At OpenSciEd, our teams of experts work tirelessly to design materials for the latest research AND we know you can make them even better. In this session we will map your customization “why” to a customization “what” and “how” to support you to make the materials your own.

TAKEAWAYS:
Thoughtful, collaborative customization of high quality materials can result in better materials while simultaneously deepening understanding of how to get the most from both customized and the original high quality materials.

SPEAKERS:
Erika Palys, Renee Affolter, Matt Krehbiel, Austin Moore

What approach can science educators use to create assessment tasks that support instructional practice and students’ three-dimensional learning? Participants will experience an approach for designing 3-D assessment tasks that will help their students build toward the NGSS performance expectations.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to construct 3-dimensional assessment tasks that they can use in their classroom to promote student learning of the NGSS performance expectations.

SPEAKERS:
Christopher Harris, Joseph Krajcik

Join us for a dynamic workshop where educators will learn research-based breathing techniques aligned with CASEL. Experience chair yoga to reduce stress and enhance focus. Leave with practical activities that can be used immediately in the classroom, fostering resilience you and your students.

TAKEAWAYS:
The key takeaway from the description is that educators will acquire practical, research-based breathing techniques and chair yoga exercises that promote resilience and well-being, which can be immediately implemented in their classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Bridget Burke

How can science teachers leverage their expertise as master practitioners to drive positive systemic change in the classroom and beyond? Explore how we can serve as catalysts for 21st-century STEM education reforms by fostering meaningful partnerships with the community and industry.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will discover practical ways to tap into their inner leadership potential and become leaders, advocates, and ambassadors for STEM education at the local, state, and national levels.

SPEAKERS:
Patty Mannion, Dianna Gobler, Yishan Lee

Sponsoring Company: BrainPOP

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.

SPEAKERS:
Kelsie Stocz, Sara Classen

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Link physical science concepts like circuits and charged particles to the essential biotech method gel electrophoresis. Build a reusable gel electrophoresis system with the Bandit STEM Electrophoresis Kit, and use it to separate colorful dyes. Also, add the A to STEAM with creative pipetting art!

SPEAKERS:
Rose Chaffee-Cohen

Sponsoring Company: MiniOne Systems

Imagine the excitement of middle schoolers as they learn how to use micropipettes and run their own gel electrophoresis! Come learn how to bring these exciting and fun techniques to your middle school classrooms using the teacher- and student-friendly MiniOne equipment.

SPEAKERS:
Whitney Hagins

This presentation shows how the UConn-URI Navy STEM Coalition employs modular K-12 outreach to engage students from 2nd grade to high school along a few like-activities. Participants take part in our most successful activity, build-a-boat, in both the middle and high school configurations.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn strategies for engaging students across grade levels to cultivate STEM curiosity while conserving resources through building scalable, modular lesson plans which serve a wide swath of ages with minimal design changes.

SPEAKERS:
Kevin Logue

Use current environmental issues as an engaging teaching tool! View clips from Chasing the Tide, a docuseries that shows the 370-mile journey of a couple as they walk the length of Texas’s coast. Access FREE NGSS-aligned resources that guide students to explore pressing issues in coastal ecosystems.

TAKEAWAYS:
Gain three-dimensional teaching resources and strategies that guide your students to explore current environmental issues and identify actions they can take, no matter where they live or what resources they have access to, to support the health of our coastal and marine ecosystems.

SPEAKERS:
Anne Marie Fayen

Engage with Conservation Nation’s unique resources featuring diverse role models in wildlife conservation. Explore topics ranging from mindful birding with leaders of Black Birders Week to innovative uses of DNA in conservation with scientists from the de-extinction company Colossal Biosciences.

TAKEAWAYS:
You can build student engagement and help more students see themselves represented in environmental spaces by bringing diverse conservation professionals and careers into your classroom via free lesson materials and resources from Conservation Nation.

SPEAKERS:
Diane Lill

Sponsoring Company: PASCO Scientific

Engage students in a real-world engineering challenge! Learn how students can design and test crash barriers with live collision data to explore the link between momentum and impact forces. Analyze the resulting data to improve upon further design iterations.

SPEAKERS:
Shelly Riley

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:
Kate Soriano

Sponsoring Company: Activate Learning

The DQB is an essential tool used throughout OSE units to generate, keep track of, and revisit student questions around the anchoring and related phenomenon. Join the collaborative fun finding ideas for developing, maintaining, and revisiting this exciting representation of students’ learning.

SPEAKERS:
Michelle Tindall, Jen Gutierrez

The session focuses on designing, building, and using 3-dimensional performance science assessment tasks. Analogous phenomena are used to develop novel K-12 tasks requiring the application of DCIs and CCCs to make sense of phenomena. A pool of items aligned to NGSS and STEELS standards is shared.

TAKEAWAYS:
The session will provide participants the strategies and insights into how analogous phenomena are used to develop summative assessment tasks for writing performance tasks for each of the NGSS standards.

SPEAKERS:
Juan-Carlos Aguilar, Brett Moulding

Scientific misinformation, in all forms of media, can negatively impact citizens' health and safety. During this session, attendees will engage in activities to empower all learners to become media-literate consumers of scientific information capable of navigating the information age.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn to apply scientific practices and crosscutting concepts to disciplinary scientific content in the media.

SPEAKERS:
Jocelyn Miller

Teachers spend about 7-12 hours per week searching for & creating instructional materials. In this session we’ll hear from teachers about how using vetted, high quality materials as a starting point opened up new possibilities and helped them to be the teacher they always wanted to be.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how using high-quality instructional materials in your classroom can shift your role as teacher from "creator" to "innovator" and allow more time for supporting students and improving outcomes.

SPEAKERS:
Erika Palys

This interactive workshop will help teachers develop assessment question clusters that align with NGSS and include all 3 dimensions of the framework, ensuring a holistic evaluation of student knowledge and skills.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will leave this session not only with strategies and a framework for designing 3-dimensional assessment question clusters, but also with an assessment they create during the session.

SPEAKERS:
Libbie Haller

Build a deep understanding of what STEM means by creating opportunities to fully engage students in science learning. Participants will engage in hands-on STEM and learn how to incorporate it in the everyday science classroom. Learn how STEM integration increases students’ desire to learn science!

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will gain practical strategies for engaging all students in science learning using STEM integration. Walk away with a deeper understanding of what “doing STEM” means and how STEM integration offers an engaging, effective way for students to learn science.

SPEAKERS:
Laura Drager, Courtney Heikkila, Amy Monahan

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:
Patti Kopkau

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Inspire curiosity by examining pond water! Observe freshwater organisms feeding patterns and reproduction firsthand while exploring microbial diversity. These activities will build an understanding of ecosystems and provide phenomena that connects with biology and nature.

SPEAKERS:
Julie Stubbs

This session is designed to support participants in the practice of development and use of models. The goal of this workshop is for educators to learn ways to engage students in the use of models to predict and explain phenomena.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will leave with a clear understanding of what models are and how they can be used throughout the lesson and unit, the awareness that one size does not fit all when it comes to models and enhanced formative assessment capabilities by using models to reveal student misconceptions and connections.

SPEAKERS:
Brian Suter, Kerry Hammon, Peter McLaren

We will share a process for developing middle school science curricula using Two-Eyed Seeing and place-based learning to increase the engagement of Indigenous students. We will sample lessons developed with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, walk through development process, and provide lesson links.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn about an approach to developing a culturally relevant STEM curriculum using Two-Eyed Seeing and place-based learning and sample lessons that respectfully include Indigenous knowledges.

