access to our online lessons, teacher and student guides, readings and all resources. We will conclude the session by describing lessons learned from our perspectives as experienced middle school teachers including challenges of the readings in the unit and trying to balance students' learning from the unit with other demands of our science classes.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how our model of Indigenous Ways of Knowing (IWK) can be embedded within curricular units, not just aquatic systems. They will leave this session with a model of how we embedded IWK and a plethora of materials that will allow them to bring elements of IWK into their teaching.

SPEAKERS:
Susie Freiburger, Patricia DuganHenriksen, Michele Koomen

Sponsoring Company: Lab-Aids

Ever wonder why we don’t see an eclipse every month? Join us for a hands-on session where you’ll explore this puzzling phenomenon using a dynamic modeling activity that reveals the relationship between the Earth’s and Moon’s orbital planes. Discover how simple models can unlock deep understanding—and leave with your own Lab-Aids Orbital Plane model to bring back to your classroom!

SPEAKERS:
Virginia Rehberg

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. This workshop will emphasize directional terms, planes, cavities and landmarks on the skeletal model and then build several skeletal muscles. Emphasis will be placed on learning how to teach with the learning system and how to fund your class sets.

SPEAKERS:
John-Paul Theriault

Computer science is woven into the 2019 Minnesota Academic Standards in Science through benchmarks that emphasize modeling, data analysis, and computational thinking. Participants in this session will learn practical, flexible strategies to help them bring these concepts to life—regardless of grade level, setting, or access to technology. Participants will explore a real-world classroom example, engage in collaborative planning, and leave with tools to support meaningful integration of computer science into science instruction in ways that align with the Minnesota standards and support student inquiry.

TAKEAWAYS:
Planning tools and ideas to support integrating computer science (including modeling, programming, and data science) into your K-12 science classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Carter, Haley Kalina

In this workshop participants will engage with our innovative Self Driving car unit. Our approach is grounded in phenomena, science storylining, coherence and student modeling. We have innovated upon these time tested NGSS teacher practices by incorporating AI and computer science. In our approach, students explore the phenomenon of Self Driving Cars to ask questions, define problems and engage in the rest of the science and engineering practices. The participants will experience these practices in student-hat so that they better understand the student experience and how to implement the units. Participants will engage with Teachable Machines to create their own AI image classifier.

TAKEAWAYS:
You will leave ready to implement our high quality unit with your students engaging student interest and using powerful storylining teaching routines. You will also have authentic student assessments to accompany the unit.

SPEAKERS:
Jeffrey Bush, Greg Benedis-Grab

Come engage in activities (elementary, middle, and high school) to experience how to embed social-emotional learning alongside the NGSS! We will explore teaching strategies that can be used in any lesson, connect with the 3 dimensions, and embed essential SEL skills along the way.

TAKEAWAYS:
You will learn strategies to embed SEL instruction into existing NGSS lessons in ways that engage students with both content and social-emotional growth. Combining these practices facilitates a deeper understanding and more effective use of both.

SPEAKERS:
Kathryn Borton

Nearly a quarter of all jobs in the U.S. are devoted to providing food and fiber products to consumers required of future employees. This means our students must understand the intersection of STEM in producing and providing food and related products and services. Agriculture is a diverse industry that includes fields essential to sustaining life, advancing technology (precision agriculture, biotechnology, AI), and addressing global challenges (climate change, water conservation). In this session, participants will engage in several hands-on activities that can be incorporated into their classroom as well as access a variety of valuable resources that will support student’s connection to real-world careers. Agriculture offers powerful, real-world STEM career pathways that are accessible to all students, whether they live in cities, suburbs or rural communities; many of whom have never explored these fields or seen themselves in them. Let’s help them see what is possible.

TAKEAWAYS:
Help your students connect classroom learning to real-world opportunities, increase engagement, and prepare them for the future. Equip your classroom with hands-on activities and gain access to a variety of valuable resources to support your students' exploration around careers.

SPEAKERS:
Chris Embry Mohr, Jessica Holman

Sponsoring Company: ExploreLearning

Ready to make science class more engaging and meaningful? Join us to explore how easy-to-use technology can help your students think, investigate, and explain like real scientists. We’ll dive into interactive simulations that put students in the driver’s seat, empowering them to collect evidence, analyze data, and build strong explanations for real-world science phenomena. Join this session to discover how digital tools like Gizmos Simulations, Investigations, and STEM Cases can turn your most reluctant learners into curious problem-solvers, using authentic experiences that mirror what scientists do on a daily basis. You’ll leave with practical, classroom-ready strategies to spark student curiosity and deepen scientific thinking, no matter what subject or grade you teach.

SPEAKERS:
Cassie Harrelson

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Learn to use Wisconsin Fast Plants to teach experimental design and support student-driven inquiry. This workshop offers hands-on experience, and strategies to guide students from structured labs to independent research projects. Ideal for middle and high school teachers.

