Join us to explore how to teach climate change from a human centered perspective; engaging students in place-based, equity-centered science education that inspires and engages beyond the science classroom. Using Climate Generation’s resources, we will discover how climate education can build connections between classrooms, communities and the environment, and inspire sustainable thinking and action. Attendees will be introduced to activities from two multi-lesson units, Climate Generation’s newly revised Next Generation Climate and Experience Energy curricula, that integrate NGSS-aligned climate education with culturally sustaining teaching practices.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be able to identify age-appropriate ways to engage students in climate change education, describe strategies for connecting climate learning experiences to community-centered and national current events, and use Climate Generation’s resources to explore and practice climate education.

SPEAKERS:
Danielle Hefferan

Science education has a key role to play in supporting a just transition to the climate crisis. Participants will learn about 20 priority areas associated with climate and environmental justice—and explore educational approaches, resources, and groups related to these areas.

TAKEAWAYS:
Working towards climate justice involves a multifaceted set of issues and priorities. Teachers will identify which priority areas relate to their goals and context and learn about related resources. A climate justice framework will help teachers learn about different dimensions of climate justice.

SPEAKERS:
Deb Morrison, Nancy Price, Kelsie Fowler, Philip Bell

Join us for this interactive, student-perspective workshop that immerses participants in an interdisciplinary placemaking unit taught in a 4th-grade New Orleans science and art classroom. Rooted in the realities of climate change and water pollution, this NGSS-aligned session models how to integrate science, art, literacy, social studies, and engineering to explore local environmental issues driven by climate change. Participants will engage with student drawings of local lakes, read and discuss excerpts from our comic Monsters in the Lake, and build simple water filters inspired by NASA’s design process to simulate hands-on engineering investigations. Through this experiential session, educators will reflect on strategies for integrating climate literacy in ways that are locally grounded and linguistically relevant, connecting to students’ diverse ways of being and knowing. Leave with adaptable curriculum resources and renewed inspiration to make climate change instruction empowering.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to design and implement interdisciplinary, place-based climate change lessons that integrate science, art, literacy, social studies, and engineering while honoring students’ cultural and linguistic assets to make learning personally meaningful and locally relevant.

SPEAKERS:
Andree Champagne, Ayca Fackler

How can we discuss difficult environmental realities with children in ways that are honest and empowering? This session presents the research-based 5Es of Eco-Action, a framework to support environmental action by fostering agency and solution-focused thinking. The climate emotion and environmental stewardship experiences of 6-11-year-old children are often overlooked. We undertook research focused on this group to understand how eco-anxiety affects motivation for pro-environmental behaviours. From this we developed the 5Es of Eco-Action framework that supports environmental learning while helping children process their emotions. In this session, attendees will be introduced to the framework and participate in hands-on activities. Practical tools and real-world examples will be explored. Educators will leave with fresh insights and ready-to-use strategies to support children in becoming confident, caring environmental stewards.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with an understanding of the 5Es of Eco-Action (Empathy, Education, Excitement, Environmental Stewardship, Empowerment) and how this framework can be applied in the classroom to support children in becoming confident, caring environmental stewards.

SPEAKERS:
Stephanie Doyle

This session explores the pivotal role teacher beliefs play in shaping students' attitudes, understanding, and actions related to climate change mitigation. Drawing on current research and classroom practice, we will examine how educators' personal and professional beliefs about climate science, environmental responsibility, and pedagogical approaches can directly influence student engagement, critical thinking, and climate-positive behaviors.

TAKEAWAYS:
Whether you're a classroom teacher, curriculum developer, or education leader, this session will provide insights into how cultivating informed and reflective teaching practices can inspire the next generation of climate stewards.

SPEAKERS:
Hannah Luna

This interdisciplinary session will focus on putting climate science in a social perspective, first by examining the trends over the past 200 years that correlate to climate change (population growth, fossil fuel use and changing land use) and then by examining the relative vulnerability of different countries to climate change impacts (sea level rise, severe weather and agricultural loss) After a brief introduction, participants will engage in a global simulation activity to determine how countries differ in terms of amount of carbon emitted and vulnerability to several climate-related risks. Small groups will then analyze sets of visual data (graphs, infographics, articles and satellite imagery) to identify relationships between human activities, greenhouse gas emissions, temperature rise, ice melt and sea level rise. The group will discuss paths to a sustainable future. Participants will receive lesson plans aligned to NGSS.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be able to create and implement interdisciplinary lesson plans that explore how climate trends relate to human activities, and how climate change is affecting different communities, and paths to a sustainable future.

SPEAKERS:
Tim Buttles

The National Earth Science Teachers Association (NESTA) is partnering with NOAA to provide educator resources for formal and informal education audiences to build environmental literacy. Learn about a wide array of resources to help middle and high school teachers use data-rich resources for investigations in the physical, Earth and biological sciences, providing pathways for students to become informed planetary citizens. Find out how to engage your students in discovering the natural world and make informed decisions regarding environmental issues. Learn about virtual reality simulations, resources that use archived and real data and student tutorials in sea level rise, coral reefs, GPS, tides, ocean currents and estuaries.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will receive a wide variety of resources with links to online resources.

SPEAKERS:
Peggy Steffen

I am incorporating the assessment "Better Bioreactors" to a unit called "What is killing life in the Gulf?" Students are determining what is causing dead zones and then adding bioreactors will help students to think about solutions to the problem. This gathers student thinking and ends with students modeling their learning and thoughts.

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

SPEAKERS:
Katie Wiedrich

We show how instructional materials can be adapted for local contexts—and how to elevate issues of climate justice and ethical responses to the climate crisis. Participants will learn about how a high school physics unit from OpenSciEd was adapted to attend to Indigenous land rights and sovereignty.

TAKEAWAYS:
In relation to science and engineering projects in society (e.g., associated with the energy transition, ecological restoration, urban development), teachers will learn how to engage students in exploring moral and ethical dimensions of trade-offs in project approaches.

SPEAKERS:
Kelsie Fowler, Philip Bell

This presentation will explore the intersection of 3D learning applied to support sense-making around climate science and global change, emphasizing how integrated, hands-on approaches can enhance understanding of human and non-human influences on complex environmental systems. It will highlight crosscutting concepts, science and engineering practices, and disciplinary core ideas within the context of climate-change and related global change phenomena. Through models and real-world data, the presentation will demonstrate how students can engage in evidence-based reasoning about global change, climate impacts, and sustainability solutions. The goal is to foster critical thinking and informed action on pressing environmental challenges.

TAKEAWAYS:
The Understanding Global Change conceptual framework uses 3D learning to empower student sense-making around climate change, global change, and sustainability, by connecting scientific practices, core ideas, and real-world data to inform critical thinking and evidence-based action.

SPEAKERS:
Joseph Levine

This session empowers educators to teach climate change through children’s literature that inspires hope, resilience, and action. By integrating emotionally engaging stories with climate science, we help young learners understand environmental challenges while fostering a proactive, optimistic mindset. Participants will explore curated resources—including book lists, lesson plans, and activities—that connect scientific concepts with relatable narratives and emphasize individual and collective agency. The session also offers guidance on navigating difficult topics in age-appropriate ways and encouraging community engagement projects that extend learning beyond the classroom. Through collaboration, we are building a network of educators, authors, and advocates committed to cultivating a generation of informed, compassionate climate stewards. Join us in reimagining climate education as a hopeful, action-oriented journey for children.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use children’s literature to teach climate change in developmentally appropriate ways that foster hope, resilience, and student agency, while accessing ready-to-use resources that connect science concepts with meaningful storytelling and community action.

