Undergraduate researchers built a bat house on the Amazon River Basin. The project goals were: 1.) provide natural remediation, 2.) create a marketable commodity (guano), and 3.) reduce overhead costs. The venture has proven beneficial and has far-reaching global effects on the most at-risk humans.

TAKEAWAYS:
Several benefits for the Maijuna can be replicated in other communities. International historical bat projects will be shared. Future ventures with tropical bat houses and other natural resources will be shared. The main takeaway is the use of the natural environment to battle current human struggles.

SPEAKERS:
Michael Bechtel

This interactive session will dive into nature-based learning experiences that help youth develop and maintain positive relationships, become lifelong learners, and contribute to a more caring and just world.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session will model a way to advance educational equity using learning environments that feature trusting and collaborative relationships paired with meaningful instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Maurine Banzhaf

Sponsoring Company: Lab-Aids

Students model global water movement as driven by the Sun and gravity. They consider how a plant's systems interact over various time and spacial scales. Crosscutting concepts of scale, proportion, and quantity are used to discuss the study of water movement and human impact on water.

SPEAKERS:
Donna Parker

The last total solar eclipse in the continental US for 21 years occurs this April. NSTA has assembled an abundance of resources for you to make the most of this teachable moment – from 3D learning materials, to safe viewing strategies, to ways to make it a school-wide experience

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will come away with links to resources for students to understand the science behind eclipses, plus safe viewing strategies and ways to make the event a school-wide experience.

SPEAKERS:
Dennis Schatz

Teachers how to begin planting using upcycled and free materials, how to reuse containers as planters, how to make biodegradable seedling planters in seconds, and how to transform desolate ground into a blooming wildflower garden with seeds and a container of air-dry clay.

TAKEAWAYS:
Simple, easy, and inexpensive methods for starting a school garden by using upcycled and free materials

SPEAKERS:
Rebecca Kurson

Students have “glow in the dark” clothes and hard seen UV beads, but do they know why they glow? Probably not. Use phenomena to help students understand the glow (energy transformations) that are seen in nature and man-made materials. Those stars on their ceiling will never be viewed the same again.

TAKEAWAYS:
Things that glow are naturally engaging to students. Understanding why they glow can open many different avenues for students to investigate. From man-made objects to plants and animals, this phenomena can move students forward in understanding and identifying energy transformations.

SPEAKERS:
Karen Matsler

Come build a wildlife crossing! Combine the science behind reconstructing a fragmented ecosystem and the engineering behind building a wildlife crossing into a relevant project-based learning opportunity.

TAKEAWAYS:
Young students will investigate how to be powerful problem solvers in their community. Through hands-on experiences, they will learn the engineering of bridge building combined with the science behind reconnecting a fragmented ecosystem.

SPEAKERS:
Kristen Nordstrom

Learn about all the ways that Denver Botanic Gardens connects K-12 students with nature and take back free resources and strategies to use in your classrooms. We will highlight virtual programs, STEM career exploration resources, and free worksheets and curricula around climate change.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn about educational opportunities with Denver Botanic Gardens and Budburst, a project of Chicago Botanic Gardens. Take back free resources on STEM career exploration, climate change, citizen science, pollinators and more.

SPEAKERS:
Katelin Gaeth

Check out some dazzling rocks and minerals and learn about the Reginal EMMY Nominated "Every Rock Has A Story" YouTube Channel, a free educational archive of videos created and hosted by Professor Ethan Baxter of Boston College. Inspire your students through the stories of the Earth.

TAKEAWAYS:
There is so much more to rocks and minerals than just identifying them. You will learn some of the amazing and diverse stories locked inside all rocks. Learn how to navigate the 82 episodes from Seasons 1-4, with topics and co-hosts spanning all facets of Earth and Space Science content.

SPEAKERS:
Ethan Baxter

To leverage the resources developed by the Shedd Aquarium team, this Share-a-Thon Table will offer free, grab-and-go resources for teachers: Sea Curious K-2 Lesson Plans, Stay Home with Shedd 3-5 Lesson Plans, Outdoor Learning Framework 6-12, and hands-on activities creating corals/mussels.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will be able to leverage informal education resources from aquariums connected to NGSS and Amplify Science to bring authentic stories and examples to their theoretical classroom phenomena.

SPEAKERS:
Max Metz Jr

Connect with Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium to uncover how educators are bringing science to life for all students. At OHDZA, we know learning continues beyond the four walls of a traditional classroom. Join us to gain meaningful ways to connect students to the world around them!

