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

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

SPEAKERS:
Becca Grumdahl, Beth Peppersack

You will learn how to use MFLOW, a web-based programming platform that makes it extremely easy to play with sounds and create sound compositions while learning the basics of programming. You will gain access to an NGSS-aligned curriculum to support students with coding and sound engineering. Music and computer science are highly connected. In fact, most of the popular music we hear now has been created with computers. To engage young children (and teachers!) In programming, we have created MFLOW, a web-based computer programming platform that makes it extremely easy to play with sounds and create sound compositions while learning the basics of programming. MFLOW has an associated curriculum created at UCSD, in collaboration with the Chula Vista Elementary School District, and aligned with the Computer Science Standards. It is super engaging and easy to learn by children as young as fourth grade, and by teachers with no previous experience in programming. In this workshop, participant

TAKEAWAYS:
You will learn how to use MFLOW to sound engineer and code your own sound or music composition. Also, you will learn how to engage your students with coding through engineering design challenges.

SPEAKERS:
Victor Minces, Victor Minces

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Dennis Culver, Sara Nelson

Receive a classroom ready math-based lesson in which students use electricity usage monitors and everyday household appliances to calculate electrical consumption and cost. This lesson supports students in distinguishing between watts, kilowatts, kilowatt hours, and power. Understanding how to teach students about electrical power, energy consumption, and cost is becoming increasingly important in today’s energy-conscious world. This lesson is designed for educators who want to empower students with the knowledge and tools to interpret electricity usage in their homes through the use of affordable electricity usage monitors.

TAKEAWAYS:
Tools that enable students to calculate home energy use makes learning about Power (Voltage × Current) both personal and meaningful.

SPEAKERS:
Shannon Oesch

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Michael Novak, Nicole Vick

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Campanella

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Tasha Jordan

Creating culturally relevant STEM activities for elementary learners that truly integrate Science, Engineering, and Mathematics is challenging. In an elementary STEM Methods course, we engage preservice elementary teachers in developing discovery boxes, kits designed to integrate a science activity, a math activity, and an engineering activity all aimed to address a culturally relevant problem. Through discovery box creation, preservice teachers develop a deeper understanding of NGSS Science and Engineering Disciplinary Core Ideas and Practices and CCSS Mathematical Practices while building from elementary students’ funds of knowledge. Recent projects include problems such as re-designing an unsafe intersection, protecting deer from roads, and repairing the lights on a bridge. In this session, attendees will have the opportunity to explore several discovery boxes and learn more about the parameters of the project.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use discovery boxes to integrate elementary science, math, and engineering learning around a culturally relevant problem. We will examine discovery boxes created by preservice teachers to engage with the components and gain insight into how to implement similar projects.

SPEAKERS:
Stephanie Purington

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Maggie Karschnia

I am incorporating the assessment "Better Bioreactors" to a unit called "What is killing life in the Gulf?" Students are determining what is causing dead zones and then adding bioreactors will help students to think about solutions to the problem. This gathers student thinking and ends with students modeling their learning and thoughts. I will compare their final thoughts with their initial answer to the question. I think this fits into several of the strands, however I chose climate science and sustainability because it specifically looks at an environmental issue that is impacted by human choices. I am hoping to see my students thinking grow and develop around this issue as I scaffold the learning. I will highlight the student models and their evidence journaling.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will discover that having students investigate the phenomenon by scaffolding with real-world problems leads to higher engagement and deeper thinking for the students.

SPEAKERS:
Julio Villa

There are many issues that farmers and ranchers face that the typical high school students may not be aware of. We rely on them for our food but there is a lot to learn regarding how they support the world’s food needs. There are many things to consider as a farmer/rancher that includes production, land use, and environmental concerns to name a few. I will use the lesson: "Monday, Tuesday, Happy Gazing" is a lesson where students analyze data regarding cattle continuously grazing in one pasture and rotational grazing in several pastures. Students will not only look at production and cost but also impact on the biodiversity of the area. Within the lesson we will explore the different career paths that are available to help support the work of putting food on our table.

TAKEAWAYS:
A STEM lesson that highlights the real-world complexity of agriculture and ranching fields, “Monday, Tuesday, Happy Grazing” was used in my Earth Science class. Attendees will leave with ideas for incorporating career exploration tied to agriculture, environmental science, and sustainable land use.

SPEAKERS:
Brenda Walsh

Reform-based science instruction, as outlined in the Framework for K-12 Science Education (NRC, 2012) integrates science content, practices and concepts. This paradigm shift requires professional development (PD) for teachers. Since "systems" can be used as a unifying framework, we hypothesize that longitudinal PD rooted in systems will allow teachers to revamp and align their existing instructional units with the purpose of The Framework. Further, we propose that longitudinal professional learning cohorts will support teacher implementation of these changes. We ask: What challenges do high school biology teachers experience in using a systems-based lens to transform existing instructional units into units aligned with The Framework?

TAKEAWAYS:
Systems-centered professional development changed teachers lesson design and planning and empowered teachers to move to content parsimony.

SPEAKERS:
Steve Bennett, Sara Wyse

The OSF STEAM Medical Career Immersion Program offered high school seniors a unique, hands-on introduction to diverse health care careers through mentorship, real-world experiences, and direct collaboration with professionals. Students explored clinical and innovation roles, deepened their understanding of medical pathways, and built confidence in their future career choices. By combining education with immersive practice, the program helped bridge gaps in exposure and access—empowering students from all backgrounds to envision and pursue meaningful roles in health care. This model serves as a scalable blueprint for cultivating future scientists and health leaders.

TAKEAWAYS:
The OSF STEAM Medical Career Immersion Program gave high school seniors hands-on experience, mentorship, and exposure to diverse health careers—building confidence and creating a scalable model for inspiring future health leaders and innovators.

SPEAKERS:
Shannon Egli, Katherine Smith

This poster presentation will highlight a National Science Foundation Noyce Track 3 project that aims to cultivate STEM teacher leadership by leveraging makerspace technology within the context of developing Justice-Centered STEM Curricula. Two of the project’s Master Teacher Fellows will describe and highlight lessons they created and implemented in their elementary and high school STEM courses. Both will detail how makerspace technology was leveraged in the lessons and how the lessons required transdisciplinary approaches that aimed to solve or address social justice STEM issues within their local context.

TAKEAWAYS:
One main takeaway from this presentation is how makerspace technology and social justice STEM issues can pique students' interests and set the stage for STEM learning.

SPEAKERS:
Benora Mccain, ANGELA WHITAKER, Vanessa Dodo Seriki

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Holman, Dodi Cline, Stephanie Arthur

The NSTA Urban Science Education Advisory Board's charge is to advise, guide, and provide input on the Association’s efforts to address the distinct challenges faced by urban science educators, and to develop strategies to support NSTA members in urban areas. Stop by our poster session to share resources, build community with other urban science educators, and complete our survey to share your needs as an urban science educator. Your voice can help us better elevate the needs of urban science educators across the country!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will be provided with resources supporting urban science educators, as well as an opportunity to take the Urban Science Education Advisory Board's needs assessment survey to help guide our efforts in supporting urban science education.

SPEAKERS:
Joseph Seabloom

How could cow burps be influencing change? Media Mayhem- Module 2- Lesson 9 with Formative Assessment In Lesson 9, students were asked to revisit models developed in Lesson 7 and incorporate information accumulated in Lesson 8’s three simulations and graphs to reflect the new evidence surrounding greenhouse gases and how the Earth’s temperature rises (MOD-H3). Students identify missing components. Carbon dioxide and its role have been added to the “burping cow” model (ESS2.D-H3). Energy flow into and within the Earth’s system would also need to be updated (EM-H2) to give a more complete model. The revised student models provide a formative assessment opportunity. The lesson plan provides a rubric referencing the NGSS standards to look for. The class then develops a class consensus model. New questions are identified and added to the driving question board. Questions to look for are outlined in the Lesson plan.

TAKEAWAYS:
Media Mayhem Lessons 7-9, supported by Fields of STEM, were incorporated into the curriculum with little effort. Lesson 9 is an example of student growth. The HQIM materials include: lesson plans (cross-referenced to NGSS), student handouts (with keys), and links to videos, images, and sims.

SPEAKERS:
Deanna Keeney

Modeling is a powerful strategy to promote student sensemaking in science. NGSS emphasizes the importance of students using models to explain and predict phenomena. When students take ownership of creating and revising models, understanding is deeper. This work demonstrates modeling is a process of making thinking visible and revisable. When used intentionally, it helps students connect knowledge to new evidence, engage with core ideas, and develop science and engineering practices. A high-quality instructional assessment task, More Cheese, Please (HS), is used with an epigenetics unit to help increase student sensemaking about how enzymes work in our digestive system. A progression of using whiteboards to model this process is used to increase understanding of what happens in the intestines of a lactose intolerant person. This poster illustrates how students develop, revise, and use multiple models to deepen their understanding of how lactose intolerance affects the digestive system.

TAKEAWAYS:
Modeling transforms learning from passive observation to active sensemaking. This illustrates how intentional modeling helps students connect knowledge to new evidence, revise thinking, and construct deeper understanding of complex phenomena.

SPEAKERS:
Jill Francis

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Dan Voss

How does shifting from teacher-led instruction to student-driven "figuring out" impact student engagement, attitudes, and content knowledge relevance? This poster illustrates the implementation of high-quality instructional materials (HQIM's) as a way to revamp a lackluster unit on macromolecules. Students utilized components of a Food and Ag unit called “Postgame Analysis,” where they discovered how milk can be used as a workout recovery beverage. Students work to figure out the components of milk and how their human bodies utilize those components to build new cells. This poster highlights strategies for transforming a teacher-driven unit into an authentic sensemaking experience for students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to transform teacher-led activities into sensemaking experiences for your students where students’ curiosity and questions are authentically driving their learning.

SPEAKERS:
Ally Bowers

We will share the 2.0 version of the project-based learning that helps students design, implement and scale a passion project for community impact. Participants will receive our ready-to-implement toolkit and see various student projects. Our student projects highlight how our students take on the most challenging and complex issues that exist in our community and make a positive impact through interdisciplinary research and project-based learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how students use STEM knowledge and skills such as analyzing big data, creating computer applications, building 3-D models and developing computer simulations to predict trends for tackling systemic inequities.

SPEAKERS:
Jim Birdsong, Sushma Bana, Kavita Gupta

Attendants are briefed on methods used by the UWA Black Belt STEM Education Institute to increase STEM awareness throughout an underserved geographic region in Alabama. In the rural regions of Alabama’s Black Belt, educators and communities face unique challenges to delivering high-quality STEM education. Through relationship-building, hands-on activities, and high-quality professional development opportunities, the UWA BBSEI is changing the way school leaders, teachers, and students approach STEM in the state of Alabama.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore the strategic framework behind the collective impact approach, understand its measurable outcomes on student achievement and engagement, and discuss strategies for replicating similar partnership-driven models in their regions. Attendees will leave equipped with actionable insights and resources to foster collaborative STEM ecosystems in underserved communities.

SPEAKERS:
Dr. Reggie Holifield, Chester Nicklas, Jr.