SPEAKERS:
Lorianne Donovan, Carissa Haug

Utilize updated computer modeling with students to test assumptions, play, and build an intuition of how complex earth and human systems interact. Pair this with a lesson sequence that explores published fiction using a simple journaling and class discussion technique. The sequence results in students creating dispatches from these futures to meld their climate understandings with creative narratives. These students will go on to build the future - they should have some practice creating better ones.

TAKEAWAYS:
Build confidence in helping students personalize what climate modeling means for their own life.

SPEAKERS:
Luke Gliddon

Join us to explore how to leverage students' communication tools in the high school science classroom. This session will focus on strategies and approaches integrated into the OpenSciEd Chemical Reactions unit which challenges students to investigate chemical processes impacting oyster populations.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to guide students in articulating their ideas, collaborating effectively, and constructing evidence-based explanations while encouraging the use of their own language and perspectives to make sense of complex scientific concepts and connect them to pressing environmental issues.

SPEAKERS:
Kristin Rademaker, Kristin Rademaker

[Note: I can modify this into a keynote aligned with NSTA/NMEA ocean literacy position statement if you’d prefer.] Teach the Hope is an ocean/environmental literacy strategy every teacher around the country can employ. First, I introduce environmental literature specifically written for children and youth. These books address climate change, plastic marine debris, sea level rise, ocean acidification, and endangered species. But these books also introduce worthy mentors – mentors who are the hope because they serve as civic role models, respecting their connection to nature. Students identify with them because they are often young and begin alone with little or no money, blazing a trail through unchartered territory. These mentors help students appreciate their role in nature. Next, participants test a variety of experiments, demonstrations, and activities integrating STEM and literacy designed not only to teach environmental science, but to offer hope to our students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Today’s media tends to focus on depressing environmental headlines because bad news sells. And our students are listening. In this workshop, I help educators recognize hope and share it with their students to empower rather than paralyze. All activities free for participants’ classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Patricia Newman

This session offers a detailed look at using virtual reality to help middle school students explore real-world water challenges. We examine the rationale behind VR-based learning—why immersing students in digital environments can deepen their understanding and empathy regarding climate change and water scarcity. Next, we discuss the necessary classroom setup, including device options, low-cost alternatives, and troubleshooting tips to ensure smooth implementation. We then walk through the main features of a VR-centered unit, highlighting how to align activities with curriculum standards, scaffold student inquiry, and connect these lessons to sustainability issues. We share observations about student engagement, project pacing, and safety considerations along the way. Attendees will leave with a clear framework for planning VR lessons, practical solutions for managing technology, and strategies to help students feel responsible for addressing critical environmental issues.

TAKEAWAYS:
Gain knowledge of VR-based lessons tackling environmental issues, meet curricular goals, and use technology to transfer these skills to other areas or science learning.

SPEAKERS:
Constance Leung, Yujiro Fujiwara

Accessing a suite of regional data exploration tools can broaden the ways that students make sense of complex climate stories and science ideas while connecting to their own stories and curiosities. A teacher-researcher partnership designed a learning progression where students access and use climate data visualization platforms and interpret social science-derived future narratives that connect data with human impacts (SEP: Analyzing & interpreting data; CCC: Stability & change; DCI: ESS3.C Human impacts on Earth systems and ESS2.D Weather and climate). Together, learners use this evidence to make sense of phenomena rooted in projections and uncertainties around climate impacts that they already see and will see in their communities. This session shares a learning progression that embeds approaches to localizing anchoring phenomena in context, means of engaging students’ initial and emergent ideas, platforms and resources embedded in the progression, and examples of students’ work.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will experience a data- and sensemaking-driven learning progression, explore its three-dimensional and phenomenon connections, and consider how to connect to student ideas. They will leave with concrete ideas for accessing data and helping students explore the stories data tell.

SPEAKERS:
Clare Gunshenan, Martha Inouye

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that increases global warming. Agriculture is the top source of methane emissions, and enteric methane production from livestock accounts for a significant amount of agricultural methane. The objective of this study is to identify plants that could be added as feed additives in a cow’s diet to reduce enteric methane emissions. There is an effect on methane emissions with plants containing compounds like lipids, polyphenols, and tannins. One part of the study was running in vitro trials to determine how much total gas and methane is produced. The other part was running sequential fibers to determine the digestibility of these plants. We found that some plants reduce methane production, and others do not. White willow and peanut skins were the most effective in reducing enteric methane. With further testing and trials, the most effective plants in this in vitro study could be used as dietary supplements and help reduce methane emissions from dairy.

TAKEAWAYS:
The aim of this presentation is to discuss the issue of methane emissions from enteric fermentation process of dairy animals and discuss ways to reduce them through dietary supplements and feed additives made from locally available plant sources. These supplements also help keep the animals healthy.

SPEAKERS:
Ivanka Sonkusare

Youth need opportunities to learn about green colonialism and how Native Science and Indigenous sovereignty are fundamental to addressing the climate emergency. Workshop participants will engage in talk activities designed to support non-Indigenous youth in learning and processing these topics.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session will support educators in understanding that climate experts across the globe are calling for the broad recognition of Indigenous sovereignty and climate expertise as fundamental to mitigating climate change and building a just future.

SPEAKERS:
Deb Morrison, Kelsie Fowler, Philip Bell

Come along as we explore extreme weather and avalanches. We know avalanches are inevitable, but how can we limit their impact on forests and people? This session is built around an NGSS-designed lesson sequence targeting 3-LS3-2, with an emphasis on student modeling, explanation, and collaboration. Attendees will create and test their model to immerse themselves in a performance assessment. Discussion of other possible formative assessment strategies, rubrics, and how to support student explanations using evidence.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will be engaged in an immersive Next Generation Science experience where attendees will step into the learner’s shoes in a high-quality, hands-on, inquisitive experience. Attendees will also participate in a performance based assessment. One real-world strategy used to mitigate avalanche.

SPEAKERS:
Greer Clark, Teresa Merager

Although wildfires can be caused by natural events and provide many valuable ecological services, changes in the environment related to climate change are fueling the growth of large, destructive megafires. In this workshop, participants will explore how the HHMI Resources The Science of Climate Change film and the activity The Impacts of Wildfires can help students understand these changes. This fast-paced workshop will provide a complete lesson to teach about the science of climate change using a variety of pedagogical strategies and stressing science and engineering practices such as Asking Questions and Defining Problems, Analyzing and Interpreting Data, and Designing Solutions. Participants will use three different scientific studies, including data in graphs, that help explain patterns in wildfire data. We will use small group work and a jigsaw strategy to compile all the evidence from the data to develop a Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER) to explain patterns in wildfire

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will discover how to use phenomena to engage students in the science of climate change, explore evidence to support human causes of climate change, and develop a scientific claim supported by evidence and reasoning for why recent wildfires are burning more forest area.

SPEAKERS:
Amy Fassler

Heat stress is the major cause of weather-related morbidity and mortality in the U.S. In a changing climate, all learners, teachers, schools and communities must be attentive to risks posed by increased heat and humidity. Workshop participants will engage with the "Earth and Human Body Systems" unit developed and implemented with science, math, ELA and SPED middle school teachers in the Linking Science, Mathematics and Literacy for All Learners program (https://scienceandliteracy.missouri.edu/). This unit incorporates NGSS, CCSS-ELA-RST and CCSS-Math standards, complex informational texts adapted from recent peer-reviewed literature, generative AI and computer-assisted simulations of future climate conditions and potential risks and mitigation approaches. Data collected over multiple years indicates that with appropriate content and instructional scaffolds, diverse learners strengthen shared NGSS and CCSS-ELA/Math practices for claim-evidence-reasoning and science argumentation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will take away evidence-based resources and instructional practices for diverse learners, addressing human risk, mitigation and resilience to heat stress in a changing climate.

