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:
Whitney Hagins

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Explore how physical models foster an understanding of the importance of mitosis and meiosis to the growth and development of living things.

SPEAKERS:
Ruth Hutson

Empower students to investigate the natural world as career scientists do. In this workshop, we will explore accessible field and lab activities from the Chicago Botanic Garden Plant Biology and Conservation graduate program including instructional strategies, lesson plans, and low-cost activities.

TAKEAWAYS:
All students deserve access to high-quality and authentic science experiences. Incorporating real-world scientific training into the classroom provides students with opportunities to be successful in science and contribute to expanding scientific knowledge.

SPEAKERS:
Samantha Turner-Rosa

Sponsoring Company: Flinn Scientific

Engage with Hands-On Biology! Flinn Scientific presents a variety of easy to perform and exciting intro and Advanced Biology demonstrations. Come see Flinn’s new demonstrations and some of your old favorites—all guaranteed to make your science classroom come alive. Handouts provided for all.

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Cambron, M.S.

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek

Explore the world of forensic science with these fun and exciting escape room activities! Try forensic blood detection and agarose gel electrophoresis experiments, decipher clues, and solve puzzles. Learn to design your own escape room to have students unravel the evidence and free the innocent.

SPEAKERS:
Danielle Snowflack, PhD, Tom Cynkar

Sponsoring Company: BIOZONE Corporation

Step-through BIOZONE's activities and learn how to utilize our unique pedagogical approach to engage students and streamline lessons. See how to integrate BIOZONE'S rich collection of digital assets into your lessons. Attendees receive a FREE print title & 90 day digital access to a title.

SPEAKERS:
Kim Stilwell

Sponsoring Company: HHMI BioInteractive

We'll explore using BioInteractive's free Model Builder tool to assist students in understanding system models. Choose from a library of models or create your own.

SPEAKERS:
Steven Rogg, Joseph Evans

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: miniPCR bio

Use gel electrophoresis to help astronauts identify bacteria growing aboard the International Space Station. This case study is based on the research of the NASA microbiology team. Also, learn about Genes in Space, a free experimental design competition that launches student experiments to the ISS.

SPEAKERS:
Marc Bliss

Sponsoring Company: NOAA

Dive into three NOAA modules (Observations vs. Models, Predators and Prey, and Ocean Food Webs) that explore scientific modeling as applied to Earth systems using a VR environment. Using these modules students will employ the NGSS practice of developing and using models in hands-on activities.

SPEAKERS:
Randy Russell, Bruce Moravchik

Sponsoring Company: PASCO

Learn how to lead simple hands-on experiments with sensors. Help students collect and analyze carbon exchange data from plant leaves in real-time! Dispel student doubts in their understanding of photosynthesis and respiration.

SPEAKERS:
Sophia Guzules

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek

Unleash the power of gene editing with your students using REAL CRISPR-Cas technology to knock out colorful genes in E. coli. Identify successful knockout based on the cell color. Experiment by switching RNA templates and analyzing results, letting your students prove the specificity of CRISPR!

SPEAKERS:
Danielle Snowflack, PhD, Tom Cynkar

Sponsoring Company: Vernier Science Education

Reimagine standards-aligned enzymology lessons with an updated real-world spin. Attendees will explore lactase enzyme function firsthand and use Vernier Go Direct® sensors to observe lactose breakdown. Students can make real-world connections to digestive health concepts like lactose intolerance.

SPEAKERS:
Colleen McDaniel, Nüsret Hisim

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Dive deep into water's secrets! Harness 3D models to unravel states of matter, polar covalent bonding, solubility, and beyond in an immersive journey.

SPEAKERS:
Mark Arnholt, Tim Herman

Sponsoring Company: HHMI BioInteractive

Use Biointeractive resources to help students explain the relationship between climate change and coral bleaching by analyzing real world data on heat-stress mortality trends.

SPEAKERS:
Dawn Norton, Chi Klein

Sponsoring Company: Savvas Learning Company

Scientific perspectives and data should help economic decisions, guide government policy, and improve health. Yet denial of science is everywhere. Evolution. Climate change, Vaccination. GMOs. We will analyze the causes of science denial, and discuss what can educators can do about it.

SPEAKERS:
Joseph Levine

Sponsoring Company: MiniOne Systems

Simplified prep and innovative technology makes your bacterial transformation work for you, not the other way around. Transform cells in a few simple steps, and use a new innovative media plate that comes pre-poured. See how this lab will let you spend your time teaching and doing, not prepping.

SPEAKERS:
Whitney Hagins

In this share a thon session, participants will see how early childhood students investigate the structure and function of different tree parts using common materials

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will see how hands on activities makes concepts more concrete for young students, and get ideas for ways they can create hands on activities

SPEAKERS:
Anne Lowry

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

The marine soundscape provides biodiversity and population data to help determine the health of an ecosystem. This lesson explores acoustic data to assess coral reefs' dynamics, functioning, and resilience. Students will construct explanations and make predictions using authentic bioacoustic data.

TAKEAWAYS:
Students will distinguish between abiotic, biotic, and anthropogenic sounds. Biotic sounds tend to be more complex, with variations in frequency and pitch. Where abiotic and anthropogenic sounds are often characterized by uniformity.

SPEAKERS:
Missie Olson, Jocelyn Miller

Join a conversation with educators and the parent of an autistic child to gain awareness about autism and discuss ways to support the needs of autistic students and their families. Learn through discussion and anecdotal evidence from a parent’s perspective.

TAKEAWAYS:
Gain awareness about autism; the evolving science behind it, how families navigate therapies, and the struggles students face in the classroom. Ideally this experience will allow participants to develop a growth mindset around the support autistic students need in a general education setting.

SPEAKERS:
Fredrick Weisbrot

Sponsoring Company: HHMI BioInteractive

Support students in using data to construct explanations! Join us as we utilize free BioInteractive resources to explore factors driving evolution among Galapagos finches.

SPEAKERS:
Mark Eberhard, Robin Bulleri

By 2050, 9.7 billion humans may be living on Earth. If current trends continue, food production will need to increase 60-100%. In this storyline, students design solutions to feed this growing population while building space spacing food production systems (ie-hydroponics, vertical garden).

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about a new storyline that engages students in designing and evaluating solutions for how to solve the issue of feeding the world’s growing human population based on scientific knowledge, student-generated sources of evidence, prioritized criteria, and tradeoff considerations.

SPEAKERS:
Shane Cullian

Sponsoring Company: Lab-Aids

Learning sequences to drive phenomena through a unit is one way to help students understand the content. In this model activity from our Lab-Aids program: Science and Global Issues: Biology, developed by SEPUP, you will use data to investigate how abiotic factors and species diversity are related.

SPEAKERS:
Donna Parker

Life is diverse, the way we teach biology can honor and highlight diversity in gender, sex, and sexuality. In this session, we will share classroom-ready lessons and resources for teaching about diverse bodies, identities, and families.