I am planning on implementing the high school formative assessment "More Cheese, Please." I will be addressing the problem of practice of supporting learning for English Language Learners, as there is a high ELL population at the high school I work at. I will be adapting the assessment for ELLs at WLHS in the community of Little Village, Chicago. The adaptations and modifications I am planning to implement will hopefully help my students relate more to the topics they are learning about and make it more relevant for them, as it will connect to their community. I plan on implementing and modifying the assessment to support 3D teaching and learning of ELLs. Through my implementation of the modified & adapted formative assessment, I plan to increase my students' interest in the material & to make it more impactful for them by increasing the relevance of the material to their lives & community. I anticipate highlighting student work samples as evidence of their engagement and learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
A main takeaway that I would like attendees to be able to walk away with is increased knowledge of strategies that can be utilized to help improve the engagement and learning of English Language Learners.

SPEAKERS:
Jamilah Hassan

Concerns for water quality of lakes, rivers & groundwater are increasing. Water testing & monitoring is costly. Studies are always trying to find reliable & accurate procedures that will reduce monitoring costs. Common duckweed (Lemna minor) is a possible candidate for being a pollution indicator species - a plant or animal that responds to a specific condition. When animals or plants are used to test toxicity, it is called a bioassay. Duckweed doesn't identify or measure the amount of contaminant, it just indicates that a pollutant has affected the water. It tells scientists that water quality tests need to be done. Duckweed, because of its broad range of sensitivity, can be used as an indicator species to test water quality. Using the scientific method, complete a bioassay using duckweed as the indicator organism and a substance that may affect the duckweed. You will work individually but compare data with your class.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will walk away with a lesson plan ready to implement in their classroom along with a grading rubric.

SPEAKERS:
Jenny Janssen

From Undies to Understanding: The Intriguing Role of Soil in Education Immerse yourself in a unique intersection where soil health and science education collide in an unexpected way designed to pique your curiosity! This approach reveals the unexpected connection between healthy soil and the mysterious vanishing act of cotton undies. Tailored to reflect our local culture and community’s socioeconomic issues, this perspective on how soil’s magic can engage students by empowering them to grow their own food. We are not only sowing seeds of belonging but also fostering a passion for STEM. Embark on this thrilling adventure to see how these local twists spark curiosity and transform classrooms, seamlessly weaving cultural charm with scientific sleuthing!

TAKEAWAYS:
Walk away with key insights that soil health is a fundamental driver of plant growth and environmental sustainability, and it can be creatively assessed through innovative methods, such as the "cotton underwear" test. Empower individuals to make informed decisions in their environmental stewardship.

SPEAKERS:
Melanie Hansel

Explore how a single STEM lesson can be used to connect different elements of student interest, life experiences, career paths. Showcase multiple career paths and hands-on activities through visuals. Show that sense-making is a way to help our students connect with what they are learning and use that knowledge in other areas of their lives outside of the classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
By connecting this lesson directly to students' activities and career opportunities, students will help direct their own learning and be invested in the outcome in a deeper way than they are with much of their education. Sensemaking, real-world situations, and career paths are all brought together.

SPEAKERS:
Catrina Butler

This presentation explores equity in STEM education, focusing on the underrepresentation of African American scholars in STEM fields. It highlights the importance of identity development in shaping their educational trajectory. Research shows that culturally responsive teaching in STEM helps African American scholars connect with content and see how STEM disciplines address real-world problems. Historically, these scholars have underperformed on standardized tests due to marginalization in the classroom and lack of representation. This presentation offers practical solutions to foster a positive STEM identity, including addressing teacher perceptions, incorporating literature that reflects African American experiences in STEM, and using performance-based tasks to encourage inquiry and creativity.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will explore how to foster STEM identity in underrepresented scholars, especially African Americans. By building a positive STEM identity, teachers can empower scholars to drive change in their communities, helping break cycles of systemic oppression and engaging them beyond the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Brittany Jones

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Princess Margaret Paz

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Emine inci Birkan, Gillian Roehrig, Todd Hunter

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Szentmiklosi

Step into a world where creativity meets chaos—in the best way possible. In this hands-on workshop, educators will explore the power of project-based learning using an unpredictable mix of discarded, unused, and everyday items. With access to a wide array of "junkyard" materials, participants will be guided through the Human-Centered Design process—empathizing, defining, ideating, prototyping, and testing—to transform forgotten objects into functional, meaningful creations. By the end of the session, each team will present a unique design that showcases both ingenuity and intentionality. This workshop is a celebration of creativity, sustainability, and student-driven learning, equipping teachers with tools and inspiration to bring innovation into their classrooms using what others leave behind.

TAKEAWAYS:
Transform discarded materials into purposeful creations through a ready-to-use, flexible STEM activity that brings hands-on design and innovation into any classroom setting.

SPEAKERS:
Heather Lambert

This workshop will provide K-12 Science/STEM teachers interactive hands-on practice with generative A.I. tools to support 3D learning within a convergence education framework for transdisciplinary real-world learning opportunities in the classroom and beyond. Participants will gain firsthand experience with TeacherServer, a free platform containing over 1,000 A.I. tools to support teachers with high-quality, NGSS and state standards-based, innovative approaches to maximize access for all students investigating Science/STEM applications across fields. This platform is unique in that it was created, funded, and hosted by our university College of Education. The session will balance direct instruction with guided exploration and collaborative activities. Guidance and ongoing discussion will accompany the targeted time to try out the various tools, ensuring that participants leave with actionable insights and skills applicable to their academic roles and classroom goals.

TAKEAWAYS:
K-12 Science/STEM teachers will broaden their understanding of the implications for generative A.I. to support convergence teaching and will gain practical skills to leverage A.I. to enhance their planning for inclusive, inquiry-based, transdisciplinary investigations that engage all students.

SPEAKERS:
Yvonne Franco, Zafer Unal, Stephanie Arthur

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Jeffrey Bush, Greg Benedis-Grab

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

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

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

This presentation will showcase how transdisciplinary, real-world problem solving can be integrated into science classrooms through engineering design. Aligned with NGSS standards such as generating multiple solutions to reduce impact of Earth’s process on humans and focused on environmental literacy, participants will explore hands-on, student-centered investigations that engage multiple disciplines such as math, technology, science, art, and computer science. Examples of projects include designing/building air cleaners to reduce impact of wildfire smoke; analyzing floodplain maps and proposing engineering solutions to lessen the effects of flooding; and constructing bee hotels for pollinators using creative design with 3D printers. These projects engage students in the engineering design process, foster critical thinking, and connect academic content to authentic, community-centered issues. Attendees will leave with strategies and ready-to-use resources including assessment ideas.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to engage students in solving real-world environmental problems through hands-on engineering projects that address wildfire smoke, flooding, and pollinator decline—empowering them to think critically, design solutions, and make meaningful connections to their communities.

SPEAKERS:
Amanda Rapstad

Hands-on neuroscience demonstrations facilitate connections between education and neuroscience research. This session will explore hands-on learning experiences in K-12 communities; although ideally suited for high school classes, many of the demos can be adapted to other grade levels. During this presentation, we will engage in neuroscience activities using a variety of resources available from online educational materials. Some examples include electroencephalograms, super tasters/genetic exploration, electrical stimulators, and a range of other devices and techniques. We can show educators how to apply what they learn in class to advancements in neuroscience. These demonstrations in classrooms will help students bridge classroom knowledge with real-world experiences. By the end of the session, educators will gain insight into the various resources available for engagement in education and explore the fundamentals of neuroscience as related to the devices.

TAKEAWAYS:
Using affordable demonstrations, participants will explore how to bring hands-on neuroscience into K-12 classrooms, primarily suited for grades 9-12. The session focuses on engagement, allowing educators to connect classroom knowledge, use the tools, and expand to the community if they desire.

SPEAKERS:
Adam Steiner

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Azka Kiran

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Tom Cozzolino, Justin Cannady

Explore a Transdisciplinary STEM+X approach, fostering real-world problem-solving, critical thinking, leveraged learning, differentiation and engagement. Participants will learn STEM+X lesson design principles and experience a STEM+X activity. Emphasizing teacher support and agency for effective implementation to promote student agency, collaboration, and engagement from a two-time NSTA SHELL Science Lab Challenge Grand Prize Winner.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to design and implement engaging STEM+X lessons, incorporating real-world problem-solving and critical thinking, with practical strategies and insights from an award-winning educator to empower both teachers and students. Empower your inner STEM confidence.

SPEAKERS:
Arianna Moody

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Jeffrey Bush, Greg Benedis-Grab

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Dan Voss

Mentorship and support are vital to ensuring that we continue to grow the representation and retention of educators of color in STEM. In this session, we will build and curate a community of educators where we can learn from each other, no matter what stage of our careers. We will share stories, seek advice, provide feedback, address burnout, and walk away with a renewed sense of purpose and commitment to the STEM education community.

TAKEAWAYS:
A set of new connections and the ability to seek continued mentorship and camaraderie beyond the conference. Participants will also leave with a meeting guide to host recruitment, retention, and community events, continuing the charge to build a community of diverse educators in STEM.

SPEAKERS:
Angela Osuji

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Rachel Skelton, Alicia Burge, Chris Embry Mohr

Learn about the STARBASE Minnesota, Inc. Destination Mars STEM Kits and Curriculum, a free integrated STEM unit for upper elementary students! This presentation introduces educators to curriculum that transforms students into Mars explorers, scientists, engineers, and more. In this curriculum, students engage in hands-on STEM lessons to plan a human mission to Mars. They'll conduct investigations, create models, practice coding, design a Mars base, explore topics like energy transfer and chemistry, and apply math throughout. Students track growth in STEM career skills and expand their awareness of careers through a STEM career interactive, featuring real STEM professionals. The presentation will include a demonstration of several lessons and educators implementing the program will share the positive impact of these STEM kits on their students. Participants will receive access to the free online curriculum, and Minnesota teachers can register for free sets of classroom materials.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to implement a standards-based integrated STEM unit that provides connections to STEM careers and engages students through an exciting storyline of a future mission to Mars.

SPEAKERS:
Charity Johnson, Aaron Stolp, Melanie Peters

How can you engage learners in creating projects to share their ideas and observations in motivating and meaningful ways? Join us to make an interactive animation or mini-game featuring an animal in nature that interests you. Experience how you and your students can create projects with OctoStudio, a free creative coding app from MIT that bridges physical and digital making. Access new open-educational resources you can use and adapt for 3D learning and sensemaking, developed by National Geographic Society in collaboration with the MIT Media Lab.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how they can engage learners in creating interactive projects to share their ideas and observations about the natural world, using an engaging set of open-educational resources created by National Geographic and the creators of OctoStudio and Scratch at the MIT Media Lab.

SPEAKERS:
Teo Xisto, Audrey Everett

We promote teacher leadership by offering teachers paid opportunities to present our resources. We'll introduce teachers to ScienceSaves and show how our lessons can be used to teach content and skills, such as graphing, data analysis, and correlation vs causation. The session will share our scholarship opportunity for high school seniors ($15,000/yr) and include a cursory look at our science lessons. Examples: Do We Take Our Health for Granted? Students will work on graphing skills using a graph on child mortality data from 1800-2020, and learn the difference between causation and correlation in data. The Savior of Mothers Students will learn about Dr. Semmelweis, the first person to promote the idea of handwashing, and will design an experiment to test his hypothesis. The Scientist Who Saved A Billion Lives Students will interpret 2 graphs of the astounding agricultural advancements of Norman Borlaug. Each lesson includes standards and a modifiable lesson plan document.

TAKEAWAYS:
Recognize that scientists who make contributions to scientific knowledge come from all kinds of backgrounds and possess varied talents, interests, and goals.