SPEAKERS:
John Lannin, William Folk

FieldScope is a collaborative platform empowering communities to visualize and analyze environmental data that fosters a deeper understanding of science. This workshop introduces you to a tool transforming how participants engage with citizen science, moving beyond data collection to meaningful interpretation and storytelling. FieldScope is a common portal for collecting, sharing, and analyzing diverse data, a tool to help participants create place-based stories using data, and support for making sense of environmental information. Experience hands-on exploration of FieldScope tools, examination of partner projects featuring intergenerational collaborations, school/park partnerships, and public health initiatives, and guidance for integrating data storytelling into community programs. Join us if you want to enhance your programs with data-driven approaches or engage communities in participatory science. You'll leave with concrete steps for implementing data explorations.

TAKEAWAYS:
Leave with the next steps for planning data explorations in existing or future projects, examples of how to learn with data generated by participatory science projects, particularly in middle and high school settings, and how to host your own project data.

SPEAKERS:
Jamie Noll

Food waste is more than an environmental issue—it's a matter of equity and justice. This session delves into the intersection of waste management, food systems, and climate justice, emphasizing how addressing food waste can reduce greenhouse gas emissions while promoting social and environmental equity. Participants will explore the systemic causes of food waste, from production to consumption, and examine how waste disproportionately affects marginalized communities. Through interactive discussions, real-world case studies, and practical strategies, this session will highlight how schools, communities, and individuals can implement sustainable waste practices that support both planetary health and social justice.

TAKEAWAYS:
By connecting waste reduction to broader movements for climate and food justice, this session empowers educators, activists, and community leaders to drive meaningful change—transforming waste into a pathway for equity and sustainability.

SPEAKERS:
Hannah Luna

Phenology is the study of seasonal changes, a leading indicator of climate change, and an approachable way to actively engage communities with climate science. We will share our experiences developing a local community science program at Barking Slopes Conservation Area, a forest near Pittsburgh, that uses a free app called Nature’s Notebook, learn about the ongoing research at the site, and explore how the phenology program is supporting it. Allegheny Land Trust (ALT) and Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CMNH) partnered to implement a phenology trail at Barking Slopes Conservation Area. Nature’s Notebook is a free app developed by the USA National Phenology Network that empowers the public to record and share observations in a national scientific database. This program relies on community volunteer efforts to collect phenophases, or observable life stages. Data and activities can be adapted for classroom use.

TAKEAWAYS:
The main take away from this session will be that we can observe wildlife through a phenological lens and tell a more complete story of our landscape. By closely monitoring seasonal changes, we are able link these events with climate change.

SPEAKERS:
Sara Klingensmith

Learn how to leverage the power of social media to break down student misconceptions, rather than build them. Teachers will engage in an activity finding and combatting fake news on social media, then discussing how adapt the activity for their own classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will experience an engaging activity designed to help students directly confront misinformation they encounter on social media. By having students confront their own misconceptions about hot topics, we empower them to be more responsible consumers of information in the future.

SPEAKERS:
Jessica Dobrin

This interactive session will introduce participants to the science and practice of tree-ring research (dendrochronology) as told through a place-based project in a secondary Field Ecology course. The project challenges students to design and implement a procedure to collect and interpret data from the local tree community to understand forest dynamics and the human interaction and influence on the land. Participants will have the opportunity to engage with physical and digital data from trees and tree rings to help interpret changes in climate, the physical environment, and the unique history of each tree as an individual. This project is a collaboration between Mahtomedi High School and the University of Minnesota.

TAKEAWAYS:
Trees are important storytellers in the environment. The science of dendrochronology is an easily accessible and equitable method of building empathy toward the land and engaging students with a local connection to place and context as they explore data.

SPEAKERS:
Daniel Griffin, Jim Lane

Educators need supports to create climate learning for their students. Now is the time to explore how to broaden climate learning across your school, district, region, or state. This session will provide pragmatic tools and design advice on how to best engage in this work for your specific context.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will come away from this session with an action plan and the tools they need to begin to collaboratively design systemic climate learning efforts in their own contexts, sensitive to their particular local phenomena, socio-political norms, and educator capacities.

SPEAKERS:
Kimberly Talarico-Wolff, Deb Morrison

Satellite data can be a powerful tool for engaging students in real-world science, especially when exploring climate change and urban heat islands. In this interactive workshop, participants will discover how to incorporate satellite data into their classrooms—no GIS background required. We’ll explore free, user-friendly tools like NASA’s Eyes on the Earth and the Landsat Explorer app to investigate environmental changes over time and space. Attendees will engage in hands-on activities that support data literacy and scientific reasoning while making connections to key Earth and environmental science concepts. Resources and classroom-ready materials will be shared, empowering educators to bring authentic satellite data into science investigations at the middle and high school levels.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to access and use free, easy-to-navigate satellite data tools to engage students in climate and environmental investigations—no GIS experience needed.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Slack

Sponsoring Company: Lab-Aids

The carbon cycle plays a crucial role in life and in Earth's systems. Why is carbon dioxide discussed as a driver of climate change? In this hands-on lesson, we will model the molecular structure of gases in our atmosphere and analyze data about carbon sources and sinks to understand the role of carbon in climate change. This activity is from Lab-Aids' EDC Earth Science, an NSF-supported high school earth science program that uses an active, data-oriented approach to the student of earth science and earth systems, but can also be used as an individual kit to support climate change instruction in other courses.

SPEAKERS:
Stephanie Wallace

This workshop shares a curriculum that empowers students to become 21st century energy leaders. Participants will engage in a climate action simulation as different stakeholder groups and explore how their decision impact global temperature change, as well as the social impacts of these actions.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to use the climate action simulation to engage their students in understanding climate action from an individual and global perspective.

SPEAKERS:
Gillian Roehrig

Dive into Earth's climate history through the lens of paleoclimatology and proxy data in this hands-on workshop designed for middle and high school STEM educators. Participants will explore evidence of climate change while engaging in authentic explorations of data, engineering design challenges, and strategies for sharing scientific thinking that will easily translate to a variety of classroom settings. We will model oxygen isotope fluctuation, simulate ice core extraction, engineer solutions for core transport, and synthesize data from a wide range of sources to build a compelling case about Earth's past climates and the current rate of climate change. With skills developed in this workshop, educators will help students understand that scientific claims become stronger when supported by multiple lines of evidence, just as no single piece of evidence proves a case in a courtroom, the convergence of many climate indicators provides confidence in our understanding of climate history.

TAKEAWAYS:
Explore how scientists develop an understanding of prehistoric and modern climate change by analyzing proxy data from multiple sources in a hands-on, interactive workshop for middle and high school STEM educators.

SPEAKERS:
Stephen Kos, Sarah Slack

NSTA has revised and updated its position 2018 position statement on climate science, strengthening its commitment to high quality education on the teaching of the science of climate change. This presentation outlines the changes to the position statement and the rationale for the changes.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will become equipped with the rationale and tools necessary for teaching the science of climate change, as well as the talking points necessary for engaging with the range of constituencies that have voice in or impact upon science education in general.