SPEAKERS:
Angela Just, KIRTIKA PANWAR, Sarah McDowell

NSTA provides high-quality digital resources and opportunities—all within a professional community—that supports your personalized professional learning. Just in time, just enough, and just for you! Learn about NSTA’s professional Learning tools. NSTA staff will answer questions.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will become knowledgeable about the plethora of digital resources available at NSTA’s, about the live events, and professional learning community that can help them enhance their knowledge and manage their personalized professional learning.

SPEAKERS:
Flavio Mendez

Make student thinking come to life with notebooks! Increase the rigor of student work—learn new strategies for organizing content and how to use templates for any science class. Take home many current NGSS classroom examples to get yourself started.

TAKEAWAYS:
Notebooking in science should focus on sensemaking and creating ownership of the work. Moving away from worksheets and discovering-1.) The how and why of science notebooks; 2.) How to engage ALL students in science; and 3.) Templates scaffold student learning for success.

SPEAKERS:
Jennifer Weibert

This experience provides educators with strategies to shift from the IRE (Initiate-Response-Evaluate) talk pattern to productive classroom discussions. Learn how to foster deeper student engagement, encourage critical thinking, and create a more interactive, collaborative learning environment.

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

Engage with STEM Design Challenges by designing solutions in the aftermath of a fictional hurricane or stranding on a deserted island. Collaborate to evacuate citizens, build shelters, and develop alternative energy systems while redesigning the city’s infrastructure for future disaster prevention.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to integrate hands-on, real-world engineering design into your classroom, equipping students with critical thinking and collaboration skills to address complex challenges like disaster preparedness, sustainability, and engineering solutions.

SPEAKERS:
Sandra Ryack-Bell, Regan McKinnon, Kathryn Atkins

This presentation provides a window into students’ thinking and reasoning as they propose, develop, and test engineering design solutions in small groups. We focus on how students use STEM content knowledge and the design context to make engineering decisions.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about the different ways students engage in the process of engineering in small groups and how to better support student learning.

SPEAKERS:
Muhammad Purwanto, Gillian Roehrig

Learn how to incorporate sensemaking and engineering design into your K-12 STEM classroom using the Teach Engineering Digital Library! In this hands-on workshop, participants act as students and tackle a real-world design challenge while engaging in phenomena-based and three-dimensional learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn effective strategies to integrate sensemaking and engineering design into their STEM classrooms. They will experience firsthand how engineering involves designing solutions to problems that arise from phenomena while engaging in student sensemaking and 3D learning.

SPEAKERS:
Dua Chaker, Jennifer Kracha, Ellen Sukovich

Problem solving? Creativity? Collaboration? Design Challenge? Learn about an instructional strategy that provides students opportunities to participate that focuses on local and state environmental issues. Join a mini design sprint and develop your own challenge before you leave.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn about the design sprint, an instructional strategy that provides students with a unique opportunity to participate in a challenge that focuses on local and state environmental issues. Participants will create the initial ideas for their own student design challenge.

SPEAKERS:
Liz Martinez, Peggy Steffen

Sponsoring Company: NOAA

Why are sea levels rising? Why is it so dangerous - no matter where in the US you live? How can we address it? Using hands-on role-playing activities from NOAA, engage your students on one of the most dangerous climate impacts of our time.

SPEAKERS:
Alexandria Gillen, Peggy Steffen

In this session, participants will explore digital notebooks and journals - a means for transferring student learning, practice, and reflection into a multi-media digital environment that allows for differentiation and student choice.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to enhance classroom engagement using multimedia resources organized into digital notebooks or journals. Strategies and examples will show how students can and have participated using mini-notebooks, unit notebooks and journals.

SPEAKERS:
Mridula Bajaj, Shefali Mehta

Sponsoring Company: BrainPOP

Harness the power of effective questioning to elevate student engagement and understanding. Led by a former middle school science teacher and current science learning designer, this session focuses on crafting questions to foster elaboration, critical thinking, and meaningful connections in science.

SPEAKERS:
Hannah Bonville, Sara Classen

Sponsoring Company: PASCO Scientific

Experience the best way to teach basic circuits! Learn how to build circuits with modular components that look identical to schematic drawings. We'll show you how to skip the tangled wires that confuse students so you can focus on the physics.

SPEAKERS:
Shelly Riley

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:
Katy Martin

Sponsoring Company: Simulation Curriculum

Dive into Earth's wonders! Our Earth Science workshop offers hands-on activities, expert insights and teaching strategies to inspire curiosity and deepen understanding. Join us in exploring the dynamic systems of our planet! Geology, Meteorology, Climate & Physical Geography! Grades 5-8, 9-12.

SPEAKERS:
Michael Goodman

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Explore easy, engaging, and safe chemistry activities that guarantee a reaction in your students. These lab activities support 3-dimensional learning and work every time, not just periodically.

SPEAKERS:
Laurie Nixon

Sponsoring Company: UL Research Institutes

This workshop focuses on sense-making about lithium-ion batteries and the phenomenon of thermal runaway. Participants will develop models to understand the phenomenon, applying cross-cutting concept of matter and energy. Participants will then ideate solutions for safer battery enclosures.

SPEAKERS:
Amy Gilbert, Jessica Sparacino

This lesson anchors student learning in real world local climate issues as they combine data literacy and art in the style of current working artists. Students turn graphs of local air pollution trends into art pieces that showcase their understanding of the sources and effects of each pollutant.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers gain ideas to create multidisciplinary units around authentic place-based climate issues while developing students’ data literacy skills. This lesson is engaging and produces powerful and beautiful evidence of student learning. Adaptable lesson plans will be included.

SPEAKERS:
Rachel Carpenter

Learn about research-to-practice applications of an arts-based data visualization project designed to enhance students’ ability to creatively represent contextual data.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will view examples of teacher and student products of arts-based data representation projects and consider applications of the research to their own classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Kristin Rearden

This poster shares a middle-school project where students create fictional ice cream parlors! Students design menus and merch, create a website, and build 3D models. Along the way, they’ll pick up important skills through connections to computer science, engineering, entrepreneurship, and design.

TAKEAWAYS:
The ready-to-use “Ice Cream Parlor” project offers students exciting ways to engage with important STEM concepts in an interactive, relevant, and hands on learning experience. The project inherently has many avenues for extension that can integrate it seamlessly into a variety of courses.

SPEAKERS:
Cristin Sedelmaier, David Amiel

Upon witnessing poverty in South Africa 13 years ago and wanting to make an impact, the idea of storing “Sunshine in a Jar” was developed. Currently, this solar lantern project is evolving into a “Power it Forward” movement in hopes of providing reliable solar power to those in energy poverty.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendants are briefed on the solar lantern project, which covers the middle and high school NGSS Physics standards as well as the NRC Framework Standards for Matter, Energy, and Human Impacts. Plans will be shared about how these lanterns are launching a movement towards alleviating energy poverty.

SPEAKERS:
Pamela Ulicny

Do you know Meaningful Integration Strengthens, Supports, and Inspires the Next Generation? This hands-on workshop is designed for middle school instructors to give and share ideas, structures, and strategies to integrate science with math, reading, writing, and critical thinking.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants leave ready to collaborate and demonstrate the new found structure and strategies gained from the workshop. The workshop provides attendees with authentic and meaningful ideas that inspire students to read, write, understand mathematics and use critical thinking in science.