TAKEAWAYS:
LGBTQ+ students, and all students, can benefit from teaching about gender diversity in evidence-based, ongoing, and positive ways.

SPEAKERS:
Sam Long

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Some of Mendel’s peas have been discovered in an old notebook! Can you confirm which gene Mendel studied in the 1800s using gel electrophoresis? This lab connects Mendelian genetics and Punnett squares with our modern understanding of how genes determine inherited traits.

SPEAKERS:
Kristin Hennessy-McDonald, PhD

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Dive into modeling the movement of ions and nutrients across membranes. Help your students connect theory with the results from popular homeostasis labs.

SPEAKERS:
Ruth Hutson, Kris Herman

Discover engaging phenomena and relevant content (sensor technology, medicine, and the environment) to promote equity in your classroom by engaging ALL students in nanotechnology and scientific learning to help improve our world and the human experience.

TAKEAWAYS:
Nature-inspired solutions are needed to solve real problems and nanotechnology provides the tools to develop innovation solutions and engage students in learning; identify the locations of nano NGSS-aligned activities, resources, and virtual experiences for your classroom in any STEM subject area.

SPEAKERS:
Daniella Duran

Sponsoring Company: MiniOne Systems

Agriculture, biology, and business knowledge are essential on the modern farm. In this hands-on workshop, use gel electrophoresis to visualize genotypes for a gene necessary for high quality cheese, and help a dairy farmer select which breeding pairs give her the best chance to have a Ca$h Cow!

SPEAKERS:
Whitney Hagins

Racism is prevalent in our society. Participants will examine resources for engaging students in respectful and productive activity that contrast the social construct of race with scientific understandings of genetics. Examples of how science education can be a form of social justice will be shared.

TAKEAWAYS:
Anti-racism work in science education is difficult. Resources to support teachers in engaging in controversial topics will be examined and used by participants to rehearse effective pedagogical moves in engaging in classroom discussions of racism and science. Curricular resources will be shared.

SPEAKERS:
Deb Morrison, Jeanne Chowning, Michal Robinson, Kelsie Fowler, Jason Foster

Sponsoring Company: Anatomage, Inc.

The Science Table provides a library of over 60 biology, chemistry, and physics experiments with realistic-quality visuals on an interactive 7 foot-long touch-screen table. The workshop will focus on incorporating the Science Table into middle school, high school, and college level classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Jake Lehman

In this hands-on workshop, participants will work with models of chemical reactions, photosynthesis, and cellular respiration that can help students develop a deep and flexible understanding of these important processes.

TAKEAWAYS:
Modeling, an important component of the NGSS, can help students understand biological processes more fully. These hands-on, minds-on models are engaging and lead to rigorous learning.

SPEAKERS:
Jennifer Hofeld

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Investigate transcription and translation without culturing cells! In this inquiry-based lab, RNA glows green and protein glows red, so you can see gene expression happen in a test tube. Use experimental data to test hypotheses about variables that affect transcription and translation.

SPEAKERS:
Allison Nishitani, PhD

We asked the question, how can a picture walk of trees in forested environments spark student thinking about energy needs of trees? This presentation reports on the findings with undergraduates and shares insights on how the picture walk can be used with middle, secondary, and undergraduate students

TAKEAWAYS:
How to use an everyday phenomena of trees in forested environments to spark students in sensemaking about from where trees access their energy and what they do with that energy; foundational ideas for understanding photosynthesis and respiration.

SPEAKERS:
Katherine Sharp, Rebecca Krall

Sponsoring Company: BIOZONE Corporation

BIOZONE's innovative worktext approach delivers flexible, engaging, student-centred resources. Learn how our titles integrate into our digital platform and how the Teacher Toolkit helps teachers plan, deliver, and assess. Attendees each receive a FREE print title & 1-year digital access to a title.

SPEAKERS:
Kim Stilwell

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Learn easy strategies for teaching life cycles, plants’ needs, structures & functions, & SEPs with Fast Plants phenomena. Learn techniques for growing Fast Plants, modeling germination, & investigating what plants need. Take away an elementary reader to accompany the flowering plant life cycle.

SPEAKERS:
Hedi Lauffer

We use the 3-H socioemotional learning cycle to engage learners, using hands-on inquiry around the composition of different soil types. Teachers learn how to identify the soil types of clay, humus, sand, and compost, and apply this information to what can grow and flourish in different soil types.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be provided with lesson plans and student work to initiate discussions about classroom applications. At the end of the session, participants will learn how to apply the 3-H model to engage students' hearts, heads, and hands in science learning using the phenomenon of soils.

SPEAKERS:
Kathy Trundle, Rita Hagevik

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Explore the movement of water with an interactive Aquaporin model to connect the molecular structure with protein function – and learn about this exciting phenomenon.

SPEAKERS:
Tim Herman, Kris Herman

Explore the application of phenomenon-based science teaching through the lens of fishing. Applications for any state enable students to explore human impacts on natural recourses and the impact on the overall health of the ocean. Essential questions are investigated using mini-projects and more.

TAKEAWAYS:
This unit models a phenomenon-based unit about fishing and aquaculture. Students explore cultural, economical, and ecological impacts around fishing to explore human impacts on our natural resources. Mini project-based learning and dissections are used as teaching strategies in this unit.

SPEAKERS:
Ashley Garcia

Sponsoring Company: HHMI BioInteractive

Explore patterns of inheritance in stickleback fish using free BioInteractive resources! We'll also model how to have students use data to support their evidence-based claims.

SPEAKERS:
Tanea Hibler, Lee Ferguson

Sponsoring Company: Flinn Scientific

Turn the traditional prescriptive lab on its head, adapting the learning style to meet your students as they explore and do science around real-world phenomena. See how you can combine videos, simulations, VR experiences, flexible assessments, and editable labs to create hands-on curriculum.

SPEAKERS:
Savannah Stanley, M.Ed.

Sponsoring Company: Dean Vaughn

Dean Vaughn's Medical Terminology by Body Systems course is a one of kind tool that helps students with their memorization and pronunciation of complex Greek and Latin words. Med Term is a foundational piece for all Health Science careers, and our tool ensures it will stick the first time!

SPEAKERS:
Gregory Newcomb

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Teach protein synthesis using reusable magnetic manipulatives to model the flow of information through DNA translation and transcription. Visualize each step of the process and apply their models to a region on the beta-hemoglobin gene and the mutation associated with sickle-cell disease.

SPEAKERS:
Ryan Hainey

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek

You’ve planned the experiment and collected data, now let’s discuss the best way to analyze it. In this workshop, we’ll use PCR and ELISA to bring quantitative data analysis and statistics to the lab. Mastery of these skills is crucial to prepare students for careers in biotechnology and STEM.