SPEAKERS:
Kathlyn Van Hoeck

Join the NSTA PL committee for one or all of these sessions in our Interdisciplinary Connections strand to explore the what, why and how of interdisciplinary science teaching and learning. Each session will engage participants in interactive experiences to solve problems or investigate phenomena using science while focusing on a particular pairing of interdisciplinary opportunities. Step into this immersive workshop where participants will tackle a real-world engineering challenge: designing an air-powered vehicle to reduce carbon emissions. Using the engineering design process, attendees will brainstorm, prototype, test, and revise their vehicles while documenting data, analyzing performance, and justifying design choices through Claims-Evidence-Reasoning (CER). This hands-on experience models how transdisciplinary STEM learning—combining science (energy, forces), math (cost, measurement), and engineering (constraints, iteration)—can drive student innovation and engagement.

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

SPEAKERS:
Deanna Taylor, Jesse Wilcox

Introduce your students to biotechnology through expression and purification of Taq DNA polymerase in this hands-on 60-minute workshop. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a technique for copying DNA, lets scientists produce billions of copies of a target DNA segment. PCR can be used to analyze genetic information, test for the presence of pathogens, identify species, prepare DNA for engineering applications, and much more. The PCR reaction happens using cycles of heating and cooling, requiring a special heat-tolerant enzyme for DNA replication – from the thermophilic bacterium Thermus aquaticus (Taq). In this workshop session, participants will be introduced to the Taq DNA polymerase enzyme and will purify the enzyme – that they can take back to school with them! Educators will also learn how to test and use the newly-purified enzymes, as well as a few fun labs students can do using the PCR reaction – from engineering to human evolution and migration.

TAKEAWAYS:
Purify Taq DNA polymerase from bacteria that you can use for PCR reactions in the classroom. Leave with your own enzyme sample and ideas for fun PCR labs you can do to explore human biology or taxonomic identification with your students.

SPEAKERS:
Arie Kaz, Kelsie Anson

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

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

SPEAKERS:
TRAVIS KOUPAL

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Caylee Haus Reger

Get ready to spark curiosity and “generate” excitement! This interactive session empowers K–5 educators with foundational knowledge and practical tools to confidently teach about batteries and electrical energy. During the first 20 minutes, participants will engage in hands-on experiments that build their understanding of how batteries work and how electricity flows. In the next 20 minutes, we’ll explore grade-specific implementation strategies, including pedagogical approaches, classroom management tips for inquiry-based activities, and ways to foster student collaboration. The final 20 minutes will highlight a range of accessible curricular resources, extension activities, and cross-curricular connections in literacy, math, and STEAM. Leave this session energized, equipped, and inspired to bring battery science to life in your elementary classroom!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will build foundational knowledge of energy and batteries through hands-on experiments, explore grade-appropriate strategies for implementation and classroom management, and leave with practical curricular resources to effectively teach battery science in the K–5 classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Abigail Dutcher

Artificial intelligence (AI) can transform preservice teacher education by generating personalized, multimodal content for science and engineering instruction. This study explores GPT Smashing, an innovative approach that combines multiple generative AI models (e.g., GPT-4, GPT-4V, and domain-specific tools) to create rich instructional materials. By integrating text, visuals, diagrams, and interactive elements, GPT Smashing supports deeper understanding, enhances lesson design, and fosters creativity. Unlike single-model AI tools, this method empowers preservice teachers to visualize, adapt, and engage with complex concepts, promoting both personalized learning and instructional agency.

TAKEAWAYS:
Experience GPT Smashing through a live, hands-on demo using a "blueprint" scenario. Create multimodal lessons, explore AI visuals, and design classroom demos. Leave with practical tools to boost creativity, agency, and engagement in science and engineering education.

SPEAKERS:
Ricardo Lumbreras, Gwinn North

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Vick, Tiffany Neill, Michael Novak

Learn how we integrate digital mapping tools of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in student-driven, interdisciplinary projects on sustainability. Participants in this workshop will get out of the building, as we engage in a process of data collection, comparison, and analysis. We will collect data through student-created surveys outside the conference center, then learn the process we use with students to analyze quantitative and spatial results using spreadsheets, graphs, and maps - as you compare your own findings to what our students saw. Following data analysis, you will learn how we support our students in constructing evidence-based arguments from those data. Examples of student projects we’ll share include water quality in local ponds, student-developed sustainability indicators for cities, and forest ecology data on relationships between populations and the environment. You’ll walk away ready with concrete ideas on how to add these tools to your own classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Digital mapping tools are increasingly accessible for teachers and students to use to collect and analyze authentic data in unique projects. You’ll learn how to easily incorporate spatial data collection and mapping into different environmental science units.

SPEAKERS:
Billy Koenig, Liz Dengate

This presentation weaves together the interdisciplinary perspectives of evolutionary theory, immunology, and epidemiology with insights from the humanities to examine the complex threats posed by the problem of pandemics and strategies to develop solutions to mitigate those threats. It explores how pathogens evolve, how the immune system responds to novel threats, and how disease spreads through populations. In addition, drawing from historical and cultural perspectives, it highlights the societal impacts of past pandemics and the contemporary human behaviors and public health policies that influence disease outcomes. By integrating science with ethics, communication, and public policy, the presentation offers a holistic, transdisciplinary framework for understanding and addressing current and future global health crises.

TAKEAWAYS:
Understanding and responding to pandemics requires a transdisciplinary approach combining knowledge and skills from multiple biological fields and humanities to reveal how diseases emerge and spread, and develop strategies for sensemaking and management through science, policy, and societal action.

SPEAKERS:
Joseph Levine

Project-Based Learning is a powerful tool, but implementing it can feel overwhelming. We’ll show you how to leverage AI coupled with our PBL framework and your expertise to plan discipline-rich projects efficiently. Learn strategies to integrate AI tools, save time, and best support your students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Leverage AI, our Project Planning Framework, and the expertise of educators to plan effective, engaging, discipline-rich Project-Based Learning projects. Identify entry points to designing and implementing PBL using AI, and then personalize and improve the project for your learners’ experience.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah DiMaria

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Szentmiklosi

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Carter, Haley Kalina

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Jeffrey Bush, Greg Benedis-Grab

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Chris Embry Mohr, Jessica Holman

Imagine a classroom transformed into a stage where fourth and fifth graders become thought leaders, sharing innovative ideas and sparking change. This session provides a roadmap for planning and executing a student-led TEDx conference—from initial idea to final publication on TED’s platform—integrating STEM, humanities, and public speaking. Participants will learn how to empower students to research, develop, and present ideas that matter to them and their communities. Rooted in the belief that all learners deserve access to high-quality science education, this project fosters science literacy, collaboration, and critical thinking. From incorporating technology and media production to cultivating real-world problem-solving skills, educators will leave with practical strategies to amplify student voices and build a learning community that inspires curiosity, passion, and lifelong learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to plan and execute a student-led TEDx conference, empowering young learners to research, develop, and present big ideas while integrating STEM, humanities, and public speaking to create a meaningful, real-world learning experience.

SPEAKERS:
Lisa Robinson, Katie Musick, Jesse Wren

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Erik Wade

This session will delve into a district-led initiative focused on the continuous curriculum improvement process (CCIP) in secondary biology education. Participants will gain insights into a collaborative framework that empowers teacher fellows to define, evaluate, and pilot curriculum resources aligned with a shared vision for inclusive, phenomena-driven learning. The presentation will highlight the key stages of this process, including the development of a biology vision statement emphasizing diverse sense-making, curiosity, critical thinking, real-world connections, and ethical solutions.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session offers a practical roadmap for districts and schools seeking to engage educators in a meaningful and impactful curriculum improvement journey from the teachers’ perspectives.

SPEAKERS:
Anton Olbricht, Taylor Wusk, Betsy Barent

Prove me wrong is a way for students to gain critical thinking skills and develop ways to recognize science related misinformation. In this session, participants will explore how to engage students in three-dimensional (3D) teaching and learning through a locally relevant microbiology investigation. Using the lesson “Are all bacteria harmful?”, teachers will implement strategies that connect scientific phenomena to students’ everyday environments, emphasizing the STEM relevance of microbes in health, food, and ecosystems. Participants will examine instructional materials and assessments designed to promote student engagement, scientific reasoning, and local adaptation of content. By the end of the session, educators will leave with actionable tools to support 3D learning, differentiate instruction, and make microbiology meaningful and locally relevant for diverse classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
This is an easy lesson for middle and high school students that uses the CER format to teach students science literacy Educators will leave with actionable tools to support 3D learning, differentiate instruction, and make microbiology meaningful and locally relevant for diverse classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Abigail Bradbury, Erin Snelling, Mara Johnson

This session will share a planned implementation of More Cheese, Please, a NGSS-aligned high school Life Science lesson addressing the challenge of connecting molecular biology to real-world health and food science phenomena. The focus is on hands-on, inquiry-driven, model-based learning that supports student sensemaking and evidence-based reasoning. Students explore lactose intolerance and cheese-making by analyzing digestive system models, enzyme activity, microbial interactions, and biochemical reactions, linking molecular structure, energy transformations, and microbial function to tangible outcomes. Engagement includes collaborative troubleshooting, experimental design, and discussion, while evidence of learning is captured through annotated models, lab notebooks, reflections, and reasoning discourse. The lesson integrates STEM, emphasizes culturally and locally relevant food science, and connects to careers in biotechnology, agriculture, and food science.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore strategies for teaching LS.1 and LS.2 through authentic food science experiences, supporting student sensemaking and collecting evidence to connect classroom concepts to real-world careers.

SPEAKERS:
Karisa Boyer, Jon Rodgers, Tiska Rodgers

In this assessment, students are introduced to a mysterious frog fungus, and they have to ""figure out"" how it might disrupt a pond ecosystem. The launch phenomena will be used to elicit student ideas about limiting factors in particular diseases, competition, and the availability of food resources. Once student ideas are at the forefront, multiple prompts will immerse students in the use of the science and engineering practices as tools to discover and represent the relationships that exist in this ecosystem. They evaluate models, analyze and interpret data, and predict how populations respond to varying carrying capacities with teacher-developed scaffolds to support the learning process. The final prompt asks students to use their revised model and additional evidence to make a prediction that will require them to apply the science ideas around resilience and carrying capacity through the lens of cause and effect.

TAKEAWAYS:
Assessing in three-dimensions is a sensemaking endeavor where revision is learning and access is critical. Attendees should gain knowledge in utilizing online resources to bring complicated topics to life. Attendees should walk away with a practical strategy for using career pathway mapping as a tool to connect STEM lessons to real-world opportunities in food, agriculture, and healthcare, along with methods to collect student reflections that demonstrate evidence of meaningful learning.

SPEAKERS:
Stacey Hart-Townsley, Kaitlynn Krack, Stephanie McGrew

Research indicates that girls begin to drop out of certain STEM fields after the age of 12 (the start of a leaky pipeline), as girls tend to underestimate their ability to succeed in STEM fields (Gonzalez-Perez et al., 2020; Van Camp et al., 2019). Pre-service teachers (PSTs), especially female PSTs aiming for K-8 teaching certifications, often are reluctant to engage with science and mathematics due to a lack of confidence in personally doing science and mathematics (Adams et al., 2014). To address this, a university-sponsored summer camp was designed to engage middle school girls in STEM activities while providing female preservice teachers with valuable teaching experience. This session explores the experiences of middle school girls and female preservice teachers who participated in this all-girls STEM camp. This session will provide an in-depth look at the camp’s design, implementation, and impact on both student and teacher participants.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will gain insights into the camp’s design, implementation, and impact on both students and teacher participants. This session will also offer practical recommendations for educators and program coordinators to implement similar initiatives.