TAKEAWAYS:
Meet with Omaha's Zoo and Aquarium education team to see how HQIM are used in our Zoo Academies, Zoo After-School Programs, Zoo Outreaches, and Citizen Science Programs. Take away innovative ideas using HQIM to build stronger instruction, deeper engagement, and higher achievements.

SPEAKERS:
Emily Bustos, Leah Litz

Learn citizen science activities to increase student engagement. Join a classroom teacher, National Geographic Explorer, and an education specialist at the Jacksonville Zoo, and integrate geospatial applications to help students build science skills through connections in their local community.

TAKEAWAYS:
Youth can drive change as citizen scientists in their local community while developing science skills in field research and data collection. Educators will learn how to empower youth to address community issues as young scientists and changemakers of tomorrow.

SPEAKERS:
Emily Blum, Alicia Pressel

Three different options will be shared that will help teachers bring their students outside where they can connect with nature. This includes 2 PBLs. Logistics and content will be clearly explained so that teachers can use these ideas immediately with their classes that focus on ecology.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn 3 different successful low-cost activities (including 2 PBLs) that they can use directly in their classrooms to connect their students with nature regardless of their geographic location. The presenter will share materials to help teachers plan logistics and content.

SPEAKERS:
Nadene Klein

Come and see a model for an outdoor education day where invited scientists and environmental educators gather in a local state park to teach every student in our 3rd through 5th grade school. We have been hosting this event at a State Park near our school and it works. You can do it, too.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to successfully put together an outdoor education day involving local scientists, environmental educators, and conservationists. We have been putting together this event for over 10 years and can share what we have learned along the way.

SPEAKERS:
Jacob Tanenbaum

Biogeochemical cycles are often an abstract concept students struggle to make a meaningful connection with. “Why are we learning this” sustainable agriculture through use of plant nutrients is a real-world bridge for that conceptual gap.

TAKEAWAYS:
Students will learn about biogeochemical cycles and their environmental importance through the lens of sustainable agriculture by exploring the chemical makeup of plant nutrients and how they interact with soil chemistry in order to sustainably grow food.

SPEAKERS:
Amy Guevara

Use the STEM Teaching Tool’s self-documentation strategy as we go outdoors and create a map of our schoolyard. We will document observations & questions that can drive our learning. Consider how you might use a similar activity to connect classroom learning to your outdoor spaces.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to use outdoor spaces to keep students engaged and invested in building new science ideas driven from their own observations and questions.

SPEAKERS:
Kelly Houle, Holly Emery, Zachary Orefice

Sponsoring Company: Publisher Spotlight

The Roccos will discuss their new book, Wild Places: The Life of Naturalist David Attenborough, and the Children’s Book Creators for Conservation goal of creating free conservation-based programs for schools nationwide. They will end with an interactive “game show” about endangered animals.

SPEAKERS:
John Rocco, Hayley Rocco

Sponsoring Company: NOAA

Come meet scientists from the NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey and learn how GPS uses time to pinpoint your location, enabling your phone to tell you where you are and how to get to the nearest pizza joint. Learn how to bring the lofty concepts of surveying and accurate positioning down to earth.

SPEAKERS:
Daniel Winester, Derek Van Westrum, Galen Scott

Experience PreK-2 lessons, learn outdoor classroom management, and hear philosophies from School in the Woods, a public school with an outdoor focus. Crosscurricular lessons that meet your standards with 3-D Learning through outdoor, hands-on, minds-on discovery. Turn your classroom inside OUT !

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will experience outdoor lessons to use with students to meet all areas of the curriculum (with indoor alternatives and in/out infusion ideas). Free nature notebook.

SPEAKERS:
Maurine Banzhaf, DeLene Hoffner

When students engage in integrated math activities, they make deeper connections, gain a stronger understanding of concepts, and see the concepts as a whole. Teachers in K-2, 3-5, and 6-8 will collaborate on an integrated math activity focused on determining cloud coverage to connect with nature.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be provided lesson plans and student work to initiate discussions about what this could look like in their classrooms. At the end of the session, participants will see how collecting weather data can be integrated daily into their classrooms and help students connect with nature.

SPEAKERS:
Michelle Parslow, Katherine Vela

We’ll share 5 free online modules that engage students in the importance oysters and mussels play in watersheds via field studies, role plays scenarios, and a dynamic simulation. This NOAA-funded MWEE effort has students investigate, collaborate, and debate solutions to authentic problems.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers gain awareness of and access to OER support curriculum and student exemplars developed across a 3-year grant aligned with the 3 dimensions of NGSS and NOAA’s meaningful watershed educational experience framework. The modules were piloted across 3 diverse school districts (urban and rural).