SPEAKERS:
Danielle Snowflack, PhD, Tom Cynkar

Sponsoring Company: MiniOne Systems

Sickle cell is an autosomal recessive disorder, and genetic testing is available to determine carrier, affected and normal genotypes. Run and visualize an electrophoresis gel to determine the genotypes of a family with history of sickle cell, and hear about progress with treating this disease.

SPEAKERS:
Crystal McDowell

Educators and researchers from the inquiryHub partnership between DPS and CU Boulder share their experiences as they co-designed (and co-redesigned) the iHub Biology curriculum, professional learning to accompany it, and other classroom tools to support its use.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers partnering with researchers can yield engaging curriculum materials that support more equitable teaching and learning.

SPEAKERS:
Douglas Watkins

Learn about a free unit of instruction that uses a GIS data explorer tool from the USDA Forest Service to explore connections between forests and watersheds. You’ll have an opportunity to try out the activities and receive copies of three lesson plans connected to NGSS and CCSS.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will have the knowledge, tools, and resources needed to engage students in using cutting-edge GIS technology in learning about natural systems and the connection between forests and the water they drink. Walk away able to use these tools immediately in your classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Kate Nagle, Jaclyn Stallard

This session will share the results of a four-year investigation into the genetics of different varieties of watermelons, and will highlight the advantages of using watermelons as a model organism for genetics investigations.

TAKEAWAYS:
Watermelons offer several advantages as a model organism for student research, including a variety of easily identifiable traits that exhibit Mendelian and non-Mendelian patterns, ease of growth, ease of cross-pollination, potential for cultural connections, and opportunities for original research.

SPEAKERS:
Steven Gaskill

Many beverages contain various sugars, and most of that sugar comes from corn. Reading nutrition labels can inform students of the amount of nutrients in various beverages.

TAKEAWAYS:
Young students find it difficult to equate mass measurements with volumes. Also, students, when reading labels, do not do math! Single serving amounts do not mean the total grams of sugar in a container.

SPEAKERS:
Suzanne Cunningham

We will introduce our recently published NSTA book containing a collection of units and resources to help teachers engage students in three-dimensional learning through model-based inquiry.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn about four biology model-based inquiry units for rigorous and equitable instruction. Developed with secondary science teachers, the session guides three-dimensional learning, anchoring phenomena, modeling, and scientific explanations.

SPEAKERS:
Todd Campbell, Ron Gray

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Experience an easy-to-implement genetic engineering lab with simple teacher prep - no starter cultures or incubator required! This robust lab allows students to visualize the transformation of bacteria from white to bright blue using a protocol that can be completed in a 45-minute class period.

SPEAKERS:
Kristin Hennessy-McDonald, PhD

Sponsoring Company: MiniOne Systems

What do your genes say about your beer preference? Research behind bitter taste has been ongoing for over 100 years. Come see how bitter taste genotype and phenotype are linked, and how it can play a role in your fondness for certain foods!

SPEAKERS:
Mallorie Parks

Discover the world of epigenetics and model organisms in this fast-paced, engaging session. Learn about 5 different model organisms and how they can be used in your classroom. Real-life examples will be given, and resources provided for you to bring model organisms to your students!

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about 5 different model organisms and will be given real examples, as well as resources for them to take to their classrooms and incorporate into their curriculum, inspiring the next generation of scientists!

SPEAKERS:
Cory Kavanagh

This engaging workshop provides experience and insight into the complex nature of genetics. Participants will explore genetic variations and prevalence in the population resulting in enhanced understanding and empathy for those with Down’s, Klinefelter's, and Turner Syndromes and several others.

TAKEAWAYS:
Enhanced understanding and empathy for those with Down’s, Klinefelter's, and Turner Syndromes, and several others.

SPEAKERS:
Laura Tucker, Brett Thomsen

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek

Unlock biology's mysteries with model organisms! Join our workshop to learn how to culture and study C. elegans in your classroom laboratory. Explore heavy metal effects using a simple locomotion assay. Integrate STEM concepts, data collection, and statistics for an enriching learning experience.

SPEAKERS:
Danielle Snowflack, PhD, Tom Cynkar

Use 3-D learning to engage students in understanding the balance between human activities, finite natural resources, and ecosystem health. Participate in lively simulations, modeling and problem-solving exercises for your classes and receive lessons matched to NGSS.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn ways to guide students’ inquiry around key environmental challenges, using hands-on simulations and modeling activities that employ 3D learning in an inclusive classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Merryn Cole, Diana Buirgy

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Decode the language of proteins! Unveil the mystery of amino acids and protein folding with confidence through hands-on modeling.

SPEAKERS:
Mark Arnholt, Kris Herman

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

With the transition to 3-dimensional learning, is there still a place for dissections in the classroom? The answer is yes! As you dissect a frog, we will demonstrate how to integrate the 3 dimensions of learning while highlighting adaptations and the relationship between structure and function.

SPEAKERS:
Patti Kopkau

Models are excellent tools assisting students’ understanding of chemical structure and function. Different models highlight different aspects of the chemical they represent. Simple models are terrific tools for addressing science misconceptions, too.

TAKEAWAYS:
Models are used to develop questions, predictions, and explanations. As students construct explanations for different products using the same model, students gain an understanding of molecules and life’s complexities.

SPEAKERS:
Suzanne Cunningham

OpenSciEd Biology's 3rd unit explores who gets cancer and why and where we should focus efforts on treatment and prevention. Learn how students build understanding of inheritance and variation of traits through modeling, investigations and cause and effect thinking.

TAKEAWAYS:
This unit supports students as they figure out understandings of inheritance and related ideas. Participants will see how students build these ideas through a series of investigations.

SPEAKERS:
Kate Henson

Critical thinking is a buzzword we often hear. However, can you define what it actually is? In this session, we will learn the intricacies of the term and go through a phenomena-based lesson on habitat fragmentation that will build all students' capacity for critical thinking.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with a more concrete understanding of critical thinking and a tool they can take back to their classroom to help all students practice and reflect on their critical thinking. Definitions will be collaboratively constructed based on current research and lesson activities.

SPEAKERS:
Bailey Nafziger

Essential Element standards for grades 9 and 10 were used for an integrated science unit regarding traits in life science. It was designed to facilitate learning with students who qualify for alternative assessment and for students with physical needs who may use communication devices.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will discuss the process of unit design, intentional use of inquiry teaching practices, essential element standards, assistive technology, and preparing the teacher. One high school level unit and middle school sequence will be shared to use in their own teaching spaces.

SPEAKERS:
Mandie Sanderman, Chelsie Byram

Sponsoring Company: HHMI BioInteractive

Students often struggle with visualizing photosynthesis across biological scales. Join us as we use BioInteractive resources to explore how photosynthesis models make student thinking visible.

SPEAKERS:
Amit Morris, Katherine Ward

We will present the efforts of twenty secondary schools and partners at Stanford University to create authentic Drosophila-based research experiences, and how you can too!