SPEAKERS:
Li Sun

How can we help every student feel like they belong in STEM and succeed? This interactive session shares a real-world, problem-based approach to STEM that focuses on equity, representation, and access. You'll explore lessons and student work from a high school program designed to uplift underrepresented voices in STEM. The session highlights how science, technology, engineering, and math can be taught alongside real-world issues and students’ own experiences. You'll leave with easy-to-use planning tools, student voice rubrics, and strategies that promote inclusive, culturally responsive teaching. The presenter will also share research on how identity-affirming lessons increase student engagement and performance. This session supports NGSS, the NRC Framework, and NSTA’s focus on equity.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with easy-to-use tools to create inclusive STEM lessons that highlight diverse voices and connect to real-world problems.

SPEAKERS:
Adnan Hakimji

The focus of this work is to explore how HQIM can support students' knowledge of STEM career pathways. I plan to investigate how career awareness can be made more visible through Frog Fungus and help show students see different career paths within STEM. The focus of this session is to explore how high-quality formative assessments can support student sensemaking and provide educators with valuable data for future instruction in an AP Environmental Science setting. The goal is to capture student learning mid-unit and identify misconceptions by asking students to apply their knowledge to a novel phenomenon. Past teaching has shown that students may perform well on unit multiple choice questions (MCQs) but struggle in free response questions (FRQs). Since FRQs make up nearly 40% of an AP test score, it is vital that students have practice in similar scenarios and are equipped to apply their learning in novel scenarios. This specific formative assessment was chosen because of its connection to the first unit of the school year and its use of visuals to support student sensemaking (low entry point, high ceiling). This session will share a planned implementation of Frog Fungus, designed by the Food and Agriculture Center for Science Education, that addresses the ecological impact on specific populations of aquatic species and the overall health of the ecosystem when a mysterious fungus is introduced to the habitat. The focus of this work aligns with NSTA's STEM haven strand and explores how changing the classroom setting (getting kids outside in the ecosystem before and during this cooperative assessment) can support a deeper, more authentic understanding of ecological principles, enhance their scientific learning and improve their mathematical modeling. This session will invite reflection on how teacher choice shapes student sensemaking by guiding their inquiry, fostering collaborative exploration, and providing opportunities for students to construct meaningful explanations about real-world phenomena.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will explore planning STEM instruction with workforce relevance in mind and see how to connect local activities to STEM. Participants will gain strategies for effective evidence collection in STEM implementation through the adaptation of High-quality instructional materials (HQIM) to fit both the learning goals and student context. With this evidence of learning educators can then adapt future instruction. Attendees will reflect on how their choices (in lesson design, student environment and facilitation) directly influence students' ability to make sense of complex scientific phenomena. They'll gain insights into fostering deeper inquiry, critical thinking, and collaborative learning.

SPEAKERS:
Bailey Bushman, Alexander Mailhot-Beutel, Erin Schmidt

This presentation will be a fast-paced exhibition of how student understanding was demonstrated in a lesson from Unraveling Genetics to Raise the Steaks. The implementation of this lesson in as well as evidence of learning, will be presented with information on how to make timely changes to instruction in reaction to formative assessments of student comprehension in a way that promotes mastery of disciplinary core ideas. The concepts presented will be from a lesson that was evaluated and implemented in a 7th-grade life science classroom in rural Minnesota and will include possible modifications and accommodations for a variety of student needs. The Science and Engineering Practice most focused on will be comparing and evaluating sources of information. This session will detail how the California Wildfire Assessment Task (HS) was modified for use as a formative assessment to evaluate student skills relative to the SEPs of Data Analysis, Evaluating and Communicating Information, and Engaging in Argument from Evidence as well as the CCCs of Cause and Effect and Scale, Proportion and Quantity. Evidence of student learning will be shared in the forms of both student quotes and written work samples; tools used to both evaluate the evidence of student understanding collected within this assessment as well as the modifications of future lessons to support student growth in use of the claim, evidence and reasoning framework. This presentation aligns with the designing and implementing HQIM strand as modifications made to the assessment task, including scaffolding to support student sense-making and argument construction, will be shared. Additional details regarding mid-point and summative assessments of these skills will also be outlined. "For my STEM implementation project, I will implement the assessment task “Are All Bacteria Harmful in Food?” to explore the effective use of high-quality, three-dimensional assessments in the high school science classroom. This work directly supports the conference theme “Evidence of Student Learning” by using the task to evaluate students’ conceptual understanding, growth, and application of scientific practices. In alignment with the conference strand “Designing and Implementing High-Quality Instructional Materials and Assessments to Support 3D Teaching and Learning,” I will share insights from the development, implementation, and analysis of the assessment. This includes evaluating students’ ability to analyze and interpret data, as well as using that evidence to inform differentiated instruction. The session aims to demonstrate how thoughtfully designed 3D assessments can not only measure learning but also guide instructional decisions to better support all learners."

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with practical strategies for how to implement and adjust instruction to support student mastery when evaluating and integrating new lessons. Participants will gain strategies for collecting and evaluating evidence of student sense-making through the use of formative 3-D assessments. Specific scaffolding tools to support student analysis and evaluation of data will be shared. High quality 3D assessment tasks, like "Are All Bacteria Harmful in Food?", can reveal how well students apply core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and science practices, while also helping teachers tailor instruction to meet diverse learning needs. Attendees should leave this session with an example of tying learning to their community or area which can hook students into learning more about where they live.

SPEAKERS:
Anna Ammerman, Samantha Dolen, Nicole Grojean

In this workshop participants will engage with our innovative STEM unit on MagLev trains. We will engage as a group in the anchoring phenomenon routine to rehearse the unit. We will also explore the freely available materials so that the unit can be implemented in the classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
You will leave with a high quality, ready to implement unit that you can use in your classroom. Our storyline teaching routines will engage students and spark their curiosity. The MagLev phenomenon is engaging and exciting for students.

SPEAKERS:
Jeffrey Bush, Greg Benedis-Grab, Kate Henson

Learn different ways to use AI to increase student AND teacher efficiency. From reducing your work load, to differentiating relatively easily, we will dive into the role of AI in the classroom, as well as in planning, curriculum design, and grading. You will leave this session with tips and tools you can use right away to reduce your workload. We will also discuss the issues of cheating, AI use in class, and how to create transparency of use.

TAKEAWAYS:
Whether you are an AI expert or nervous about using Chat, this session will give you the tools and the confidence to find ways to integrate AI into your planning and teaching. We will also discuss the importance of transparency from both the teacher and the student in its use.

SPEAKERS:
Kirsten Landry

The problem to be answered was two-fold: What is the fidelity of AI-generated lessons for elementary-grades STEM topics? What are teacher perceptions of using an AI tool? Teachers evaluated the standards-based, AI-generated lesson plans. Scores for lesson plans were compared by content area (mathematics, science, technology) and elementary level (lower versus upper) to determine if fidelity is better for a particular content area or level. Teacher perceptions, regarding the use of an AI tool, were surveyed. Results showed significant differences in score, by grade level, for science and technology lesson plans. There were significant differences in score for lesson plans by content area. Qualitative results for the survey showed an increase in participants’ confidence in their understanding of AI, participants learned more ways AI could assist them, and workshops were effective in dispelling common misconceptions about AI use in schools.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers evaluated AI-generated lesson plans using portions of teacher evaluation rubrics used in Tennessee. The lesson plans were scored differently by content area (mathematics, science, technology) and grade level (grades K-2 versus grades 3-5).

SPEAKERS:
Deborah McAllister

This short session will describe an interactive five day unit designed for elementary students in grades 4-5 that includes: an integration of disciplinary literacy including readings about Amelia Earhart and how paper airplanes work, with active engagement in science and engineering practices by designing, testing, and modifying paper airplanes.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to integrate science and engineering concepts with paper airplanes. They will leave with access to resources to help them bring this series of activities into their classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Michele Koomen

At CSP, students who take microbiology are mostly pre-nursing students. The course has a clinical focus emphasizing vaccines and infectious diseases. The amount of information students have to learn from symptoms to testing, to treatment, and prevention can be overwhelming. In an effort to make the class more fun and implement active learning, I use a game based on the board game “Headbands". I printed and laminated cards with infectious diseases and purchased headbands and sand timers. To play the game, each student places a headband on their head. I then put in it a card (without the student seeing it). Students take turns asking each other relevant questions to get clues about the card they have. An example of such questions is: am I transmitted by mosquitoes? Students will keep asking until they figure it out or they run out of time. The outcome of this game is to recall relevant information about each infection in a fun and engaging way. Great feedback was received.

TAKEAWAYS:
A fun way to remember important and unique information about each infectious disease

SPEAKERS:
Myrna Rezcallah

I am a research scientist that works in a diagnostic laboratory focused on agriculture and biotechnology. My career requires interpreting DNA tests and using bioinformatics to identify threats to our food supply, such as detecting honey bee pathogens and testing weeds for herbicide resistance. In this speedy talk, I will show that you do not need a fancy lab or expensive equipment to bring digital DNA activities into the classroom. Free, web-based tools let students explore real genetic data, build data science skills, and connect their learning to diverse careers in science. I will share example activities and the first steps to searching public DNA databases. To conclude, I will highlight how digital DNA analysis is a transferable skill that bridges fields from human health to agriscience.

TAKEAWAYS:
Peek into the world of digital DNA and discover free tools and classroom activities that develop data science skills and highlight career connections across biology-related fields.

SPEAKERS:
Zack Bateson

In this session, we will focus on creating 3D assessment tasks that engage students in computational thinking. We’ll begin by starting with students, collecting and analyzing information about their interests and identities to ensure the assessments resonate with them. Next, we’ll get to know the standards by identifying your assessment target, conducting a grade band analysis, and unpacking the essential components of the standard. Finally, we’ll choose phenomena by evaluating their potential to engage student interest and identity, ensuring alignment with Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs), and identifying the necessary data or information for computational sensemaking. By the end of the session, you will have a clear plan for selecting a phenomenon or problem for your upcoming assessment of computational thinking that connects to your students' interests.

TAKEAWAYS:
Using tools from the 5D Assessment Project (inquiryHub and BSCS Science Learning collaboration), practice selecting phenomena and problems that align with standards, connect to students' interests, and develop computational thinking.

SPEAKERS:
Jeffrey Bush, Melissa Campanella

Discover how invention education (IvE) empowers ALL students to solve real-world problems using STEAM! Educators will become inventors themselves! We will highlight how IvE engages all learners and allows students to take control of their learning. IvE begins with students reflecting on their lives and identifying problems. Once they identify a problem they are passionate about solving, their self-agency begins! Rather than being given a problem to solve, IvE empowers all students to solve problems in their lives/their communities. This compelling premise then inspires students to design a solution which marries STEM, empathy, and student-led learning. Attendees will become inventors as they go through an innovation activity. They will even brand and pitch their invention! Inventing/marketing leads to IP. Participants will learn the power of trademarks, and other types of IP. Educators will see free resources and be inspired by the power of invention and IP education!

TAKEAWAYS:
IvE empowers students to solve real-world problems using STEAM, fostering self-agency and student-led learning. Educators will experience the innovation process firsthand, creating their own inventions and learning how IP plays a key role in student creativity and ownership. Free resources too!

