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:
Betsy Barent

Literacy in science and technical subjects (LST) is increasingly important to develop in our society. Yet, as students learn science they are often just presented with basic vocabulary strategies that do not get to the heart of the literacy standards. By using Common Core, LST 3 and combining with a visual and creative response as listed in LST 4, all students have the opportunity to develop meaningful literacy connections needed to understand text and develop their own writing. In this interactive session, specific strategies for attendees include participating in a concept mapping routine used in a Biology class. Participants will use both student and teacher lenses to review a concept map template, examine student work in a gallery walk and assess using a one-point rubric as they develop an understanding of how and why to implement this framework. The session structure will also provide time to collaborate with other educators to adapt instructional strategies to their own practice.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this interactive session, educators will use vocabulary, concept mapping, student work, and revision practices to develop their own literacy instruction. Resources will be provided to aid in implementation for students to make deep and equitable connections to science content.

SPEAKERS:
Alexander Dafforn, Kirby Selle

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek, Inc.

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

SPEAKERS:
Maria Dayton

What happens when general biology students choose the lens through which they learn biology? In this session, we present a flexible, phenomenon-based curriculum where learners explore core biology concepts through themed “lenses” such as medical, sustainability, animal science, and forensics. These lenses give context to content, deepen engagement, and empower students to drive their own learning. Rooted in NGSS and sensemaking strategies, the curriculum uses anchoring phenomena, real-world problems, and student inquiry to connect life science to future careers and personal interests. We’ll share classroom-tested units, student work, and tools that support choice, equity, and relevance in the biology classroom. Participants will leave with ready-to-use resources and ideas for integrating themed pathways that shift the focus from memorization to meaning-making.

TAKEAWAYS:
Students engage deeply in biology by choosing a personalized pathway through themed lenses—medical, sustainability, animal science, or forensics. This lens-based approach supports sensemaking, increases relevance, and empowers student-driven, inquiry-based learning.

SPEAKERS:
Caroline Milne

Sponsoring Company: Biozone Corp.

Take the stress out of lesson planning and enhance student engagement with BIOZONE WORLD, BIOZONE’s powerful digital learning platform. Discover how BIOZONE WORLD supports seamless lesson delivery with ready-to-use resources, including interactive activities, presentation slides, engaging videos, and immersive 3D models. Discover how the platform’s integrated translation tool supports multilingual learners and how easy it is to plan, assign, and mark work within the system. Whether you're teaching in-person, hybrid, or fully online, BIOZONE WORLD empowers educators to streamline instruction while making science more accessible and interactive. Join us to see how BIOZONE can streamline and elevate your teaching experience!

SPEAKERS:
Debi Wilson

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Use PCR to perform genetic testing for cystic fibrosis. Make connections across the biology curriculum, from genes and proteins to human health and genetic disease. This robust experiment makes it easy to bring PCR to your classroom!

SPEAKERS:
Emily Gleason

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Come experience a hands-on model lesson from OpenSciEd for High School and discover how the new Carolina Certified Edition enhanced these high-quality instructional materials, making them more accessible, user-friendly, and safer for classroom use. Engage in the featured Serengeti board game from the Biology 1 unit. Participants will walk away with valuable resources to take back to the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Meredith Currie

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek, Inc.

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

SPEAKERS:
Maria Dayton

Sponsoring Company: Vernier Science Education

Why are some coral and fish species disappearing? In this 3D lesson, biology and environmental science students use real-time data to explore how excess CO2 in water affects the pH. Using their findings, students can model how these changes impact interdependent relationships in ocean ecosystems.

SPEAKERS:
Sara Tallarovic

Sponsoring Company: Stile Education

Every great coach needs a go-to recipe for success – Stile Academy is yours! Taste-test our easy-to-use and evidence-based framework, packed full of strategies and ready to use resources crafted specifically for science coaches that drive real change. You’ll leave this hands-on session with a full plate of ideas to support teacher growth, cook up collaboration, and season your school with lasting instructional impact.

SPEAKERS:
Clayton Forest

This poster leads participants through a minds-on experience that challenges them to consider how sound data can be used to monitor the human impacts on bat populations in North America. The lessons displayed aim to increase learners' knowledge of biodiversity and provide insight into sampling methods for assessing ecosystem health, thus providing data to identify high-priority areas for conservation—the activities center learners' lived experiences to illustrate how sound can give valuable insights into ecosystem health and help mitigate human impacts. Learners are encouraged to incorporate their unique perspectives and newfound knowledge to develop and revise models using bioacoustic data. Visitors to the poster will receive access to all materials, sound files, and data to support successful classroom implementation.

TAKEAWAYS:
The phenomenon of bioacoustics applies physics concepts to identify and measure human impact on biodiversity using bats as an indicator species.

SPEAKERS:
Jocelyn Miller

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

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Gayle Buck

Human DNA is more alike than different, so how do we find the differences? Restriction enzymes are proteins that recognize and cut specific DNA sequences. These can be used to determine whether a particular DNA sequence is present and to see differences between samples from different individuals – a DNA Fingerprint. This technique is called Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP), and it was the first way detectives analyzed DNA at a crime scene. In this activity, participants will use agarose gel electrophoresis to compare three DNA samples and “solve” an art heist. This lab is great to teach about restriction enzymes and agarose gel electrophoresis in a fun and hands-on way – perfect for life science, biology, and forensics classes.

TAKEAWAYS:
Digesting DNA with restriction enzymes yields a “DNA Fingerprint” that can help investigators identify suspects at a crime scene. In this lab we will use digested DNA and agarose gel electrophoresis to “solve” an art heist.

SPEAKERS:
Arie Kaz, Kelsie Anson

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek, Inc.

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

SPEAKERS:
Maria Dayton

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Explore how genetic testing can assess hereditary cancer risk. Students use gel electrophoresis and pedigree analysis to test family members for Lynch syndrome. Plus, engage with the medical and bioethical implications of genetic testing through a role-play activity!

SPEAKERS:
Alexandra Dainis

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

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

SPEAKERS:
Julie Stubbs

Sponsoring Company: Flinn Scientific, Inc.

Experience Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) for yourself in this interactive, hands-on session. Learn how this student-centered strategy builds critical thinking, teamwork, and conceptual understanding through guided inquiry.

Learn strategies to support all students, including MultiLingual Learners (MLLs), in developing disciplinary-specific language through embedded peer-to-peer discussion routines, informed by research, that promote collaborative sensemaking and language acquisition.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will experience instructional routines, through an immersive activity, designed to support the development of disciplinary-specific language and collaborative sensemaking in science classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Chatham, John Salazar

Are you interested in learning how to have your students conduct their own research in your science class? How can you do this in ways that support their interests, engagement, and development of their science identity? We will share how we do this through a mini-Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (mini-CURE) in a biology course at a community college using CO2 sensors. In this workshop, participants will have an opportunity to learn how to design research questions using CO2 sensors to explore place-based, culturally relevant questions about CO2 in their own communities. You will plan an investigation, collect some initial data, and conduct some preliminary data analysis. We will provide examples of students’ research questions and share how we have scaffolded this experience for students, including worksheets that were used to support the development of their research questions, data analysis, and examples of their final product, scientific posters.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this workshop, participants will learn how to use CO2 sensors to integrate students’ own research projects into your course in a way that is culturally relevant, engaging, and can increase student engagement, interest, and identity in science.

SPEAKERS:
Ann Murkowski, Kalyn Owens, Blakely Tsurusaki

Sponsoring Company: Vernier Science Education

What do whale songs and elk calls have in common? In this cross-disciplinary workshop, use sound and motion sensors to explore wave properties through biological sound patterns. Get hands-on with FFT analysis and learn how to connect physics and biology through real-world phenomena.

SPEAKERS:
Frances Poodry

Sponsoring Company: Flinn Scientific, Inc.

Engage your biology students with hands-on activities and collaborative games that bring evolution, genetics, biochemistry, and more to life. This session features classroom-tested, inquiry-based resources that make biology memorable and meaningful. Handouts included.

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Cambron, M.S.

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

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Track the inheritance of the sickle cell allele in a fictional family using gel electrophoresis. Available as a hands-on lab or virtual simulation, this case study teaches Mendelian genetics, inheritance patterns, and the molecular basis of sickle cell disease.

SPEAKERS:
Ally Huang

The Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science (TIES) empowers middle school educators to teach evolution with confidence by providing free, standards-aligned resources and professional development opportunities. In this session, educators will experience hands-on activities, NGSS-aligned lessons, and online tools designed to clarify key concepts such as natural selection, common ancestry, and biodiversity. Participants will explore the TIES website, test out interactive classroom activities, and receive a complete evolution unit ready for immediate use. TIES has hosted over 350 workshops nationwide and continues to support teachers through webinars and direct communication with evolutionary scientists. Whether you're new to teaching evolution or looking to enrich your instruction, this session will leave you with practical tools and expert-backed content to meet your curriculum needs.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will gain access to free, NGSS-aligned resources—including a complete unit with materials, engaging classroom activities, and effective strategies—to teach evolution confidently and meet science standards.

SPEAKERS:
James Finch, Alison Peterson

Explore how the dazzling birds-of-paradise can transform your teaching of evolution and natural selection. These extraordinary birds, known for their vibrant plumage and fascinating behaviors, provide an engaging lens through which students can investigate adaptation, sexual selection, behavior, and the science process. In this hands-on workshop, we’ll immerse you in Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s “Evolution in Paradise” science lessons that are based on a real-world research project led by evolutionary biologist Ed Scholes and wildlife photographer Tim Laman. The lessons help middle and high school teachers meet NGSS standards and are available as a free download complemented by rich online resources. These unique birds can also serve as a jumping-off point into observing and learning about the birds in their own neighborhoods. We will highlight activities from the lessons, the project website and videos, and discuss application strategies for the classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Bring evolution and the science process to life in your classroom with real-world science, incredible videos, rich data resources, and hands-on activities inspired by some of the planet’s most spectacular birds, the birds-of-paradise.