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Edmondson, Al Byers

Beatrix Potter, mycologist? George Washington, agriculturalist? Rosalynn Carter, entomologist? Learn how biographies and other trade books about citizen scientists can lead to the exploration of the wonders of nature.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore how they can address the NGSS and integrate literacy through incorporating high-quality science trade books about citizen scientists such as Beatrix Potter.

SPEAKERS:
Amy Broemmel, Kristin Rearden

Urban elementary teachers and researchers will share successes from the NSF-funded Teaching Science Outdoors – Urban Partnerships project, describe their experiences fostering place-based science learning that is hands-on, heads-on, and hearts-on, and offer ideas to use in your instruction.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about the value of the 3H framework (hands-on, heads-on, and hearts-on) in place-based science learning using urban spaces. They will leave the session with real-life examples, resources, and ideas shared by teachers using the framework in their work with students.

SPEAKERS:
Kieshaune Perkins, Roberta Hunter

Stewardship Through Outdoor Learning Learn strategies to get kids connected to learning, stewardship, and climate data. Leave with a Nature Journal and confidence in managing middle schoolers outside. Participants will: build a nature journal, &get strategies to manage middle school students outside

TAKEAWAYS:
Gain confidence and techniques to teach stewardship and climate data through nature journals.

SPEAKERS:
Bridget Burke

This hands-on workshop will help participants incorporate the natural world phenomena of underwater sound into classroom physical and biological science activities. Online resources will be shared, including an audio gallery of the underwater sounds produced by animals, people, and the natural world

TAKEAWAYS:
Using the topic of underwater sound can be an engaging vehicle for middle and high school students to explore and connect with the undersea environment and the science of sound.

SPEAKERS:
Gail Scowcroft, Liesl Hotaling

Explore a three-part symbiotic relationship involving parasitic wasps, caterpillars, and a virus to build a better understanding of ecological relationships. This free middle school curriculum module builds a deeper understanding of the real-world complexity of symbiosis.

TAKEAWAYS:
How to access and use a free module that includes an opportunity for students to analyze data through a simulated experiment involving the wasp parasitoid and its host, interweaving this example with more general information in a way that builds an understanding of complex ecological relationships.

SPEAKERS:
Molly Malone

Sponsoring Company: LaMotte Company

Participants will learn how to use simple unit dose tablet reagents to assess water quality. Discover lesson ideas to turn your students into citizen scientists and advocates for their local watershed. Hands-on activities, curriculum connections and assessment ideas will be provided. Take aways.

SPEAKERS:
Joseph Evans, Margaret Hill

There is no shortage of jaw-dropping discoveries made from meteorites. Known as the “poor man’s space probe” most meteorites come from the asteroid belt. Now that we have actual material from a known asteroid we better sharpen up about meteorite science, because we’re going to need it.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn the exciting history and evolution of meteorites science through meteorite falls and discoveries. 500 years ago to the most recent meteoritic events, the science just keeps pouring out of these enigmatic rocks from space. Meteorites are the foundation for sample-return missions.

SPEAKERS:
Martin Horejsi

Attendees will initiate sense-making through the data-driven phenomenon of pollinator decline. Attendees will analyze and interpret evidence on how resource availability affects native bee populations. Finally, we will design a school native bee habitat to encourage native bee biodiversity.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave the workshop with lesson ideas and strategies to problem-frame the decline of native bee species and develop a possible solution by designing a native bee habitat for their school or community.

SPEAKERS:
Rita Hagevik, Kathy Trundle

Follow a prekindergarten journey to design a shared immersive experience bringing together the school community. Participants will play with loose parts to deepen our relationships with the natural world alongside children.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will consider how to deepen adult and child relationships with the natural world.

SPEAKERS:
Kirsten Zimbelman

Learn how one school implemented a science-based, service learning program that takes elementary students into our local wetlands and brings the Science and Engineering Practices to life.

TAKEAWAYS:
1.) Learn how to establish mutually beneficial local partnerships that support science instruction; 2.) Discover how to encourage students to problem-solve local issues and take action in their communities; and 3.) Walk away with ideas and strategies for taking learning beyond the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Elaine Sevin, Jennifer Williams

A look to the water source of your place; the flow and distribution of water, and how water was an integral part of indigenous cultures. Examples of the interaction and interdependence of water in a variety of cultural ecosystem settings and society.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will reflect on where their water comes from, it's path, and it's importance in the culture of their place, their surrounding indigenous practices, and compare their water source with global communities.