SPEAKERS:
Yolanda Williams

This poster showcases the culturally relevant middle school 5E STEM lesson that interweaves Native American stories, language, and culture through Two-Eyed Seeing and Place-Based Learning. The lesson is part of the Native Earth Native Sky free online asynchronous professional development course.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn about effective strategies and tools to implement culturally relevant STEM lessons that interweave Native American stories, language and culture. Attendees will also learn about other lessons that are a part of an online asynchronous professional development course.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah McDowell, Angela Just

In this lesson unit, middle school students explore interdisciplinary concepts through the book "The Wild Robot" integrating ELA, Science, and Computer Science.Transitioning to the Engineering Design Process (EDP) students embark on a project to design and build prosthetic hands inspire by the book.

TAKEAWAYS:
This lesson unit not only enriches students' comprehension of "The Wild Robot" but also provides valuable experience in engineering and AI. It connects literature with practical applications, enhancing problem-solving, critical thinking, and collaboration skills.

SPEAKERS:
Leslie Suters, Kim Alvin De Lara

Outdoor education takes many forms and focuses on promoting real-world, inquiry-based learning. Learn how schools in different states have developed camping programs including how to effectively prepare, advocate for, and organize a camp experience integrating NGSS standards.

TAKEAWAYS:
Outdoor Ed aligns with NGSS to enhance learning through hands-on, inquiry-based activities. Visitors will gain strategies to create an outdoor education program that fits their school's needs, including lessons and units that foster critical thinking and problem solving.

SPEAKERS:
Myriah Leisher, Pamela Waters

Carbonated beverage containers, juice and fruit drinks, dairy products, and sports beverages all contain sugar. Students better understand quantities and volumes and gain an understanding of serving size. Reading labels is important!

TAKEAWAYS:
One major goal of this activity is to get students to better understand quantities and volumes. What is the difference between a gram and a teaspoon? How much fructose, glucose, and/or sucrose is in the beverage you are drinking? A second goal is to assist students in understanding serving size.

SPEAKERS:
Suzanne Cunningham

Learn about the National Middle Level Science Teachers Association and what we offer to our members.

TAKEAWAYS:
The National Middle Level Science Teachers Association (NMLSTA) is the only national organization dedicated to the support of middle level educators—grades five through nine.

SPEAKERS:
Mary Lou Lipscomb

Experience Playdoh as a highly functional three-dimensional tool connecting two-dimensional learning. These STEM strategies engage and promote interactions with all learners across curriculums.

TAKEAWAYS:
Playdoh is a highly functional classroom manipulative that makes three-dimensional learning possible using two- dimensional curriculum

SPEAKERS:
Dr. Erica McNeil

What makes a good story? How can simple storytelling connect us to learning science? This interdisciplinary project allows students to explore science picture books and environmental children's stories while learning about science communication in their community.

TAKEAWAYS:
Students can dive into diverse storytelling methods and explore the importance of storytelling in accessible science communication. Students will express environmental stories they care about to a community audience. AZ Standards Engaged: 1.E1U3.8, 8.W.2, 3, 4, 7

SPEAKERS:
Amanda Becker

Participants will be provided with engineering lessons for two 8th grade physical science topics: electromagnetism plus force and motion. The focus is on how the lessons were implemented, student work was assessed, and discussions to improve instruction and student learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will see video evidence of teacher-student interactions in real time as the engineering lesson was implemented. Additionally, participants will see samples of student work and the feedback teacher candidates provided.

SPEAKERS:
Imelda Razo, Makenzie Wall, Romola Bernard

Engage students in the engineering design process by having them design and create candy dispensing machines. The project will be presented from the perspectives of different educators at different grade levels.

TAKEAWAYS:
Discover how to use Halloween candy dispensing machines to engage students in exploring the Engineering Design Process. We will share project rubrics, instructions, and examples to guide the implementation. Discussion on extending the project to reflect additional themes will be included.

SPEAKERS:
Fernando Azcona, Eileen Koenig

The Art Institute of Chicago’s Art + Science videos and accompanying lesson plans explore science concepts and STEAM careers through the work of museum conservators and technicians. Each lesson plan details teacher prep and facilitation and is paired with a student resource to aid in learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will explore core science topics and STEM career opportunities featured in the four Art + Science videos and their accompanying lesson plans through engagement with the videos, curricular materials, and hands-on activities.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Compton, Corinne Rose

Dive into the "Curious Cloudy Connections" crafted by the National Earth Science Teachers Association (NESTA) to help foster systems thinking and community science engagement in classrooms. Learn how NESTA cultivates vital connections, enhancing Earth and space science education.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn about a unique way NESTA supports quality Earth and space science instruction across all disciplines with community learning and engagement.

SPEAKERS:
Natalie Macke

This presentation will share results of my research with a middle school science class on how the online program Classbank boosts student motivation for reassessment in mastery-based learning. It examines how game-like rewards impact students' willingness to improve performance and perceive learning

TAKEAWAYS:
A key takeaway is how Classbank's gamification enhances middle school students' motivation to engage in reassessment, driving improvement in performance.

SPEAKERS:
Alma Fernandez, Cecilia Duenas

Using Makey-Makey controllers is a great way to increase hands-on learning in STEM classes. This presentation will explore how Makey-Makey works and how it can be used within different lessons.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how the Makey-Makey controller can be used in a variety of different lessons and settings.

SPEAKERS:
Alyna Raynovich

This research project is a multi-day project that enables students to improve their communication skills, their ability to find accurate information, and to use the creativity inside of them. Students will create a diorama of their animal in its habitat and assist a younger student in their learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
This poster will help give attendees an idea of how they can incorporate more activities that dip into multiple subjects in their lessons. It will provide them with practical examples that they can take and use in their own classroom regarding research projects.

SPEAKERS:
Kylie Buchholz

Engage your science classroom with Project Based Learning aligned to NGSS. Explore how AI streamlines creating PBL experiences, build a PBL unit with an AI-powered platform, and refine it with collaborative feedback for actionable classroom ideas.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to use AI to create Project Based Learning experiences that are aligned with the 3 Dimensions of NGSS

SPEAKERS:
Kristy Lathrop

The Framework and NGSS called for phenomena-based 3D learning experiences for all students. Unpack WHY this is so important and HOW to make it a reality in your classroom. Take away phenomena and storylines to try in your classroom and strategies for making every student look forward to your class

TAKEAWAYS:
The shift to phenomena-based 3D learning brings the student to the center of the learning and uses their life experiences and approaches to sensemaking to drive it.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Delaney, Matt Krehbiel

Sponsoring Company: Simulation Curriculum

Unlock the cosmos for your classroom with our tailored workshop! Discover engaging teacher resources and delve into the latest astronomical discoveries. Gain confidence and tools to ignite students' curiosity about the wonders of the universe, fostering a passion for science. Grades K4, 5-8 and 9-12

SPEAKERS:
Michael Goodman

Gain practical knowledge to provide accessible STEM experiences for all students. Participants will analyze scenarios and brainstorm ways to create a more authentic experience for students. Participants will have the opportunity to apply these new strategies using provided STEM lessons.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will come away with ideas and actionable strategies to engage all students in learning STEM at appropriately challenging levels.