SPEAKERS:
Eric Pyle

Do you value helping kids engage more deeply with the wonder of our world AND each other? Do you want to build deeper relationships with your students through your content? Do you want to draw students into the start of a unit about where water can be found on Earth? If you answer yes, come explore a routine you can use to help you do all that! Participants will experience a noticing, wondering, and connections routine designed to launch a unit for 2-ESS2-3 Earth's Systems. "Obtain information to identify where water is found on Earth, and that it can be solid or liquid." This routine will help your students access prior knowledge and lived experience that gets them talking with other students and with you. You will leave with scripts and templates to help you use this routine in your classroom. We will also share how to use this routine to launch other units, regardless of whether you have a curriculum or not.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn about a noticing, wondering, and connections routine used to launch a unit for 2-ESS2-3: Obtain information to identify where water is found on Earth. This engaging routine will help your students share prior knowledge and experiences and get them talking with other students and you.

SPEAKERS:
Joel Donna

How can weather data help 3rd graders think like scientists? Both place-based and project-based instruction have been shown to increase students’ motivation for learning science and their acquisition of science concepts and practices in ways that support all learners through local context. Additionally, in their 2024 statement, NSTA called for educators in all disciplines to scaffold students’ experiences with data and integrate data with disciplinary lessons. This session will provide an overview of work a group of elementary educators did to engage students across multiple districts in collecting and compiling weather data from their local places over a school year. Presenters will share specific examples of how they helped students use the data by developing place-based, project-based learning opportunities aligned to NGSS standards. Challenges encountered along the way will be discussed, as well as how the team worked to overcome those challenges and ideas for next steps.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn about potential ways to engage elementary learners in place-based projects that utilize student-collected weather data, encourage collaboration, and foster scientific thinking. They’ll hear about some challenges this team of educators faced and how they worked to overcome them.

SPEAKERS:
Kelli Petrick, Rebecca Qualm, Andrea Hayden

Since late 1990s, scientists have increasingly expressed alarm about the increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere induced by anthropogenic impact. In its "State of the Global Climate 2024" report (March 2025), the World Meteorological Organization has expressed concern that record greenhouse gas concentrations and other factors led to record heat and rising sea levels in 2024. In its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all the United Nations members in 2015, the UN department of Economic & Social Affairs shared a blueprint. "SDG 13: Climate Action: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts" is one these Sustainable Development Goals. In this workshop, attendees will learn to use the En-Roads Climate Solutions Simulator (co-developed by Climate Interactive and MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative) work on strategies to test their approaches on global temperatures in real time, and take it back to their classroom to empower their students.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this interactive workshop, educators will learn about climate change mitigation strategies, how to use En-Roads Climate Simulator, see the impact of suggested changes in real time, and walk away with renewed confidence on empowering students to find solutions to climate change.

SPEAKERS:
Rama Devagupta

Localized climate change learning positively impacts students’ climate change knowledge and their sense of agency. Designing a localized climate curriculum can be challenging. Participants in this workshop will get to know an NGSS-aligned climate change unit storyline and curriculum materials designed for teachers to localize. These materials were developed for teachers to create a local anchoring phenomenon to motivate the unit and a local culminating task at the closure of the unit. Participants will use design tools to start planning their own localized unit for their students and community. These tools make storyline lesson design accessible as participants outline a local anchoring phenomenon and generate ideas for a local culminating task. Participants will break into small groups to do focused design work together. All materials and design tools are freely available to participants for use beyond the workshop.

TAKEAWAYS:
Localized climate change learning is impactful for students. Existing curriculum and design tools can help teachers create localized climate change learning experiences to make learning meaningful and consequential to students.

SPEAKERS:
Candice Guy-Gaytán, Lindsey Mohan

Without local data it is impossible to fully understand community environmental and climate problems and their effects on different groups. Attendees will explore different environmental and climate data sets and learn how to use these with students to create well-informed solutions.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participatory methods for collecting and acting upon environmental and climate data is more important now than ever, yet students are not taught about this data or how to use it. Throughout the workshop, resources and examples for supporting youth in collecting and using data to create real community will be shared.

SPEAKERS:
Kelsie Fowler, Deb Morrison

Looking for an engaging way to bring climate education to life? Join this session to learn how New York City Public Schools launched Climate Action Days—four themed days each year that inspire creativity, learning, and sustainability across school communities. Designed for educators and school leaders, this workshop will explore how Climate Action Days were developed, how they’ve been supported citywide, and how you can adapt the model for your own district. Whether you’re just beginning your climate education journey or looking to expand current efforts, this session offers a flexible, community-driven approach to meaningful action. We’ll share ready-to-use resources, reflect on impact, and brainstorm ideas tailored to your students and context.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators and school leaders will explore how to bring Climate Action Days to life in their own communities, using NYC’s model to spark student engagement, creativity, and climate action.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Slack

What happens when students lead global climate and biodiversity education? In this session, discover how high school students created the National Biodiversity Teach-In, a student-run webinar series reaching 120,000+ participants in over 40 countries. Aligned with the NGSS and the Framework’s vision of student agency, this project empowers students to investigate real-world environmental issues, collaborate with scientists, and produce professional-level public outreach. Students manage logistics, interview scientists, co-create presentations on topics like Arctic warming and plastic pollution, and inspire local and global action. The model fosters 3D learning, civic engagement, and sustainability literacy. Attendees will explore classroom strategies, student artifacts, and ready-to-use resources to launch similar programs in their own schools amplifying youth voices in climate and biodiversity education.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how students can lead powerful, real-world climate and biodiversity education by organizing global webinars with scientists. Walk away with tools, resources, and inspiration to launch student-driven initiatives that foster agency, 3D learning, and sustainability action.

SPEAKERS:
Frankie Valenzia, Vincent Fosco, Brittney Mallen, Deborah McMullen

"Teek and Tom Explore Planet Earth", investigates the relationship between the ocean, weather and climate on global to local scales. This workshop introduces ten hands-on activities for upper ES and MS students to reinforce Earth science concepts related to oceanography, meteorology and climate. The short videos provide a spark of interest and briefly introduce the main focus of further investigation. They are intended to be used with classroom activities that provide learning strategies to translate complex earth science interactions into a format that is understandable to upper elementary and middle school students. The educator guides focus on up-to-date graphs, visualizations, hands-on labs and data that will help students understand the concepts and to engage in sense-making through-out the lessons. The main focus of each lesson was developed by a teacher team who provided guidance and advice on the best ways to help student understanding of Earth, atmosphere, and ocean systems.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will sample the range of activities that incorporate graphing, data analysis, visualizations and sense-making to introduce Earth/atmosphere/climate connections on local and global scales.

SPEAKERS:
Peggy Steffen

Climate change education is impactful when students can see themselves as part of the solution. Global Warning is a cooperative and competitive board game designed to immerse players in the challenges of climate action, requiring both collaboration and strategic decision-making to avoid global disaster. We conducted a classroom-based study with post-secondary students to evaluate the game’s educational impact. Students who played Global Warning showed a measurable shift in their perceptions of climate change as an immediate and existential threat, increased the range of actionable solutions they identified, and demonstrated greater critical thinking about sustainability challenges. In this speed session, we will briefly introduce the gameplay structure, summarize our research findings, and share practical strategies for using climate-themed board games to foster systems thinking, agency, and deeper engagement among high school and college-aged students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Playing Global Warning can meaningfully shift students’ perceptions of climate change, broaden their understanding of actionable solutions, and foster critical thinking and agency, making it a powerful tool for high school and post-secondary climate education.