TAKEAWAYS:
Through Stan-X, middle school and high school students learn science through authentic, open-ended, publishable research. Coordination between schools, both public and private, across the world, can enhance scientific learning and research opportunities for your students and for teachers!

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Lantz

Looking to increase achievement in an immersive way? The Air Camp Team will demonstrate how to harness the universal appeal of flight by captivating students with lessons and engaging activities rooted in biology standards while exploring exciting and fast-growing aviation career fields!

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn strategies to construct activities resulting in greater interest and mastery of biology for students in grades K-12. Explore distinct professional practices that expand biology standards into unforgettable learning experiences associated with human life, animals, plant life, and so much more!

SPEAKERS:
Christina Davis

Climate Change is inevitable. Preparing students to deal with heat related change will enable advocacy and build community resilience. Building mapping literacy through use of the EPA’s EJScreen tool, attendees investigate climate risks to their communities and explore mitigation strategies.

TAKEAWAYS:
To assess heat waves’ disproportionate impact on communities, participants will gain insights into Environmental Justice issues through the use of the EPA’s EJ Screen tools to identify risk. We will also explore teaching strategies to engage students in meaningful investigations and discussions.

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Luna, Tamanna Shahid

Explore how our sources of protein can affect human and environmental health. Experience hands-on, minds-on, NGSS practice-based lessons related to One Health – the connections between human, animal, and environmental health.

TAKEAWAYS:
Using a hands-on, minds-on, NGSS practice-based approach, participants will leave with classroom-ready materials to engage their students in investigating protein malnutrition and how different protein sources affect the environment. Activities focus on the science practice of modeling.

SPEAKERS:
Lisa Brosnick

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

Bring your laptop or tablet for a guided tour of the public database (NCBI) and an activity on how simple bioinformatics tools can help identify threats to our food supply.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants learn basic terms and tools (DNA barcodes, bioinformatics) used for DNA sequence analysis. A simple activity demonstrates how bioinformatics tools are used to solve problems in the real world.

SPEAKERS:
Jane Hunt, Zack Bateson

What might seem like student apathy and lack of engagement may be a student simply needing connection, community, and care. Join high school teachers as they share instructional practices and strategies used to create a positive and equitable classroom that can improve student outcomes.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be led through a variety of engaging activities and instructional practices put together over the past 3 school years. The activities are aimed at building engagement within the classroom with special attention to student trauma and equitable practices.

SPEAKERS:
Sydney Recknagel, Kari Parnin

Sponsoring Company: Flinn Scientific

Seeing is believing! Flinn Scientific presents a variety of easy to perform and exciting chemistry and physical science demonstrations. Come see Flinn’s new demonstrations and some of your old favorites—all guaranteed to make your science classroom come alive. Handouts provided for all.

SPEAKERS:
Mike Marvel, Ph.D.

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: Edvotek

Explore Nobel Prize-winning CRISPR in our hands-on electrophoresis workshop! This powerful biotechnology breakthrough is making dramatic changes to human health RIGHT NOW. Dive into CRISPR biology with quick experiments modeling cures for genetic diseases like Sickle Cell Anemia and Cystic Fibrosis.

SPEAKERS:
Danielle Snowflack, PhD, Tom Cynkar

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Using innovative physical models and cellular landscape posters explore how flu, coronavirus and other virus can infect our cells and learn about new vaccine platforms.

SPEAKERS:
Tim Herman, Kris Herman

Participants will use activities that work in CP and Honors Biology to help students decide whether and how we should genetically modify corn. Materials can be integrated into DNA (genes), evolution (artificial selection), and/or ecology (environmental impacts of GMOs).

TAKEAWAYS:
Teach kids to make informed decisions about GMOs. Learn to scaffold group argumentation and CER skills in this unit. Students work in teams to discuss data and create a speech about how we should deal with this complex issue. This curriculum closed the gap between our CP and Honors students!

SPEAKERS:
Lindsey L'ECUYER

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

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

SPEAKERS:
Allison Nishitani, PhD

Attendees will learn more about the philosophy behind standards-based grading practices and apply NGSS-aligned standards to assess examples of student work from middle school level life and physical science.

TAKEAWAYS:
Standards-based grading identifies clear and specific learning goals for both students and teachers, and illuminates the path for students to demonstrate and teachers to assess proficiency.

SPEAKERS:
Christine Zarker Primomo, Katie Foutch, Alexandra Guest

Gain strategies and tools for enhancing opportunities for computational thinking in your current high school life or physical science curriculum. Bring current lessons and leave with concrete ideas for helping students engage authentically in the SEP of Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will take home strategies and tools based on the Computational Thinking for Science Framework that they can use to enhance opportunities for CT-S in any high school science curriculum. They will receive immediate feedback on lesson modifications they can implement in their classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Maia Binding, Timothy Hurt, Ari Krakowski, Wendy Jackson

Sponsoring Company: PASCO

Learn the best way to develop deep student understanding of colorimetry and Beer's Law. Help students discover the link between solution concentration and light absorption through hands-on experimentation. We’ll show you how to teach students to use wireless sensors to collect and analyze data.

SPEAKERS:
Sophia Guzules

Sponsoring Company: Bio-Rad Laboratories

Taxonomy in action: use visual cues and biotechnology techniques to sort bumblebees into separate species. Experience how PCR, sequencing, and bioinformatics help scientists distinguish bee species.

SPEAKERS:
Damon Tighe

This essential biology investigation requires students to compare hominid skulls, studying the morphological changes as humans evolved. Skull models cost thousands of dollars. Do this important investigation for free with our slide presentation, student instructions, 2D skulls, and online resources.

TAKEAWAYS:
This essential biology investigation requires students to compare hominid skulls, studying the morphological changes as humans evolved. Skull models cost thousands of dollars. Do this important investigation for free with our slide presentation, student instructions, 2D skulls, and online resources.

SPEAKERS:
Bertha Vazquez

Sponsoring Company: Vernier Science Education

Introduce new scientific concepts to your students by studying climate change phenomena. We'll discuss experiments that help students use data-collection technology to study climate change in the classroom, including an investigation into the effect of carbon dioxide on ocean and freshwater pH.

SPEAKERS:
Colleen McDaniel, Nüsret Hisim

Sponsoring Company: HHMI BioInteractive

Join us as we explore the relationship between environmental changes and wildfires using free BioInteractive resources that feature authentic phenomena and data analysis.

SPEAKERS:
Laura Dinerman, Beth Cates

Sponsoring Company: Texas Instruments

Embark on a journey into the world of forensic science using maggots, flies and flesh to solve a mystery! Imagine discovering a decomposing corpse in a field with four missing persons fitting the description. Who is it? This gripping session takes you on an adventure where using the clues found at the grim scene is the only way to discover the answers to your questions. Forensic anthropologist Diane France helped to develop this forensic science lesson that’s perfect for middle school and high school students.