SPEAKERS:
Beverly Berekian, Jessica Minton

Sponsoring Company: MiniOne Systems

Teach macromolecules without the crazy prep! In this micro-scaled lab activity, students test for starch, glucose, protein, lipids and DNA, without the need for large volumes of reagents, cleaning test tubes, or boiling reagents. Then students apply their knowledge and test various unknown samples.

SPEAKERS:
Priya Mangano, Lindsay Hamilton

How can we bring STEM to life by weaving in history? Explore exciting activities that link groundbreaking discoveries and innovations with historical events, helping students connect STEM to the real world and see its role in shaping our past, present, and future!

TAKEAWAYS:
Discover fresh, innovative ways to fuse history with science! Attendees will explore hands-on, interdisciplinary activities that bring science lessons to life, deepening student engagement and making complex concepts more relatable by linking them to historical breakthroughs and events.

SPEAKERS:
Lauren Verdeflor, Yishan Lee

A hands-on experience for understanding how to utilize Micro:bits as a tool for manually or automated data collection, analyzing data sets, introducing data science concepts, and using phenomena to evoke curiosity and connecting to a STEM project.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will explore how students can use Micro:bits to log motion data in and egg and spoon race and then improve the design of their spoons to reduce motion. Extensions to the use of the data logging function include designing earthquake proof structures and a mini house moving project.

SPEAKERS:
Eileen Koenig

Sponsoring Company: BrainPOP

Spark engagement and deepen understanding with BrainPOP Science! This workshop explores phenomena-based learning, investigations, and STEELS-aligned strategies for grades 6-8. Discover how to differentiate instruction and empower students to become confident scientific thinkers and writers.

SPEAKERS:
Hannah Bonville

In science, differentiation supports inquiry-based instruction and learning. When the teacher takes students' needs into account, investigations and explorations become more engaging and authentic for students as they explore the natural and designed worlds.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will walk away with strategies for differentiating instruction by aptitude, outcome, feedback, and resources, including things they can do before, during, and after instruction to meet the needs of each student where they are.

SPEAKERS:
Hilary Kahn, Kelly Gooden

Neurodivergent students often think differently - aren’t we lucky they do? We will share best teaching practices that involve inclusive innovation. Learn to engage students in STEAM learning where they create authentic maker space products that build their self-confidence.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will gain ideas for maker space projects that utilize laser cutting, 3D printing, stop motion videos, and coding. These can help students demonstrate their understanding of earth science, physics, and life science, as they build on students’ strengths and creativity.

SPEAKERS:
Brianna Surette, Megan Saunders

Climate change disproportionately impacts people living in already vulnerable communities. Developing student understanding of equity and justice is crucial to building a more climate literate society. Join us to explore hands-on activities that empower students to become part of the solution.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore strategies for facilitating meaningful conversations about climate justice through hands-on activities that encourage students to identify inequities that leave communities vulnerable to the effects of climate change and to brainstorm ways to counteract those impacts.

SPEAKERS:
Youna Kim, Rosa Pongchit, Timanda Wertz

Learn strategies and try hands-on lessons to engage all students and multilingual learners in exploring the natural world through, STEM-focused content. Receive three free lesson plans with connections to NGSS, Common Core, and UN SDGs.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will gain knowledge and materials needed to engage all students and multilingual learners in nature-based learning. Walk away ready to immediately use these strategies and materials.

SPEAKERS:
Ana Leirner, Kate Nagle

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:
Patti Kopkau, Alexandra Felts

Sponsoring Company: NOAA

Dive into a sea of classroom-ready resources! With standards-aligned teaching materials, tutorials, hands-on activities, PD, and funding opportunities, NOS Education supports ocean, coastal, and climate learning at ALL levels and engages students and communities in hands-on stewardship.

SPEAKERS:
Alexandria Gillen

AI is rapidly transforming the landscape & will soon be a regular part of your students' everyday experiences. Join me to discover how to utilize AI tools to enrich your professional growth & instruction. We'll delve into the potential pitfalls of AI & how it might mislead you and your students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn to explain the workings of AI tools like ChatGPT, leverage AI to enhance their professional expertise & incorporating it into your planning and lessons. They will also become aware of the limitations of AI tools in aspects such as safety and questioning techniques.

SPEAKERS:
Christine Anne Royce

Unlock the secret to engaging middle school minds! Dive into dynamic discussion tools and powerful questioning techniques that will ignite classroom conversations. Elevate your teaching game with enhanced pedagogical insights, ensuring science becomes irresistible to your students. Don't miss out –

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will gain practical discussion and questioning tools, rooted in the crosscutting concepts, to transform quiet classrooms into spaces of students actively engaged in sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Brianna Reilly Oliveira, Kate Soriano, Ann Guglielmo

Learn to use some of the standards-based physical activities and "kinesthetic clue" mnemonic devices used at one of New Jersey's top-performing middle schools. See how when you get kids moving, it gets them learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Tired of having your students waste time and energy trying to memorize things? Have them “Get Moving!” Kinesthetic activities help make the shift from memorizing to mastery.

SPEAKERS:
Brian Ciuffreda

Learn how Blue Origin's Club for the Future is helping students get excited about space careers via hands on STEM lessons. Explore the lesson Cosmic Clutter: The Mission to Clean Up Space Debris and learn how to implement the lesson into your classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to implement the lesson into their classroom and learn about the free resources Club for the Future has to offer.

SPEAKERS:
Kristen Yip

Participants will conduct a series of hands-on activities on the properties of soil and how they relate to ecosystem health and sustainability. Teachers will also learn about additional professional development opportunities where they can participate in fieldwork with soil scientists in their area.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave the session with concrete strategies and resources for teaching soil science concepts as they relate to a number of middle school standards. The activities foster inquiry-based learning and are intended to spark curiosity about the Earth beneath our feet.

SPEAKERS:
Sequoyah McGee, Lauren Brase, Ed Robeck, Lindsay Mossa, Maliya Malik

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Bring molecular techniques to Ecology and Evolution units with an activity based on the work of the Duke Lemur Center. Has an extinct lemur species been found again in the wild? Test DNA with gel electrophoresis, build phylogenetic trees, and analyze authentic field data.

SPEAKERS:
Rose Chaffee-Cohen

Learn equity-focused strategies for centering students and their communities while teaching with NGSS-designed instructional materials. Using a localizing framework, you will explore examples created by teams of K-12 educators and consider how to adapt and apply these strategies in your own context

TAKEAWAYS:
Leave with research-based tools and strategies that incorporate community assets, families, and student’s funds of knowledge into your science units to help your students see how science is relevant in their lives and their communities.

SPEAKERS:
Brad Street, Rebecca Abbott

Sponsoring Company: Vernier Science Education

Is there a reason to wear sneakers in gym class or a white shirt on a sunny day? The data say yes! Help middle school students explore real-world science with Vernier sensors that measure temperature, light, color, force & acceleration. Walk away with 3D, sensor-based experiments for your toolkit.

SPEAKERS:
Kathryn Martin

NSTA has revised and updated its position 2018 position statement on climate science, strengthening its commitment to high quality education on the teaching of the science of climate change. This presentation outlines the changes to the position statement and the rationale for the changes.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will become equipped with the rationale and tools for necessary for teaching the science of climate change, as well as needed talking points necessary for engaging with the range of constituencies that have voice in or impact upon science education in general.