SPEAKERS:
Susan Licher

HQIM must support students' increasing depth and sophistication with the three dimensions of the NGSS. Addressing the challenge of many HS students entering with underdeveloped SEPs, this session uses a unit from a free HS biology course designed to build SEP proficiency across the academic year. Each unit features a carefully crafted learning progression for a specific SEP, explicitly identifying and building upon prior student learning, fostering growth from guided practice to independent application. This session explores the intentional learning progression of the Modeling SEP within an EQuIP-reviewed, storyline-based unit on homeostasis. Participants will engage with key components of this progression, using a compelling phenomenon of a marathon runner falling into a coma as a context for modeling. The session concludes with a discussion of strategies for implementing intentional SEP progressions to ensure all HS students develop proficiency in these essential practices.

TAKEAWAYS:
Designing HQIM for the NGSS requires an emphasis on building progressions across the three dimensions. See how students develop their use of the Modeling SEP over time to reach high school proficiency in this EQuIP-reviewed homeostasis unit.

SPEAKERS:
Jonathan Tam

Take a deep dive into the practice of developing and using models! We’ll explore how creating and using models help students build science ideas and can support students’ in developing and writing explanations. Experience the power of building science ideas together as part of a learning community.

TAKEAWAYS:
Developing models individually, in groups and as a class makes all students essential members of the knowledge-building community.

SPEAKERS:
Ann Guglielmo, Brianna Reilly Oliveira

This workshop aims to provide insight into how scientists answer biology's most fundamental questions, “Who is there and what are they doing?” During this workshop, participants will engage in hands-on activities to explore innovative ways to obtain this critical information through environmental DNA (eDNA). The activities presented are developed to ensure students understand how eDNA can be used to assess a species’ presence or absence through DNA barcoding. Learners will consider the possibility of sampling spiderwebs to monitor terrestrial vertebrates to demonstrate innovative methods for obtaining airborne DNA while exploring how eDNA is gathered and measured, the importance of sampling, value of multiple lines of evidence in allowing scientists to draw conclusions while acknowledging potential problems that could occur. Participants will receive access to all the materials presented and a structured framework to be modified or extended to serve their practice.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore how spider webs' physical properties allow them to capture airborne DNA from nearby organisms, making them a potential tool for securing eDNA to monitor biodiversity.

SPEAKERS:
Robyn Embry, Claire Lannoye-Hall, Jocelyn Miller

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek, Inc.

Unlock biology's mysteries with model organisms! Learn to culture and study C. elegans in your classroom laboratory. Explore chemotaxis with a simple locomotion assay. Integrate STEM concepts, data collection, and statistics for an enriching learning experience. Meets standards for AP Bio Lab 11.

SPEAKERS:
Maria Dayton

This interactive session models how to launch and sustain a 3-dimensional storyline curriculum using the real-world phenomenon that is place based for Florida’s disappearing manatee population. Participants will experience key moments from a high school biology unit aligned to NGSS and grounded in equity-based, student-driven inquiry. The unit integrates disciplinary core ideas (e.g., ecosystems and human impact), science and engineering practices (e.g., data analysis, modeling), and crosscutting concepts (e.g., cause and effect; systems) to build coherence and relevance.  Educators will collaborate in small groups, like students, to learn how to embed each layer of the 3-dimensional teaching and use strategies for diverse learners, and co-construct sensemaking opportunities that are meaningful and accessible. You'll leave with adaptable resources and a plan for building or revising your own storyline unit anchored in local, authentic phenomena.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to design and implement a phenomenon-driven, NGSS-aligned storyline that supports 3D learning and engages all students—especially in Title I schools—through equity-focused strategies and local relevance.

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Holman

Sponsoring Company: PASCO Scientific

Join us to explore the OpenSciEd Certified PASCO version Biology curriculum. First discover a unit's storyline through a tour of PASCO Portal, our online platform for organizing and distributing teacher and student OpenSciEd resources. Then dive into the unit's first lesson to experience the anchoring phenomenon, used to elicit student questions that they'll work to answer throughout the unit. Finally participate in a hands-on activity from a subsequent lesson, using PASCO technology to develop an evidence-based response to one of those student questions. In this lesson, you will use our Wireless CO2 and Temperature sensors to investigate what affects the rate of decomposition and cellular respiration.

SPEAKERS:
Shelly Riley

See exciting energy, motion, laser, and wave demos plus learn how to access and compare the sensor data on the impact forces experienced by the crash-test dummies during the IIHS’s famous “Vintage Car vs New Car Crash Inquiry” of a 1959 Bel Air vs 2009 Chevy Malibu. Which car is the most crashworthy in a 40-mph, “head-on” crash-test? Make students predict the outcome then learn how to use “notice and wonder” questioning routines to kickstart students’ engagement in the free “Crash Science in the Classroom” activities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will see a selection of engaging discrepant events plus exciting crash-tests; and learn how to access free lessons plans with formative and summative assessments, teacher and student tips videos, lab sheets, and answer keys to teach crash-related science and engineering concepts.

SPEAKERS:
Pini Kalnite, Griff Jones

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Join the excitement, escape the rat-race, and experience the superior quality of Carolina's Perfect Solution® specimens with our preserved rat dissection! During this hands-on guided dissection, each participant explores the rat’s external anatomy, internal body systems, and individual organs. We also discuss the relationship between structure and function, as well as the interdependence between systems. These specimens are economical, simple to dissect, and great mammalian models for your next lab!

SPEAKERS:
Laurie Nixon

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek, Inc.

Transforming bacteria with vibrant colored proteins is an unforgettable way to teach the central dogma of molecular biology. Take it further by creating bio-art with your students! In this workshop, we’ll share transformation tips, explore microbial creativity, and even award our favorite designs!

SPEAKERS:
Maria Dayton

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 how to support your students in connecting phenomena based on genetics and epigenetics to their own lives and communities through engineering practices using a free, EQuIP-reviewed unit designed for HS NGSS.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use engineering practices to teach genetics and epigenetics while facilitating a classroom environment that privileges connecting phenomena to their own lives and communities through engaging in a design-based challenge to recommend modifications to their school.

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Chatham

This session focuses on designing, building, and using three-dimensional performance tasks to assess learning of science. The session will feature ways to find analogous phenomena to assess three-dimensional science learning. The role of crosscutting concepts in focusing performance tasks will be modeled in the sessions. Participants will analyze a set of three-dimensional performance tasks aligned to NGSS Performance Expectations. The session will feature discussions about the effective alignment of assessment tasks to three-dimensional science standards.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will take away summative assessment tasks for each NGSS and the Minnesota Science Standards. They will gain insights into how to develop their own assessment tasks and how to use summative assessment to evaluate teaching and learning appropriately.

SPEAKERS:
Brett Moulding

This session will help educators apply the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to adapt and enhance science materials and assessments in support of three-dimensional (3D) teaching and learning. Participants will learn how to identify barriers in instructional design and explore strategies to support engagement, access, and rigorous sense-making for all learners. Specific examples will include flexible approaches to instruction and assessment- both formative and summative- that honor student voice, choice, and varied modes of expression while maintaining alignment with NGSS dimensions. Participants will leave with practical strategies and planning tools to ensure that every student can meaningfully engage with phenomena and science practices.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session will equip educators with practical tools to apply Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles in science instruction and assessment, enabling all students to access and engage in three-dimensional (3D) learning through flexible, inclusive strategies that support voice and choice.

SPEAKERS:
Shennel Hunte

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

Yale professor Laurie Santos' course "Psychology and the Good Life" became a campus phenomenon in 2018, attracting nearly 25% of Yale undergraduates. Its free Coursera version has since enrolled almost 5 million people worldwide. This workshop offers educators a condensed experience of the science behind happiness and well-being through targeted mini-lessons and interactive activities. Drawing from Santos' research and "How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier," participants will explore why our intuitions about happiness often mislead us and examine the cognitive biases that distort our expectations. The seminar introduces evidence-based strategies from gratitude science and positive psychology for authentic happiness. Teachers will gain practical tools to implement these techniques in their personal lives and classrooms, fostering student well-being and creating school communities that promote genuine flourishing and positive habit formation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn evidence-based strategies to enhance personal well-being and discover practical tools to implement happiness science in their classrooms, helping students develop authentic happiness practices while addressing common misconceptions about what truly drives human flourishing.

SPEAKERS:
Stephen Kos

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Tired of textbook diagrams showing DNA to RNA to protein? Bring the central dogma to life with a hands-on experiment to visualize transcription and translation using low-cost tools. Or dive into a virtual activity to explore real gene expression data, with no lab needed.

SPEAKERS:
Ally Huang

Sponsoring Company: Vernier Science Education

Biology and environmental science teachers! Learn to use hands-on sensors to explore dissolved O2, pH, and conductivity with students. From chemistry basics to watershed ecology, get ideas for real-world learning and how to simulate pond water in class. Plus, try our new wireless turbidity sensor!

SPEAKERS:
Nüsret Hisim

“Ecology isn’t rocket science— it’s much harder” (Hilborn and Ludwig, 1993). Natural resource management provides rich, meaningful phenomena for classrooms that support students in the complex science- and data-driven decision-making that all students will face, regardless of their ultimate career trajectories. This presentation will showcase a unit that, through a natural resource management and decision-making lens, provides students with rich learning about complex ecosystem dynamics through a 3D lens grounded in student interests. This phenomenon-based unit progression compares ecosystem dynamics between two local reservoirs. I will share the methods students used to integrate multiple real-time data sources to predict and model food webs and trophic structures. Students confirm their predictions and models by engaging in a fish dissection and stomach-content analysis, and interpretation of stable fish isotope data to make management decisions about our two local reservoirs.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will take away a unit progression for ecosystem dynamics, practical implementation resources to support and engage all students, tools for students to collect and critically analyze data, and assessment ideas.