SPEAKERS:
Christine Lawlor-King

Interested in using AI to elevate your teaching? Learn how Awardees of the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) are transforming their instructional planning and classroom management using AI tools. This session will demonstrate practical strategies for leveraging AI to streamline your daily preparation while maintaining pedagogical rigor and authenticity. Discover how AI can reduce routine workload, allowing you more time to focus on student relationships and high-impact teaching moments. Expert practitioners will share their frameworks for generating instructional materials, addressing bias concerns, and integrating digital citizenship concepts into your planning process. You'll see firsthand how to craft effective prompts that support curriculum development, customize AI tools for your specific classroom needs, and use AI to enhance assessment and data analysis tasks.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn practical AI skills to make classroom planning more efficient, authentic, and sustainable.

SPEAKERS:
Marni Landry

How do the order of lessons shift when infusing computer science into a science storyline while maintaining student coherence? Discover what is different in a free, upcoming OpenSciEd 8th grade middle school science + computer science unit on Sound Waves, when students use computer tools and engage in computational thinking more extensively to develop disciplinary core ideas related to physical science and life science. Using the same anchoring phenomenon of loud music from a truck making a window move, students use micro:bits (pocket-sized computer) to collect and analyze data to deepen their science understanding of sound wave characteristics. Students use micro:bit devices and MakeCode block coding throughout the unit to make sense of sound waves, how our ears detect them, and design devices to detect sound waves to help people experiencing hearing loss.

TAKEAWAYS:
Student’s investigations into sound waves and hearing are enhanced through the use of computing devices which also allow for the development of computer science and engineering practices embedded throughout the unit.

SPEAKERS:
Michael Novak, Nicole Vick

In the rural regions of Alabama’s Black Belt, educators and communities face unique challenges to delivering high-quality STEM education. To address these disparities, the UWA Black Belt STEM Education Institute (UWA-SEI) has embraced a collective impact model that integrates diverse stakeholders—including educational institutions, industry partners, community organizations, and national STEM leaders. This session will showcase how UWA-SEI successfully revitalizes STEM education through partnerships such as Learning Blade, National Math and Science Institute (NMSI), VEX Robotics, AMSTI, Betabox, Math Nation, and more.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how a collective impact model can be used to build sustainable, partnership-driven STEM ecosystems that improve student achievement and engagement in underserved, rural communities like Alabama’s Black Belt.

SPEAKERS:
Chester Nicklas, Jr., Dr. Reggie Holifield

We will go through a set of hands-on, physical and digital experiences to learn how objects vibrate and make sound, and how that sound can be turned into music. Participants will get access to free curriculum resources and digital tools created by music neuroscientist and sound artist, Victor Minces. In this workshop, participants will learn about the science of sound, waves, and vibrations, and how they relate to music. For this, we will use a series of physical hands-on activities and interactive web applications created by our team at https://listeningtowaves.com/. The applications allow users to visualize, create, and play with sound; they have an associated NGSS-aligned curriculum developed in collaboration with the San Diego Science Project at UC San Diego, and are being widely used in California and throughout the world. Children and teachers love them. The curriculum is focused on 8th grade but it can be easily adapted to other age groups. The workshop will be led by Victor M

TAKEAWAYS:
You will learn how to use everyday objects and free digital tools to explore the science of sound and music. You will create beats and sound compositions, and tune an orchestra made with beakers and water as an anchoring phenomenon to bring to your students.

SPEAKERS:
Victor Minces, Victor Minces

Interested in more equitable STEM learning, where all students can “see themselves” in your STEM curriculum? The SciGirls Strategies have been used by thousands of educators nationwide to develop gender equitable and culturally responsive STEM programs for youth. Participants will learn how to make small changes that will take a traditional STEM activity and turn it into one that engages all youth and develop skills to create an inclusive, welcoming, and respectful environment that embraces diversity. Whether you have been running STEM programs for a long time or just getting started, you will leave this session with strategies to immediately design and implement equitable STEM learning!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will develop skills to create an inclusive, welcoming, and respectful environment that embraces diversity.

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Beverly

In today’s science classrooms, students need to be able to make their thinking visible and work with the ideas of others, but this is risky for students. It’s important to cultivate an inclusive culture where students can take risks sharing their ideas, no matter who they are. Just as routines can help teachers partner with students on the direction of their learning, routines can help foster an inclusive culture of knowledge building. In this workshop, we will engage participants in a pair of routines for establishing agreements with students and for helping students reflect on how well they are following those agreements, both to hype good work and make repairs to the group culture when needed. Teachers will leave with a description of the elements of the routines and examples of how other teachers have used them successfully.

TAKEAWAYS:
Leave with a ready to use plan to implement community agreements in your classroom. It will include eliciting students’ ideas for how to be respectful, equitable, committed to community, and move science thinking forward. It will also have strategies for student reflection on these agreements and ho

SPEAKERS:
Greg Benedis-Grab

This high-energy, hands-on session is perfect for BOTH middle and high school science educators looking to ignite 3D learning in their classrooms. Explore how Tech Rotation Stations can transform traditional lessons into dynamic, inquiry-driven experiences. Participants will learn how to design stations that align with NGSS dimensions, incorporating free tech tools to enhance scientific inquiry, modeling, and real-world data analysis. Leave with a ready-to-use template and practical ideas for building a student-centered science classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with a practical framework for designing 3D-aligned science lessons using tech-based rotation stations, empowering them to create dynamic, inquiry-driven learning experiences that engage students in real-world scientific exploration.

SPEAKERS:
Ericka Jones

Too often, minority students are “benched” in the world of STEM - overlooked, underestimated, and/or underserved. This high-energy workshop equips educators with tools to get all K12 students into the STEM game. Discover how to empower minority students to engage STEM with confidence; shifting them from the STEM “sidelines” as passive observers to active and inspired STEM participants via identity-affirming practices and high-engagement strategies that center both student voice and experience. Walk away with a game plan to break barriers, increase representation, and level the STEM playing field. Whether you teach in a rural, urban, or suburban setting - this session will leave you inspired, empowered, and ready to coach every student toward STEM success.

TAKEAWAYS:
Every student deserves a chance to play—and win—in STEM. With the right coaching, support, and access, minority students don’t just join the game—they change it.

SPEAKERS:
Sierra Graves

Student engagement is a key predictor of student success, but assessing and promoting engagement in the STEM classroom is challenging due to the dynamic and ever-changing nature of these learning environments. Our multi-institutional team is developing a machine learning-driven digital learning platform, Scoutlier, that provides real-time insights and formative assessment of student engagement in STEM classrooms. In this presentation, we walk through a lesson delivered on Scoutlier and demonstrate how the platform scaffolds lessons and provides insights to teachers that help them equitably increase student engagement. We report on machine learning research that detects patterns in student engagement and employs large language models (LLMs) to provide meaningful real-time engagement reports and instructional strategies for teachers. These findings demonstrate the promise of classroom technology and emphasize the importance of integrating ever-evolving technology into equitable teaching

TAKEAWAYS:
The importance of integrating technological solutions into classrooms to increase student engagement and improve learning outcomes in K-12 STEM lessons.

SPEAKERS:
Luk Hendrik, Brandy Jackson

The University of Wisconsin-Stout recently hosted a summer STEM Camp for elementary teachers. The purpose of the STEM Camp was to provide professional development and curriculum resources to help elementary teachers to integrate engineering design activities into the elementary classroom. This professional development opportunity was funded by a 3M STEM Education Equity Grant. The attendees of this session will learn about the design of the STEM Camp as a professional development experience, the engineering design process, and strategies for using engineering activities in the elementary classroom that are aligned with the science and engineering practices of the Next Generation Science Standards.

TAKEAWAYS:
The attendees of this session will learn about the design of the STEM Camp as a professional development experience, the engineering design process, and strategies for using engineering activities in the elementary classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Lindsay Barnhart, Kevin Mason

Are you a new or veteran educator of gifted learners? Would you like to learn and discuss topics on gifted education in the science classroom? As a 12 year AP/DE chemistry teacher at a Virginia Governor's School I will share my understandings, strategies, and techniques for the gifted learner in the science classroom. In this informal presentation teachers will learn and discuss which techniques and strategies are best used with gifted students in the science classroom including enrichment, acceleration and differentiation. Understanding the nuances of giftedness, pit falls, twice exceptional students, and the wonders of teaching gifted students will be primarily addressed. Teachers should come prepared with/ready to learn about current strategies, models, and/or questions for myself and fellow teachers in the session.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will come away from this session understanding current techniques and teaching models of gifted students in the science classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Christian Laourdakis

Explore how AI can empower educators to create diverse transdisciplinary STEM learning experiences. The session will showcase AI tools that help identify and address potential bias and generate culturally responsive material, differentiated instruction, and inclusive assessment strategies within STEM contexts.

TAKEAWAYS:
AI can empower educators to create equitable, representative transdisciplinary STEM learning for all students by addressing biases and enabling inclusive materials and strategies.

SPEAKERS:
Tahsin Khalid, Jana Gerard

Utilizing a team of high school student volunteers, the Lower School STEM Club at Mounds Park Academy has become one of the most popular afterschool programs offered in the community and has dramatically improved family perceptions about the level of science and engineering education at the school. In this session, we will share several field-tested approaches to this type of elective STEM program, including a variety of potential formats and settings that can be implemented with or without student volunteers. We will explore how this approach can provide supplemental rigorous experiential STEM education to even the very youngest science students. With creative planning, these clubs can be relatively easy to implement and cost-effective. They can encourage students of all ages to see themselves as scientists and engineers, as innovators and leaders, while enhancing opportunities for rigorous STEM exploration at the elementary level.

TAKEAWAYS:
An elementary school STEM Club facilitated by high school volunteers is easy to implement and can encourage students of all ages to see themselves as scientists and engineers, as innovators and leaders, while enhancing opportunities for rigorous STEM exploration at the elementary level.

SPEAKERS:
Hannah Sullivan

STEM instruction and curriculum can be difficult to write. Where do you begin? What should be included? What lessons are imperative and what standards should be focused upon to best support student learning? This quick 30-minute session will help you learn how to begin your path towards building a STEM program that is meaningful, powerful, engaging, and fun. Explore what I did to write and design fully detailed curriculum maps for STEM instruction that integrate national and state standards for science and engineering for grades K-6 as well as gifted instruction and enrichment for grades 3-5 to begin a new STEM program for 900 students at one elementary school site. We'll discuss the curriculum map design, how to begin in Quarter 1, day 1 with each grade level, how to write engaging lessons using a framework, what to include in your instructional presentations for topics including STEM, Engineering, Physics, Life Sciences, the Scientific Method, Coding, and so much more.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session will give ideas, insights, and improvements needed to design and write curriculum maps and intriguing lessons, along with powerful instructional practice needed to guide student learning and inquiry in STEM. Take aways include the curriculum map template and lesson framework.

SPEAKERS:
Debbie Posniack

The NGSS calls for the integration of engineering design into K-12 science classrooms. In this session, participants will be introduced to NSTA Instructional materials that provide opportunities for students to design solutions and enact the science and engineering practices.

TAKEAWAYS:
Problem-driven, three-dimensional lessons and units provide students opportunities to actively try to figure out how to design solutions to problems (sensemaking).