SPEAKERS:
Julie Stubbs

Assessment of NGSS performance expectations requires a multi-faceted assessment tool. Multiple-choice and one-word answer questions will not be sufficient to assess the science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, and cross-cutting concepts that have been incorporated into the performance expectations. In this session, we will share how we employed the method of backwards design to develop classroom assessments based on NGSS performance expectations for our middle school students in all branches of science. The sample assessments that will be provided require students to engage in performance tasks, develop, incorporate, and analyze models, gather and analyze data, and use both models and data as evidence to support their statements. Along with the assessments, we will share a format that can be implemented by teachers to develop additional assessments for their own classrooms and explain how our teaching of the content changed once these assessments were written.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will examine sample assessments for 3 dimensional questioning and be given a chance to enhance a question on a topic relevant to their teaching.

SPEAKERS:
Nicole McRee

Bring science to life as students create their own virtual field trips! In this hands-on workshop, you’ll explore how to engage students with an immersive, project-based learning medium in which they can demonstrate their understanding of core science concepts and develop their science and engineering practices of obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information. Leveraging virtual reality doesn’t require any fancy tech, and can bring the world into your classroom, allowing for place-based learning to occur anywhere! The multimodal nature of VR also supports inclusive pedagogy, allowing students to share their own voice and experiences. We’ll share lesson plans and examples of student work related to the carbon cycle (ESS2.D: Weather and Climate), and guide you through getting started with your own class. No tech expertise needed—just bring your curiosity and a laptop. You’ll leave with a virtual field trip of your own creation, practical strategies, and free resources to help stu

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to guide students in creating virtual field trips using easy-to-use tools to demonstrate their science understanding through place-based, project-based learning—making science more engaging, creative, and connected to the real world.

SPEAKERS:
Aman Desai, Kyla Cook

The NSTA Sensemaking Tool can help educators be critical consumers of instructional materials and create/revise lessons that reflect the shifts required by new standards (sensemaking). Gain experience using the tool and facilitating criteria-based consensus conversations with your colleagues!

TAKEAWAYS:
Use the NSTA Sensemaking Tool for classroom observations and providing feedback.

SPEAKERS:
Emily Mathews, Patrice Scinta

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Puppies are born to Molly the Labradoodle, and students must use genetics to solve the paternity mystery. Use Punnett squares and DNA gel electrophoresis to track the inheritance of a single trait across the litter. Then decide who’s the daddy: Zeus the Poodle or Otto the Labradoodle?

SPEAKERS:
Alexandra Dainis

Despite our best efforts, students sometimes struggle to find science content relevant if it is far removed from their everyday lived experiences. In Earth Science, geologic time is longer than students’ lived experiences of days, weeks, and years. Yet, geologic time is an essential earth science concept and part of the NGSS. We make geologic time relevant by using place-based learning. We selected three different time intervals-- Devonian, Carboniferous, and Pleistocene-- to teach students about what the environment of Minnesota looked like long ago. We will show participants fossils from these time periods, what the continents looked like, and scientifically accurate artistic representations of what those environments looked like. We will also explore how participants can easily find geologic information, so you can easily use this activity in your setting and help connect students with place.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how they can engage students in geologic history using place-based learning.

SPEAKERS:
Alexa Clements, Jesse Wilcox

Sponsoring Company: Flinn Scientific, Inc.

Discover high-impact demonstrations that make physical science come alive. This hands-on session covers key topics like force, motion, waves, and energy, all tied to NGSS performance expectations. Includes take-home resources to use right away.

SPEAKERS:
Jonnathan Medina Ramos, Ph.D.

Discover how the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Discover Nature Schools program brings outdoor and place-based learning to life with the free middle school curriculum, Nature Unhooked, a free NGSS-aligned middle school curriculum available as a digital resource. This session spotlights three recently revised lessons—Schoolyard Topography, Aquatic Invertebrate Sampling, and Using Chemical Tests to Measure Water Quality—that engage students in authentic scientific investigations rooted in local landscapes. Participants will explore how students use two free online tools - ArcGIS MapViewer and CODAP (Common Online Data Analysis Platform) - to map, analyze, and compare schoolyard and stream data to student data from Missouri Stream Team #5221. Attendees will leave with practical tools and instructional strategies that promote 3D learning, data literacy, and environmental stewardship through the lens of their own communities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn to use free tools, ArcGIS and CODAP, with the free Discover Nature Schools Nature Unhooked curriculum to support place-based watershed investigations, analyze real data, explore land use impacts, and build NGSS-aligned STEM skills.

SPEAKERS:
Gwendolyn Parrett

Asking good questions and making sense of data are key aspects of the scientific method that students struggle with. In this workshop, you will put on your student hat as you demo free lessons that showcase the research of diverse STEM role models as you practice asking higher-level questions. Students will gain confidence deeper understanding of phenomena as they flex and hone their powers of inquiry. Dive into data as you learn about and practice the PPSTT framework for making sense of any graph. (Psst…it’s the secret to data literacy). Don your teacher hat as you discuss ways to incorporate the resources and approaches you learn into your classroom. Supporting videos have been thoughtfully crafted to engage your students, minimize lecture, and include pause points for student activities. The workshop will be led by Matt Wilkins—a scientist, middle school teacher, and founder of Galactic Polymath Education Studio.