SPEAKERS:
Jenny Edwards

Sponsoring Company: PLTW

What happens when students see themselves as future healthcare professionals—before graduation? In this workshop, engage in a hands-on activity from PLTW’s Biomedical Science program: a classroom-ready lung model demonstration drawn from the “Take a Breath” unit. Discover how this four-course high school program builds career awareness and student motivation through real-world lab experiences and ethical case studies. You’ll explore how BMS supports CTE and science standards while preparing students for industry certifications, postsecondary success, and high-wage careers in healthcare. From HOSA integration to skill-building in collaboration and communication, PLTW BMS gives educators the tools to deliver rigorous, equitable, and inspiring STEM learning—right now, in every school.

SPEAKERS:
Andy Sarbacker

Sponsoring Company: Bio-Rad Laboratories

Explore quorum sensing and cell signaling pathways in this hands-on workshop. Investigate bioluminescence in Vibrio campbellii through engaging, classroom-ready experiments.

SPEAKERS:
Marisol Gabriel

Sponsoring Company: Vernier Science Education

Get started with Vernier! Explore our top sensors for chemistry, biology, and physics and learn how to integrate real-time data collection into your curriculum. Support student-led science learning with hands-on, sensor-based investigations that help students make sense of the world around them!

SPEAKERS:
Tom Smith

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Take a tour through the mammalian heart and trace the path of a blood cell on its journey to oxygenation. Participants take blood pressure readings. Then dissect a preserved sheep heart to model blood flow and connect BP to heart anatomy. Don’t skip a beat - it’s going to be hands-on fun!

SPEAKERS:
Laurie Nixon

This session will engage participants in authentic conservation decision-making practices to empower learners to evaluate biodiversity distribution, protected areas, human impacts, and a detailed framework for student communication, consensus, and peer review. Workshop attendees will participate in a hands-on mapping design challenge using authentic data to make data-driven. These evidence-based biodiversity conservation decisions reflect current efforts in science and policy. Using large data sets and visual maps, learners are challenged to consider current land use, the conservation status and range of vertebrate species, and the distribution of cities, agriculture, and protected areas. Finally, participants will apply the data to identify the best places to preserve biodiversity while ensuring humans can thrive. Balancing human and ecological needs reflects real-world conservation decisions and practices and challenges learners to reflect, debate, and dig into the evidence.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn to access and use publicly available data to evaluate human impacts on Earth's systems and develop solutions to maintain biodiversity through responsible management practices.

SPEAKERS:
Missie Olson, Jocelyn Miller

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek, Inc.

Bring inquiry into your lab with food science! Start by extracting food dyes from candy to analyze using gel electrophoresis and paper chromatography. From there, expand the exploration to different foods, encouraging students to design and test hypotheses, and use STEM techniques to analyze data.

SPEAKERS:
Maria Dayton

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

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

This interactive modeling session will engage participants to ask questions and identify patterns to build confidence and understanding of the three-dimensional nature of protein structure and function.

SPEAKERS:
Jim Lane

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

In 1483, two English princes vanished; now, their remains may have been found! Students use DNA analysis based on the FBI CODIS system to determine if the remains might belong to the lost princes. This gel electrophoresis activity makes it easy to add hands-on DNA analysis to your forensics class!

SPEAKERS:
Ally Huang

Sponsoring Company: Flinn Scientific, Inc.

Learn the essential practices and protocols every science teacher needs to ensure a safe lab environment. This session covers hazard analysis, GHS labeling, PPE, and risk mitigation—critical tools for protecting your students and yourself.

SPEAKERS:
Mike Marvel, Ph.D.

What if your students could remember more without studying harder? This session dives into practical, research-backed strategies from cognitive science that make learning stick. Participants will explore how to “hack the brain” using techniques like spaced retrieval, elaboration, interleaving, and dual coding- all applied within the context of 3D science instruction. We’ll examine why traditional methods often fall short, and how small shifts in lesson design and assessment can lead to big gains in retention and reasoning. Participants will leave with classroom-ready tools and routines to increase engagement, deepen sense-making, and build long-term mastery.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to integrate brain-based learning strategies into science lessons and assessments to improve retention, metacognition, and student engagement—without sacrificing depth or rigor.

SPEAKERS:
Shennel Hunte

Explore how UDL principles are integrated into the OpenSciEd Natural Selection unit. This session will focus on using high quality instructional materials that meet the needs of all learners, ensuring accessibility and engagement for diverse student populations.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will gain practical strategies for scaffolding complex concepts, providing multiple means of representation and expression, and fostering student agency in collaborative, real-world problem-solving.

SPEAKERS:
Kristin Rademaker

Community and place-based science gives students a sense of purpose as they collect data that contributes to scientific knowledge about their own communities. Too often, however, instruction ends once the data is submitted, missing an opportunity to engage students in rich mathematical and computational thinking. In this workshop, participants will explore how to take community-based science a step further. Participants will upload data from Minnesota into a free data, graphing, and statistics tool called Tuva. We’ll examine how middle school and Algebra I/II math skills can support data analysis and interpretation in the science classroom. We’ll spend time reviewing data visualizations frequently underutilized in science classrooms despite exposure to them in math class. Participants will have the opportunity to practice creating and interpreting various types of data visualizations so they are ready to help students do the same.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to extend community science experiences by integrating math practices into data exploration. They'll use Tuva to analyze real-world data, practice creating underutilized visualizations, and consider how to apply middle and high school math in science instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Jocelyn Foran

Sponsoring Company: Anatomy in Clay

In this workshop, attendees will build replicas of human anatomy using clay and a specially designed skeletal model in a classroom setting. Educators will learn how to implement a unique curriculum system which helps students create a kinesthetic map of the human anatomy. They will acquire the knowledge to engage science students with immediate, hands-on learning using a proven method that is nationally recognized to increase student retention and test scores. This workshop will emphasize directional terms, planes, cavities and landmarks on the skeletal model and then build several skeletal muscles. Emphasis will be placed on learning how to teach with the learning system and how to fund your class sets.

SPEAKERS:
John-Paul Theriault

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

How can we move beyond rote learning to create classrooms where students think, talk, and act like scientists? In this workshop, participants will experience Building Thinking Classrooms strategies in action through an inquiry-based biology lesson that launches with the real-world phenomenon. Working in randomly assigned groups at vertical whiteboards, attendees will explore data, collaborate on sensemaking, and practice the same processes our students use to develop scientific literacy and thinking skills.
We will unpack how the BTC framework supports:
Vertical learning to make student thinking visible.
Discourse and literacy by requiring explanations, justifications, and evidence use.
Authentic science practices such as modeling, analyzing data, and constructing arguments.
Attendees will leave with:
A concrete model lesson they can adapt for their own classrooms.
Strategies for embedding literacy and sensemaking into science content.
Practical tools to foster student collaboration, curiosity, and deeper understanding.
Whether you teach biology, environmental science, or other STEM courses, this workshop provides a hands-on look at how BTC principles transform passive note-taking into active problem-solving — and how anchoring instruction in real world phenomena makes science come alive.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will gain practical strategies to adapt outdoor/place-based, sensemaking 3D biology lessons for diverse learners, including English Language Learners and various biology contexts.

SPEAKERS:
Devon Bowker, Karen Maier

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Learn to use Wisconsin Fast Plants to teach experimental design and support student-driven inquiry. This workshop offers hands-on experience, and strategies to guide students from structured labs to independent research projects. Ideal for middle and high school teachers.

SPEAKERS:
Julie Stubbs

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

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

SPEAKERS:
Alexandra Dainis

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Some people call it the Central Dogma of molecular biology. But we prefer to call it the Flow of Genetic Information – from DNA to RNA to Protein. Whatever you call it, it is a foundational concept in the molecular biosciences. 3D Molecular Designs has created a hands-on modeling kit that will allow your students to explore the molecular logic of living systems by creating physical models of the three phases of this process -- from DNA replication to RNA transcription to Protein Synthesis (Translation). This workshop will focus on last phase of this flow of genetic information process – Protein Synthesis. This Flow of Genetic Information kit will allow your students to feed mRNA through a ribosome – 3 nucleotides at a time – while the ribosome decodes the triplet codons into a specific sequence of amino acids that are joined together to make a protein. This modeling kit will help your students make sense of all those words you have been using to explain how the process works.

SPEAKERS:
Tim Herman

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek, Inc.

Want to learn more about disease detection? If so, join us to explore the use of wastewater testing in public health. Students use PCR and electrophoresis to test simulated water samples, gaining real-world insight into how this innovative technique helps monitor pathogens and protect communities.