SPEAKERS:
Kimberley Norris-Jones, Diane Tom-Ogata

Using a garden based, STEAM integrated lesson, participants will view a poster to explore how much rain their area receives and how much water their garden needs to thrive.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore how much rain their area receives and determine how much water is needed for a garden to thrive. They will be provided the lesson plans and resources and discuss how this activity could be implemented. Participants will see how the lesson connects students to nature.

SPEAKERS:
Katherine Vela, Michelle Parslow

Explore free WATERS student-centered activities and models for middle school classrooms for learning water concepts and building water career awareness. Students predict the likelihood that water will follow one pathway over another and to trace the connections among groundwater, surface water and

TAKEAWAYS:
The lessons include these learning activities: discover your local watershed; learn about your stream organisms; test your local water chemistry; manipulate water models; explore your schoolyard; investigate your schoolyard; model improvements to your schoolyard; and create a road map to action.

SPEAKERS:
Carolyn Staudt

CO voter's approved Prop 114, a plan to restore and manage gray wolves in CO. Join CPW to learn how you can engage students in lessons that utilize this current and relevant work to understand the relationship between science and society in conservation and wildlife management.

TAKEAWAYS:
Conservation and wildlife management does not happen in a silo, but needs to take into account many stakeholders' wants, needs, and concerns. It's important to understand the perceptions of people as much as the ecological and biological requirements of a species for a reintroduction to be successful.

SPEAKERS:
Heather Hubbard

This session will inspire you to take your classes outside by featuring a high school ecology class that promotes student discovery of local ecosystems, campus stewardship, and engagement with the science community (professional partnerships on grants/projects to explore & restore native habitats).

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will be inspired to put textbooks aside and get outside to create meaningful experiences that connect students to local ecosystems, deepen understanding of concepts, & build community in/around their school. Participants will be able to identify essential steps to creating a similar course.

SPEAKERS:
Jim Ardoin, Kimberly Clark

Follow butterflies, bees, birds, and childrens' books into the school yard with an NSTA Press author who shares strategies for journaling like wilderness explorers and wildlife habitat champions interwoven with stories of creating and preserving the phenomenon of Monarch migration. Free seeds!

TAKEAWAYS:
The main takeaway is most prominently the set of strategies (nature journaling, integrating childrens' literature) that help students in interdisciplinary efforts to use or create school gardens that promote pollination and provide a pathway for migrating butterflies, various birds, bees, and bats.

SPEAKERS:
Steve Rich

This hands-on session will generate ideas on how to get your secondary students outside and moving while still covering your science standards. Good NGSS practice starts with an anchoring phenomenon. What better way to explore a phenomenon than getting outside?

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with immediately applicable strategies and ideas to use in their secondary science classrooms outdoors.

SPEAKERS:
Jennifer Bateman, Brooke Whitworth, Summer Landreth

Turn your classroom inside OUT. Classroom lessons that meet your standards with 3-Dimensional Learning through outdoor, hands-on, minds-on lessons. Experience activities, learn outdoor classroom management, and hear philosophies from School in the Woods, a public school with an outdoor focus.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn outdoor lessons to use with students to meet all areas of the curriculum (with indoor alternatives and in/out infusion ideas). Free nature notebook.

SPEAKERS:
DeLene Hoffner

By now you are probably well aware of the upcoming total solar eclipse on 4/8/24, which passes over many major cities on a path running from Texas up through Maine. The rest of the contiguous US will have a partial solar eclipse. Learn how to be ready for this awesome STEM education opportunity.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn everything you need to be ready for the upcoming eclipse, including the science behind eclipses, how to view the eclipse safely, and how to create educational opportunities for your school and community.

SPEAKERS:
Jeffrey Bennett

Polar regions are in the vanguard of climate change and are also remote, exciting parts of the world. In this workshop, try activities that will help you bring polar issues to life in middle and high school classrooms. These include glaciology, Indigenous lifeways, energy balance, and tundra life.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will sample classroom activities, hands-on and online, to investigate climate change and polar conditions, enriching their understanding of the relevance of the Arctic and Antarctic to all regions of the Earth.

SPEAKERS:
Katie Lodes, Anne Schoeffler

Create a successful indoor garden using basic materials, and on a budget. Perfect for the urban classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
How to choose appropriate plants and materials for an indoor environment.