SPEAKERS:
Peter White

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that increases global warming. Agriculture is the top source of methane emissions, and enteric methane production from livestock accounts for a significant amount of agricultural methane. The objective of this study is to identify plants that could be added as feed additives in a cow’s diet to reduce enteric methane emissions. There is an effect on methane emissions with plants containing compounds like lipids, polyphenols, and tannins. One part of the study was running in vitro trials to determine how much total gas and methane is produced. The other part was running sequential fibers to determine the digestibility of these plants. We found that some plants reduce methane production, and others do not. White willow and peanut skins were the most effective in reducing enteric methane. With further testing and trials, the most effective plants in this in vitro study could be used as dietary supplements and help reduce methane emissions from dairy.

TAKEAWAYS:
The aim of this presentation is to discuss the issue of methane emissions from enteric fermentation process of dairy animals and discuss ways to reduce them through dietary supplements and feed additives made from locally available plant sources. These supplements also help keep the animals healthy.

SPEAKERS:
Ivanka Sonkusare

Explore a COP30 teaching guide designed to help educators bring real-world climate discussions into the classroom. Aligned with the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this guide features NGSS aligned science lessons and resources. Attendees can preview classroom-ready activities and scan QR codes to access the full lessons and complete guide.

TAKEAWAYS:
This poster introduces a COP30 teaching guide (still being developed) that connects real-world climate topics with NGSS and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, giving educators immediate access to engaging, standards-aligned lessons, resources, and teaching tips.

SPEAKERS:
Benjamin Charles

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

Teachers have expressed a desire to incorporate authentic climate data into their curricula, but struggle to find accessible and meaningful datasets that can be easily integrated into modern teaching practices. In response to this problem, climate scientists and instructional specialists from the University of Colorado Boulder have collaborated to create "Data Puzzles", a free resource that utilizes instructional practices as outlined by Ambitious Science Teaching (AST) to engage students in data analysis in the context of important scientific research. Data Puzzles challenge students to analyze and interpret climate datasets to construct explanatory models for important questions like, "What is causing the megadrought in the Colorado River Basin?” and "Why might the Arctic be warming faster than. the rest of the world?".

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be introduced with AST practices and authentic climate datasets in the context of the Data Puzzle resources.

SPEAKERS:
Jonathan Griffith

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that increases global warming. Agriculture is the top source of methane emissions, and enteric methane production from livestock accounts for a significant amount of agricultural methane. The objective of this study is to identify plants that could be added as feed additives in a cow’s diet to reduce enteric methane emissions. There is an effect on methane emissions with plants containing compounds like lipids, polyphenols, and tannins. One part of the study was running in vitro trials to determine how much total gas and methane is produced. The other part was running sequential fibers to determine the digestibility of these plants. We found that some plants reduce methane production, and others do not. White willow and peanut skins were the most effective in reducing enteric methane. With further testing and trials, the most effective plants in this in vitro study could be used as dietary supplements and help reduce methane emissions from dairy.

TAKEAWAYS:
The aim of this presentation is to discuss the issue of methane emissions from enteric fermentation process of dairy animals and discuss ways to reduce them through dietary supplements and feed additives made from locally available plant sources. These supplements also help keep the animals healthy.

SPEAKERS:
Ivanka Sonkusare

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Missie Olson

This poster session shows an implementation of virtual reality experiences that connect middle school students with water challenges issues. The display features step-by-step guidance for classroom VR integration, including budget-friendly alternatives and essential setup requirements. Visual aids illustrate our curriculum alignment strategy, student safety protocols, and documented engagement outcomes. Attendees can collect ready-to-use resources, including lesson sequences, troubleshooting guides, and student reflection templates. The showcase includes pre-lesson preparation steps and post-VR activities reinforcing environmental stewardship concepts. Stop by to explore practical solutions for bringing immersive water conservation education to your classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Experience how virtual reality transforms middle school water conservation education by immersing students in applicable challenges, leading to deeper environmental understanding and actionable solutions—all with practical, budget-conscious implementation strategies.

SPEAKERS:
Yujiro Fujiwara, Constance Leung

Understanding how to constructively respond to the diverse emotions youth express and experience as they engage in climate learning is essential work for educators. We will explore approaches for responding to youths’ eco-emotions, and how these can help students make better sense of the world.

TAKEAWAYS:
Climate anxiety is a sign of the times. This session gives attendees conceptual ideas as well as practical instructional activities to engage and channel student’s emotions. We will model teaching strategies and how to use students’ eco-emotions for furthering their scientific thinking and action.

SPEAKERS:
Kelsie Fowler, Deb Morrison

UNCW's MarineQuest program has been working with students of all ages for over 45 years, immersing them in relevant marine science experiences both in the lab and out in the field. During this exciting workshop, participants will join the MarineQuest team to explore innovative ways to engage students in water quality investigations with a focus on salinity science. Before things get messy, participants will discover an online treasure trove of water quality data from estuarine reserves around the country and use the system to automatically generate graphs to evaluate current and historic data trends and visualize the impacts of hurricanes on ecosystem health. Participants will then learn how to engage their students with hands-on investigations by utilizing sensor technology to carry out several salinity-based experiments, emphasizing water quality, the global water crisis, and climate science. Don’t miss out on this thrilling workshop, it is your DENSITY, I mean destiny!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will come away with a better understanding of the tools, technology, and engaging hands-on investigations available to increase salinity-based water quality comprehension and climate literacy for students in upper elementary-high school classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Erin Moran, Harris Muhlstein

Engaging place-based Midwest-centered storylines are presented that allow students to develop a deep understanding of up-to-date, research-driven climate science and how it relates to their home communities. For example, the timing of the settling of Midwestern states was directly result impacted by global and regional climate changes that included the Little Ice Age (creating a demand for animal furs for coats and hats) and the giant 1815 eruption of the Indonesian volcano Tambora (which caused the famines of the “year without a summer” and drove large numbers of easterners westward into the Midwest. Examining regional Midwest geology (such as glacial deposits and bedrock limestone layers) can foster student sensemaking of the cycles of climate change that can occur on longer time scales. Analyzing the evidence of past climate changes and its impacts on humans and other life will help students carry out the processes of sensemaking to better understand current climate trends.

TAKEAWAYS:
Students effectively develop sensemaking of NGSS performance expectations concerning weather and climate using place-based storylines anchored by Midwest regional phenomena. Instructors will leave with multiple ideas for incorporating the latest climate science into their classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Michael Wysession

Sponsoring Company: Adventerra Games

Come play unique environmental board games with other teachers and discuss best practices to engage students. Potential discussion topics: • How students in all grade bands (PreK-12) respond to our eco games • Ways educators have used Adventerra’s games and puzzles to: a) fit environmental concepts into a tight schedule; b) fit a curriculum by linking a game to the NGSS core ideas (content), science and engineering practices, and cross-cutting concepts; c) teach environmental literacy • Teacher-support materials to dig further into the topics explored in our games • Modifications for students’ support. Expert educators will also share research on the efficacy of games to teach environmental concepts in a fun, efficient way that “sticks.” Learn how to help with future research projects to develop eco games that are useful in classrooms! Enter our raffle to win a free game or puzzle, with three lucky winners!

SPEAKERS:
Bryan Mundell, Cynthia Crockett, Sue Mundell, Ruthie Mundell

In this session, participants will engage in a localized climate change storyline unit designed for Minnesota high school students. The storyline unit is anchored in the phenomenon of wild rice decline and struggles with wild rice production in the state. Participants will experience, in student hat, the anchoring phenomenon. They will also preview the full localized storyline for the unit. This includes a local culminating task with students investigating wild rice restoration strategies with the option of implementing a wild rice restoration project. Participants will have access to a set of curriculum materials to implement in their classrooms and resources to create their own localized climate change storyline units.