SPEAKERS:
Maria Dayton

Experience NGSS-aligned, hands-on ecology activities designed to engage diverse learners through inquiry and collaboration. In this 60-minute session, participants will explore interactive activities, including constructing food webs to analyze energy flow and ecosystem stability, conducting a biodiversity hunt to collect data on ecological phenomena and population dynamics, and investigating sustainable practices by creating eco-friendly toothpaste while connecting human impact to ecological health. Participants will also receive bonus ecological instructional materials and resources created by the presenter. Through these activities, educators will gain tools to inspire critical thinking, foster collaboration, and build real-world connections, promoting environmental stewardship and making ecology concepts accessible for every learner.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will receive instructional materials ready for immediate implementation, along with editable versions and differentiated instruction strategies to accommodate diverse learners. This will ensure flexibility and accessibility in bringing NGSS-aligned ecology activities to their classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Mary Ann Palencia

How can teachers advocate science safety in a way that sticks? Superheroes like Spider-Man, the Flash, and Ms. Marvel provide meaningful and memorable case studies for promoting safe practices in the classroom, school, and community. From the Avengers to the Fantastic Four and Ant-Man to Black Panther, we’ll explore examples to teach and train lab safety.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this interactive session, participants will explore multiple superhero case studies as tools for enhanced science safety training and advocacy, applying materials and policies from NSTA and other sources. Attendees will also examine copyright “fair use” with multimedia resources in the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Daniel Bergman

Sponsoring Company: Bio-Rad Laboratories

In this hands-on workshop, explore how vaping affects the human body at the molecular and genetic levels. Learn how ELISA is used to detect biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress and how gel electrophoresis can be used to examine genetic predispositions to vaping-related harm. Analyze real-world case studies and get some fresh ideas for bringing health science into your classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Marisol Gabriel

Sponsoring Company: Lab-Aids

Get your students talking about evolution by starting day one with the phenomenon of superbugs. In this session, participants will model the development of antibiotic resistance in a population of bacteria. This activity is an engaging launch point for an evolution unit with memorable connections to an immediate and dangerous problem faced by modern medicine. This lesson provides excellent opportunities for students to develop their skills in both the practice of modeling and analyzing and interpreting data and targets some common misconceptions around the evidence for the Theory of Evolution.

SPEAKERS:
Virginia Rehberg

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

Techniques such as CRISPR, mitochondrial transfer, and mRNA therapeutics have opened new possibilities for genetic manipulation of plants, animals, and the humas genome, bringing with them new opportunities to energize the biology curriculum. Although genetic engineering and molecular biology have been part of the biology curriculum for decades, the past several years have seen the introduction of new techniques that dramatically alter the landscape of human biology. These now include the possibility of directly modifying the human genome using CRISPR to treat diseases that previously were beyond the reach of medical science. We will examine how these powerful techniques work, suggest ways to incorporate them into the curriculum, and explore the promise and peril that awaits the brave new world of human genetic modification.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be introduced to high interest case studies/phenomena that will engage their students in biology, demonstrating that biology is both dynamic and relevant to their lives.

SPEAKERS:
Kenneth Miller

Sponsoring Company: Animalearn

Come to this workshop to experience hands-on opportunities to dissect a variety of non-animal teaching resources that can be used in place of animal specimens. We encourage teachers to rethink the traditional anatomy lab and explore innovative non-animal methods which can oftentimes create negative emotional and physical reactions from students that can in turn discourage active learning. This session will allow teachers to dissect the newly developed Kind Frog, a synthetic model that is not only realistic but also economical! Other learning stations will be presented so that teachers can experience AR/VR tech tools, like the Merge Cube! The assortment of resources presented at this session will both amaze and engage your students! Stay until the end for giveaways from all of our partner companies.

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Green

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Explore real CRISPR technology with a hands-on DNA experiment. Program Cas9 to cut DNA, make predictions using sequence analysis, and verify results with gel electrophoresis. This activity is an engaging way to show how CRISPR works and why it’s such a groundbreaking tool for genome editing!

SPEAKERS:
Alexandra Dainis

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Life happens in water – and therefore many teachers consider water to be the first molecule of life. But there are four other small molecules that make up the major constituents of a living cell. These other molecules include (i) amino acids – which become proteins, (ii) phospholipids – which become membranes, (iii) carbohydrates – which become cell walls and food, and (iv) nucleotides – which become DNA and RNA. This workshop will explore physical models of these molecules of life and how they can be used to introduce your students to the molecular basis of life. This session will present teacher-tested suggestions for how these Molecules of Life can be used to introduce virtually any topic in a high school biology curriculum.

SPEAKERS:
Tim Herman

How do chance events shape evolution? In this interactive simulation, participants will explore natural selection and genetic drift through a probability-based activity. Using coin toss simulations and simple scientific calculator data analysis tools, students model trait survival across generations while adjusting for environmental change. Participants will graph trait frequencies, make predictions, and interpret how chance and selective pressures influence populations over time. A shared digital whiteboard supports collaborative thinking and real-time data visualization.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will gain a ready-to-use simulation that uses probability and data analysis to help students model how natural selection and chance influence trait survival over generations.

SPEAKERS:
Mike Szydlowski

Sponsoring Company: Bio-Rad Laboratories

Join our workshop to explore Ozempic's dual action on diabetes and weight loss. Learn about semaglutide's role in blood sugar and appetite regulation through hands-on ELISA simulations.

SPEAKERS:
Marisol Gabriel

This activity usually requires very expensive 3D models. The Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Biology has created its own version of this essential investigation for under $10. Each group will only need our free slides, data table, sets of paper copies of seven hominid/primate species, two 12-inch rulers, and one protractor. Teachers will begin by describing, measuring, and comparing cranial drawings from contemporary apes, modern humans, and fossil hominins, discovering the pattern of the gradual accumulation of traits over time, leading to modern humans. Each student group will make measurements of the following: Forehead, Chin, Sagittal Crest, Prognathism, Facial Slope, Supraorbital Brow Ridge, Dental Arcade, Canines, Foramen Magnum, Cranial Module. (Each measurement is carefully described in the classroom presentation and student instructions). An analysis and discussion of the patterns and trends will follow. 3D printed skulls will be raffled off.

TAKEAWAYS:
Over millions of years, human ancestors evolved from small-brained, plant-eating hominids with strong jaws to larger-brained Homo sapiens with flatter faces, advanced thinking skills, and the capacity for speech—highlighting a dramatic shift in diet, cognition, and social behavior.

SPEAKERS:
Kathlyn Van Hoeck

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

Have you ever dreamed of taking your students out of the classroom for a hands on, once in a life time learning opportunity? Sure, you can teach about GPS but let's dive deeper and use GPS in the field to document locations of endangered species. It can seem like a huge undertaking organizing an international expedition for your students so let me show you a few tips and tricks that I have used to help you take your science lessons from the classroom to the other side of the world. Worried about budget? Concerns about safety? I will show you how my very small district has navigated through these issues and provided once in a life time learning opportunities that will put your science program on the map. What do I mean by international science expeditions? Think Amazon rainforest, Islands in the Bahamas, jungles of Belize, snorkeling coral reefs for a week, and tracking rhinos in Africa all while collecting data and assisting field researchers.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to offer an international science expedition for their students. Budget and safety issues for international travel will be addressed. Let's start building an expedition for your students.

SPEAKERS:
Kristel Winger

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

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Meredith Tennis

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Ann Murkowski, Kalyn Owens, Blakely Tsurusaki

This poster will illustrate how students in a high school marine science class investigated the effects of changing climate on local marine invertebrates in the kelp forest and sandy beach ecosystems by modeling projects conducted by scientists at the University of California - Santa Barbara. By experimenting with dietary preferences of the purple sea urchin and beach hopper, students developed explanations for how changing ocean temperatures could impact the survival of these organisms based on food availability, and considered the potential effects on the ecosystem if these food sources were to change. There are many challenges associated with bringing university research to the high school classroom; however, students learned to utilize a review of scientific literature to develop procedures, exercise creativity in the experimental design process, and collaborate with other student groups.

TAKEAWAYS:
Tips for modeling university-level research in the high school classroom: utilizing a review of scientific literature to develop procedures, cultivating student creativity in experimental design, and fostering collaboration between student groups and classes.

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Moore

The student-centered activity engages learners in considering global conservation challenges through mathematical thinking and data analysis. It uses up-to-date, authentic data used by scientists, conservation organizations, and policymakers worldwide.. The activities empower learners to evaluate biodiversity distribution, protected areas, and human impacts and provide teachers with a detailed framework to guide student communication, consensus, and peer review. Learners will better understand the science that drives decision-making and appreciate how conservation targets, like Target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), can be monitored and measured. Visitors to the poster will receive access to all materials, online tools, and data to support successful classroom implementation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Data science is integral to studying, conserving, and managing ecosystems worldwide.

SPEAKERS:
Jocelyn Miller

How might cover crops improve soil health? How might anyone who grows plants benefit from the use of cover crops? Participants will investigate the characteristics of different cover crops and apply them to specific scenarios found in agriculture to select a set of cover crops that will achieve specific soil regeneration goals. Soil ecosystems can be improved with the use of cover crops to retain soil nutrients, improve soil structure and increasing biodiversity.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will gain knowledge of what types of cover crops are being used in agriculture and how they affect soil health including biodiversity.

SPEAKERS:
Heather Bryan, Jeff Jostpille

Sensemaking begins with in-depth experiences using rich and relevant phenomena. Food provides powerful motivation for students in making sense of the world around them as they use scientific practices and make real-world connections for how to develop the perfect apple. Join us in a hands-on immersive storyline for how students make sense of the phenomenon for why it took 30 years to engineer the perfect apple. Engaging students’ senses of taste, smell, and feel launches their motivation to think critically and deeply about the food that they eat. Experience how students use the scientific practices and apply the lens of the crosscutting concepts to build STEM ideas around plant reproduction. Discover the design process to build storylines immersing students in real-world phenomena and problems to engage in sensemaking across an entire unit. Deepen your understanding around the design of storylines and learn how to bring those strategies back to your classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Unpack how to use phenomena, lesson level performance expectations, and the 3 dimensions of NGSS to scaffold learning for students. Gain access to tools to design authentic storylines that engage students in real-world phenomena and problems framed around food and agriculture driving their learning.