SPEAKERS:
Rebecca Kurson

Participates will engage in activities from the newly designed USGS field guides. The field guides are intended to be used in grades 3-5 to provide space that nurtures curiosity and creativity while realizing the interconnectedness of the natural world.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will walk away with brand-new field journals that can be used in their classrooms!

SPEAKERS:
Samantha Willsey

Engage students in climate science and nature exploration using Budburst, a community science project, to collect data on plants near you. Address the NGSS through real science and empower your students to investigate climate change impacts on local ecosystems (Adaptable for all grades).

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn to engage students in local plant phenomena and real-world climate change science using the Budburst resources; gain strategies to create a phenology trail near your school, which students can use to connect with nature while collecting data on seasonal change in plants.

SPEAKERS:
Katelin Gaeth, Julie Reiske, Julie Reiske

Incorporate coral reefs into your existing curriculum – biology, chemistry, climate studies, art, and more – using lesson plans, demos, activities, and multimedia from NOAA. This session is appropriate for 3rd grade through college educators and informal educators.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn what corals are, why they are important, and how to fit coral reefs ecosystems into your curriculum using free NOAA resources.

SPEAKERS:
Kayla Smith, Bekkah Lampe

How can science learning experiences help students develop ecological caring approaches to the living world? Come explore educational approaches to multispecies justice with us! Expanding how students connect to and care for the living world around them is vital at this time of climate crisis.

TAKEAWAYS:
People’s relationships to nature are culturally and historically rooted and are embedded in approaches to science teaching and learning. Science can be used to guide ecological caring responses and support the thriving of species.

SPEAKERS:
Philip Bell, Nancy Price, Kelsie Fowler

This hands-on workshop is designed to provide attendees an opportunity to learn and experience an emerging environmental phenomenon on microplastics in our environment. Attendees will learn filtration and microscopy techniques to investigation microplastics in surface waters.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will receive instructions and materials in incorporating a five-day microplastics investigation pacing guide that will engage students in not only exploration, observation, and investigation, but will include critical science skills such as data collection, analysis, and interpretation.

SPEAKERS:
Tracy Ostrom

Combating the loud noises of systemic oppression often faced by students of color in the Alabama Black Belt entails creating space for them to rely on their cultures, their lived experiences, and their talents to address environmental problems that disproportionately affect their communities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to make the concept of sustainability culturally relevant to their historically marginalized student groups living in impoverished areas.

SPEAKERS:
Eshwaa Godfrey, Venecia Eaton, Mashika Tempero

Place-based science instruction leverages students’ previous experiences, illuminates their natural world, and provides opportunities for students to learn beyond the confines of their computers. We share strategies for online course development to optimize active learning and local landscape.

TAKEAWAYS:
Place-based online science instruction promotes active learning, supports student investigations in their local environments, and builds a community of online learners as students share their experiences.

SPEAKERS:
Athena Nagel, Renee Clary

Bringing the classroom outdoors can help students learn about the work of science and can also connect students to the benefits of nature itself. Attendees will explore and receive free Natural Inquirer products that encourage students to connect with the outdoors.

TAKEAWAYS:
Natural Inquirer products, created in partnership with the USDA Forest Service, introduce students to natural resource science and connect students with the outdoors. A new series of free resources also explores the impact of nature on human health. Attendees will receive copies of all materials.

SPEAKERS:
Bradi McDonald, Nissa McKinney

Join this session where we explore the use of raising monarch butterflies as an anchoring phenomenon to delve into the characteristics of life, local ecosystems, conservation, and citizen science.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave this session with resources to engage students in a long-term project that fosters curiosity in local ecosystems and inspires a call for action, along with two assessment measures. Student work samples will be available for attendees.

SPEAKERS:
Aja Mattise-Lorenzen, Dr. Yajaira Fuentes-Tauber

Hawai‘i Island’s leading astronomy education program Journey Through the Universe is marking two decades of bringing astronomy down to Earth and into Hawaiʻi classrooms. Join the International Gemini Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab as we share our approach to building community partnerships.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will take away a variety of strategies and resources from the Journey Through the Universe Program to help establish and build partnerships with their local astronomical organizations.

SPEAKERS:
Robert Sparks, Emily Peavy

We will discuss the strategies we have developed with elementary teachers in high-need urban districts for the use of gardens in outdoor classrooms and present the lessons that have been used in two high-need school districts with under-served student populations and English language learners.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers who attend will learn strategies to engage their students with the DCIs of the Life and Earth Sciences with easily grown gardens at their schools.