TAKEAWAYS:
One way to make climate change learning relevant for students is to anchor learning in local issues and solutions. This session shares an example of a locally meaningful learning experience for Minnesota students.

SPEAKERS:
Candice Guy-Gaytán, Carmen Gavin Vanegas, Lindsey Mohan

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

Forest and energy topics add up to powerful climate learning opportunities for students! Learn how solar energy, building efficiency, carbon cycling, urban tree canopy and sustainable forest management lessons work together to help students make sense of the big picture of climate change, while also addressing MS NGSS Performance Expectations for Matter and Energy, Human Impact, and Earth’s Systems. We will use the green space around the Convention Center for hands-on activities, modeling how school grounds in any setting, even dense urban settings, can be used to give ALL students outdoor education experiences. We will also explore how the issue of equitable access to renewable energy sources, healthy buildings and green spaces help students understand climate justice. This session will give participants practice with free and easily accessible ready-to-use lessons and activities that are connected to standards and include assessment strategies.

TAKEAWAYS:
Climate change offers a powerful lens for helping students make sense of NGSS standards for Matter and Energy, Human Impact, and Earth’s Systems in an interconnected and relevant way, while also addressing environmental justice issues and giving ALL students hands-on experiences outdoors.

SPEAKERS:
Wendy Stelzer, Stephen Schmidt

This interactive 120-minute workshop invites educators to explore how Hip Hop culture can be a powerful tool for climate justice education. Participants will examine the limitations of standardized curricula and consider how core elements of Hip Hop, such as lyricism, beatmaking, cyphering, storytelling, and social critique, can transform science learning into culturally relevant, creative inquiry. The session features a curated playlist of artists whose work explores ecological and justice-centered themes, including Mos Def, Bad Bunny, Prince Ea, Malik Yusef, will.i.am, Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, and Climbing PoeTree. Participants will engage in hands-on activities such as constructing scientific arguments through rap battles, using AI tools to generate backbeats, and designing eco-graffiti inspired by local climate issues. Attendees will leave with NGSS-aligned lesson ideas, a climate justice playlist, and strategies to help students use both science and art to advocate for a sustainable

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore how to fuse Hip Hop, science literacy, and spoken word as culturally responsive practices to engage in a critical evaluation of climate science mindsets, elaborate through environmental justice dialogue, and amplify student voice through creative experimentation.

SPEAKERS:
José Morales Collazo, Kelly Thelen

The word Phenomena is used 276 times in the current MN Science Standards. NGSS emphasizes that students need to be able to observe, explain, and interpret phenomena. Nature provides limitless opportunities for students to observe phenomena and pursue authentic investigations to help explain and interpret that phenomena, yet very few teachers feel comfortable teaching their students outside. After a brief review of fundamentals in classroom management for teaching students outdoors, we will dive into how to structure authentic, nature-based science investigations even in the hard scape of an urban environment. Teachers will learn how to prepare their students for authentic, outdoor, nature-based investigations, and will weave culturally responsive teaching techniques throughout their outdoor teaching practice.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn how to prepare their students for authentic, outdoor, nature-based investigations - even within the hard scape of an urban environment. We will weave culturally responsive teaching techniques throughout our outdoor teaching practice. You will spend most of the time outdoors.

SPEAKERS:
Josh Leonard

Learn about making art as a way of understanding and engaging climate and environmental justice issues happening in our world today. We will engage the current science related to climate change and produce art to creatively explore and communicate just responses.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will come away understanding of how climate science can be engaged and represented through various artistic forms—and the pedagogical power of art pedagogy. People will use supplies in this workshop to make their own creations during the session.

SPEAKERS:
Nancy Price, Philip Bell

Uncertainty in science is ever present but often feared by teachers, students, and even the public. This fear often prevents the inclusion of messy, uncertain data in the classroom, even though it reflects real science that all students use to make decisions. It is important for all students to grapple with and make sense of data like this to build tenacity, awareness, and critical thinking, while engaging in SEPs and CCCs like stability and change. For climate science, it’s important to help interpret big data and connect human impacts, Earth’s systems, and uncertainty in models. In this session, a teacher-researcher team shares how they brought big, messy, uncertain climate model data into a high school classroom supporting learners. Attendees will experience the activities as learners, engaging with data and framing presented to students. They will compare their thinking with student responses and collaborate ways to bring messy data into their classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will explore an example case providing access points to messy, uncertain data and consider practices to support all students’ engagement and perseverance with the data. They will leave with ideas to help students engage authentically with climate data that balances student accessibility.

SPEAKERS:
Martha Inouye, Chelsea Lund

Come explore ways to engage students in community centered collaborative climate action now and on into the future. This workshop will engage participants in frank conversations about avoiding indoctrination, designing for varied forms of action, and building community collaborations.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will gain skills in how to weave different forms of climate action into their current learning resources as well as design new lessons that center locally contextualized and appropriate collective action efforts; such work can be framed for the goals of any educational environment.

SPEAKERS:
Lindsey Kirkland, Deb Morrison

An introductory overview of key topics in polar science, such as descriptions of the Antarctic and Greenland Ice Sheets, the ice albedo feedback mechanism, sea ice trends in the Arctic and Antarctic, and climate data focusing on ice cores. An example cut plan for ice cores will be used to show how ice core scientists investigate specific physical and chemical properties of the core, including the air bubbles trapped within, to understand past climate. We will examine the direct and proxy paleoclimate measurements we can make using ice cores, with a focus on measuring gas concentrations and performing isotope analysis, as well as looking at dust and volcanic ash present in the ice. The session will help educators form a clearer picture of the motivations behind the Center for Oldest Ice Exploration (COLDEX) scientific goals. Additionally, an overview of teacher professional development opportunities on weather and climate with the American Meteorological Society will be discussed.

TAKEAWAYS:
This presentation will help educators understand the role of ice core analysis in telling the story of how Earth’s climate has changed over time, including what it was like before human impacts.

SPEAKERS:
Brooks Binau

STEM educators who recently traveled to Norway, which boasts the world’s highest adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), will share what they learned by modeling an activity in which students examine the complex EV “ecosystem” through the lens of sustainability. Students explore the pros and cons of the many facets of this energy system including the mining of raw materials for batteries, manufacturing and recycling of batteries, driving of EVs, and building of new electric infrastructure like charging stations. This activity will help students gain a deeper appreciation of the nuances involved in evaluating technological solutions to today’s environmental challenges and enable students to critically evaluate the zero in “zero” emissions vehicles.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be guided through an activity that invites students to explore the economical, environmental, and social impacts of an EV ecosystem and in the process learn a framework for evaluating the sustainability of low carbon solutions that address climate change.

SPEAKERS:
Peggy Weinhoeft-Renfro, Dana Haine

In today’s rapidly changing world, integrating innovation and sustainability into science education is more important than ever. This session will showcase effective strategies for embedding sustainability into STEAM programs through project-based learning and student-led research. With our nationally recognized, award-winning initiatives like an AI-powered hydroponic garden program, student-led local forest research on climate change, and a weather station tracking air quality, we will explore how schools can equip students to lead as changemakers and innovators in sustainability. Practical strategies, effective resources, and inspiring examples will help educators launch impactful, student-centered sustainability programs in their schools and support leaders in cultivating a new generation of changemakers through innovative STEAM education.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn practical strategies to integrate sustainability into STEAM education through hands-on, student-led projects that support innovation, real-world problem solving, and leadership in environmental stewardship.