SPEAKERS:
Erick Archer

Sponsoring Company: MiniOne Systems

Come learn and get hands-on experience on how to teach gel electrophoresis and DNA fingerprinting in a single classroom session. You will pour, load, and run a gel, capture gel image, analyze the results, and deduce a probable conclusion for a whale of a forensic mystery.

SPEAKERS:
Mallorie Parks

Sponsoring Company: Savvas Learning Company

Join us for this hands-on session. We will make low-cost, time efficient models you can easily pre-assemble or that your student will enjoy building for an active learning experience.

SPEAKERS:
Lisa Espinosa

Science and math are the “bookends” of STEM education. Integrating science and math should be seamless, natural, and painless. Come join the fun as we collect and analyze an AVALANCHE of data as we work together to make hands-on, inquiry-based instruction one of your go-to strategies!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will experience the power of having students collect and analyze their own data, while learning strategies for the effective science-math integration and collaborative instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Jeffrey Lukens

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

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Empower all your students to unlock the secrets of enzyme specificity through biotech engineering design challenges, using dynamic physical models and student-created models.

SPEAKERS:
Mark Arnholt, Kris Herman

Sponsoring Company: BIOZONE Corporation

Discover BIOZONE’s new platform that combines digital replicas of our highly acclaimed print titles together with Presentation Slides , 3D models, and curated videos - thereby providing powerful options for delivering your high school science programs. Attendees each receive a FREE 1-year licence.

SPEAKERS:
Kim Stilwell

Put on your medical hat and diagnose your patients through this interactive workshop. Gain firsthand experience and learn about the phenomenon-based unit that teaches students about the cell cycle, cancer, and stem cells. Everything you need to know to implement this unit in your classroom!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will see and experience this phenomenon-based unit. They will have the tools and materials to implement this unit into their biology classes.

SPEAKERS:
Kristin Ambrose

Sponsoring Company: Bio-Rad Laboratories

Can your students save the Giant Pandas? See how your students tackle topics like homeostatic regulation, effect of reproductive hormones, immunological responses and ecosystem balance as they engineer a hormone detection system that can be utilized for Giant Panda population conservation efforts.

SPEAKERS:
Damon Tighe

Sponsoring Company: HHMI BioInteractive

Students can be change-makers! We’ll model using BioInteractive resources including Wild Hope, a new film series, to engage students in developing solutions for restoring biodiversity.

SPEAKERS:
Paul Strode, Ann Brokaw

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Bring molecular techniques to Ecology and Evolution units. Join an expedition to Madagascar to decide if an extinct lemur species has been rediscovered! Test DNA with gel electrophoresis, build phylogenetic trees, and analyze authentic field data from the Duke Lemur Center.

SPEAKERS:
Rose Chaffee-Cohen

Sponsoring Company: MiniOne Systems

Hair, fingerprints, and DNA evidence are left behind at the scene of a murder. Can you use them to find Dr. Ward's killer? Your students will love being the crime scene investigators while learning how to use electrophoresis to perform DNA analysis in a single classroom period. Come learn how!

SPEAKERS:
Mallorie Parks

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Join us for an engaging MS/HS hands-on workshop full of ideas & resources for using Fast Plants as model organisms to teach environmental / agricultural / biological science content, CCCS, and SEPs. Get “how-to” tips and 3 investigations, including lesson plans and companion Open Source resources.

SPEAKERS:
Hedi Lauffer

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek

Wildlife conservators often return captive-bred animals to their native habitats to rewild the area. In this interactive workshop, we’ll explore the use of RFLP analysis and phylogenetics in conservation biology to analyze the DNA samples of two lions. Can we return them to their ancestral home?

SPEAKERS:
Danielle Snowflack, PhD, Tom Cynkar

How can we take advantage of simple ingredients like yeast to connect science to students’ interests, explore different cultures, & encourage students to meaningfully and safely design their own experiments? Learn through this fun & easy bread-in-a-bag lab with differentiated versions for gr6-12.

TAKEAWAYS:
Explore a lesson that centers around the phenomena of bread and yeast, and see how you can make bread within classroom parameters. Consider how bread can be used to explore multiple science concepts like chemical reactions, organisms, phase changes, and heat transfer; make cultural connections.

SPEAKERS:
Mary Velasquez, Meredith Moore, Shawn Boggs, Kate Strangfeld

Come see a model of modeling! Engage in an Earth Science and a Biology activity, experience how models can be used to help student sense-making, and reflect on how to improve modeling in your classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore how modeling can be used to improve student sensemaking of science concepts.

SPEAKERS:
Lily Fettkether, Janell Wright, Jesse Wilcox

NGSS alignment is quite challenging for most teachers. We have designed open-source materials that achieved NGSS-aligned outcomes for 80-90% of students while reducing the challenges of instruction. We will guide participants through example materials that support NGSS implementation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees of this session will leave with specific strategies and options to improve NGSS alignment without significantly adding to the day-to-day burden of classroom instruction. This will also broaden their understanding of the goals and objectives of NGSS alignment.

SPEAKERS:
Craig Kohn, Abigail Helmke

Explore OpenSciEd's Common Ancestry & Speciation Unit. Investigate how coevolution between organisms and Earth's systems has occured in the past and what will happen in the furture.

TAKEAWAYS:
Support students in using SEPs and CCC to figure out big ideas in life and Earth science.

SPEAKERS:
Kate Henson

Bring your laptop and come explore a place-based, virtual climate change investigation. This activity uses real-world data from across the country to highlight the potential impacts of a changing climate.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees at this session will leave with a virtual activity that can be tailored to science classrooms across the country.

SPEAKERS:
Merryn Cole, Jake Johnson

Sponsoring Company: Activate Learning

Come join us to look at helping elementary students shift from learning about to figuring out. Meaningful conversations and ideas about what that might look like with 3-dimensional teaching and learning.

SPEAKERS:
Tracy Marmolejo, Jen Gutierrez

The story of the double helix is standard fare, but it is usually told in a cursory and superficial way. The actual story, however, can be brought into the classroom in a way that excites students and shows the scientific process, warts and all, in a manner that promotes equity and inclusion.

TAKEAWAYS:
We will ask students to do the difficult work of placing themselves into the narrative in a way that enables them to address some of the scientific and ethical choices made by the various parties to the discovery of the double helix.

SPEAKERS:
Kenneth Miller

We will use high-resolution images and descriptions of traits to construct evidence-based hypotheses for where two different fossils should be placed on the evolutionary tree of dinosaurs. The activity follows the same processes used by paleontologists to classify their fossil finds.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will gain access to materials that provide the backstory for an in-depth data analysis activity that can be used with students. Resources include hi-res images of fossils, descriptions and diagrams of traits that are useful for classification, and phylogenetic trees of dinosaurs.

SPEAKERS:
David Randle

Sponsoring Company: Texas Instruments

Engage middle and high school students in a thrilling exploration of disease transmission using the zombie apocalypse scenario! Zombies offer a captivating lens to understand how diseases spread through a population. Join us for this session that makes the science of contagion both exciting and informative, turning the undead into a powerful education tool.