SPEAKERS:
Alicia Burge, Chris Embry Mohr, Jessica Holman

Looking for ways to integrate engaging, hands-on sensemaking into your classroom? Explore activities, sample foods, and bring home ready-to-use materials from three standards-aligned food science lessons featuring low-allergen, gluten-free and vegan recipes. In Chia Pudding Profiles, participants will model soil properties while sampling high-protein desserts. Participants will then learn about the effects of anti-inflammatory compounds on the immune system as they sample oat-and-pumpkin scones. In Sustainable Somali Sambusa, an upcoming addition to the National Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix, participants will survey a sustainable farm design activity and sample basbaas, a spicy Somali dip rich in vitamin C and capsaicin. Chia Pudding 5 Ways, Stress-Less Pumpkin Spice Scones, and Basbaas are featured in Megan’s newest book, Fresh Food Science: 101 Healthy, Easy, Delicious Recipes; three copies will be awarded as door prizes.

TAKEAWAYS:
Making and tasting food connects sensemaking with real-life phenomena.

SPEAKERS:
Megan Hall

Sponsoring Company: Bio-Rad Laboratories

Explore quorum sensing and cell signaling pathways in this hands-on workshop. Investigate bioluminescence in Vibrio campbellii through engaging, classroom-ready experiments.

SPEAKERS:
Marisol Gabriel

Sponsoring Company: Savvas Learning Company

Get ready for an unforgettable live podcast experience with two of science education’s biggest voices! Join renowned biologist and author Ken Miller (Miller & Levine Biology) and marine ecologist Dr. Mike Heithaus (as seen on Shark Week and SharkFest) as they dive into what really hooks students in the science classroom. From real-world relevance to jaw-dropping phenomena, this candid conversation—recorded live in the Savvas exhibitor room—is packed with stories, strategies, and inspiration you can take straight to your students.

SPEAKERS:
Ramy Mahmoud

Sponsoring Company: Biozone Corp.

Looking for consistency and depth across your science courses? BIOZONE offers a cohesive suite of titles (print + digital) to support teachers delivering at all levels of high school instruction including honors, electives, IB, AP, and NGSS courses. Our beautifully presented titles use our highly graphical, unique interactive worktext approach to deliver biology, chemistry, physics, earth & space, environmental science, and anatomy & physiology content. Engaging visuals and scaffolded activities promote active learning and critical thinking. Lesson planning is simplified with pacing guides, teacher notes, slides, assessments, and a robust digital program. Join us to explore how our print and digital solutions replace traditional textbooks and workbooks, making science teaching more efficient, engaging, and effective. Attendees receive a FREE print copy and a 90-day digital access to a title of their choice.

SPEAKERS:
Debi Wilson

Sponsoring Company: PASCO Scientific

Learn how to facilitate simple hands-on photosynthesis experiments with wireless sensors. Help students collect and analyze carbon exchange data from plant leaves in real-time! Dispel student doubts in their understanding of photosynthesis and respiration. (256 ch.)

SPEAKERS:
Shelly Riley

Join us for an interactive session that will empower you to bring the rich, student-centered learning experiences called for by the NGSS into your own classroom. In this workshop, you'll engage in collaborative, small-group activities designed to deepen your understanding of how to use meaningful tasks to spark productive and inclusive student conversations. You'll walk away with practical strategies for designing lessons that foster active sense-making through talk, as well as routines and norms that ensure every student has a voice in the discussion. Here’s what you can expect: • The Power of Talk in Learning (10 min): Why meaningful conversations are essential for student growth. • Hands-On Experience (30 min): Engage in two examples of tasks that encourage inclusive, collaborative student discussions. • Designing for Engagement (10 min): Learn key principles for structuring discussions that increases participation and sensemaking. • Q&A and Next Steps (5 min): Share insights

TAKEAWAYS:
The establishment of routines and norms and the use of meaningful tasks are critical for increasing productive participation in small group and whole class discussions.

SPEAKERS:
Victor Sampson

Developing classrooms where students productively engage in sensemaking across all three dimensions of the NGSS can be challenging. Our OER genetics unit provides embedded curriculum supports and examples for educators. Students engage in a series of opportunities to consider how genetic variation impacts isolated populations and develop conservation solutions. They analyze authentic genetic data sets, develop cause-and-effect models, and learn about LS3 and LS4. The unit provides detailed guidance for educators on how to structure student discourse, support the revision of initial ideas, and guide collaborative learning opportunities to ensure all students are engaged in learning that integrates the three dimensions. Participants will experience the unit firsthand to better understand how it supports meaningful sensemaking of genetic-based phenomena and problems.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to support meaningful student sensemaking by effectively integrating the three dimensions of the NGSS, a key feature of HQIM, through experiences from a HS biology unit exploring the conservation of megafauna through the lens of the genetic viability of isolated populations.

SPEAKERS:
Jonathan Tam

How can we design high school science curriculum to better support multilingual learners and close equity gaps? This session presents a biology curriculum developed through a federally-funded research and development center to address a pressing challenge: multilingual learners are struggling to succeed in high school biology—a course often required for graduation, assessed in many states, and critical for future STEM pathways. Drawing on data from a five-year research study, the presenter will describe how the team developed an NGSS-aligned curriculum with embedded scaffolds that promote both content mastery and language development. Attendees will explore sample lessons that integrate 3D learning, phenomenon-based instruction, and academic language supports. The design principles and strategies shared in this session can be applied across science disciplines and grade levels. Attendees will gain access to free resources and leave with strategies they can use in their classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Discover how a free, NGSS-aligned, research-based biology curriculum with built-in scaffolds can close equity gaps by meeting the needs of multilingual learners while supporting rigorous science instruction for all students.

SPEAKERS:
Jessica Debski

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

This hands-on session will challenge participants to create and interpret models to illustrate the diversity of structures and functions of life at the cellular level.

SPEAKERS:
Jim Lane

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Words of uncertainty — things like "likely" and "maybe" — are critical to accurately communicating science. This session will discuss the importance of getting students comfortable with these words in order to increase lifelong trust in science.

SPEAKERS:
Alexandra Dainis

I was lucky enough to take students to Yellowstone National Park for an outdoor learning experience. What I learned was that it was an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience but also that there were transferable skills, practices, pedagogies and mindsets that I could bring back to my classroom in urban Brooklyn to give students authentic outdoor learning experiences as well. Even in Brooklyn, we can use our natural environment as the spark for asking questions, developing hypotheses, designing experiments and conducting our own self driven research. This should be a required component of all science education programs and it's easier than you’d think! I will share things I learned both in Yellowstone and also back home when implementing outdoor learning experiences so that participants can give their students access to the science of our natural world as well!

TAKEAWAYS:
You don't have to take students to Yellowstone National Park to give them opportunities to conduct authentic, outdoor research. I'll share my take-aways from taking students on a once-in-a-lifetime trip that we can all do in our daily settings to allow students to be real world scientists.

SPEAKERS:
Lisa Neesemann

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

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

SPEAKERS:
Alexandra Dainis

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

The T4 bacteriophage is a fantastical E. coli killing machine. It has evolved – over several billion years – the ability to walk around in the tall grass that covers the outside surface of an E. coli cell until it finds its specific receptor protein embedded in the E. coli outer membrane. This binding the long, spindly legs of the T4 phage with its receptor then triggers the subsequent events that results in the efficient infection of the E. coli cell. Once the T4 phage has injected its DNA into E. coli, it begins choreographing the many processes that lead to the replication of hundreds of new T4 phage particles. In the last phase of the T4 phage infection cycle, the infected E. coli bursts open releasing hundreds of new phage particles. This session will introduce a physical model of a T4 phage that students can use to explore all phases the phage’s life cycle. This model is enhanced by a digital exploration of a molecular landscape of the T4 Life Cycle by David Goodsell.

SPEAKERS:
Tim Herman

Step into the role of both investigator and educator in this lively, hands-on forensic science workshop designed by teachers, for teachers. In just 60 action-packed minutes, high school science teachers currently teaching forensic science will guide you through classroom-tested, student-approved activities that make murder, mystery, and mitochondria unforgettable. From blood spatter analysis to fingerprinting, and from evidence to arson, you’ll get your gloves dirty (literally) while learning how to bring forensic techniques to life for your students. Whether you're a forensic fanatic or just crime-curious, you'll leave with ready-to-use ideas, supply lists, and tips for engaging your students in evidence-based inquiry. No cadavers required—just curiosity, creativity, and maybe a splash of fake blood. Warning: May cause sudden urges to binge CSI reruns and reorganize your lab drawers.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will leave with engaging, inquiry-based forensic science activities that make real-world scientific concepts accessible, exciting, and relevant through hands-on crime scene investigations.

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Ruhland, Anna Ammerman

Sensemaking begins with in-depth experiences using rich and relevant phenomena. Food provides powerful motivation for students in making sense of the world around them as they use scientific practices and make real-world connections for how to develop the perfect apple. Join us in a hands-on immersive storyline for how students make sense of the phenomenon for why it took 30 years to engineer the perfect apple. Engaging students’ senses of taste, smell, and feel launches their motivation to think critically and deeply about the food that they eat. Experience how students use the scientific practices and apply the lens of the crosscutting concepts to build STEM ideas around plant reproduction. Discover the design process to build storylines immersing students in real-world phenomena and problems to engage in sensemaking across an entire unit. Deepen your understanding around the design of storylines and learn how to bring those strategies back to your classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Unpack how to use phenomena, lesson level performance expectations, and the 3 dimensions of NGSS to scaffold learning for students. Gain access to tools to design authentic storylines that engage students in real-world phenomena and problems framed around food and agriculture driving their learning.