SPEAKERS:
Sara Feit, Peter Garik

Connect K-5 students with nature by integrating STEAM resources from the Smithsonian’s National Zoo into your classroom. Conservation Classroom is a free collection of videos, programs, and activities that invite students to wonder, engage, act, and connect with animals, science, and sustainability.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn about (and how to use) a free suite of Smithsonian environmental science materials available for K-5 classrooms that encourages inquiry, connects students with nature, fosters empathy for animals, encourages sustainable actions, and introduces students to STEAM careers.

SPEAKERS:
Kaden Borseth

Did you know Colorado Parks and Widlife (CPW) manages 42 state parks along with the management of over 960 wildlife species in the state! Come chat with us about resources and learning experiences for K-12 classrooms to explore our state's natural resources to enhance standards based curriculum.

TAKEAWAYS:
CPW has a wide range of K-12 classroom resources including an award winning classroom video series, standards aligned activities and curriculum units, to opportunties to connect directly with staff through field trips and guest speaker engagements.

Learn about all the ways that Denver Botanic Gardens connects K-12 students with nature and take back free resources and strategies to use in your classrooms. We will highlight virtual programs, STEM career exploration resources, and free worksheets and curricula around climate change.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn about educational opportunities with Denver Botanic Gardens and Budburst, a project of Chicago Botanic Gardens. Take back free resources on STEM career exploration, climate change, citizen science, pollinators and more.

Learn about Lincoln Park Zoo's resources that support student learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Lincoln Park Zoo resources are available to teachers across the country.

SPEAKERS:
Rosie Arnold

To leverage the resources developed by the Shedd Aquarium team, this Share-a-Thon Table will offer free, grab-and-go resources for teachers: Sea Curious K-2 Lesson Plans, Stay Home with Shedd 3-5 Lesson Plans, Outdoor Learning Framework 6-12, and hands-on activities creating corals/mussels.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will be able to leverage informal education resources from aquariums connected to NGSS and Amplify Science to bring authentic stories and examples to their theoretical classroom phenomena.

Connect with Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium to uncover how educators are bringing science to life for all students. At OHDZA, we know learning continues beyond the four walls of a traditional classroom. Join us to gain meaningful ways to connect students to the world around them!

TAKEAWAYS:
Meet with Omaha's Zoo and Aquarium education team to see how HQIM are used in our Zoo Academies, Zoo After-School Programs, Zoo Outreaches, and Citizen Science Programs. Take away innovative ideas using HQIM to build stronger instruction, deeper engagement, and higher achievements.

Presenter will share the value in teaching science in nature in early childhood, using their personal experience teaching science to kindergarten students in their school garden. Presenter will share the "why" behind teaching science outdoors in early childhood, as well as the "how".

TAKEAWAYS:
Young children learn through hands-on experiences. Providing opportunities for them to learn about nature within nature is very important and sparks their curiosity.

SPEAKERS:
Sheba Michel

The goal of this project is to use engineering design principles to teach ecology and sustainability through active student involvement in an urban garden.

TAKEAWAYS:
Students learn the engineering design process and apply it directly in practice through the creation of an urban garden.

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Weissman

We’ll share 11 free online lessons that engage students in the importance oysters and mussels play in watersheds via virtual tours and field studies. This NOAA funded Meaningful Watershed Education Experience effort has students investigate, collaborate and debate solutions to authentic problems.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers gain awareness of and access to OER support curriculum developed across a 3-year grant aligned with the 3 dimensions of NGSS and NOAA’s meaningful watershed educational experience framework. The lessons, part of a larger project, were piloted across 3 school districts (urban and rural).

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Edmondson, Al Byers

Giverny books feature engaging stories and illustrations that teach our youngest readers scientific principles and science-related attitudes. Explore with us how Giverny books connect 4–8-year-old readers with nature through life cycles, seasonal changes, sustainability, and more! Free resources.

TAKEAWAYS:
Award-winning Giverny books provide quality science instruction and promote scientific habits of mind for the youngest 4-8-year-old readers. The books invite children to observe and connect to the natural world around them.

SPEAKERS:
Athena Nagel, Renee Clary

This session will emphasize the power of connecting with nature through the sharing of instructional modules. These modules have been thoughtfully designed to foster relationships between herbaria and high school students with the primary objective of underscoring the significance of plants.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants in this session will gain a deep appreciation for nature's wonders and the vital role plants play in our ecosystem. By exploring our free instructional modules, they will discover innovative ways to connect high school students with the natural world.