TAKEAWAYS:
You will leave this workshop with a treasure trove of high-quality, free and editable resources developed in partnership with scientists and Galactic Polymath Education Studio, along with exciting new ideas for how to help students make sense of phenomena and data.

SPEAKERS:
Matt Wilkins

Are you interested in making the shift to STEM teaching and learning, but you're not sure where to begin? This hands-on workshop will guide you through a strategic planning protocol designed to help educators and leadership at any stage of the STEM journey. Together, we will envision your ideal STEM classroom or school, explore the essential attributes of high-quality STEM learning environments, and backward-plan a clear, actionable plan to bring your vision to life. Whether you're just exploring STEM or ready to launch a school-wide program, this session will equip you with the tools and confidence to take your next step.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will work through a protocol for strategic planning that can be applied to whole-school or classroom planning. Attendees will leave with the protocol, samples, and a draft of their personalized strategic plan to bring back to school/district.

SPEAKERS:
Lis Dziminski, Tracey Howard

Do you struggle to help your multilingual students (MLP) engage with and understand your science lessons? If so, please join us to explore specific, practical strategies that you can use immediately to assist your MLP students.

TAKEAWAYS:
How to apply various strategies for Scientific Literacy, such as using, Language Objectives, graphic organizers, and color-coding key vocabulary to any science unit.

SPEAKERS:
Sydnie Chouery

This workshop explores how gamification and game-based learning can amplify engagement, deepen understanding, and support NGSS-aligned instruction. Participants will experience examples of both approaches, understand the difference between the two, and discover how to use game elements to reinforce the science and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with an understanding of game-based learning and gamification, along with resources and examples to support classroom implementation.

SPEAKERS:
Erik Wade

Immerse your students into the engineering and design process as they design a method to allow access across a span of empty space! Participants engage their problem solving acumen and embark on a phenomena based storyline to create the ultimate bridge project. Participants will make relevant connections to science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, cross cutting concepts and identify how storylines and investigation into phenomena can motivate student achievement.

TAKEAWAYS:
Immerse students in the design process through a hands-on bridge-building challenge, gaining strategies to spark curiosity and deepen understanding of science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts - while boosting student engagement and achievement.

SPEAKERS:
Greg Sloan

Equity is often stated as a key value in education, but how can we embed equity in science leadership work? Reflect on your own ideas, beliefs, and approaches to equity and learn how one science leadership development program weaves equity into the fabric of science curriculum leadership.

TAKEAWAYS:
Beliefs, knowledge, context, and lived-experiences shape approaches to equity work. The NEXUS Academy for Science Curriculum Leadership has developed Equity Principles to consider and intertwine with other leadership knowledge bases as leaders work to ensure equity for all learners in the system.

SPEAKERS:
Janna Mahfoud

This workshop guides science leaders in assessing district-specific needs and refining a K-20 science vision. Participants will explore national trends, collaborate on strategies, and design sustainable professional learning frameworks to enhance three-dimensional science learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will refine or define their K-20 science vision using National Academies research, identifying strategies to drive improvement in three-dimensional science teaching and learning across their schools.

SPEAKERS:
Callie Dollahon, Joshua Smith, Gregory MacDougall, Matthew Christiansen

Data is the heart of science practice, but many students are stymied by real-world datasets. In this workshop, learn how to guide students in identifying the structure and limits of the datasets they encounter and in framing investigable questions that unlock the potential of data.

We’ll begin by “getting to know” a dataset- its cases, attributes, and source. Then, with student hats on, participants will engage in activities to determine what questions can—and can’t—be asked of the data. Next, using Tuva’s free data literacy handouts, teachers will learn six types of questions that can be used to unlock data insights (variability, comparisons, relationships, time, proportion, and geographic distribution). They will practice determining whether or not each type is appropriate for a given dataset and drafting questions. Finally, participants will pick a dataset and draft a brief lesson that scaffolds the process of framing investigable questions about data.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn strategies for helping students: identify different types of data, clarify what data they have to work with, determine the types of questions that can and cannot be answered with a given dataset, and frame six different types of questions about data.

SPEAKERS:
Jocelyn Foran

Sponsoring Company: Stile Education

Bring your Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs) to life with captivating, interactive simulations! Dive into a dynamic toolkit filled with powerful, curriculum-aligned digital resources. You'll leave fully equipped with (free!) access to a huge collection of engaging simulations that vividly illustrate science concepts and get students engaging meaningfully with the science and engineering practices, making lessons memorable and meaningful.

SPEAKERS:
Clayton Forest