SPEAKERS:
Emily Mathews, Patrice Scinta, Kerri Wingert

Each day in my chemistry classroom begins with “Element of the Day”—a consistent, engaging routine that sparks curiosity and builds connections. Students learn about an element’s history, real-world applications, and common compounds, with the support of visuals, short videos, and even a few element-themed jokes. This simple structure sets a positive tone for the period and naturally transitions into the warm-up or lesson. Over time, it becomes something students look forward to and talk about outside of class. Whether it’s exploring how rare earth metals power smartphones or why sodium shows up in snacks, students begin to see chemistry in the world around them. In this session, I’ll share how I plan, structure, and implement this routine, the resources I use, and how it’s helped reinforce content, create routine, and build relationships in a meaningful, low-pressure way.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to implement a consistent, engaging “Element of the Day” routine that builds classroom structure, sparks curiosity, and connects chemistry content to students’ everyday lives through history, humor, real-world applications, and visual storytelling.

SPEAKERS:
James Leddy

Meaningful learning experiences start with students engaging in the productive struggle. However, as educators, we encounter the barrier of finances limiting access to resources to provide these experiences. This session aims to provide teachers with ways to acquire supplies for engineering education within the classroom or after school setting. We will focus on exploring ways to acquire materials at little to no cost followed by sharing personal experiences using Engineering Tomorrow. Participants will also learn to use 3D printing technology and designing. Furthermore, participants will receive an opportunity to share personal experiences and known resources as we develop an inventory of resources that all participants can access  and contribute to beyond the time designated in the conference. We are aware of the struggles teachers face with limited school budgets and aim to lift the financial burden teachers encounter when trying to engage students in hands on learning experiences.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will create and submit orders through Engineering Tomorrow and contribute to a living document that will be modified and added onto with known resources for materials.

SPEAKERS:
Ramona Fittipaldi, Annycardeli Lopez

This presentation will introduce an activity where students plan and conduct a scientific investigation to test cancer treatments in a simulated rodent model of cancer. Students develop a deeper understanding of the scientific process and the use of animals in biomedical research by analyzing and interpreting data, drawing conclusions, and communicating scientific findings.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn about using a simulated mouse model to practice experimental design, discuss research animals as models, and explore cancer research topics.

SPEAKERS:
Meredith Tennis

Middle School science can be engaging and rigorous. Learners can discuss, experiment, ask thought provoking questions, use academic language, and build community in the process. We will share the strategies we used in implementing OpenScied units in several Middle School buildings and will share the learner outcomes and benefits we witnessed.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn high-leverage instructional strategies that can be used in any class to improve student engagement, support sensemaking, better align to NGSS, and support and build community for all learners.

SPEAKERS:
Kate Solberg

In this session, we will present a tool that elementary teachers can use to support children in planning science investigations. The tool was developed as part of a multi-year research project involving a co-design team of teachers and researchers in an urban public school district. We will describe strategies for anchoring investigations in phenomena and providing opportunities for children to make decisions about what materials to use in their investigation, how to use these materials, and what to count as evidence. These strategies can support children to engage deeply in science practice, while also keeping activity manageable for students and their teachers. Our goal is that this session will provide teachers and curriculum designers with a tool that they can use to support children to engage in joyful, meaningful, and productive science investigations.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with ideas about how to involve their students in planning investigations in ways that are exciting, manageable, and productive.

SPEAKERS:
Eve Manz

Technology can transform science instruction and enhance students' learning experiences. This session explores how educators can implement technology to design NGSS-aligned learning experiences focused on environmental science issues that prepare students for a tech-driven STEM future. Technology can be used in a multitude of areas such as data collection, research analysis, and modeling, which can deepen students' computational thinking skills. Participants will examine classroom-tested lessons, tech-enhanced assessments, and student work samples that demonstrate how technology can deepen inquiry, expand access, and support all learners. Examples of technology implementation will include, but not be limited to: trail cameras, simulations, databases, mobile applications and the educational use of AI. Attendees will leave with examples of tech-integrated assessments and lesson plans, along with resources for immediate classroom use.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees of this session will leave with a multitude of resources promoting technology use in the classroom. Examples of technology use will be provided, as well as classroom-tested lessons.

SPEAKERS:
Danielle Hoenig

What role do enzymes play in the fermentation of starch? How can enzymes efficiently prepare starches for conversion to alcohols? Participants deconstruct a molecule of starch to create glucose molecules for yeast consumption using the action of enzymes. What do participants figure out? Enzymes break molecules like starch into smaller molecules like disaccharides and monosaccharides that can be used for the fermentation of sugars.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants discover how the action of enzymes is specific. They also realize the process used in industry to turn feedstocks like corn into products such as ethanol.

SPEAKERS:
Heather Bryan, Jeff Jostpille

Are you using or considering using OpenSciEd to meet Minnesota's 2019 Science Standards? If so, this collaborative discussion is for you! Connect with fellow educators to discuss critical questions related to successful implementation: How are you using OpenSciEd in your school or district to meet the MN standards? How have you adapted the materials to align with the MN standards? What kind of professional learning has helped prepare you to use the curriculum effectively? How have you supported students as they shift to using OpenSciEd? What practical tips and tricks have you developed to make it work effectively? This is a great chance to network and exchange practical ideas, consider approaches to address challenges, and build a supportive network for ongoing professional learning and collaboration. Note: It may be helpful to attend the "Customization of HQIM: How can we strengthen instructional materials for our local context?" session prior to this Roundtable.

TAKEAWAYS:
OpenSciEd is a powerful NGSS-aligned curriculum designed to center student sensemaking. In this session, attendees will have opportunities to exchange experiences and questions with colleagues related to using OpenSciEd to meet Minnesota’s 2019 State Science Standards.

SPEAKERS:
Jaime Dery, Molly Leifeld

How could using a micro:bit (pocket-sized computer) promote deeper development of science ideas, and support development of computer science ideas? Examine classroom video of middle school students engaging in science thinking about sound sources and wave characteristics without the use of micro:bits and a spreadsheet. Then, put on your student hats to experience the same lesson using micro:bits to record the motion of a moving stick to develop science ideas related to wave characteristics. Reflect on your experience and discuss the affordances of having students transform data using computer science thinking to make sense of science ideas.

TAKEAWAYS:
Student’s sensemaking around wave characteristics in the context of sound is enhanced through the use of real-time data collection of a moving object with micro:bits.and transformation of that data in a spreadsheet.

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Vick, Michael Novak

Discover how a Chemistry of Foods course can bring STEM to life through real-world connections. This session showcases a transdisciplinary approach to teaching chemistry that engages students by integrating food science concepts. Educators will explore practical strategies for weaving food-related topics into their curriculum and collaborate to brainstorm ideas for other STEM courses that connect science to everyday life and their school communities. Leave with inspiration and actionable ideas to make STEM more relevant, accessible, and exciting for your students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn about implementing a co-taught, standards-based, phenomena-driven high school course.

SPEAKERS:
Fran Stephens

Discover how chemistry becomes more meaningful and inclusive when students engage with real-world materials and everyday phenomena. This session features a dynamic collection of hands-on labs—such as “Fire in Your Hand,” which explores combustion using butane gas; “Why Is a Potato Conductive but Potato Chips Are Not?” focused on electrochemistry and conductivity; growing rose crystals to illustrate saturation; investigating how sugar and lemon juice concentrations affect the taste of lemonade to explore molarity; and observing the spherical shape of water in microgravity to explain intermolecular forces. These labs are designed to spark curiosity, deepen conceptual understanding, and promote equity through accessible, low-cost materials. Participants will learn how to adapt activities for diverse learners, elevate student voice, and integrate cross-disciplinary thinking. Walk away with ready-to-use lab guides and strategies to help all students see themselves as scientists.

TAKEAWAYS:
You will gain over 20 creative, low-cost chemistry labs with student-facing worksheets, procedures, instructions, and strategies for real-world connections, differentiation, scaffolding, and designing engaging, cross-disciplinary experiences.

SPEAKERS:
Lixian Sun

This action research examines student engagement outcomes and personalized learning improvements created by AI tools in middle school science settings. The study took place during a 6-week period at Kennedy Middle School which serves English Language Learners and students requiring individualized education programs while following NGSS standards. ChatGPT drove student inquiry and reflections together with CER writing as AI simulations and assessments provided personalized learning support. The study findings reveal that AI technology strengthens scientific investigation processes while enabling personalized teaching methods and boosting student participation which provides essential insights about AI application in science education.

TAKEAWAYS:
Middle school science classrooms gain advantages from AI integration through tools like ChatGPT and virtual simulations which result in higher student engagement and improved learning outcomes while providing support to diverse students including ELLs and those with IEPs.

SPEAKERS:
Princess Margaret Paz

This session explores a reimagined approach to chemistry labs that prioritizes student collaboration, creativity, and relevance. Using a group model where every student has an active role, labs become more than just data collection—they become shared, purposeful learning experiences. After completing the lab, students demonstrate their understanding through modern, student-driven products: TikTok-style videos, infographics, Canva one-pagers, flyers, or mock Instagram posts. These formats allow students to communicate their learning in ways that feel authentic and engaging. This structure has been shown to boost participation, deepen content understanding, and foster an inclusive lab environment. Attendees will learn how to implement collaborative roles, explore examples of creative student work, and see how labs can evolve to meet the interests and learning styles of today’s students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will explore how to design collaborative, student-centered chemistry labs with creative final products that help Gen Z students engage, reflect, and communicate their learning in authentic, meaningful ways.

SPEAKERS:
James Leddy

Join this interactive session to explore how hands-on, inquiry-based activities using recycled and low-cost materials can boost student engagement, deepen understanding, and increase retention of core science concepts in grades 3–5. Drawing on 23 years of classroom experience and current work with RAFT (Resource Area For Teaching), the presenter will demonstrate easy-to-implement lessons aligned with national science standards. Attendees will actively participate in sample activities and leave with practical strategies and free resources they can immediately bring back to their classrooms—proving that meaningful science learning doesn't have to break the budget.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will leave this session equipped with low-cost, high-impact strategies and hands-on activities that foster student engagement and understanding using recycled and affordable materials—making quality science education accessible to all.

SPEAKERS:
Nancy McIntyre

Engaging young students in real world problems begins with engaging teachers with real world scientists and engineers. There are many different approaches to accomplish this goal which this session will explore. The first step in forming connections is discovering where the STEM professionals in your life, school, and community are hiding. Once you connect, there are countless opportunities to bring their expertise and real world problems to your classrooms, some on a very small scale, and others more involved or long term. Many of the universities, companies, and organizations where you find scientists and engineers already have existing programs for K-12 engagement. This can take the form of field trips, classroom visits, afterschool clubs, competitions, or science lesson enhancements to match any curriculum. This session will review concrete examples of these programs and highlight examples of transdisciplinary problems across diverse fields.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will leave the session with actionable steps to make connections with engineers and scientists in their own communities, and ideas for meaningful activities that can be arranged for students to fit a variety of timelines and budgets (some even free!).