SPEAKERS:
Kelly Moore

What could possibly make an experience working with 100,000+ stinging insects even better? Let's document it and put it on social media! In this session, you will learn how a small liberal arts college has made a commitment to pollinator education, curriculum integration, and experiential learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Innovation is change that unlocks new value; simple to say, yet very hard to do. Establishing an apiary, a new company, embracing entrepreneurship, and developing curriculum represent innovation and the future of higher education. It requires that we push creative boundaries and take risks.

SPEAKERS:
Patrick Krantz

This quick session will introduce insects to a class designed for both Science and Art.

TAKEAWAYS:
How to use STEAM to teach advocacy for monarch butterflies.

SPEAKERS:
Rebecca Kurson

This USDA funded project involves environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable beef production. Project leaders and teachers have developed a STEAM garden-based learning curriculum and supporting resources that foster scientific ways of thinking and encourage environmental stewardship.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore the free resources that integrate social and emotional learning through the 3-H learning model. We build students’ science capital through STEAM lessons, children’s literature, outreach booths, resource sheets, citizen science projects, and STEM career videos.

SPEAKERS:
Katherine Vela, Rita Hagevik, Tain Curtis, Kathy Trundle

Students often find it perplexing that elevated atmospheric CO2 reduces carbonate ion concentrations in the ocean as they learn that increasing the concentration of reactants enhances product formation. Join this session to explore the underlying processes using an interactive computer model.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will utilize an interactive computer model to investigate how three interconnected reactions influence oceanic pH and dissolved inorganic carbon dynamic as atmospheric CO2 level changes. They will also receive ready-to-use classroom activity materials and tips for implementation.

SPEAKERS:
Lin Xiang

This paper explores sustainable urban agriculture in Lagos, Nigeria, addressing 21st-century demands through innovative methods for city-based agricultural science education.

TAKEAWAYS:
Discover how sustainable urban agriculture education in Lagos can empower students to tackle 21st-century agricultural challenges.

SPEAKERS:
Adetola Salau

Learn tips and tricks used as a naturalist to take students outside, including helping reluctant students enjoy time spent in nature. Using easy to find creatures found in almost every schoolyard to teach concepts that can be tricky to make connections with inside in the classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Discover easy preparations to see animals in their natural habitat while teaching about adaptations, habitat, and life cycles, as well as food chains and food webs. Learn activities, songs, and games that can be taught indoors or out to connect our natural ecosystem to classroom concepts.

SPEAKERS:
Lori Dorn

We’ll share a set of lessons that engage students in the importance of mussels in watersheds via a dynamic simulation, PEWI (People in Ecosystems Watershed Integration), from Iowa State University. This NOAA-funded Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience effort has students investigate, collaborate, and debate solutions to authentic problems.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers gain awareness of and access to OER support curriculum developed across a 3-year grant aligned with the 3 dimensions of NGSS and NOAA’s meaningful watershed educational experience framework. The lessons developed around PEWI and mussels were piloted across 3 diverse school districts.

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Edmondson, Al Byers

There will be two solar eclipses in New York, a partial and a total eclipse. We have designed an Eclipse Weather Experiment to record temperature, cloud coverage, and wind speed. We will launch a high-altitude balloon and the combined observations will elucidate eclipse-induced weather changes.

TAKEAWAYS:
Construction of a high-altitude balloon is a very useful STEM activity as it requires engineering skills, knowledge of topics in physics and chemistry, and simulation of the equations of motion that will appeal to computer-oriented students.

SPEAKERS:
Matthew Yatsyla

Community science is becoming an increasingly important aspect of science. There are limitless opportunities for schools to use. But where do you start in figuring out what they would like to do? Participants will hear about how Mann Magnet Middle School Arkansas found their opportunities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will walk away with the tools to help them evaluate what type of community/citizen science they want, and can participate in, at their schools.

SPEAKERS:
Jackie Scott

To validate and celebrate the interests and experiences of our students, we will delve deep into the significance of culture as it relates to food and gardens, and also as it relates to the diverse populations with whom we work. We will explore ways to celebrate and center culture through gardening.

TAKEAWAYS:
By their nature, gardens embody diversity. Garden education is increasingly recognized as an interdisciplinary approach that integrates academic goals, health and wellness, place-based education, and community connections and relationships.