SPEAKERS:
Margaret Holzer, Michael Wysession, Kelli Grabowski, Eric Pyle

How can you customize an OpenSciEd unit to dive into the issues that really matter to your students? This workshop aims to help teachers find and leverage community resources from outside the classroom to adapt an OpenSciEd unit (MS or HS) to include local phenomena around environmental justice.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will walk away with tips and tools to help them choose local phenomena, find community partners, and integrate them into an OpenSciEd unit, all while maintaining coherence from a student’s perspective and honoring the lived experiences and resources of environmental justice communities.

SPEAKERS:
Erin McCool, Michelle Bolliger-Fyler

This session broadens understanding of student participation in science education by emphasizing idea sharing, dialogue, and collaboration. Participants will explore strategies to promote equity of voice and diverse ways of demonstrating understanding while identifying effective teaching moves to en

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with adaptable strategies to enhance student participation and discourse in science classrooms. They will learn how to create an engaging environment that promotes visible thinking and supports diverse learners through responsive teaching.

SPEAKERS:
Christopher Hernandez, Rose Ventimiglia, Grace Andrews

Sponsoring Company: LaMotte + Stroud Water Research Center

Observe aquatic macroinvertebrate specimens, conduct experiments, learn classification skills, and calculate a biotic index in this hands-on introduction to stream ecology. Come learn from a Stroud Water Research Scientist. Take-aways and door prize!

SPEAKERS:
Michael Smith

Deepen student data literacy and build engagement with data sets that will surprise you! Activate critical thinking and questioning in data readers with innumerable and creative ways to represent data. Experience data representation as a scientist and artist.

TAKEAWAYS:
Experience graphing in artful and innovative ways. Modeled after ‘Dear Data,’ attendees will obtain and organize data, then create data visualizations to view as a community. Participants will receive lesson and activity plans to expand students’ thinking around graphing and data representation.

SPEAKERS:
Nina Hipps, Amanda Becker

Engage with routines and text sets—including primary sources from the Library of Congress—that can be used to support civically engaged argument writing about cross-disciplinary environmental issues like space debris, fast fashion, palm oil in foods, and minting new pennies.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to support students in (1) making sense of multiple perspectives and (2) contributing to ongoing civic conversations about issues of importance with the help of approaches and tools that have been developed by teachers and are freely available online.

SPEAKERS:
Trey Smith, Lisa Lapina, Javaha Ross

Assessing student sensemaking can be time-consuming, and applying standards-based grading can seem overly vague. In this session we’ll analyze 3D assessment scenarios to uncover their scaffolded structure, and use that structure to develop leveling rubrics that quickly convert to traditional grades.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with samples of high-quality, scaffolded three-dimensional assessment scenarios, and strategies to make standards-based grading quick and consistent.

SPEAKERS:
Barbara McIntyre, Chris Geerer

Discover incredible opportunities in STEM education with a range of NSTA-administered K-12 opportunities that engage through innovative programming and recognize achievement with amazing awards. We’ll explore programs and awards that are sure to ignite a passion for discovery and innovation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Empower your teaching with dynamic STEM programs and awards administered by NSTA as you learn about innovative opportunities to boost engagement and enthusiasm for K-12 students and teachers.

SPEAKERS:
Kathryn Lasky, Amanda Upton, Sue Whitsett, Brian Kutsch

Come learn about Data Puzzles, a free resource co-designed by climate scientists and instructional specialists from the University of Colorado Boulder that combine authentic data with Ambitious Science Teaching instructional practices to help students make sense of phenomena.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore the Data Puzzles instructional framework in the context of the Wind Farms of the Future resource and leave prepared to implement these 2-3 day sensemaking lessons in their own middle and high school classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Ann Marie Dubick, Kerri Wingert

How do we know which students of our students are figuring things out that they care about? Which students are contributing to knowledge-building in small groups? Join us to learn about a simple approach to using data from exit tickets with research-based strategies to promote more equitable participation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Making formative use of exit ticket data on student experience can help all students experience instruction as more relevant and coherent from the student perspective. The key to improvement is testing research-based strategies for promoting more equitable participation in class.

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Campanella, William Penuel

Sponsoring Company: Amplify

Learn from a panel of educators who have successfully made the shift to 3-D teaching and learning – what steps they took to begin, strengthen, and sustain their implementation journey and how it has impacted classroom culture and student growth.

SPEAKERS:
Leslie Stenger, Hilda Aganga-Williams

Teachers rotate among stations to explore air quality activities, sensors, service projects, and games aligned with NGSS/CC standards followed by discussion. Phenomena-based lessons and assessments that address wildfires, climate change, and environmental justice will be prioritized.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers can confidently engage students with air quality topics to empower them with skills, content, and actions to protect their communities. Includes free activities from the Air & Waste Management Association, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and Clean Air Partners.

SPEAKERS:
Joann Held, Madelyn Percy, Amelia Cavazos, Elizabeth Spike

Carbonated beverage containers, juice and fruit drinks, dairy products, and sports beverages all contain sugar. Using sugar packets to visualize amounts, students see the quantity and volume of sugar in various drinks and gain an understanding of serving size. Reading labels is important!

TAKEAWAYS:
Students can easily compare sugar content in containers of the same volume. Similar drinks packaged in different sized containers, or different drinks packaged in different containers makes calculating sugar content a math problem. Students use math to calculate sugar concentrations and totals.

SPEAKERS:
Suzanne Cunningham

Gamify your classroom with "The Adaptation Game," a fun activity supporting critical thinking, art skills, and data organization. Loosely based on the nonfiction book, THE ODDBALL BOOK OF ARMADILLOS, the game helps kids understand natural selection. Free card decks and book giveaway!

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will gain a free, easy-to-use classroom activity that encourages science literary and supports reading skills. During the session, we'll play a round or two. You'll design and draw your own special critter...but will it survive? Suitable for MS and upper elementary levels.

SPEAKERS:
Sierra Satterstrom, Elizabeth Shreeve

The Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science has dozens of FREE resources, including entire units for teaching evolution in an engaging way. We will be giving away copies of our book, On Teaching Evolution. Become a part of a friendly teacher network that pays you to present to fellow educators.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers are their own best resources. Whether you are looking for resources or want to share your love of evolutionary biology with colleagues, our institute wants to help. Funded entirely by donors, we offer free professional development in all 50 US States.

SPEAKERS:
Bertha Vazquez

Ethograms are tools that scientists use to study and share data about animals in nature and in managed care. This NGSS standards-informed session provides an introduction to ethograms, practical tools, resources and strategies for engaging students in their own animal behavior studies.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will gain "start to finish" strategies, tools and resources to support student-centered animal behavior studies and inquiry using ethograms. Participants will also gain knowledge about how scientists use ethograms and behavior studies to monitor and support animal well-being.

SPEAKERS:
Patricia Steinmeyer

Sponsoring Company: Flinn Scientific

Ignite your students’ curiosity with hands-on STEM activities that integrate engineering, physical, life, and earth sciences. Designed for middle and high school teachers, these real-world connections energize students and enhance learning. Handouts provided! Visit www.flinnsci.com.

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Cambron, M.S., Jillian Saddler

Many schools have common planning time or PLCs but sometimes they can feel more like a chore than a benefit. Why can’t you just have more personal prep time? In this session, we will share resources for CPT or PLCs that make them feel worthwhile, productive, and even enjoyable.

TAKEAWAYS:
Common planning time or PLCs are more effective when teachers are working with strong curricular materials. Well-designed and ready to use tools and structures for CPT/PLCs can support teachers to deepen their understanding of the materials and effectively prepare for future lessons they will teach.