SPEAKERS:
Erick Archer

How do scientists identify harmful algal blooms and other aquatic microbes? Bring your laptop or tablet for an introductory lesson and discussion on DNA analysis using free web-based tools.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants learn basic terms and tools (DNA barcodes, BLAST) used for sequence analysis. The activity explores the public database (NCBI) used by educators and scientists around the world.

SPEAKERS:
Jane Hunt, Zack Bateson

Reinforce genetics concepts by exploring the molecular processes technologies employ to understand genetic disorders. Experience an interactive curriculum module that is a window into biochemical processes at different levels from DNA to protein, and the technologies that illuminate them.

TAKEAWAYS:
How to access and use a free, NGSS-friendly curriculum module that helps students gain a deeper understanding of molecular genetics and the ways genetic disorders affect the pathway from DNA to a functioning protein by exploring the biochemical processes that technologies employ to detect a disorder.

SPEAKERS:
Molly Malone

NGSS alignment is quite challenging for most teachers. We have designed open-source materials that achieved NGSS-aligned outcomes for 80-90% of students while reducing the challenges of instruction. We will guide participants through example materials that support NGSS implementation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with specific strategies and options to improve NGSS alignment without significantly adding to the day-to-day burden of classroom instruction. This will also broaden their understanding of the goals and objectives of NGSS alignment.

SPEAKERS:
Abigail Helmke, Craig Kohn

We will use sets of essays and videos to follow the work of marine biologists studying blue whales. A web-based interface gives students the ability to analyze whale dive data to understand how the largest animal that ever lived evolved by eating small crustaceans.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will gain access to materials that provide the backstory for an in-depth data analysis activity that can be used with students. Data includes time series graphs of blue whale dives, and video from forward and backward mounted cameras on the back of a whale.

SPEAKERS:
David Randle

Engage in 3-D sensemaking by investigating the patterns and distribution of lactose intolerance inheritance worldwide using mathematical and computational thinking models. Briefly learn how technology-mediated lesson study has helped rural science teachers collaborate to design 3-D lessons.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will see how patterns of inheritance, and mathematical and computational thinking skills, can be used to make sense of why the distribution of traits for lactose intolerance follow certain worldwide patterns.

SPEAKERS:
Douglas Morris, Joshua Stowers

We will share strategies and outcomes from our experience in restructuring biology classes to focus on competency-based learning and student voice and choice. We will offer takeaways for educators to reimagine their classrooms as communities built on student agency and competency-based learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Competency-based learning and student agency in the classroom have positive impacts on academic success and mental health. Science educators can move towards this model in a way that is feasible and accessible.

SPEAKERS:
Ashton Trawinski, Megan White

Student engagement has been linked to increased persistence in STEM. In this poster presentation, I will share the results of my research on the effects of integrating course-based research experiences into high school biological science courses on student engagement in STEM.

TAKEAWAYS:
The main takeaway from this session is that integrating course-based research experiences into the curriculum is important in STEM courses, as it can lead to increased student engagement, which is associated with persistence in STEM.

SPEAKERS:
Shawndra Fordham

Introduce students to research and the power of “big data!” Learn about an exciting, new, publicly available biomedical database and the All of Us Research Program that makes it possible. Find classroom resources that support using the database in class.

TAKEAWAYS:
The All of Us Research Program is building the largest, most diverse biomedical database of its kind. The program is making de-identified, aggregated data from the database available to the public through a Data Browser and providing resources to help students navigate it.

SPEAKERS:
Molly Malone

For the past 5 years, I have partnered with my state's wildlife agency to use the invasive bullfrogs they remove that are threatening native species throughout the state. My students collect data that is used by the department to determine the impact these frogs have on Arizona ecosystems.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to establish a partnership with local wildlife agencies and scientists to get your students collecting data that is useful to scientists and gives meaning to organisms that are frequently discarded by scientists but still useful in an educational setting.

SPEAKERS:
Shoshanna Kroeger

As teachers we know students can verbalize a correct response, but when posing with the same question and asking for a written response, students often do not answer in the same ways they did verbally. So, where is the disconnect?

TAKEAWAYS:
The objective of this session is to explore how teachers can improve students' writing in science classes. We will explore how to help students transfer the verbal response to the written in order to help improve students’ ability to write in the discipline of science.

SPEAKERS:
Lisa Neesemann, Catherine Walsh

This scholarship of teaching and learning study parallels Aranda et al. (2021) by having students author two Scientist Spotlights assignments in a community college biology course and assessing the impact of the intervention on the students’ stereotypes of scientists and relatability to science.

TAKEAWAYS:
The main takeaway is to understand if authoring Scientist Spotlight assignments influences student relatability to scientists and/or shifts stereotypes of scientists from negative stereotypes to positive stereotypes, and nonstereotypical descriptions in a community college intro biology course.

SPEAKERS:
Heidi Tarus

How can food and cooking encourage students to connect science concepts to their everyday lives, communities, and global issues? What can this look like in a science classroom? See examples of lessons and multimedia resources you can use to use this approachable, accessible medium to teach science.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn about resources that include videos, lesson plans, labs, and readings that they can use to teach science through food and cooking. Resources target grade levels 6-12. They will also learn how a building community of teachers is using these resources and see a sample lesson.

SPEAKERS:
Meredith Moore, Mary Velasquez, Kate Strangfeld

This poster presents a protocol for the microscale iodine-starch test that requires significantly less hands-on manipulations and can be performed within 10 minutes. It describes how this protocol can be used to teach middle school students how to design and evaluate more complex experimental designs.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to conduct microscale iodine-starch tests with their students. They will also learn how to design worksheets that encourage students to think about designing and interpreting the results of more complex experimental designs (e.g., multivariate experimental designs).

SPEAKERS:
Kennedy Kam Ho CHAN

In this workshop, attendees will build replicas of human anatomy using clay and a specially-designed skeletal model in a classroom setting. Educators will learn how to implement a unique curriculum system which helps students create a kinesthetic map of the human anatomy.

TAKEAWAYS:
They will acquire the knowledge to engage science students with immediate, hands-on learning using a proven method that is nationally recognized to increase both student retention and test scores.

SPEAKERS:
Brandee Gillham

In today's tech-driven world, with abundant information and limited planning time, achieving both content-rich and inclusive lessons can lead to "analysis paralysis." Break free from overwhelm with our practical tool for evaluating resources. Join us!

TAKEAWAYS:
By the end of this lesson, educators will be able to apply effective strategies to critically evaluate a range of resources, thus enhancing the overall sense of inclusivity and belonging within their classroom communities.