SPEAKERS:
Alicia Burge, Chris Embry Mohr, Jessica Holman

In this workshop, we will explore threats to biodiversity (HIPPCO) using HHMI Biointeractive resources, including Designing Solutions to Preserve Biodiversity and Wild Hope short films. We will also model solution-design strategies that consider personal values and social, cultural, and environmental impacts. Using NGSS three dimensional design, this workshop will focus on what students need to know, how they process that knowledge, and how that knowledge guides the design of solutions. Participants will use the jigsaw approach, a cooperative learning strategy in which “expert groups” familiarize themselves with a specific concept, then recombine into “jigsaw groups” to share and synthesize knowledge.

TAKEAWAYS:
Use HHMI Biointeractive Wildhope Videos to assist students in identifying the key threats to biodiversity loss and learn instructional strategies for designing and analyzing evidence-based solutions to these threats.

SPEAKERS:
Dawn Norton, Amy Fassler

Sponsoring Company: Bio-Rad Laboratories

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

SPEAKERS:
Marisol Gabriel

Sponsoring Company: Lab-Aids

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

SPEAKERS:
Virginia Rehberg

Sponsoring Company: Stile Education

You tackled part 1, now get ready for part 2! In this interactive session, you’ll see how easy it is to customize and personalize Stile to meet your students’ unique learning needs. You’ll leave equipped and inspired to hit the ground running with Stile in your classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Jacky Rooney

Looking for strategies that support all learners in your science class? Join experienced co-teachers as they share how they’ve built an inclusive biology course for both traditional diploma students and those earning an alternate diploma, typically students with significant cognitive disabilities. Learn how teachers use state standards and modified content connectors to build assessment, class supports, and more to support the sensemaking of a wide range of students. Instructional strategies in this session can be used to enable students to make their own ideas about science and the world around them. While the focus is on co-teaching, many of these tools and approaches can be applied by teachers to better support students in all classroom settings.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this session, teachers will discover practical strategies, planning tools, and alternate assessments that support sensemaking for both traditional diploma students and students with significant cognitive disabilities in inclusive science classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Fabian Lopez, Michelle Miller, Zackary Lopez

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

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will learn research-based breathing techniques and chair yoga to prevent burnout, promote resilience, and enhance well-being. These strategies support self-regulation and student regulation, and can be immediately implemented in the classroom to create a calm and positive classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Bridget Burke

This Biology lab uses common lawn clover to explore genetics, plant physiology, and adaptation. White clover is polymorphic for cyanogenesis, an anti-herbivore defense controlled by two genetic loci. Cyanogenesis frequency varies with climate—over 95% of plants are cyanogenic in the South, but fewer than 10% are in the northern Midwest. During the Clover Project students collect local clover and test it for cyanide production using color-changing paper, and then calculate genotype frequencies and compare with data from other regions. Students can also calculate the rates of herbivory in their area and correlate the frequency to cyanogenesis.This hands-on activity engages students in inquiry-based learning aligned with the AP Biology CED and the Science Practices, while also illustrating how evolutionary pressures shape traits in their local environment. Participants in this session will learn how to implement this dynamic activity in their High School Biology classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Unlock the secrets of cyanogenesis in clover! Participants will learn to implement ‘The Clover Project’ - a hands-on, inquiry-based lab that uses common lawn clover to investigate the connections between cell structure, genetics, evolution, ecology, and local adaptation.

SPEAKERS:
Ken Bateman, Carolyn Spangler

Ideas are presented for incorporating Earth and Space Science (ESS) into existing high school Bio/Chem/Phys (BEP) courses through the use of integrated storylines anchored by ESS phenomena. This not only satisfies the NGSS requirements for ESS performance expectations for high schools that are following the NGSS Modified Science Domains model but allows student sensemaking of the performance expectations PEs with engaging and fascinating phenomena. Dr. Michael Wysession, lead NGSS ESS author and geophysics professor, will provide useful examples of how ESS phenomena such as volcanoes, earthquakes, and climate change can inspire students in the three-dimensional sensemaking of BEP NGSS PEs. For example, the deadly 1918 Spanish Flu and all subsequent avian flu pandemics followed the climate change of Pacific La Niña events that altered atmospheric jet stream patterns that altered the migration patterns of wild birds carrying the Influenza A strains that generated new flu variants.

TAKEAWAYS:
Earth Science phenomena anchor engaging high school storylines for high school curricula that follow the NGSS Modified Science Domains model, where Earth and Space Science is integrated into existing Biology, Chemistry, and Physics courses. Instructors will leave with multiple integrated examples.

SPEAKERS:
Michael Wysession

2025 is the 100th anniversary of the infamous Scopes trial and the 20thanniversary of the Kitzmiller v. Dover trial, which took place in Harrisburg, PA. We will examine the lessons for science educators today that can be drawn from the similarities and differences between these trials. As lead witness in the Kitzmiller trial I will briefly review the history of that case and summarize scholarship on the Scopes trial. While both cases are interesting legally, their relevance to science education extends to every educator dealing with issues of science denial. I will examine these challenges at multiple levels, including topics routinely designated as “controversial,” including evolution and climate change.

TAKEAWAYS:
The motivations, strategies, and tactics of science denial have changed little in the 100 years following the Scopes “Monkey” trial. I will review today’s threats to evolution education and will suggest strategies that educators can use today to defend the integrity of science in the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Kenneth Miller

Neuroscience is a rapidly progressing field that captivates student interest and creates a model environment for students and faculty to learn alongside one another. The purpose of this workshop is to share the resources used in a newly established neuroscience course to help other schools that might be interested in developing their own program. Hopefully sharing resources and experiences can streamline the development process and bring this “of the moment” topic to more students. Neuroscience topics covered in the curriculum include brain structure and function, learning and memory, sleep, neural signaling (action potentials and synapses), the special senses, neuropathology, neuropharmacology, and neural prosthesis. Several hands-on laboratory experiences accompany each unit. By the final weeks of the course, students used their knowledge and expertise to conduct an independent project. Time is also allotted for cross-curricular experiences with our social studies department.

TAKEAWAYS:
Neuroscience is a rapidly progressing field that captivates student interest and can create a model environment for students and faculty to learn alongside one another while fostering 21st-century skills including experimental design, scientific research, and interdisciplinary investigations.

SPEAKERS:
Hannah Sullivan

How can we leverage digital tools to support biology learning that’s authentic and engages with science practices and cross-cutting concepts? We’ll explore “sit spot” strategies that connect students to their local context and communities through digital tools and a place-based teaching framework. Examples from the recently released book, Place-Based Science Teaching: Connecting Students to Curriculum, Community, and Caring for our Planet will be highlighted.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how implementing a “sit spot” assignment series can connect existing biology curricula to NGSS-aligned, place-based science explorations, as well as support student personal development and motivation, while overcoming the limitations of a traditional classroom experience.

SPEAKERS:
Whitney Aragaki

This session presents a practical model for embedding biotechnology across the high school experience to prepare students for STEM careers. Attendees will learn how to integrate biotech into core and elective science courses using scaffolded lab skills, student-led research, and project-based learning. The approach includes credentialing prep (like BACE), internship partnerships, and original student publications. This session provides tools for engaging students with hands-on science, building career readiness, and aligning with real-world applications. Adaptable to classrooms with limited resources, the strategies support equity and workforce development through authentic biotech education.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn to create a multi-year biotech plan, implement hands-on labs and research, use credentials like BACE for career prep, and connect lessons to real-world applications through partnerships and projects.

SPEAKERS:
Christine King, Sarah Mason

Engage in real-world, museum-based investigations guided by scientists using Research Quest, a free suite of online instructional materials developed by the Natural History Museum of Utah. These phenomenon-based investigations are designed to support three-dimensional learning by integrating science and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas. Participants will explore how these digital tools promote authentic inquiry, data analysis, and evidence-based reasoning. Through hands-on activities and collaborative lesson design, educators will learn to integrate Research Quest with ELA, digital literacy, and environmental literacy standards. The session emphasizes formative assessment strategies and provides classroom-ready lessons that support critical thinking, collaboration, and student-led problem solving using the practices of scientists.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will use exemplar resources that support 3D learning, as outlined in NGSS, that effectively promote critical thinking, data analysis, and collaboration. They will examine strategies for facilitating inquiry-based, student-led investigations using real-world science practices.

SPEAKERS:
Madlyn Larson

What if the power goes out, stores are closed, and there’s no help on the way? In this exciting, hands-on class, teach students real-world survival skills through science. They’ll purify water with solar stills, cook outdoors (solar brownies, orange peel muffins!), build fires, make charcloth, and practice wilderness first aid. Students will also create spears, atlatls, and clothing, predict weather, navigate with maps and compasses, and identify wild edibles. They'll explore microbiology to prevent illness and make all-natural chapstick, bug repellent, soap, and detergent. Fun, functional, and unforgettable—because when the world gets weird, science is survival.

TAKEAWAYS:
Using the Zombie Apocalypse, or any natural disaster from tornado to hurricane, earthquake to ice storm, this workshop illustrates how many different science fields are relevant to everyday life! This workshop includes chemistry, biology, physics, and engineering concepts.

SPEAKERS:
Melanie Carden-Jessen

In this workshop, science teachers will learn the applications of action research and storytelling to transform classroom practices and deepen students’ learning. Using the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle, participants will determine classroom problems, design research-based interventions, and analyze data to refine instructional strategies. Elements of storytelling will be used to document the teaching and learning process and fostering culture of reflection for continuous improvement. Teachers will learn to integrate real-world phenomena, science and engineering practices, and the 5Es instructional framework to promote the pillars of sensemaking. Through hands-on collaboration, data-driven inquiry, and creative documentation, teachers will walk away with action plans to promote success of their students for life.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn to enhance science teaching through the pillars of sensemaking by using the PDSA cycle and storytelling to design, implement, and evaluate classroom practices for continuous instructional improvement.