SPEAKERS:
Benjamin Lowell, Renee Affolter

Even with the highest quality PD, planning for and implementing 3D learning as described in the Framework can be challenging. In this session we’ll share strategies and supports used to bridge PD to classroom practice through high-impact collaborative classroom visits and analysis of student work.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with tools (including protocols) and strategies for supporting meaningful, high-level collaborative conversations that support classroom implementation of equitable and effective 3D science instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Wil Van der Veen, Stacey Van der Veen

Join us to explore strategies for providing feedback to science teachers utilizing framework aligned standards and the Danielson Framework. Participants will engage in authentic practice and will leave with resources to implement these strategies in their schools.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn strategies for providing feedback to the teachers they supervise.

SPEAKERS:
Andy Weatherhead, Kammas Kersch

What approach can science educators use to create assessment tasks that support instructional practice and students’ three-dimensional learning? Participants will experience designing 3-dimensional tasks for classroom use that will help their students build toward the NGSS performance expectations.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to construct 3-dimensional assessment tasks that they can use in their classroom to promote student learning of the NGSS performance expectations.

SPEAKERS:
Christopher Harris, Joseph Krajcik

Build capacity in providing opportunities for students to have voice and choice in exploring topics and fostering STEM skills through engaging space-themed curriculum. The charge is on educators to provide opportunities for all students to envision themselves in a STEM career field.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will come away with ideas and simple yet impactful strategies to leverage knowledge of students to help ensure all students feel valued in STEM learning and can envision themselves in STEM careers.

SPEAKERS:
Jessica Minton, Beverly Berekian

Representatives from the GLOBE Program, MYNASA Data, and NASA GLOBE Mission Earth, will discuss and answer questions about available educational and scientific products, that focus on Acquiring -Analyzing- Applying satellite imagery, remote sensing, and computer visualizations for student research.

TAKEAWAYS:
Using the Space to Earth:Earth to Space (SEES) Model, students can actively engage in investigations using authentic NASA imagery, data, and visualizations using from Earth Observing Satellites, remote sensing, and ground observations and measurements using scientific protocols

SPEAKERS:
Jessica Taylor, Michael Jabot, John Moore

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Join this hands-on workshop to explore three engaging experiments about how light, gravity & nutrients impact plant growth. Each participant receives Fast Plants seeds flown in space with Emily Calandrelli on a Blue Origin rocket, plus fun lesson plans for all experiments.

SPEAKERS:
Hedi Lauffer, Alexandra Felts

This workshop teaches methods for schoolyard investigations aligned with Pennsylvania STEELS standards. Students collect and analyze local environmental data, designing solutions to enhance community well-being. It emphasizes 3-dimensional learning and fosters student-led change.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants investigate the links between climate change, environmental impacts, and human health. They gather and evaluate data for sensemaking, connecting it to environmental justice topics. The focus on instructional practice enhances educators' capacity to teach environmental literacy.

SPEAKERS:
Jennifer Peglow

Developed by experts in environmental health and K-12 STEM education, this FREE and turn-key, research-based unit empowers middle school teachers to bring climate science into their classrooms through engaging, hands-on activities and real-world problem-solving challenges.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn how to use a research-backed climate science unit in their classrooms. They’ll discover practical strategies for engaging students through experiments, case studies, and design challenges, making climate science accessible, interesting, and relevant to middle school learners.

SPEAKERS:
Chris Link, PhD

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:
Philip Bell, Kelsie Fowler, Deb Morrison

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Come experience a hands-on model lesson from OpenSciEd for Middle School and discover how the Carolina Certified Version enhanced these high-quality instructional materials, making them more accessible, user-friendly, and safer for classroom use.

SPEAKERS:
Cory Ort

Discover chemical reactions and animal adaptations through fireflies! We'll explore chemiluminescence, build a circuit, and practice communicating like beetles. This workshop is half chemistry lab, half engineering design challenge, and 100% fun!

TAKEAWAYS:
Learners will walk away with a clear understanding of how to run the lab activity, including access to all digital and printable materials. A hyperlinked list of affordable consumable materials is included.

SPEAKERS:
Megan Leys

Science, math and social studies educators employ similar strategies for teaching students to build arguments and support conclusions. Explore how to use historical primary sources from the Library of Congress to engage learners in thinking practices they can use the whole school day!

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to inspire students to investigate questions of personal, local, cultural, and societal concern, build new knowledge, and keep coming back to the evidence as their arguments grow in sophistication, across multiple school subjects.

SPEAKERS:
Michael Apfeldorf, Ralph Pantozzi

How to incorporate climate change education into cross-curricular Problem Based Learning for K-12 students. The session emphasizes hands-on learning through solution oriented design challenge collaborative activities, where attendees collectively engage in tackling critical climate change issues.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will get the opportunity to work through several parts of different Climate Change PBLs.

SPEAKERS:
Edward Cohen, Brielle Kociolek

Don't miss this informative presentation on integrating Minecraft into science education. Discover innovative strategies to enhance student engagement, promote collaboration, and inspire critical thinking. Leave with actionable strategies to bring the power of Minecraft into your classroom!

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with ideas to empower students to explore scientific concepts creatively through Minecraft, enhancing engagement and fostering a deeper understanding of the material.

SPEAKERS:
Erik Wade

Sponsoring Company: BrainPOP

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

SPEAKERS:
Hannah Bonville, Sara Classen

Integrating STEM design challenges into Science and STEM classrooms for students in grades 4-8 offers valuable opportunities to emphasize and practice the Engineering Design Process, while fostering the development of essential soft skills like collaboration, communication, and critical thinking.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will gain strategies for incorporating real-world problem-solving into their classrooms, along with differentiation techniques. Educators will complete a Make and Take project that can be adapted for their own classrooms, so they leave with a practical resource ready for implementation.

SPEAKERS:
Jamie Swanson, Kristin Slota

Sponsoring Company: PASCO Scientific

Discover how PASCO's innovative equipment seamlessly integrates with OpenSciEd's standards-based curriculum. Engage in hands-on Middle School investigations. See how sensor-based data transforms traditional labs into dynamic learning experiences, empowering students to think like scientists.

SPEAKERS:
Shelly Riley

Discover how PBS LearningMedia, a free and trusted resource for PreK-12 classrooms, utilizes media-rich resources from PBS shows like NOVA, NATURE, Weathered, and PBS Eons to spark students' curiosity, facilitate student sense-making, and support 3D learning frameworks.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn strategies for seamlessly incorporating multimedia content from PBS LearningMedia into curriculum and learn new methods to encourage critical thinking and problem-solving as students learn about and discuss challenges posed by environmental issues and the potential solutions.

SPEAKERS:
Merek Chang, Lori Brittain

Sponsoring Company: Stile Education

What if you could easily tailor your science curriculum to reflect the world your students live in? In this interactive workshop, educators will discover how to use Stile’s Prepare Mode to seamlessly integrate local phenomena into their science lessons. We’ll explore how making local connections boosts engagement and learning outcomes, and you’ll collaborate with fellow teachers to build a custom lesson featuring New York- and New Jersey-specific science phenomena in real time. Whether it’s a case study on Hurricane Sandy, an analysis of water levels in the Manasquan Reservoir, or an exploration of genetically diverse cockroaches in Manhattan, you’ll leave with a personalized lesson ready to spark dynamic, student-led discussions in your classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Julianna Jimenez

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 hands-on-activities, share best practices and leave empowered to implement Scientist Circles effectively.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will gain effective strategies and actionable tips to boost student engagement and foster meaningful whole-class discussions.