SPEAKERS:
Jailyn Jenkins

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

Join award-winning science educator Griff Jones and members of the IIHS Vehicle Research Center to practice a sample of engaging demos and hands-on activities, such as paper car crashes and egg drop competitions, from the IIHS’s free “Crash Science in the Classroom” program.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will try out a selection of inquiry-oriented discrepant events and hands-on crash science activities, and learn how to access other free, video-supported, classroom-tested lessons and resources to teach crash-related science and engineering concepts.

SPEAKERS:
Joe Young, Griff Jones

Sponsoring Company: Flinn Scientific

The persistence of laboratory incidents injurious to high school students demonstrates the need for work towards implementing strong safety cultures in our school science labs. Please join us to learn about simple things you can do to make the laboratory a safer environment for your students.

SPEAKERS:
Mike Marvel, Ph.D.

Sponsoring Company: MiniOne Systems

Delve into the world of breast cancer markers, explore the scientific and bioethical considerations associated with genetic testing, and analyze specific genetic markers linked to breast cancer susceptibility using pedigree analysis and gel electrophoresis.

SPEAKERS:
Crystal McDowell

Bees are dying! Investigate the causes of declining bee populations and how this loss can affect your food supply. Experience hands-on, minds-on, NGSS practice-based lessons related to One Health – the connections between human, animal, and environmental health.

TAKEAWAYS:
Using a hands-on, minds-on, NGSS practice-based approach, participants will leave with classroom-ready materials to engage their students in investigating why bee populations are declining. Activities focus on the science practices of constructing an explanation and designing solutions.

SPEAKERS:
Lisa Brosnick

Engage in conversations for how to use the three dimensions of the NGSS and the NRC Framework, storylines, driving questions, formative and summative assessments, and hands-on activities to learn science and engineering skills while making sense of one of our most basic needs – FOOD.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will engage in a morsel of a storyline on producing the perfect apple. In this storyline, students notice and wonder about different varieties of apples and are challenged to explain why it took 30 years for the Honeycrisp apple to be available to consumers.

SPEAKERS:
Shane Cullian

Pokémon cards depict fictitious animalian life stages that can be leveraged to discuss life science concepts such as inherited and acquired traits. After briefly reviewing inherited versus acquired traits and 5E lessons, participants will explore the cards to develop sci-fi writing samples.

TAKEAWAYS:
While some Pokémon character cards depict physical and behavioral development over two or more stages, such character cards may be leveraged as science fiction writing seeds, to help early adolescents apply their understanding of life science concepts while learning about the Science Fiction genre.

SPEAKERS:
Omah Williams-Duncan

Sponsoring Company: HHMI BioInteractive

Models help make student thinking visible. Join us as we engage with different methods and scaffolds to model ecological phenomena using free HHMI BioInteractive resources.

SPEAKERS:
Samantha Johnson, Brian Mason

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

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: Lab-Aids

Explore the use of sensemaking strategies to help students understand how selective gene expression works. Come experience a model lesson from the Lab-Aids' program: Science and Global Issues: Biology, developed by SEPUP. This hands-on workshop will also show a connection to genetic engineering.

SPEAKERS:
Donna Parker

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Discover how modeling with interactive, collaborative tools can help your students learn about this new gene editing technology. Hear how the treatment has helped people.

SPEAKERS:
Tim Herman, Kris Herman

Join me as we engage with many high-leverage SEL strategies I regularly incorporate into my high school classroom. I use these strategies to foster a sense of belonging and support strong development of the NGSS SEPs. We’ll discuss successes and strategize your adaptations of my ready-to-use tools.

TAKEAWAYS:
One core SEL strategy I’ll share is a “temperature check” in which students take 5 minutes of class weekly to fill out a digital (or paper) survey to let me know how they’re doing. I’ll share my rationale behind the questions I use and how they have increased my ability to support students.

SPEAKERS:
Andrea Ames

Sponsoring Company: Bio-Rad Laboratories

Two out of three drug overdoses are due to opioids. Understanding the environmental & genetic links to drug dependency can reduce risk when opioids are prescribed to high-risk patients. Discover how math, genetics, & personalized medicine can determine the likelihood of addiction.

SPEAKERS:
Tamica Stubbs

Are these the “Worst of Times” for science education? With widespread public rejection and even hostility to vaccines, climate science, and evolution, these might seem to be grim times in the science classroom, but I will suggest that is not the whole story.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be presented with some of the principal challenges facing science educators around the nation. However, each of these challenges presents a unique opportunity to engage students with topics of interest that are deeply relevant to their everyday lives.

SPEAKERS:
Kenneth Miller

Come learn how easy, important, and fun it is to collect and analyze data as a part of good, solid, responsible science education. Integrating science and mathematics isn't just a good idea, it is essential for today's STEM learner. Today's technology makes it quick, easy, fun and meaningful!

TAKEAWAYS:
ALL attendees will be active participants in the data collection activities in this session. But collecting data will not be the greatest takeaway. Rather, instilling confidence in ALL attendees to perform mathematical analysis of the data will be the main goal of the session.

SPEAKERS:
Jeffrey Lukens

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Use gel electrophoresis to investigate if someone was wrongfully convicted. Based on the principles from the FBI’s CODIS system, this forensics investigation allows your students to make connections between DNA analysis and its uses in the criminal justice system. Inspired by the Innocence Project.

SPEAKERS:
Rose Chaffee-Cohen

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

PTC tasting is a classic way to link genotype and phenotype. Use PCR and gel electrophoresis to determine if students have taster or non-taster alleles for bitter perception. Learn about our all-new curriculum and see how easy it can be to bring molecular genetics to your class!

SPEAKERS:
Sebastian Kraves

Explore activities that will engage your students in activities that bridge the gap between classroom knowledge and the real-world impact of climate change on society and the environment.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave this session with resources to engage students in activities that promote a deeper understanding of climate change and its impact at various scales in the human and natural world, with opportunities to explore environmental justice.

SPEAKERS:
Dr. Yajaira Fuentes-Tauber

Sponsoring Company: HHMI BioInteractive

Dig deeper into CRISPR-Cas9 with a hands-on modeling activity and an online BioInteractive resource that demystify how this biotechnology expands the field of genetic medicine.

SPEAKERS:
Valerie May, Karen Lucci

Is crash-testing biased against women? Join science education professor Griff Jones and IIHS Vehicle Research Center staff to learn about the latest research regarding equity issues and crash-testing, and participate in a live Q&A with crash test dummy research experts.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn why ensuring equity in crash-testing research is more complex than simply putting a female dummy in the driver’s seat and how IIHS’s “Deep Dive with Dummies” free video series can be used to teach grade 5-12 students about the nature of science.

SPEAKERS:
Joe Young, Griff Jones

Sponsoring Company: Bio-Rad Laboratories

Experience CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing experiments designed for your students' learning! In this hands-on workshop edit a chromosomal gene, complete with essential experimental controls, using the same cut-and-repair technology used in medicinal and agricultural applications.

SPEAKERS:
Damon Tighe

Participants will explore scientific drawing as a tool to strengthen student understanding of the underlying science concepts. This session will allow participants an opportunity and experience to combine the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learnings.

