The Model-Based Argument Critique Tool facilitates perspective-taking by prompting students to agree/disagree with peers' conceptual claims about phenomena using evidence, to encourage engagement with different interpretations. Furthermore, the tool directs students to analyze visual representations designed by peers, specifically focusing on how they depict unseen objects or processes. By requiring critiques of varied representations within models, students must consider alternative ways of visualizing abstract concepts and evaluate their effectiveness in communicating scientific ideas. Evaluating others' representations helps students identify strengths, weaknesses, and diverse approaches, broadening their understanding of representational choices and the limitations inherent in visualizing the unseen. This structured peer feedback fosters meta-representational competence, enabling students to appreciate multiple perspectives on the phenomenon and how it can be visually communicated.

TAKEAWAYS:
Viewers will examine the layout of the critique tool, which separates conceptual claims from visual representations. The poster displays examples of preservice teachers' written critiques and drawings of different phenomena, illustrating how their feedback on peer models evolved.

SPEAKERS:
Jaclyn Murray

High school students embrace leadership guiding elementary scientific inquiry sparked by leveled storybooks. Using the Science Process through the Magic of Literacy (SPML) approach, the Centennial Science Club teaches science concepts through exploration while reinforcing reading, writing, and math standards. This program brings science back into the elementary classroom, fostering student leadership and helping teachers confidently integrate science into their daily lessons. Topics covered to date are thermal energy, motion, kinetic energy, energy transfer, biomimicry in engineering, and density. The littles are guided to ask questions from reading a storybook followed by collaborative development of a hypothesis and a procedure followed by data collection and analysis. The group ends with a conversation of errors and extensions. Come see the excitement, ask questions, and discover how literacy can be a powerful launchpad to provide autonomous scientific thinking at your school.

TAKEAWAYS:
High school students guide elementary scientific inquiry sparked by storybooks, reinforcing cross-curricular skills. This encourages student leadership, boosts teacher confidence, and fosters independent scientific thinking, demonstrating how literacy can be a powerful tool for hands-on learning.

SPEAKERS:
CHERYL FARRER

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Rosario Arellano, Jennifer Kopec

This session will showcase literacy integration examples from ML-PBL Science Classrooms. Handouts will provide links to the FREE OER ML-PBL units of instruction, lesson overviews, and literacy integration affordances. Examples of trade books included in the units will be shared.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will peruse plans for integrating science and literacy, and for extending science ideas throughout the school day as shared by ML-PBL Elementary Teachers. Access FREE OER Elementary Science Units.

SPEAKERS:
Susan Codere

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Peter White

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Joel Donna

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Gayle Buck

Explore the link between targeted vocabulary instruction and improved comprehension in STEM. Through practical examples, attendees will learn effective strategies and tools to enhance scientific literacy while maintaining content rigor and concept retention for all learners in their classes.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how explicit vocabulary instruction enhances comprehension and concept retention in science. They'll gain effective strategies and tools to integrate vocabulary teaching into their lessons, ultimately improving student literacy while maintaining rigorous content instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Shana Pyatt-Buckner

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Wenger, Wendy Towery-Stove

This poster will introduce the use of animals in modern biomedical research and will review a lesson plan on animal research useful for a range of grade levels. The lesson includes discussion of animal models, explanation of regulations and practice for research animal care, discussion of diverse careers in research animal care, and a simulated health assessment activity using inexpensive rodent models. Students are introduced to the core ideas of the use of animals in research, bioethics, and related bioscience careers, while engaging them in science practice and integrating cross cutting concepts.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn about a lesson plan on animal models in biomedical research, developed by scientists and veterinarians at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. The lesson plan includes a hands-on activity that engages students in exploration of simulated rodent models.