SPEAKERS:
Holly Hereau, Kate Soriano, Ann Guglielmo

Transitioning to a learner-centered classroom can be challenging but rewarding. This shift turns students from passive recipients into active participants, encouraging them to take responsibility for learning. By fostering curiosity, they become problem-solvers, engaging deeply in their education.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will explore transitioning from a teacher-centered to a learner-centered classroom, enhancing student responsibility, engagement, and problem-solving. This session offers tools for fostering active learning, curiosity, and effective classroom management in a learner-driven environment.

SPEAKERS:
Shefali Mehta, Mridula Bajaj

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: LEGO® Education

Ever wonder how your cells are like a tiny city? Or what a sheep would want in their hotel room? Come experience science standards in a way that will make science the highlight of your students' day. Reignite your passion for teaching with engaging, hands-on science lessons and LEGO® bricks.

SPEAKERS:
Jenny Nash

Sponsoring Company: ExploreLearning

Discover how to empower students to do all the science sensemaking practices with far less prep for you. You’ll get practical strategies for using simulations to add more SEPs into your teaching and go hands-on with Gizmos and upcoming new Gizmos lessons that fully engage students in the practices.

SPEAKERS:
Suzanne Kehret

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

Writing is an essential skill for students to communicate scientific reasoning. Students can develop and use scientific models to organize the evidence for effective writing. This session provides educators with strategies, tools, and lesson plans to improve student writing skills and sensemaking.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants receive a set of lessons aligned to the NGSS and STEELS standards that use strategies to engage students in writing scientific explanations and arguments. Participants learn how to use models to support student writing and how to apply these strategies to their instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Brett Moulding, Candace Penrod

Physical computing allows students to design and create interactive objects that encourage inquiry investigations and emphasize computational thinking skills. Participants will engage in activities designed for middle school students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Microcontrollers are small computers that can come with several integrated sensors making them useful for bothc investigations and engineering projects. Participants will learn about and experience hands-on various microcontrollers & their use in inquiry investigation tasks & student sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Susan German, Michael Bowen

Join us for an interactive workshop on promoting resilience in students through STEM education. Discover strategies such as hands-on problem-solving projects, fostering a growth mindset, and embracing failure as a learning opportunity.

TAKEAWAYS:
Engage students in hands-on STEM projects that encourage them to persist through challenges and setbacks, developing resilience when faced with complex tasks.

SPEAKERS:
Stephen Bowen, Ashish Gilbert Bowen

This session will present the findings of a NARST committee on the potential and issues of AI in facilitating meaningful and equitable science learning in classrooms. We will engage teachers in discussions of the practice of AI-based science education.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will gain insights into the potential and challenges of AI in creating equitable science education, explore a framework for addressing these concerns, and receive recommendations for using AI to foster inclusive and meaningful science learning for diverse student populations.

SPEAKERS:
Juan-Carlos Aguilar, Xiaoming Zhai

Are your students actively making sense of the instruction you're delivering in the classroom? Driving Questions Boards help students generate questions, increasing engagement, maximizing learning, and deepening understanding.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators attending this workshop will understand how Driving Question Boards increase engagement, amplify student voice and choice, deliver more equitable instruction, and help students make sense of phenomena through inquiry based practice. Participants will develop a plan to implement a DBQ.

SPEAKERS:
Jaime Camero

Participants will learn data analysis/collecting techniques to help students young and old learn the relationships between types of data and effective analysis of those types.

TAKEAWAYS:
Concrete hands on examples linking types of data being collected with types of graphical representations to use. These were developed in response to research which demonstrated that students do not have a conceptual foundation to make decisions about which type of graph to use.

SPEAKERS:
Susan German, Michael Bowen

Sponsoring Company: BrainPOP

Move from teacher-led to student-driven learning with Claim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER)! Explore a variety of resources and questioning strategies that promote authentic practice. Learn how the CER process and science and engineering practices can be part of a scaffolded and low-stakes journey.

SPEAKERS:
Kelsie Stocz, Sara Classen

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:
Philip Bell, Kelsie Fowler, Deb Morrison, Nancy Price

Participants will gain first-hand experience in designing a virtual field trip. They will learn how to use Tour It, a free tool available through the NASA Infiniscope project, to create immersive virtual experiences that make the benefits of place-based education more broadly accessible.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this workshop, participants will begin creating an immersive student field experience using Tour It. They will learn how to capture media, design for place-based learning, and accommodate the needs of diverse learners.

SPEAKERS:
Melanie Narish, Sina Kirk

With a declining workforce population, NSF & others have PreK12 opportunities to promote STEM identity and potential future careers in a growing national STEM workforce. Tap into large-scale grants that bring authentic pK12 STEM experiences to a learning setting near you through NSF Broader Impacts.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants explore the "Ah Ha" insights that a "retired" 35-year STEM teacher learned in an encore career as a Broader Impacts professional at an R1 research institution. Get an inside scoop on taking PreK-12 students on paid authentic STEM journeys! The ultimate STEM opportunity playbook!

SPEAKERS:
Jeff Remington

Learn how to use three-dimensional, phenomena-based instruction to expand access to educational experiences that reflect the real world and help students of all backgrounds discover the tools to be scientific thinkers and citizens. Hone your lens for science instruction that changes lives.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will identify how their current science instructional practices meet the demands of the NGSS standards and leave with concrete next steps for strengthening use of phenomena-based practices. Leaders will learn to approach science support with a systemic lens and common teacher actions.

SPEAKERS:
Solona Hollis, Amanda Drenth

Looking for strategies that improve student questioning skills? Are your students struggling with developing questions for a Driving Question Board? The Question Formulation Technique empowers students to develop critical thinking by asking better, more insightful questions.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this hands-on experience, educators will discover how to utilize an effective instructional strategy, the Question Formulation Technique (QFT), to customize OpenSciEd lessons and support students with developing questions for a Driving Question Board (DQB) about the causes of a phenomenon.

SPEAKERS:
Rebecca Garelli

Feeding birds can spark kids’ curiosity, interest in the outdoors, and engagement with science. You can make the experience more meaningful by incorporating engineering practices and challenging students to design their own feeders to help their local birds by using our Feeder Design Guide.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to develop students’ science and engineering skills with a feeder design challenge. Students will work together to consider the needs of birds, develop an understanding of what makes a good bird feeder, brainstorm designs, build the feeder, and evaluate its performance.

SPEAKERS:
Kelly Schaeffer

Reading proficiency is tied to academic success. Teaching various reading and testing strategies while using high quality instructional materials (HQIM) and innovative technology can help students overcome their challenges with comprehension and vocabulary acquisition.

TAKEAWAYS:
How to use reading strategies coupled with technology to help all students develop ways to navigate grade-level, challenging text. How creating a classroom culture can cultivate an environment conducive for welcoming and increasing literacy in the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Leslie White-Keuchler

Sponsoring Company: Texas A&M University / NASA Texas Space Grant Consortium

Astronaut and Professor Greg Chamitoff will share some of his personal journey in Space while explaining a new STEM program called Space Teams Academy that immerses student teams in virtual collaboration, design, and execution of their own space mission.