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Holman

In this session, Tiffany Henfling will share how our school takes their middle schoolers to a three day, overnight camp in rural MI. During this session, we will give an overview of what my school uses for their camp experience. Participants who are interested in starting up a camp at their school will walk away with a tool kit of resources to get their camp experience started - including example camp schedules, coordinator task lists, etc.

Participants will then explore the connection between NGSS and outdoor education by looking at specific standards that are ideally taught in an outdoor setting. Example lesson plans will be provided.

We will highlight how camp is inclusive of all students in a way the regular classrooms can find challenging. Being in nature, students are focused on a place based concept - content specific to their local area, experiences and culture.

The session will include an attendee discussion and Q&A to address their individual needs and possible challenges.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be inspired to engage their students in an outdoor experience and be equipped with the tools to actualize it.

SPEAKERS:
Tiffany Henfling

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

Have you ever dreamed of taking your students out of the classroom for a hands on, once in a life time learning opportunity? Sure, you can teach about GPS but let's dive deeper and use GPS in the field to document locations of endangered species. It can seem like a huge undertaking organizing an international expedition for your students so let me show you a few tips and tricks that I have used to help you take your science lessons from the classroom to the other side of the world. Worried about budget? Concerns about safety? I will show you how my very small district has navigated through these issues and provided once in a life time learning opportunities that will put your science program on the map. What do I mean by international science expeditions? Think Amazon rainforest, Islands in the Bahamas, jungles of Belize, snorkeling coral reefs for a week, and tracking rhinos in Africa all while collecting data and assisting field researchers.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to offer an international science expedition for their students. Budget and safety issues for international travel will be addressed. Let's start building an expedition for your students.

SPEAKERS:
Kristel Winger

Join fellow IB Biology educators for a collaborative roundtable discussion on the new 2025 curriculum for both Standard Level (SL) and Higher Level (HL). This session will focus on navigating the thematic structure, integrating content across levels, aligning assessments with command terms, and making the most of internal assessment updates. Participants are encouraged to share strategies, questions, and resources as we explore how to build engaging, student-centered instruction within the new framework. Whether you’re just starting to plan or are already deep into implementation, this is a space to connect with others, reflect on challenges, and walk away with actionable ideas for your own classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore the 2025 IB Biology curriculum changes and leave with shared strategies, insights, and planning ideas for effectively teaching and assessing SL and HL content within the new thematic framework.

SPEAKERS:
Alison Peterson

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

Building connections around familiar phenomena related to milk and composting can drive student curiosity and engagement. Scientific and engineering practices can deepen understanding of science ideas inherently found in food systems and environmental conservation practices. In this session, participants will engage in two examples for how students can use elements of the SEPs such as conducting investigations or developing models to make sense of why some humans cannot drink milk and how their food choices could affect climate change. Join us to gain a deeper understanding for how elements of the practices and crosscutting concepts push students to think more deeply about scientific content as they make connections to their own lives. Identify strategies for supporting student sensemaking through real-world connections to food systems and environmental conservation practices.

TAKEAWAYS:
Experience how students authentically make connections between the classroom and their homes through the phenomena of milk and compost. Deepen your understanding and prepare to implement strategies and activities that actively engage students in all three dimensions of learning in your classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Kathlyn Van Hoeck, Chris Embry Mohr, Jessica Holman

This session showcases outdoor learning experiences that connect students to the natural world. Attendees will explore how educators can design and implement NGSS-aligned outdoor learning experiences that are equitable, inclusive, and culturally relevant through place-based learning on local environmental issues. Learning activities will focus on outdoor experiences with opportunities for student data collection along with information on increasing community involvement to enhance students' connections to local environments. Classroom examples of student work will be provided demonstrating how students can use the data they collect in their communities to construct pieces of evidence. Environmental issues discussed in this session include: elevated nitrates in waterways, changes in biodiversity, and alterations to local ecosystems. Attendees will leave with a variety of outdoor lessons that support three-dimensional learning and promote science inquiry in authentic, local contexts.

TAKEAWAYS:
Overall, attendees will leave with a variety of data, resources, and lesson ideas focused on student engagement with local environmental issues as well as tips and tricks on how to involve local community members to enhance students' learning experience.

SPEAKERS:
Danielle Hoenig

Have you ever dreamed of taking your students out of the classroom for a hands on, once in a life time learning opportunity? Sure, you can teach about GPS but let's dive deeper and use GPS in the field to document locations of endangered species. It can seem like a huge undertaking organizing an international expedition for your students so let me show you a few tips and tricks that I have used to help you take your science lessons from the classroom to the other side of the world. Worried about budget? Concerns about safety? I will show you how my very small district has navigated through these issues and provided once in a life time learning opportunities that will put your science program on the map. What do I mean by international science expeditions? Think Amazon rainforest, islands in the Bahamas, jungles of Belize, snorkeling coral reefs for a week, and tracking rhinos in Africa all while collecting data and assisting field researchers.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to offer an international science expedition for their students. Budget and safety issues for international travel will be addressed. Let's start building an expedition for your students.

SPEAKERS:
Kristel Winger

This summer, I had the incredible opportunity to travel deep into the heart of the Amazon Rainforest as part of the Educator Academy in the Amazon, a transformative professional learning experience through the Morpho Institute. While there, I developed rich, student-centered units and lessons focused on biodiversity, climate change, and the vibrant cultures of the Indigenous communities who call the rainforest home. In this session, I’ll share practical strategies, resources, and hands-on ideas to help you bring the AWEsome Amazon into your own classroom—no passport required! You'll also learn how you can apply to join the Educator Academy in the Amazon yourself in 2026. Come get inspired, explore one of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems, and walk away with tools to make global learning come alive for your students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Join me as I share lessons and experiences from the Amazon Rainforest through the Morpho Institute’s Educator Academy. Walk away with ready-to-use ideas for teaching biodiversity, climate change, and Indigenous cultures—plus info on how you can join the 2026 expedition!

SPEAKERS:
Sandy Elsberry, Mallory Wills

Sponsoring Company: Stile Education

Dive into an exhilarating, hands-on escape room experience blending science, teamwork, and problem-solving! Compete against the clock to tackle exciting, interactive science puzzles. Leave fully prepared with your own comprehensive Escape Room Kit – packed with everything you need to engage your students in thrilling scientific discovery.

SPEAKERS:
Jacky Rooney

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

In this hands-on session, you will engage with models to understand the amazing chemical properties of water and better understand how life maintains and regulates homeostasis through the transport of water and ions across membranes.

SPEAKERS:
Jim Lane

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

Come hear about the value of place-based learning through the words of those who have experienced it. In the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest, there is a 10-day professional learning experience that has changed the teaching and lives of over 250 educators over the past 12 years. The presenter has participated in these rainforest workshops and now surveyed and interviewed other participants to more fully understand the depth of impact this has on teaching, worldviews, and professional self-image. Tangible benefits of the program will be shared, from personal transformations to innovations in teaching and learning for students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Place-based learning in the rainforest is beyond the experience of most educators in the U.S.. Teachers with professional learning in the Amazon rainforest report higher levels of connection to nature, the ability to teach sustainability, and now view themselves as both scientists and science teachers.

SPEAKERS:
Jordan Wolf

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

The Science Focus Program, a Nebraska public high school, offers unique student opportunities in scientific learning by fostering student-driven academic research. We will examine our teacher-developed scaffolded approach, which promotes student choice and independence in learning. In this iterative process, rigor increases gradually from ninth grade as students take ownership of learning. Students are encouraged to ask questions of personal interest and employ various laboratory and field procedures. On day one, students engage in novel ways with the outdoors, setting the path for the next four years. Their questions focus on understanding our wider community - including studies of our zoo, local parks, streams, prairies, other natural places and of their outdoor classroom. Topics include: urban ecology, microplastic concentrations in streams and air, animal behavior, and nutrient runoff and its effects on water quality. Come learn about our exciting practice of student-led research.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how incorporating guided, independent student research is possible and why giving students multiple experiences throughout 4 years allows them to follow their interests while building and improving skills. Examples of student work and curricular resources will be shared.

SPEAKERS:
Emily Rose Seifferlein

Bioinformatics is the engine behind many modern discoveries and scientific advancements in agriculture, medicine, conservation, and more. But what does it look like in practice and how can students experience it without a lab? Bring your laptop and curiosity for this interactive, hands-on session where we explore the why and how of basic bioinformatics tools through real-world examples. A research scientist and an education specialist will guide you through free activities using the same tools used by scientists across disciplines. You will see how students can build data science and computational thinking skills while also making career connections. Walkway with free classroom-ready activities in bioinformatics that align with multiple NGS Standards (e.g., HS-LS1-1, HS-LS3-1, HS-LS4-1). No coding or prior experience required.

TAKEAWAYS:
Bring a laptop to learn about free tools to build data science and computational thinking skills in your classroom. No coding or experience required.

SPEAKERS:
Jane Hunt, Zack Bateson

People need to be curious consumers of information shown in data sets and graphs. There are ways to make graphs that show bias and ways that show data “fairly.” In this session, participants will develop the skills to recognize misleading or slanted graphs. We will use data visualization techniques to support evidence-based decision-making in real-world agricultural scenarios. Participants will be presented with a series of visuals to determine whether or not the information depicted within the data visualization is fair or misleading. Then, they will be divided into groups and given a scenario. After researching the scenario and analyzing the given data, participants will create their own visualization and presentation for communication with their class of producers. This presentation should include a fair data visualization yet still persuade the producer to make the best decision for the scenario.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will analyze and interpret agricultural data to identify patterns, make predictions, and construct scientific explanations through argumentation. They will use data visualization techniques to support evidence-based decision-making in real-world farming scenarios.