TAKEAWAYS:
Reinforce the understanding of photosynthesis through a scientific drawing.

SPEAKERS:
Courtney Martinez, Suparna Vashisht

Explore a seabird study and the effects of climate change. We will share our integrated curriculum: authentic data analysis, field techniques, seabird biology, the Arctic ecosystem, and talking about climate change with students. Come try a fish foraging simulation, bird banding, and research tools!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will explore an integrated curriculum centered on a 49-year Arctic seabird study and the impacts of climate change on the Arctic ecosystem. Hands-on: fish foraging simulation (very fun!), bird banding activity, research tools, and strategies for talking about climate change with students.

SPEAKERS:
Alyssa Barr, Katie Morrison

Sponsoring Company: MiniOne Systems

Come learn and get hands-on experience on how to teach gel electrophoresis and DNA fingerprinting in a single classroom session. You will pour, load, and run a gel, capture gel image, analyze the results, and deduce a probable conclusion for a whale of a forensic mystery.

SPEAKERS:
Glenda Goh Denison

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Explore genetic wonders with your students and discover the intricacies of Mendelian and non-Mendelian inheritance through dynamic modeling and Punnett Square construction.

SPEAKERS:
Ruth Hutson, Kris Herman

Explore the use of zebrafish (Danio rerio) a freshwater fish at the forefront of biomedical research and easily maintained in a classroom aquarium, to spark ALL students’ curiosity and scientific engagement with real-life science experiences through multiple-learning modalities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learning how zebrafish and low-budget pet store supplies can be used to engage diverse learners, including English learners, in multimodal (visual, kinesthetic) real-life science learning experiences.

SPEAKERS:
Pam Kirkland, Vinita Hajeri

Explore the use of biotechnology by having your students build their own 3D-printed gel electrophoresis equipment and perform experiments with inexpensive and easily obtainable materials.

TAKEAWAYS:
Biotechnology can be accomplished using inexpensive 3D-printed equipment and easily obtainable generic materials.

SPEAKERS:
James Lettieri, Judith Campo-Sobota

Integrated science? Teach NGSS-focused geology, ecology, biology, engineering, and physical science through real-world problems. Access rubrics, guides, lesson plans, timelines, and other ideas.

TAKEAWAYS:
Using a thematic approach to integrated science truly integrates the disciplines, making it highly engaging by giving students real-world applications of the content. The NGSS does not have a set of "integrated science" standards, yet aligning this course to the NGSS is possible!

SPEAKERS:
Vanessa Ueltzen

In this engaging session, you're invited to delve into the fascinating world of neuroscience as it relates to the art and science of effective teaching and learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
This presentation goes beyond theory to provide you with practical strategies and evidence-based techniques that can be integrated into your teaching methods.

SPEAKERS:
Martha MacKay, Erica Huggard

Sponsoring Company: Flinn Scientific

Let Flinn help you develop as a teacher. Whether this is your first-year teaching, or your first-year teaching science, this session will show you how to do science safely that will lead to better student outcomes.

SPEAKERS:
Jillian Saddler

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Participants will make and use alginate beads containing algae and alginate beads containing yeast. They will learn how the beads can be used to model the processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration.

SPEAKERS:
Crystal Risko

Storylines led by phenomena improve student engagement and understanding of overarching biological concepts. We will model using phenomena to anchor and lead instruction.

TAKEAWAYS:
Storylines provide an equitable, culturally-responsive learning experience that support long-lasting learning for all students.

SPEAKERS:
Michele Koehler, Shane Cullian, Kathlyn Van Hoeck, Charlie Pozen

Investigate the spread of tick-borne diseases in humans and animals. Experience hands-on, minds-on, NGSS practice-based lessons related to One Health – the connections between human, animal, and environmental health.

TAKEAWAYS:
Using a hands-on, minds-on, NGSS practice-based approach, participants will leave with classroom-ready materials to engage their students in investigating the problem of tick-borne diseases and climate change. Activities focus on the science practices of analyzing data and constructing explanations.

SPEAKERS:
Lisa Brosnick

A major aspect of the NGSS is the inclusion of 3D summative assessments. However, this is something with which all teachers struggle. Using the National Center for Science Education’s free, high-quality assessments as a model, learn how to use phenomena to create assessments for your own students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will walk away with the confidence to select appropriate phenomena to use as the foundation for a summative assessment and an understanding of how to build a 3D assessment using a phenomenon.

SPEAKERS:
Lin Andrews

How much blood do you have in your body? Why do you need a four-chambered heart? Why do you need to eat more in the winter? Why don't you see very many cold-blooded animals at high altitudes in Colorado? Join us for this session and discover the answers to life's pressing physiological questions!

TAKEAWAYS:
Being "warm-blooded" brings both good news and bad news for an animal. In this session, attendees will calculate their blood volume, why a 4-chambered heart is needed to move all that blood around, and how the circulatory system is the key to unlock all of these physiological phenomena!

SPEAKERS:
Jeffrey Lukens

In this session, three author-educators will use 3D-printed fossils to introduce the topic of human origins, identify critical adaptations, and learn stories behind the fossils. Attendees will gain age-appropriate strategies tailored to diverse student populations (lower grades through high school).

TAKEAWAYS:
This session provides educators with skills and resources for teaching human evolution. Through a trifold approach, participants will increase confidence in teaching about human origins by exploring major milestones in human evolution and headline-grabbing discoveries. Bibliography provided.

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Shreeve, John Mead, Pamela Turner

Discover BioTrek, a free project-based learning program that introduces your students to regenerative science through advanced technologies, entrepreneurship and career pathways in the biofabrication industry. Learn how to bring this dynamic inquiry-driven experience to your classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees gain insight into cutting-edge tissue engineering concepts and free NGSS-aligned curriculum. Learn how ARMI is shaping the industry and empowering the future workforce of biofabrication through BioTrek, a program that exposes students to exciting careers via transdisciplinary learning.

SPEAKERS:
Alanis Vicente, Gabrielle Mourousas

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Come practice hands-on, authentic CRISPR/Cas learning activities. From using Cas9 to target DNA in a test tube, to knocking out a gene in bacteria, our labs will put real CRISPR/Cas in your students’ hands. Free educational resources like CRISPR/Cas paper models will also be demonstrated.

SPEAKERS:
Sebastian Kraves

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:
Whitney Hagins

Complete a distracted driving hands-on activity and discover award-winning videos and more inquiry-based activities from IIHS’s free Crash Science in the Classroom program that illustrates the vital connections between biology, physics, mathematics, medicine, engineering, and teen crash safety.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will measure their reaction time and complete a distracted driving simulation using a series of 4 activities simulating the 4 major types of driving distractions. Participants will also learn how to access detailed lesson plans, teacher tips videos, student lab sheets, and answer keys.

SPEAKERS:
Griff Jones