SPEAKERS:
Meredith Tennis

48% of bachelor’s and 69% of associate degree students who chose STEM programs left these fields before graduation. 81% of white women and students of color of both sexes report that poor instructional quality is an issue when they leave post-secondary STEM programs. We developed a modified Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) at a community college that leverages culturally relevant teaching, place-based education, and science identity development. We will share how students learn how to search for and read primary literature, design/ask research questions about CO2 in their communities, plan and carry out investigations, analyze and interpret data, and communicate information by creating and sharing scientific posters. We saw statistically significant increases in students’ confidence in their ability to do science practices, their interest in STEM research, and in aspects related to their identity, such as feeling like they are part of the STEM community.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this poster, we will share how community college students developed science research practices that led to increases in their confidence in their ability to do science, their interest in science, and their identity as a scientist.

SPEAKERS:
Ann Murkowski, Kalyn Owens, Blakely Tsurusaki

his session explores how educators can harness AI tools to create high-quality, three-dimensional science lessons in half the time. Participants will learn how AI can support the integration of science and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas, making instruction more engaging and NGSS-aligned. From generating inquiry-based activities to visualizing complex phenomena, AI offers practical, time-saving solutions that elevate lesson design and student understanding. Join us to discover strategies, tools, and examples that bring science learning to life through the power of AI.

TAKEAWAYS:
AI helps teachers quickly create engaging, three-dimensional science lessons. Participants will walk away with a practical framework for using AI to design, structure, and build NGSS-aligned lessons with greater ease and creativity.

SPEAKERS:
Kimberly Morton

Teachers will: 1. learn how to use articles to make their content more applicable to the lives of the students; 2. receive strategies on how to get students to read more scientific articles; and 3. receive resources on selecting grade-appropriate scientific articles.

TAKEAWAYS:
Reading should not be limited to English courses. Leave with strategies on how to motivate students to explore science through scientific novels. Review three years of qualitative data on how novels increased literacy, scientific fluency, scientific connectivity, and college preparation.

SPEAKERS:
Jonte' Lee

Graphs are central to scientific thinking, yet many students lack the skills to interpret them accurately. This poster equips grades 6-12 science educators with a visually engaging, classroom-ready resource that teaches students how to read, analyze, and make sense of scientific graphs. Featuring common graph types, annotated examples, and student-friendly question prompts, it helps build data literacy through clear strategies tied to NGSS and Common Core Math Standards. Educators will gain practical tools to help students identify variables, interpret trends, evaluate claims, and avoid common pitfalls. By integrating graph analysis into daily instruction, teachers can support students in thinking critically with data and making evidence-based conclusions across all science disciplines.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will leave with a standards-aligned, visually engaging tool to help students confidently interpret scientific graphs, strengthening data literacy and critical thinking across all areas of science.

SPEAKERS:
Wendy Towery-Stove

The GISP2 H-Core was collected in 1992 adjacent to the Greenland Ice Sheet Project Two (GISP2) drill site. The GISP2-H 125.6-meter ice core is a record of 430 years of liquid electrical conductivity and nitrate concentrations. The liquid electrical conductivity sequence contains signals from a number of known volcanic eruptions that provide a dating system at specific locations along the core. The terrestrial and solar background nitrate records show seasonal and annual variations – as well as unique events. Several major nitrate anomalies within the record do not correspond to any known terrestrial or solar events, and there is compelling evidence that some nitrate anomalies within the GISP2 H-Core could possibly be a record of supernova events. The materials focus on NGSS scientific practices, crosscutting concepts and Earth/Space core disciplinary ideas – including analyzing and interpreting data, patterns, cycles of energy and matter, Earth systems and Earth and human activity.

TAKEAWAYS:
In constructing knowledge, there is no definitive answer, only plausible conclusions based on constructing, analyzing, and comparing data and research from multiple disciplines. This investigation provides a better understanding of the scientific process of developing models and defending results.

SPEAKERS:
Donna Young

OpenSciEd is an amazing curriculum that can be really challenging to introduce to students who have never done inquiry-based, low-lecture science instruction before. I've developed some strategies for implementing OSE 7.5 Ecosystem Dynamics unit in my 7th grade classroom that eased the transition into OSE-style learning, made my students excited to dig into the content, and ultimately led to a very successful grasp of ecology topics for my students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how I integrated an OpenSciEd unit with more traditional classroom methods, lab activities, and ecological examples relevant to my students in their home environments.