SPEAKERS:
Rhonda Gadino

This session will explain what citizen science is and help to identify projects for your students in your local community. Learn how to find ideas, inspire curiosity among your students, and collect real-time data that can be used to support ongoing science initiatives.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with the ability to implement real research collection in their classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Rachel Langley

Soil is a natural resource that provides the foundation for producing our food, shelter, and provides the foundation on which to build our buildings and cities. Learn what is under our feet by comparing soils in different habitats and examining the past environment in which they formed.

TAKEAWAYS:
Explore soil using simple tests and easy-to-find tools that allows us to examine soil structure, unique soil characteristics, and test for the stability of soil. Learn activities, songs, and games that can be taught indoors or outdoors to connect our natural ecosystem to classroom topics.

SPEAKERS:
Lori Dorn

How can we ignite scientific learning in our elementary students? Leveraging school campuses as inspiration, we will describe integrated science lessons that harmoniously blend 3D Learning and the 5E Learning Cycle, and foster deeper scientific investigations of local outdoor learning environments.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use their school campus as an outdoor learning environment to examine natural phenomena and create meaningful and safe 3D/5E elementary science lessons aligned to standards.

SPEAKERS:
Colleen Saxen, Michelle Fleming

Let's read some awesome books and pair them with opportunities to build structured playful experiences fostering an appreciation of our natural world. The session shares a collection of environmentally-themed children’s books and activities, and includes an annotated list of trade books, grades K-3.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn the value of using the Outstanding Science Trade Books to create engaging, standards-based, playful activities to develop an appreciation of the natural world.

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Parks

Activated carbon filters are an effective tool in water purification for residential use. Through this experience, students are able to better understand that lead gets into their water through lead service lines, pipes, plumbing fixtures, and faucets and contaminates water.

TAKEAWAYS:
Through this research, students can detect lead in their water by using cost-effective testing strips and remove it by activated carbon materials.

SPEAKERS:
Kim Alvin De Lara

Sponsoring Company: Ocean Diagnostics x Water Rangers

Through a hands-on demonstrations of our easy-to-use water quality and microplastics educational toolkits and technology, you'll learn how to bring real-world problem-solving into the classroom, increase student engagement and empower the next generation of environmental problem solvers.

SPEAKERS:
Nikolas MacLean, Katherine Strom-Trudel

Sponsoring Company: Mosa Mack Science

One surprising threat facing the majestic sea turtle: over 90% of hatchlings are born female. Why is this so? Explore a lesson on how genetics, environment, & climate could be impacting the turtle species forever.

SPEAKERS:
Elisabeth Johnson

Presented by an author of more than thirty peer-reviewed regional and international journal papers on the topic, this presentation tells the world-renowned story of Colorado's rocks through the rocks themselves and the people who have studied the K/Pg boundary.

TAKEAWAYS:
Although scientific revolutions or advancement often occur through new discoveries and technology, some major revolutions occur simply because of changes in the way that we perceive the world around us—demonstrated through a virtual hike across a world-famous K/Pg boundary outcrop.

SPEAKERS:
Keith Berry

Do you and/or your students find composting to be dirty, smelly, and overall a bore? Welcome to the future of composting! Blatticomposting, a form of composting with cockroaches that are a non-evasive exotic species, Blaptica dubia, is a modern take on an age-old classroom classic.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn about the fundamentals of cockroach composting that they could incorporate into their classroom instruction to integrate students in their own hands-on learning experiences.

SPEAKERS:
Michael Holderness, Alex Holden

Denver Zoo embarked on an initiative to enhance and expand opportunities for outdoor learning for students, their parents, and teachers. In this presentation, DZ will summarize successes/challenges, methodologies/results, and procedures for implementing nature play tactics in your school community.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn strategies to increase learning through play in nature and parent/caregiver participation in their school community.

SPEAKERS:
Emily Murgia

Explore innovative ways to engage students in the world of science and technology through nature-inspired inventions, intellectual property, and engineering. Experience a USPTO lesson that will foster a sense of wonder and curiosity in students while promoting creativity and critical thinking.

TAKEAWAYS:
Time-tested biological systems inspire inventions that solve complex human problems. Learn how to implement case-based lessons that integrate inquiry, biological concepts, and nature-inspired invention while teaching students about protecting their intellectual property.

SPEAKERS:
Kathleen Lanman, Kathy Hoppe

Have you ever wanted to start a science research program and get your students involved in authentic scientific research? Learn how to initiate and run a science research program at your school, including the benefits, methods, and challenges involved.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to initiate and operate a program of student scientific research at your school. Discussion of choosing research topics, timetables, challenges, and possible venues of the presentations of the students' final results will be covered.

SPEAKERS:
Olivia Kuper, Thomas Rutherford