SPEAKERS:
Gregory Chamitoff

Sponsoring Company: Flinn Scientific

Revolutionize your teaching with this hands-on introduction to POGIL (Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning)! Designed for science teachers, curriculum developers, and administrators, this session will explore team roles, the POGIL Learning Cycle, and strategies to develop problem-solving critical skills.

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Mancini

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:
Patti Kopkau

In this session, participants will use the Generate, Sort, Connect, Elaborate thinking routine to unpack science performance expectations of a sample unit. Leaders will be equipped to replicate this process with their teachers, supporting them in connecting and breaking down performance expectations

TAKEAWAYS:
Leaders will learn how to use the “Generate, Sort, Connect, Elaborate” routine to unpack science performance expectations, enabling them to guide teachers in connecting expectations across units and breaking down their components, ultimately supporting deeper student understanding.

SPEAKERS:
Allison Porzillo

Do your students think copying notes is learning? Join this interactive workshop to discover how we can elevate our students' learning experiences through active note-taking practices. Let’s explore a variety of strategies that empower students to take ownership of their sense-making.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with a toolkit of versatile note-taking strategies to transform students from passive recipients into active knowledge-seekers.

SPEAKERS:
Cathy Xiong, Evonnia Smith, Yishan Lee

Sponsoring Company: NOAA

Join us for a tour of our education website and discuss how NOAA can meet your needs. We’ll show you how to navigate our educational resources on the ocean, coast, Great Lakes, weather, and climate. Bring your questions and comments on what you’d like from us. This session is for K-16 educators.

SPEAKERS:
Tami Lunsford, Michael Gutierrez

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Enhance your teaching practice with generative AI! This workshop helps you create smarter assessments, provide personalized feedback, save valuable time, and enhance student learning, all while boosting your teaching efficiency.

SPEAKERS:
Dr. Claudia Rademaker, Dr. Patrik Nilsson

Bring Jenga, Bounce-off, Ker-Plunk, and other kinetic games into the classroom for use as a phenomena-based assessment of Forces, Energy, or Newton's Laws of Motion (MS-PS2&3). Engaging and rigorous assessment through observing, writing, diagraming, and modeling of moving objects.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will receive lesson or assessment frameworks for using a wide-variety of kinetic and dexterity tabletop games to describe relative motion, forces that cause motion, energy transfer, or Newton's Laws. Attendees will also discuss opportunities for differentiation and cross cutting concepts.

SPEAKERS:
Christopher Skinner

The modeling-focused activity centers on interpreting student work and providing effective feedback on students' modeling and argumentation practices using the Argumentation and Modeling Science Practice Instructional Tools.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn techniques to offer feedback on (1) the reasons behind the differences in particle motion during freezing and melting and (2) the most effective ways to depict particle motion visually.

SPEAKERS:
Alex St. Louis, Jaclyn Murray

An NGSS classroom promises Science for All, but sometimes students have different needs. See how classroom teachers build a culture of choice, create differentiated literacy and assessment products, and help students meet differentiated goals for 3D learning within an inclusive classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with ideas and routines for fostering a differentiated classroom culture, samples of high-quality, scaffolded guides for scientific readings and assessments, and strategies to allow students to set their own goals for meeting or exceeding standards.

SPEAKERS:
Barbara McIntyre, Chris Geerer

Students’ notebooks should be more than just piles of papers! In this session we’ll discuss the multiple ways available to organize students’ science notebooks, ultimately making it students' go-to tool for sensemaking, evolving their use from more than just papers, into their daily essential tool.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with specific strategies and ideas to help students manage and use their science notebooks as resources for sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Tonya Brainsky

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek

Use forensic genealogy to identify two boys separated from their parents and reunite the family. In this hands-on electrophoresis experiment, students will analyze dye samples that represent mitochondrial and chromosomal DNA. Through data analysis, students explore inheritance and DNA polymorphisms.

SPEAKERS:
Brian Ell, Maria Dayton

Win up to $20,000! Are you making a difference in your school and community with STEM? If you teach K–12, come join us to begin your application for one of three programs sponsored by Shell USA, Inc. We’ll guide you through the application process step by step, starting your application live!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn key tips regarding how to complete a strong application for the Shell Science Lab Regional Challenge.

SPEAKERS:
Amanda Upton

Using a probe from the popular “Uncovering Student Misconceptions” series, the co-author will share student responses to address this foundational concept for teaching climate change. You will also gain a deeper understanding of the power of formative assessment.

TAKEAWAYS:
Understanding student misconceptions in this foundational component of climate change is critical prior to teaching the subject. Discover how engaging, open-ended probes provide insight into student ideas and misconceptions while learning ways to support them in understanding the concepts.

SPEAKERS:
Laura Tucker

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Help your students understand complex concepts like climate and climate change through modeling. Participants will do hands on activities that can be used in the classroom to explain climate mechanisms and explore how we know climate is changing.

SPEAKERS:
Crystal Risko

In this workshop, explore nationwide weather and climate data through an online graphing tool that simplifies data visualization. The tool makes it possible for students to focus on analysis and interpretation, rather than getting stuck on complex data. http://uanyc.science/pwc

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use the free AMNH Weather and Climate graphing tool with their students, and will walk away with worksheet resources that make this graphing tool even more accessible to their students.

SPEAKERS:
Jasmina Nikolov, Rachelle Travis

Sponsoring Company: Inkwire

Use a free AI tool to make your curricular dreams come to life. Input your ideas into Inkwire and see them transformed into a project-based unit complete with assessment, student showcase, and lesson ideas aligned to Common Core and NGSS standards.

SPEAKERS:
Jared Fox, Aatash Parikh

Transform your STEM programs through powerful community partnerships. Learn proven strategies to identify and engage partners from businesses to universities. Get practical tools for establishing sustainable collaborations that support project-based learning and create authentic career connections.

TAKEAWAYS:
Discover how to transform your STEM program through strategic partnerships. Learn to identify potential collaborators, define partnership roles, and develop a mindset that opens doors to enriched learning experiences. Walk away with practical tools to build/sustain meaningful community connections.

SPEAKERS:
Jennifer Nilvo, Lisa Blank, Heather Overkamp

Sponsoring Company: UL Research Institutes

In this session, we will practice the Question Formulation Technique (QFT) by engaging in lab footage from UL Research Institutes and then reflect upon how this technique can be applied in our classrooms to support student-centered, phenomenon-driven learning.

SPEAKERS:
Amy Gilbert, Jessica Sparacino

This session offers simple, practical activities to explicitly teach the Nature of Science (NOS), promoting scientific literacy and understanding. Participants will leave with ready-to-use resources that foster student engagement with NOS concepts in accessible and meaningful ways.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use straightforward activities to teach NOS explicitly, making science accessible to all students and promoting critical understanding of scientific inquiry and literacy in the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Kelly Moore

Sponsoring Company: Adventerra Games North America LLC

Many young people are overwhelmed by the climate crisis, so let's give them the skills & confidence to protect the planet! Adventerra's eco games engage students, achieve curricular goals, and teach STEM skills. We'll play some games & discuss how to respond when climate emotions show up in class.

SPEAKERS:
Carolyn McGrath, Sue Mundell, Bryan Mundell, Ruthie Mundell

What are some simple ways to better engage your students in science learning? How can you get your students to work with you rather than against you? In this hands-on presentation, we will demonstrate numerous strategies you can use to improve student decision-making and collaboration.