SPEAKERS:
Anneliese Johnson

The NRC Framework and NGSS strongly emphasize teaching science practice – how scientific knowledge is created. Student engagement with research can be used to teach science practice and improve interest in STEM (Minocha et al., 2025). Examples in K-12 education include science fairs, journals for student-written research, or literature adapted to K-12 literacy (Koomen et al., 2016; Minocha et al., 2025). However, these activities alone cannot guarantee a comprehensive understanding of the sequential, iterative, and collaborative nature of research (Fankhauser et al., 2021). The K-12 “SPIRAL Lesson” (with assessment) is an educational proposal to meet this need. SPIRAL explains each step of the research process (scientific method, manuscript preparation, peer review, scholarly journals) and fosters a holistic understanding of science practice. SPIRAL is intended to increase readiness for college science, enhance representation in STEM, help students identify misinformation, and beyond.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will view SPIRAL Lesson slides and assessment questions, accompanied by a discussion about how SPIRAL enhances current K-12 curricula on research education at a student level. Future directions will be discussed, such as testing SPIRAL in classrooms or developing an open-access resource.

SPEAKERS:
Madison Benson

Learn about an open-sourced, equity-focused, engineering project-based NGSS Physics and Earth Science curriculum that is used by nearly half of Oregon's high school students. Join us to discuss how empowering students as scientists and engineers can ignite engagement, drive meaningful learning, and build STEM identity.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn about the course and get free, open-source access to the curriculum

SPEAKERS:
Bradford Hill

This session will demonstrate how to apply the 5E instructional model (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate) to create a complete, phenomena-based science lesson. Participants will explore visual images representing each phase of the lesson and see how it fosters student inquiry, critical thinking, and real-world connections. You’ll walk away with practical strategies and materials for integrating the 5E model into any science curriculum, encouraging inquiry-driven learning. Resources provided include lesson planning tools, a digital toolkit, and a variety of open-and-go 5E model sample lessons.

TAKEAWAYS:
The 5E model provides a clear, effective structure for designing phenomena-based science lessons that spark inquiry and deepen student understanding—supported by ready-to-use tools and resources.

SPEAKERS:
Ryan Kelly

There are many lessons and resources developed or supported by members of the National Earth Science Teachers Association (NESTA) and their affiliate partners that will be shared. While engaging in systems thinking, students participate in a community science project that includes collecting Globe data to explore the impacts of Earth Sciue. These resources exemplifies how NESTA leadership serves as mentors who support quality Earth and space science instruction in every classroom. Resources and activities that highlight and support educators as they shift to phenomena-based instruction as described by Moulding and Bybee (2017) and the framework of the Ambitious Science Teaching (AST) model (Windschitl, Thompson, & Braaten, 2018) will be shared.

TAKEAWAYS:
Dive into the resources available through the National Earth Science Teachers Association (NESTA) to help foster systems thinking and community science engagement in classrooms. Learn how NESTA cultivates vital connections, enhancing Earth and space science education

SPEAKERS:
Missie Olson

How can we introduce atoms and molecules to younger students? Using molecular models, what kinds of scientific thinking can students try? We will introduce specific lesson plans based on ongoing practice and research of the Hypothesis–Experiment Class (HEC) approach. Although HEC has been practiced extensively in Japan, it aligns with NGSS 3D learning strategies. It supports diverse learners in becoming familiar with the concepts of atoms and molecules and helps them build consistent scientific understanding throughout their lives. This poster updates one presented at NSTA Philly25. Attendees will learn a basic plan for younger students new to atoms and molecules, and for more advanced students who are fed up with reaction formulas. Visitors can view models assembled by students and class data from Year 1 to Year 12. They can also explore how molecular models deepen scientific understanding through photos, student work, and classroom records.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn basic lesson plans in a fun way for adapting 3D learning using molecular models in the classroom. They will learn specific examples of lessons that enable students to enjoy imaging atoms and molecules, learning basic concepts, and participating in scientific discussions.

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