SPEAKERS:
Rachele Limberakis, Charlene Tuttle, Olivia Daniello, Valerie Maier-Speredelozzi

Student STEM research can be a life-changing experience, allowing students to develop critical thinking, problem-solving, research, and strong scientific communication skills. Facilitating high-quality student STEM research is a major challenge in rural areas with limited access to community resources, materials, and mentors. An innovative program to reach underserved rural high schools in North Carolina is the NC STEM Research Academy. The focus of the Academy is to develop capacity for teachers and students to engage in STEM research. Having implemented this program for eight years, we have learned: 1. Teachers and students must work together to successfully develop STEM research projects; 2. Modeling how to facilitate student-led research helps to build and sustain a culture of STEM research at schools; 3. Working with teachers to develop strong mentoring skills helps students focus; and 4. Students need access to outside school mentors to pursue high quality research projects.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn strategies for working with high school students to facilitate independent student-led research. Materials and examples will be shared for developing high quality research questions, experimentation or engineering design testing, data analysis, and STEM communication.

SPEAKERS:
David Pugalee, Alisa Wickliff

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Amanda Upton

In claims and evidence conversations, teachers and students work together to make sense of the evidence from investigations. Students consider questions such as, “What happened?”, “What does it mean?”, and “What do we know now?” They hear each other’s thoughts and engage in argumentation—supporting their claims and trying to convince each other by using and exploring evidence. These conversations have potential to support deep and meaningful engagement with claims and explanations. They can also be tricky to manage. How do we help students see what they are “supposed to see” while also valuing their sensemaking? How do we honor and connect multiple voices? How do we use resources that build explanation? In this presentation, we will explore these questions and provide tools that help educators plan for and enact these conversations in ways that recognize, build from, and resolve uncertainty.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will develop a deep understanding of the opportunities and challenges of claims and evidence conversations and leave with actionable tools for implementing these conversations in ways that support student sensemaking about evidence and explanation.

SPEAKERS:
Eve Manz

Engineering has been identified as an essential part of a robust science education, yet we are still developing an understanding of how elementary age students learn with an integrated science and engineering design approach. Contrary to the widely held perception that children are merely tinkering when they complete engineering design challenges, this presentation reveals that even young children are working with purpose and intention when solving an engineering design problem. We will take a look at the types of interactions children engage in during engineering design and use this information to help propel their science learning. With an improved understanding of the three main types of change that early elementary learners enact during engineering design, science education can further direct its efforts to support science learning using engineering design activities. Classroom educators can provide more targeted support to help children advance their science learning outcomes.

TAKEAWAYS:
To build a better understanding of the specific ways in which young children engage with materials and make changes to their designs during engineering to help educators provide more targeted support for advancing science learning outcomes when using an integrated science and engineering approach.

SPEAKERS:
Christine McGrail

The typical high school chromatography lab is often characterized by smeared blotches of food dyes on thin strips of filter paper with retention factors (Rf) that are near-impossible to measure. Let's not even talk about the "hurry-up-and-wait" part! What if you could design a lab around a crime scenario and you are the forensic investigator analyzing paint and color samples from the crime scene? Better still, what if you were called up to testify in a court proceeding to explain the analytical process and defend your findings? This activity is designed to make chromatography HOT again. In addition, it encourages students to think more critically about the data they obtain. and develop communication skills to improve science literacy in the general public.

TAKEAWAYS:
Engagement and learning are enhanced when students are able to relate concepts with real life. Chromatography is an invaluable tool is forensics and encompasses topic on molecular polarity and intermolecular forces, allowing students a deeper understanding of these chemical concepts.

SPEAKERS:
Caroline Gochoco-Tsuyuki

First-year science teachers often feel overwhelmed once in their own classroom. Preservice science educators (current college students) and their instructors do the best they can to prepare for this moment, but the best advice comes from individuals that have gone through it themselves. The purpose of this roundtable is to for educators across the nation to share their best piece of advice for the soon-to-be science teacher. You will get to meet with current Biology and Chemistry education students attending Valley City State University, in Valley City ND and help prepare them for their next adventure. Advice including ways to build connections across disciplines and throughout the school is encouraged.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session aims to provide preservice science educators with practical advice and strategies to help them navigate their first year in the classroom successfully.

SPEAKERS:
Megan Lahtonen, Cameron Pero, Michael Ouradnik, Lindsey Kiecker

This is one PLC's story of inventing the wheel as we wrote our chemistry curriculum from scratch incorporating NGSS and the MN State Science Standards (2019). Focus centers around using the Science and Engineering Practices to drive Assessments and Daily Lessons. Attendees will leave with a complete Unit including assessments. Please bring a Unit and/or assessment you want to improve.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn a process of writing chemistry curriculum focusing on the Science and Engineering Practices. Attendees will also be provided a complete Unit as an example and are free to use in their own classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Dustin Ludwikowski, Mary Sande

What does it really look like when a scientist and an educator join forces to bring applied, real-world science into the classrooms? In this candid discussion, an industry scientist and an education specialist will share how their collaboration began and how it grew into co-developing classroom activities rooted in agricultural biotechnology and data science. We will share what worked, what we had to figure out on the fly, and how you can start similar connections with researchers in your community. Whether teaching biology, environmental science, or looking to make careers more tangible for students, you will leave with practical ideas, tactics, and conversation starters to build your own local partnerships.

TAKEAWAYS:
Hear how a scientist and an educator built a successful partnership and learn how to start your own. Gain tips and hear candid perspectives from both sides, offering practical advice on how to bridge the gap, even if science careers outside the classroom seem distant.

SPEAKERS:
Jane Hunt, Zack Bateson

Discover how Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools can revolutionize your STEM classroom, fostering transdisciplinary learning and empowering both teachers and students. This session will explore concrete examples of AI applications that bridge science, technology, engineering, math, and even humanities, enabling students to tackle real-world problems with innovative solutions. Learn practical strategies for integrating AI into existing curricula to enhance personalized learning, automate tasks, and cultivate future-ready skills.

TAKEAWAYS:
Students are empowered to tackle real-world problems with innovative solutions while simultaneously benefiting teachers through personalized learning support and streamlined workflows.

SPEAKERS:
Pepper Thiels

Some branches of science inherently lend themselves more easily to STEM-type projects than other branches, but I make an effort to integrate engineering projects into all my classes. In this session, I'll detail several of the engineering projects I've used in biology, chemistry, physical science, and life science courses. I'll also share my strategies for making engineering projects maximally engaging, minimally expensive, and tools for reinforcing the importance of planning and critical thinking. Examples of projects that I've successfully incorporated into my classroom include functional cell membranes, windmill turbine design, thermal insulation devices, and more!

TAKEAWAYS:
Engineering isn't just a physics and physical science concept. It can be integrated across the science branches and I'd love to share my strategies for successful use of engineering projects across the science curriculum as well as provide specific project examples that teachers can utilize.

SPEAKERS:
Anneliese Johnson

Discover how the school library can transform into a dynamic innovation hub where students develop real solutions to community problems. Join Tambra Clark, Library Media Specialist at South Hampton K-8 School, as she shares the inspiring journey of guiding students to become state winners in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition. This interactive session reveals practical strategies for leveraging technology resources, fostering cross-curricular collaboration, and implementing project-based learning that connects STEM education to authentic community needs. Learn how to position your library as the catalyst for innovation while aligning with curriculum standards and developing crucial information literacy skills. Leave with a roadmap for implementation, competition resources, and the inspiration to transform your own educational space into a problem-solving powerhouse. No additional technology required—just bring your curiosity and creativity!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn a step-by-step framework for transforming their library or classroom into an innovation hub that empowers students to develop STEM-based solutions to community problems, using the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition as a catalyst for authentic learning.

SPEAKERS:
Brittni Tucker, Tambra Clark

Explore a free and flexible unit that connects science, engineering, and creative problem-solving. Students assess everyday products and find ways to make them better, more equitable, or more sustainable by looking to biology for inspiration. At the center of this unit is the Bioinspired Design Canvas—a simple framework created by an interdisciplinary team of scientists, engineers, and designers at the University of Minnesota—along with Galactic Polymath Education Studio. The unit includes presentations and videos that provide background, examples of existing bioinspired design solutions, and tips for brainstorming using mind-maps. Explicit guidance is provided on where AI can be useful in this process and where it causes problems. All materials are free, editable, and a great launching point for PBLs and capstone projects.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to use a free, flexible unit and Bioinspired Design Canvas to guide students in applying NGSS biology disciplinary core ideas; science and engineering practices; and design thinking to solve real-world problems through creative, nature-inspired innovation.

SPEAKERS:
Matt Wilkins

Get a backstage view of a student led science demonstration show. The show "...welcomes you to join students as they share the extraordinary science of thermodynamics, kinetics, acid and bases, vacuums and high pressure. Bring the whole family and enjoy an evening of rainbow liquids, vortex cannons, frothing bubbles, colorful flames and luminescent solutions." The session will share: video of numerous demonstration shows, documents and tips on how to safely engage learners, and examples of student learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
See examples from 20 years of a student led science demonstration show.

SPEAKERS:
Jason Just

This session will unlock the mysteries of the genetic code with engaging and innovative strategies! We will delve into practical, hands on methods for teaching genetic code. Participants will experience a dynamic approach that moves beyond rote memorization, and foster a deeper understanding of how DNA sequences translate into the building blocks of life. Discover how to transform the abstract world or codons and amino acids into an interactive learning experience. This presentation will showcase a classroom-tested game using a "Codon Wheel" to actively involve students in deciphering the genetic code. Participants will witness the the genetic code wheel in action, explore adaptable variations of how to modify the game for differentiation, gain practical strategies for demystifying complex concepts and connect genetic code to real world applications.

TAKEAWAYS:
Unlock the genetic code with engaging, practical strategies. Learn new perspectives to empower them to confidently "speak" the language of life.

SPEAKERS:
Maureen Collazo-Rodriguez

This presentation highlights the AgroLab Uniandes model in a transdisciplinary aquatic educational facility using the results of a Spring 2024 illustrative case study of an urban secondary school campus. The study traced the evolution and advancement of multiple, non-traditional STEM learning spaces, focusing on their role in fostering hands-on sustainability-driven education. The paludarium tank ecosystem being presented is an aquarium designed to simulate a natural aquatic habitat of the Mid-Atlantic region. The paludarium tank project provides students with the opportunity to learn about local wetland, marsh, and swamp ecosystems through practical hands-on learning. The paludarium project operates year-round with student learning experiences that include monitoring water quality, feeding aquatic wildlife, maintaining terrestrial and aquatic plants, tracking aquarium data, and completing routine maintenance. Assessments and alignment to NGSS standards will be shared.

TAKEAWAYS:
This project’s primary impact on student learning has been the enhancement of their resourcefulness. Students have had to be imaginative, creative, and strategic in transforming a small enclosure into a unique outdoor environment, all while maintaining the inhabitants’ basic needs.

SPEAKERS:
Ray Wu-Rorrer

We’ll share design details, sample student work, and assessment results from a pilot study of using AI as support for project-based learning. Two classes of students were assigned to teach other students about a global ecosystem by creating a virtual field trip, including information about climate, food webs, and human impact (5-LS2, ESS3.D). During creation, all students engaged in a design thinking cycle of peer feedback and iteration. One class used AI to help generate their trip and give their peers feedback. Initial test results show that the AI experience improved students’ ideas about AI as a constructive tool for learning and that students in the AI class demonstrated more nuanced understandings of ecosystem features. We’ll share how these results align with features of the student work. Lesson materials including the student assignment, instructional slides, student worksheets, and AI feedback tool will be shared so that you can take this experience back to the classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn about one way to use AI for facilitating design thinking and creative production. Lesson materials including the student assignment, instructional slides, student worksheets, and AI feedback tool will be shared so that you can take this experience back to the classroom!