SPEAKERS:
Jennifer Garetto, Donna Zagotta, Kenny Bae

This session explores practical strategies for integrating culturally relevant teaching, scientific inquiry, and data literacy into a unit storyline. Participants will learn how to design inquiry-based and discussion-based lessons that connect with students' cultural backgrounds and lived experiences, fostering a deeper level of understanding and relevance for our students. This session will highlight real-world examples where students investigate the scientific research that their teacher completed and community-centered issues through interpreting scientific articles and authentic data sets. Attendees will leave with adaptable tools, lesson frameworks, and resources to create equitable and engaging science classroom experiences that empower our students to be critical thinkers and informed citizens.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session will explore how to engage students in inquiry, data literacy, Indigenous perspectives, and how to apply cultural relevancy to situations occurring in other areas of the world.

SPEAKERS:
Claire Gunder, Rachel Rigenhagen

Anxiety is at record high levels among students and can significantly interfere with academic functioning. Students are particularly vulnerable to experience anxiety when learning about topics that give rise to thoughts about unpredictability and uncertainty. Student anxiety is an issue faced by most science educators, especially when teaching about anxiety-producing topics such as climate change. Anxiety may make it difficult for children and adolescents to engage in learning without excessive worry, rumination or avoidance. They may avoid topics that are reminders of problems without complete solutions. Incorporating perspectives from psychologists, educators and students, this session will address the following questions: 1) How can student anxiety interfere in science learning? 2) How can brief, anxiety reducing strategies be integrated in the classroom to facilitate learning and engagement? Methods will be presented that can decrease anxiety and optimize learning for all.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn evidence-based strategies for decreasing student anxiety to facilitate engagement and learning about topics such as climate change.

SPEAKERS:
Molly Otis, Ava Guiney, Julia Skabeev, Dr. Donna Pincus, Delia Comer

Climate Science: How, as a teacher, do you equip students to break through pervasive rhetoric and misinformation? This session presents one teacher’s foray into answering this question. Using frameworks of place-based learning, project-based learning, and design thinking, middle-school student-scientists used data to explore questions around their local climate and connections to their community (ESS2.D, ESS3.D). Students generated and revised hypotheses, researched background information, and gathered and analyzed local data. Finally, students shared their findings by creating virtual field trips to explain their understanding. Interactive elements like images, voice-overs, and videos gave students of all levels the ability to independently share their process and conclusions, honing their skills as researchers, data analysts, and science communicators - often with observable learning gains. Come hear about Climate in My Backyard and learn how to facilitate it in your classroom!

TAKEAWAYS:
Explore Climate in My Backyard! In this activity, students learn to define a research topic and to gather and investigate relevant data. Most importantly, they become the teachers and share their findings. CIMB promotes agentic learning and develops critical thinking and data analysis skills.

SPEAKERS:
Sherri Calhoun, Rachel Wolf

This session presents the Highlight and Reflect strategy as a quick and equitable tool for teaching climate science in South Carolina 8th grade classrooms. After a 3D-aligned quick check, students use the strategy to indicate their confidence, giving teachers real-time insight into understanding. This data is used to form small groups for differentiated instruction. While this session highlights South Carolina-specific examples and standards, the Highlight and Reflect strategy and accompanying resources are adaptable for use in classrooms across all states. Participants will explore how this approach fosters metacognition, identifies climate misconceptions, and connects students to local environmental issues. Equity is built in by amplifying student voice and supporting culturally responsive grouping.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will leave with ready-to-use templates, activity ideas, and examples of how this strategy enhances climate literacy and sustainability instruction through meaningful, student-centered learning.

SPEAKERS:
Mikaela Schaller

This session will introduce participants to NSTA’s Elementary climate science lessons designed using our Sensemaking approach. Investigating engaging and relevant climate phenomena drives student learning and inspires them to examine critical climate issues in their own communities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Climate phenomenon-driven, three-dimensional lessons and units provide students with opportunities to actively try to figure out how the world works or design solutions to problems (sensemaking).

SPEAKERS:
Emily Mathews, Kerri Wingert

The Authentic Research Experiences for Teachers @ LTERs (ARETS) is a multi-year research experience for middle and high school STEM teachers at three different ecological sites. Participants engage in ecology-focused field and lab research experiences and a combination of virtual and in-person professional learning with the goal of developing their science content knowledge, practical science skills, and data literacy skills. This session discusses the data literacy strategies and practices teachers utilized in the development of lesson plans following two years in the program in which they engaged in multiple data literacy learning opportunities. Specific elements of data literacy taught in three specific trainings and how teachers incorporated these into their lesson plans were examined using a case study research approach.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session will provide insight on which data literacy skills, strategies, and practices have been used by teachers to incorporate data literacy into their lesson plans and science teaching practice.

SPEAKERS:
Amanda Morrison

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that increases global warming. Agriculture is the top source of methane emissions, and enteric methane production from livestock accounts for a significant amount of agricultural methane. The objective of this study is to identify plants that could be added as feed additives in a cow’s diet to reduce enteric methane emissions. There is an effect on methane emissions with plants containing compounds like lipids, polyphenols, and tannins. One part of the study was running in vitro trials to determine how much total gas and methane is produced. The other part was running sequential fibers to determine the digestibility of these plants. We found that some plants reduce methane production, and others do not. White willow and peanut skins were the most effective in reducing enteric methane. With further testing and trials, the most effective plants in this in vitro study could be used as dietary supplements and help reduce methane emissions from dairy.

TAKEAWAYS:
The aim of this presentation is to discuss the issue of methane emissions from enteric fermentation process of dairy animals and discuss ways to reduce them through dietary supplements and feed additives made from locally available plant sources. These supplements also help keep the animals healthy.

SPEAKERS:
Ivanka Sonkusare

With growing emphasis on relevance in science education and alignment with the NGSS, systems thinking offers a powerful lens for exploring climate change, sustainability, and environmental challenges. This session reframes systems thinking not as an additional task, but as an essential strategy for supporting 3D learning and helping students understand the complexity of real-world phenomena. By helping students explore the underlying causes of complex environmental issues, this approach supports instruction that builds climate literacy and empowers learners to think critically about long-term impacts and potential solutions.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how systems thinking can be used to support 3D instruction that deepens students’ understanding of climate and sustainability issues by helping them uncover root causes, explore complex relationships, and connect local actions to global impacts.

SPEAKERS:
Azka Kiran

The goal of this program is to engage students in grades K-8 with hands-on experiences that focus on sustainable design. Students will learn about urban planning, fashion and climate change, ecological footprints, and waste audits. The curriculum is ready-made for teachers to implement within their classroom if they wish to provide this experience for students during the summer or even throughout the school year as a stand alone unit of study. We understand the demanding workload that educators often must bear on a daily basis. This program aims to alleviate that pressure by providing teachers with fully developed and ready to use lesson plans. Each lesson also includes detailed instruction for implementation, suggested prep-work, and potential adjustments. The curriculum itself provides lesson plans for Monday through Wednesday along with a recommended experiential learning opportunity (field day) on Thursdays.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will be provided with access to the "Energy & Climate for Every Classroom" curriculum which they can use to implement into their classrooms. The curriculum contains lesson plans, recommended prep-work, suggested climate action field days, and potential adjustments.

SPEAKERS:
Sean McFadden, Annycardeli Lopez

This session will introduce participants to NSTA’s Secondary climate science lessons designed using our Sensemaking approach. Investigating engaging and relevant climate phenomena drives student learning and inspires them to examine critical climate issues in their own communities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Climate phenomenon-driven, three-dimensional lessons, and units provide students with opportunities to actively try to figure out how the world works or design solutions to problems (sensemaking).