SPEAKERS:
Heather Bryan

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

Experience how leveraging genetic and environmental risk for complex disease as authentic phenomena supports student understanding through 3D teaching, learning, and assessment. Learn how the BSCS Anchored Inquiry Learning (AIL) instructional model develops student agency that leads to individual and community action. The NGSS calls for learning grounded in real world phenomena to ensure science learning is relevant to all students. The BSCS AIL instructional model succeeds the 5Es and utilizes culturally relevant societal challenges to anchor cycles of inquiry and sensemaking, culminating with student explanations. In this session, participants will 1) consider their ideas about teaching complex societal challenges, 2) experience 3D learning, sensemaking strategies, and science concepts required to evaluate genetic and environmental risks for complex disease, and 3) consider how societal issues as assessment tasks can motivate students and develop agency in addressing complex issues.

TAKEAWAYS:
The research-based BSCS Anchored Inquiry Learning instructional model succeeds the 5Es and leverages complex societal issues as anchoring phenomena/problems, culminating tasks, and performance assessments in 3D units of instruction to motivate students and develop agency in addressing these issues.

SPEAKERS:
Cynthia Gay

Are you looking for a novel phenomenon for your high school students to hook them on the wonder of the natural world? My school has been using slime mold as an intro activity for Biology for over twenty years. Through this amazing organism we can discuss the characteristics of living things, the structure of the cell, how organisms obtain energy, and how populations of organisms have evolved for success. Slime mold is an easy to use organism in the classroom. Through several days of observation, students can review the elements of an investigation. Come and learn how you can use this organism in your classroom to leave students wondering what will happen the next day.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use slime mold in their high school classrooms to hook students on the wonder of the natural world as well as cover a variety of biology topics.

SPEAKERS:
Raewyn Kelley, Michelle Housenga

The story of the double helix is standard fare but is usually told in a cursory and superficial way. The actual story, however, can be brought into the classroom in a way that excites students and shows the scientific process, warts and all, in a manner that promotes equity, inclusion, & science. The double helix model of DNA is generally presented as the straightforward product of James Watson and Francis Crick’s interpretation of Rosalind Franklin’s X-ray diffraction photograph of DNA. However, the actual story of the double helix involves many individuals beyond these three scientists. I will describe how clues to DNA’s structure were developed over several decades and how they came together over six remarkable months in 1952 and 1953. I will focus on new research regarding Franklin’s role in the discovery and will examine how the race for the double helix fits into our usual understanding of the scientific process.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be presented with a realistic narrative that departs from the usual step-by-step version of the scientific method, addressing what this work and the reaction to it illuminates about the role of women in science and ethical values in research.

SPEAKERS:
Kenneth Miller

The Stan-X network is a world-wide partnership of public and private schools that work together to provide research-based learning experiences for students (https://stan-x.org). Through collaboration with the research group led by Dr. Seung Kim at Stanford University, the schools have adopted a fruit fly-based program that provides opportunities for authentic research that generates high-quality data and resources impacting the community of science. Stan-X program elements can fit flexibly into almost any science curriculum at middle or high school grade levels. In our session, we will detail the development and growth of our program and describe examples of courses that have been developed in schools in the U.S. and abroad. We will also describe how Stan-X works with schools to fund program creation and develop instructor skills for guiding students through authentic, open-ended research, while developing sufficient autonomy to modify or expand research-based science teaching.

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

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Lantz

Superheroes provide opportunities for teaching all kinds of science content, from mutations to multiverses to the nature of science (NOS). This session examines multimedia examples PLUS supplemental research. Explore "Marvelous" hooks and Direct Connections to science in our classrooms and beyond!

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants in this interactive session will examine a variety of multimedia superhero examples, with a focus on immediate classroom implementation AND legal copyright “fair use.” In addition to specific lessons, teachers will practice analyzing and applying media and research to engage students.

SPEAKERS:
Daniel Bergman

“Ecology isn’t rocket science— it’s much harder” (Hilborn and Ludwig, 1993). Natural resource management provides rich, meaningful phenomena for classrooms that support students in the complex science- and data-driven decision-making that all students will face, regardless of their ultimate career trajectories. This presentation will showcase a unit that, through a natural resource management and decision-making lens, provides students with rich learning about complex ecosystem dynamics through a 3D lens grounded in student interests. This phenomenon-based unit progression compares ecosystem dynamics between two local reservoirs. I will share the methods students used to integrate multiple real-time data sources to predict and model food webs and trophic structures. Students confirm their predictions and models by engaging in a fish dissection and stomach-content analysis, and interpretation of stable fish isotope data to make management decisions about our two local reservoirs.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will take away a unit progression for ecosystem dynamics, practical implementation resources to support and engage all students, tools for students to collect and critically analyze data, and assessment ideas.

SPEAKERS:
Jenny Edwards

The study of biodiversity lends itself to exploring many crosscutting concepts while engaging in real world scientific practices. In this session we will review an interdisciplinary unit on biodiversity and land management. This unit engages students in data collection, mathematical thinking, constructing explanations, and engaging in argumentation from evidence. You’ll see how we make use of our school’s campus, digital mapping tools, trail cameras, sampling area calculations, population estimates, and simple plot sampling strategies for hands-on learning. We’ll include ways we engage students in new relevant, local land management issues each year through partnerships and other enrichment opportunities focusing on invasive species. We’ll share our summative assessments alongside many examples of student work and photos from the field. Finally, various STEM connections will be discussed that can be tailored to your student needs.

TAKEAWAYS:
The exploration of biodiversity offers a variety of STEM pathways to directly engage students in a variety of hands-on activities where they are in control of the data, their learning and the outcome.

SPEAKERS:
Liz Dengate, Sarah Oppelt Santelli, Craig Nowicki

Think about genetics, evolution, and biotechnology through the lens of lactose digestion. Participants investigate how genetic variation and cultural practices shaped the ability to digest lactose in adulthood. They then model industrial lactose removal by creating enzyme "beads" with sodium alginate and using them in a bioreactor. They will monitor the chemical reaction by testing for buildup of one of its products - glucose. The activity reinforces concepts of enzyme-substrate interaction, gene expression, and evolution through a testable reaction that can easily be done in your classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
This activity connects genetics, evolution, and biotechnology by exploring how lactose digestion varies among individuals, and by modeling enzyme function in a hands-on experiment that demonstrates enzyme-substrate interaction and bioreactors.

SPEAKERS:
Arie Kaz, Kelsie Anson

Students build their understanding of abiotic and biotic factors, food webs, predator-prey dynamics, and keystone species by exploring either the phenomena of sea otter population decline in the Aleutian Island Archipelago or wildebeest migration in the Serengeti. They also evaluate and develop long-term plans for ecosystem restoration and stability.

TAKEAWAYS:
Dive into real-life scenarios to uncover the ecosystem dynamics that have led to the decline of sea otter populations and the changes in wildebeest populations, then apply what you’ve learned to develop and evaluate conservation efforts.

SPEAKERS:
Anneliese Johnson

In this unique problem-solving lab, students design their own experiment to test the polarity of solutions and determining which milk solution is best to combat hot sauce. Most students have some experience with eating spicy food. While the exact spices may vary in different regions, the effect is the same. It tastes hot.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session's takeaway is a fun and novel lab that attendees can implement into their own chemistry or biology class.

SPEAKERS:
Kevin Mason, Gregory Matthias

Learn how to take your students on an immersive virtual field trip of a crash-testing facility to explore the science and engineering behind crash tests, crash-test dummies, vehicle safety features, and how vehicles are rated for safety. Discover how to integrate free Crash Science in the Classroom resources to create immersive, placed-based, virtual experiences including participating in the free, annual LIVE online field trip with an exclusive view of a crash-test and a Q&A with crash science engineers. This year’s virtual field trip will be held on December 11.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participant will learn how to access a placed-based, video-supported experience and inquiry-based classroom activities to foster students’ engagement and 3D learning by integrating key STEM concepts with vehicle crashworthiness, crash avoidance technologies, and teen driver safety.

SPEAKERS:
Pini Kalnite, Griff Jones

Looking for high-quality instructional materials that are NGSS-aligned, engaging, and FREE? Khan Academy’s hands-on science activities are the solution! Our activities guide students to conduct investigations, develop models, analyze data, and more. Each activity is anchored in a compelling real-world phenomenon and requires only accessible, low-cost materials. We offer middle school activities in life, physical, and Earth and space science, and high school activities in biology, chemistry, and physics. In this workshop, you’ll step into the role of a student as you try a high school Khan Academy science activity. Together, we’ll explore both the student and teacher guides and see how the activities support the three dimensions of the NGSS. You’ll gain practical strategies for classroom implementation, and learn how to access the diverse collection of activities we offer. Join us to explore how these free, high-quality resources can bring out the joy in your science classroom!

TAKEAWAYS:
Discover how free, phenomenon-driven science activities from Khan Academy make 3D learning accessible and engaging with practical, ready-to-use classroom tools.

SPEAKERS:
Emily Cizmas, Iman Brodsky, Molly Sauder, Katherine Capp, Megan Cohn, Donna Figenshu, Timothy Williams

Getting students out of the classroom has been shown to have numerous positive impacts at every age. Why not use that outdoor time to help scientists around the world? In this presentation you will learn about easy Citizen Science projects to do in all classrooms. From counting squirrels on the playground, to recording cloud types in the sky, to classifying the biodiversity in your schoolyard, there are projects for everyone! Hear about how easy it is to implement outdoor time from a SciStarter Ambassador who has led projects with preschoolers to college students to the community itself.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how easy it is to incorporate Citizen Science into any classroom. Leave with 1.) an understanding of several big Citizen Science projects, 2.) how they can be implemented in classrooms, 3.) how you can tie Citizen Science to standards.

SPEAKERS:
Elesha Goodfriend, Kelly Moore