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Williams-Habibi, Shannon Cone, Rachel Wolf

This module appeared in an article in vol 62, 2025 issue 1 of Science and Children and describes a transdisciplinary early childhood unit on a concept that can be challenging to teach in an accessible and mastery-achievable way for all young students. In a succinct presentation, classroom teachers will share the deliverables and skills from multiple disciplines that came together through learning opportunities driven by a specific real-world problem in order for all of their engineers to master this difficult to teach standard.

TAKEAWAYS:
The takeaway is to showcase and model a sophisticated, abstract science standard in a transdisciplinary way with a real-world phenomenon in a memorable and mastery-achievable way for young students of all academic levels.

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Stovall, Emily Wilkey, Fran Carden, Brittany Clark

7th Grade students at Madison Country Day School (MCDS) delve into an NGSS-aligned engineering design project-based learning unit inspired by the NAE Grand Challenges for Engineering and the UN sustainable development goals. From this initial research, students brainstorm project ideas and research further in order to identify a user, need, and potential solutions. They develop criteria and build initial prototypes. Example projects include a reading aid, an electronic pet tracker, stronger grocery bags, and hair braiding devices. Using criteria as their guide, students develop experiments to test their prototypes which they then refine. The capstone of this experience is a student presentation and reflection. By engaging in all aspects of an engineering design cycle, students experience the skills and mindsets of an engineer while simultaneously reflecting on the extent to which their perspective influences their design.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how 7th graders participate in an engineering design project. They research ideas, identify user needs, and set criteria for solutions. Students create prototypes, conduct tests, refine designs, and present their work, gaining hands-on experience with the iterative design cycle.

SPEAKERS:
Jonathan Eaton, Katie Klitzke

This workshop engages participants in an activity from a newly available free curriculum for high school students called Scientific Thinking for All: A Toolkit. The material is an adaptation of a University of California, Berkeley course created in part by Nobel Prize winner Saul Perlmutter. The course utilizes scientific approaches for interpreting evidence, engaging in probabilistic reasoning, identifying sources of uncertainty, and developing iterative solutions. Participants will assess everyday cause-and-effect claims using factors such as timing, association, and mechanism. They use the following questions to investigate the claims: (1) How often do X and Y happen together? (2) Does X happen before Y? (3) How could a change in X lead to a change in Y? and (4) How likely was the change in Y caused by something other than X? They will apply these questions to correlation graphs to determine what the association can and cannot reveal about causation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Investigate cause-and-effect relationships with an interactive activity! Explore causal reasoning by evaluating everyday claims shown in simple cartoons. Then apply your skills to correlation graphs. Part of a free high school curriculum from the University of California, Berkeley.

SPEAKERS:
Ben Koo

This hands-on workshop explores how to introduce the hot topics of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to students using low-cost and open access SmartMotors. Participants will explore program design and engage in a hands-on SmartMotors activity and will be provided with resources for implementation. The program was co-designed with teachers to use Novel Engineering to solve cross-disciplinary, real-world problems, aligned with NGSS standards. As part of a 4-year, NSF-funded study, the program has been implemented with over 400 diverse students (grades 2–6) and 18 educators. Students and teachers demonstrated gains in STEM self-efficacy, ML attitudes, and strong program satisfaction and usefulness, while student content knowledge gains varied by year. This session supports educators in creating developmentally appropriate, equity-focused AI/ML learning opportunities and preparing students to be informed users and future creators of emerging technologies.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to design and implement developmentally appropriate, equity-focused AI/ML learning opportunities for elementary students. They’ll engage in hands-on activities, explore research findings, and receive resources to teach AI/ML concepts in both formal and informal settings.

SPEAKERS:
Steve Coxon, Dustin Nadler

Stars form in clouds of gas and dust in star formation regions, and follow sequences that end in their destruction. Plotting their changing physical properties on the H-R diagram shows their evolutionary progress. Plotting light curves on the H-D diagram determines instability regions as stars transition to the next stage. Stellar evolution provides the energy which drives the universe, and determines its future. Nucleosynthesis creates the elements which will enrich the next generation of protostars and planets. The resources developed by NASA are a progression from understanding astronomical images to plotting stellar transitions through instability strips on the H-R diagram, to analyzing observational data with the same JS9 tools that scientists use to determine everything from the chemical composition of supernovas to determining whether a stellar core is a white dwarf or a neutron star. The JS9 investigations include links to the original research papers, and archived data sets.

TAKEAWAYS:
Photons of electromagnetic radiation of all wavelengths are collected by telescopes and processed using computers. Scientists use image analysis software to analyze the data and construct unique models of the data, including stars and galaxies, while maintaining the integrity of the underlying data.

SPEAKERS:
Donna Young

Don’t let the technology teachers have all the fun! Game design can be woven into any science curricula at any grade level, providing an engaging way for students to learn science content and to creatively apply what they have learned. Serious games address real-world challenges, encourage systems thinking, and promote active engagement, making them particularly well suited to science education. Learn about the basic elements of game design, tools, rubrics and strategies and how to use a game jam to rapidly prototype game designs (online, digital, role-play, board games, card games) through simple tools and rubrics to bring game design to your classroom or after-school program. Attendees will experience a role-playing simulation from NOAA, Beat the Uncertainty, that asks students to choose strategies that can help coastal communities to be more resilient with one of the most dangerous climate impacts of our time, sea level rise.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will engage in a mini game jam to develop working prototypes of an environmental game and receive information and tools to develop their own game jam.

SPEAKERS:
Peggy Steffen

This workshop explores the powerful connection between the NGSS Science and Engineering Practices and critical student dispositions such as curiosity, persistence, collaboration, and flexibility. These habits of mind are not only essential to scientific thinking but are also key to helping students navigate complex problems, engage deeply with content, and become lifelong learners. The session will examine how NGSS-aligned instruction provides natural opportunities to develop and reinforce these dispositions through authentic, inquiry-based learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with a better understanding of the natural integration of dispositions in the NGSS.

SPEAKERS:
Erik Wade

Discover how to bring science concepts to life through hands-on coding with Ozobots! In this interactive workshop, participants will explore ways to integrate computer science into elementary science instruction, using the water cycle as a model. Learn how to engage students in systems thinking as they program Ozobots to travel through stages of evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collection. We'll share ready-to-use lesson ideas, explore cross-curricular connections, and demonstrate how coding can deepen students' understanding of scientific processes. Whether you're new to Ozobots or looking for new ways to connect STEM tools to content, this session will provide practical strategies and inspiration to energize your science classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use Ozobots to teach science content—like the water cycle—through engaging, hands-on coding activities that promote systems thinking and cross-curricular integration.

SPEAKERS:
Krissy Venosdale, Michael Vu

In this workshop participants will engage with the proven Animal Prosthetics Unit. Participants will engage in an activity using TinkerCad to explore the value of spatial thinking for students. We will explore the freely available unit materials together and discuss strategies for implementation in a variety of school settings.

TAKEAWAYS:
You will leave ready to use the freely available TinkerCad software with your students to develop their special thinking. You will be ready to implement this innovative and engaging unit on building animal prosthetics for animals with special needs.

SPEAKERS:
Jeffrey Bush, Greg Benedis-Grab

This workshop engages participants in an activity from a newly available free curriculum for high school students called Scientific Thinking for All: A Toolkit. The material is an adaptation of a University of California, Berkeley course created in part by Nobel Prize winner Saul Perlmutter. The course utilizes scientific approaches for interpreting evidence, engaging in probabilistic reasoning, identifying sources of uncertainty, and developing iterative solutions. Participants will learn how scientific methods can reduce sources of scientific uncertainty in data by engaging in a fictional scenario. They will map and analyze air quality sensor data before and after work begins at a construction site. They will be able to identify the sources of uncertainty in the data and will brainstorm ways to reduce it. Participants will then be able to discuss how addressing limitations of the data can lead to new conclusions about air quality.

TAKEAWAYS:
Investigate air quality with an interactive activity! Participants map and analyze air quality data in a fictional community, and identify how scientific methods can reduce scientific uncertainty. Part of a free high school curriculum from the University of California, Berkeley.

SPEAKERS:
Ben Koo

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools have transformative potential within STEM education. The ability to efficiently plan, personalize, and adapt learning experiences offers profound opportunities for enhancing student-centered learning environments and alleviating demands on educators. However, these advancements also present challenges, making it imperative for educators to engage in professional learning that keeps pace with emerging technologies. In this workshop, we will explore a variety of AI tools to learn more about how they can support NGSS-aligned instructional practices and differentiation to meet all students’ needs. We will provide examples and guided exploration opportunities for participants. Examples will focus on integrated STEM education at the upper elementary levels (grades 3-5), but all are welcome to join. Participants should bring laptops or other devices to engage fully with the hands-on activities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will explore artificial intelligence (AI) tools that can support integrated NGSS-aligned STEM lesson planning and instruction to meet all students’ needs. They will learn about a variety of AI tools and gain firsthand experience using these tools through guided exploration.

SPEAKERS:
Jeanna Wieselmann

Take students on a journey from history to the skies with an immersive, year-long exploration of space and flight. This session outlines a step-by-step approach to engaging students in STEM through the study of Hidden Figures, hands-on wind tunnel design, indoor skydiving, and the principles of flight. Participants will learn how to scaffold learning from stomp rockets to model rocket launches, integrating physics, engineering, and space exploration. Rooted in real-world problem-solving and inspired by the contributions of historically overlooked scientists, this project fosters collaboration, critical thinking, and curiosity. Educators will leave with practical strategies to build a dynamic, inquiry-based learning experience that ignites student passion for STEM and space exploration.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to design a hands-on, year-long space exploration curriculum that integrates STEM, history, and engineering through interactive projects and real-world applications.

SPEAKERS:
Lisa Robinson, Katie Musick, Jesse Wren

Reinvent [Our Town] empowers students to drive change in their town. They ideate solutions, prototype designs, and create surveys to gather data. AI tools assist in refining ideas, crafting surveys, and supporting teacher communication for data collection. Students analyze findings and pitch their innovations to local leaders.

TAKEAWAYS:
One main takeaway for teachers is the potential to empower students as drivers of change by providing them with opportunities to identify and solve real-world problems in their own community, leveraging tools like AI to enhance their learning and impact.

SPEAKERS:
Pamela Joslyn

Do you want a quick and easy activity to foster invention education in your classroom? SCAMPER is a great way to engage learners of all ages (K-12) and encourage creative thinking. You will be a part of the invention process and walk away with an invention you created. Come join us for innovative ways to learn with every day objects.

TAKEAWAYS:
You will walk away with a lesson you can use in your classroom tomorrow. "Tweak" this lesson a little, and you can you use it again and again. This lesson is easily adaptable for grades K-12.

SPEAKERS:
Christine Lawlor-King, Denise Henggeler

In this workshop, discover how middle school students at the UVA/CCS Innovation Hub combine life science and engineering to solve real-world problems through biomimicry. Participants will dive into a project-based learning (PBL) experience where students design, build, and code Biobots, small robots inspired by animal adaptations, using Hummingbird robotics kits and MakeCode. This session will walk through the project's driving question, timeline, and assessment strategies while offering a hands-on chance to explore a scaled-down version of the challenge. Attendees will leave with classroom-ready materials, student work samples, and practical tools for integrating life science, coding, and engineering in an engaging and standards-aligned way.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to implement a nature-inspired robotics PBL that integrates life science, biomimicry, and computer science in a middle school classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Jessica Forrester, Tonya Coffey