SPEAKERS:
Patrice Scinta, Kerri Wingert

Are you interested in teaching about climate change, sustainability or the environment? Come explore open educational resources and design practices from a variety of organizations with expertise in these areas! These include professional learning, curriculum, and pedagogical resources!

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be able to interact with experts in climate change and sustainability instruction and walk away with free resources and design advice to support their own teaching practice.

SPEAKERS:
Deb Morrison, Nancy Price, Kelsie Fowler, Philip Bell

In this session, attendees will explore how scaffolded Data Puzzles resources can be used to enhance student sensemaking of Earth & Life science phenomena. Data Puzzles are concise 3-day lesson sets that combine real-world data with data sensemaking practices to support students explore and explain science phenomena. Participants will first engage with a structured Data Puzzle lesson, which ends with question generation of next steps. Participants will then use their questions to transition to open-ended data investigations using newly developed Puzzle Piece resources around large, secondary datasets in the web-based tool CODAP. Through hands-on activities and collaborative discussions, attendees will gain practical strategies for supporting students' data sensemaking skills from structured lessons to open-ended exploration, empowering them to embrace uncertainty, ask deeper questions, and authentically participate in scientific inquiry.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how data sensemaking strategies in Data Puzzle lessons support students in structured data analysis, and how these practical strategies can scaffold students to do more open-ended, grade-band aligned investigations.

SPEAKERS:
Jonathan Griffith

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that increases global warming. Agriculture is the top source of methane emissions, and enteric methane production from livestock accounts for a significant amount of agricultural methane. The objective of this study is to identify plants that could be added as feed additives in a cow’s diet to reduce enteric methane emissions. There is an effect on methane emissions with plants containing compounds like lipids, polyphenols, and tannins. One part of the study was running in vitro trials to determine how much total gas and methane is produced. The other part was running sequential fibers to determine the digestibility of these plants. We found that some plants reduce methane production, and others do not. White willow and peanut skins were the most effective in reducing enteric methane. With further testing and trials, the most effective plants in this in vitro study could be used as dietary supplements and help reduce methane emissions from dairy.

TAKEAWAYS:
The aim of this presentation is to discuss the issue of methane emissions from enteric fermentation process of dairy animals and discuss ways to reduce them through dietary supplements and feed additives made from locally available plant sources. These supplements also help keep the animals healthy.

SPEAKERS:
Ivanka Sonkusare

Help your students connect science learning to the real-world environmental challenges facing their local communities with the Watershed Game. In this hands-on workshop, you'll play a large-format game that engages students in solving complex issues around water quality, land use, and flood resilience, bringing environmental science to life. The game aligns with NGSS and state-specific standards and is available free for loan. Designed for middle and high school classrooms, the Watershed Game allows students to take on the roles of community leaders and use prevention tools, practices, and policies to reduce water pollution and increase flood resilience while considering equity. Supportive lesson plans and teacher support materials will allow you to explore local environmental challenges, and engage students in local stewardship and citizen science projects. Participants will leave ready to play the Watershed Game with their classrooms and engage students in their local watershed.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave this session with a deep understanding of how the Watershed Game works, how it fosters STEM and encourages local watershed stewardship, and how to integrate it into science and interdisciplinary curricula for middle and high school students.

SPEAKERS:
Tina Miller-Way, Maggie Karschnia

Utilize argument-driven scaffolds for Earth and environmental science topics to critically evaluate connections between evidence and alternative scientific explanations with model-evidence link (MEL) diagrams, constructing deeper student understanding of socio-scientific issues.

TAKEAWAYS:
An introduction to MEL instructional scaffolds designed to assist learners as they construct arguments to evaluate the plausibility of evidence connected to models and the research base that supports using these scaffolds. Participants receive access to all instructional materials and guides.

SPEAKERS:
Lorraine Ramirez Villarin, Chantelle Renaud-Grant, Donna Governor

We will share a multi-faceted instructional model for assessing climate literacy through stories and science that disarm defenses, challenge assumptions, and motivate change. Innovative and research-based, the model can be adapted for use as a curriculum-embedded interim or formative assessment or a performance-based learning evaluation to enhance student engagement with critical topics related to climate change and to assess their understanding of them. An assessment template will be shared, explaining ways to teach climate science through the lens of fictional narrative. Templates follow a seven-part approach that includes the following focus areas: Part One: Narrative Contexts Part Two: Data Connections Part Three: Self-Reflection/Perspective Part Four: Literary Focus Part Five: Exploring Predictive Data Part Six: Investigating and Evaluating Solutions Part Seven: Performance-based Culminating Task

TAKEAWAYS:
Sharing an interdisciplinary approach for fostering climate literacy, we consider the important role of storytelling in educating young people about scientific phenomena related to climate change. Participants will be invited to pilot an adaptable resource.

SPEAKERS:
Mary-Alice Corliss, Mary Kate Clauson, Rebecca Young

What if your next great science lesson started at the drain? We flush toilets and send dirty water down the drain all the time, but what happens next is often a mystery. This session uncovers the surprising value in wastewater and how its treatment has evolved from basic sanitation to resource recovery. Explore how today’s Water Resource Recovery Facilities reclaim water, nutrients, and energy—turning waste into resources and challenges into solutions. A free, virtual tour of Duluth’s Resource Renew facility will be shared as a tool for place-based learning, allowing students to explore real-world science regardless of location. Educators will be encouraged to compare this facility with their own local systems, deepening connections to their communities. Aligned with the Disciplinary Core Idea Human Impacts on Earth Systems, this session emphasizes responsible resource management and the role of science and engineering in building a sustainable future.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will be introduced to a free virtual tour of Duluth’s Water Resource Recovery Facility—an accessible alternative to field trips. A student guide and follow-up classroom activities are included to support curriculum integration and independent exploration.

SPEAKERS:
Erik Johnson

The concepts covered in a general chemistry II course are designed to teach students concepts applicable to future chemical studies. However, these seemingly disconnected concepts can be frustrating and confusing for students without understanding how they are relevant in a real-world situation. This presentation will discuss the use of ocean acidification (OA) as an over-arching research project designed to tie concepts discussed in general chemistry II course to a current environmental issue. Using case studies, guided inquiry experimentation, scientific literature, and real-world data, students will learn how chemical equilibrium, acid/base chemistry, solubility, and other concepts addressed in general chemistry apply to the study of OA. This presentation will provide educators with resources on OA and an example of utilizing them in the general chemistry classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to incorporate ocean acidification, a climate change topic, into a post-secondary general chemistry course by linking it to content already discussed in the course.

SPEAKERS:
Catherine Haslag

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

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Ben Koo

Explore an NGSS-aligned, phenomenon-based curriculum designed to prepare students for evaluating the science behind the H2 Innovation Experience—a first-of-its-kind, working renewable hydrogen microgrid in Southern California. This flexible, adaptable curriculum helps students understand clean hydrogen energy through engaging lessons focused on energy transformations, chemical reactions, and climate solutions. Whether students attend the tour in person or engage virtually, they explore and apply science and engineering practices through multimedia, experiments, interactive activities, and real-world data. This session highlights how digital tools and local STEM infrastructure can empower students to critically engage with climate and energy solutions—wherever they are.

TAKEAWAYS:
This NGSS-aligned curriculum rooted in real-world clean energy projects—like the H2 Innovation Experience—can empower students to engage deeply with complex energy systems and envision their role in building a sustainable future for themselves and their community through hydrogen technology.

SPEAKERS:
Cassie Herndon