Science instruction is often deprioritized in many urban, low-resourced districts as literacy becomes the dominant focus. But every student, regardless of race, gender, or zip code, deserves access to meaningful, high-quality science learning. This session explores what happens when science is sidelined and why it must be brought back to the forefront. We’ll examine how integrating science with ELA strengthens literacy skills and deepens scientific understanding. Participants will explore national STEM data and patterns that reveal the broader global impact of limiting science access, and how equitable instruction can prepare students to thrive in an increasingly STEM-driven world.

TAKEAWAYS:
Every student—regardless of race, gender, or zip code—deserves high-quality science learning. Prioritizing science in urban, low-resourced schools and integrating it with ELA strengthens literacy, builds STEM understanding, and addresses global equity and workforce gaps.

SPEAKERS:
Tyrone McNichols, Nicole Williams, J Carrie Launius

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

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

This session invites participants to explore before, during, and after reading strategies and computational thinking opportunities to enhance sensemaking in the middle school science classroom. Attendees will construct an argument and make a claim based on evidence from an investigation and use writing strategies to strengthen their understanding while communicating scientific information.

TAKEAWAYS:
Leverage the science of reading and computational thinking strategies to boost sensemaking in science.

SPEAKERS:
Madison Weary, Dina Dormer

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Dennis Culver, Sara Nelson

How do we truly know what a student understands? In this interactive workshop, participants will engage from a student’s perspective as they experience a set of creative science questions that move beyond rote recall. These questions are crafted to deepen understanding, spark curiosity, and promote critical thinking. Participants will analyze question types—such as productive struggle prompts, error analysis, counterfactuals, and curiosity-builders—and learn how to embed them into any science lesson. This session is ideal for educators seeking ways to enhance formative assessment, differentiate instruction, and elevate student voice. Walk away with a toolkit of versatile question stems and strategies that help reveal what students really know.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to craft and use powerful science questions that deepen learning, promote critical thinking, and reveal student understanding.

SPEAKERS:
Jonte' Lee

What does it take to prioritize science instruction in an elementary system? Join the professional learning team from The Lawrence Hall of Science and fellow K-5 science educators to explore how one district made the shift from little-to-no science instruction for elementary students towards a burgeoning commitment to phenomena-based science teaching and learning for all. We will highlight three transformative leadership practices used by that district, and you will consider how to apply these same practices to build the capacity of teacher leaders and create the conditions for equitable opportunities for 3D phenomena-based science in your K-5 classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will take away ideas and next steps for enacting the three transformative practices related to instructional materials, instructional time, and professional learning, for use in their own classroom, school, or district context.

SPEAKERS:
Leslie Stenger, Rebecca Abbott

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Susan Codere

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Brittany Jones

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Shana Pyatt-Buckner

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Wenger, Wendy Towery-Stove

Join the NSTA PL committee for one or all of the interactive sessions in our Interdisciplinary Connections strand to explore the what, why and how of interdisciplinary science teaching and learning. Each session will engage participants in interactive experiences to solve problems or investigate phenomena using science while focusing on a particular pairing of interdisciplinary opportunities. In this session, you'll explore how engaging in purposeful ELA activities during a phenomenon-based lesson is essential to both figuring out phenomena in science and boosting literacy development! Participants will engage in a science learning sequence in which they read, write, listen and speak in authentic ways like scientists do and will discover how ELA can be leveraged and integrated into science instruction.

TAKEAWAYS:
Experience a model lesson and learn how to align ELA standards with authentic science practices like reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Discover how integrating purposeful ELA activities into phenomenon-based science boosts both literacy and science sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Rebecca Abbott, Rebecca Garelli, Jesse Wilcox, Erik Wade

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Join our interactive workshop where literacy meets exploration through the lens of the Science of Reading! Students engage in hands-on investigations, like testing magnets, to build knowledge and apply evidence-based literacy strategies. Leave with practical classroom resources to support reading development.

SPEAKERS:
Hoover Herrera

Calling all elementary school teachers! Join us for an engaging and enlightening workshop that explores the powerful intersection of science education and the Science of Reading initiatives. Discover how teaching science can support and enhance students' reading and writing abilities, creating a comprehensive approach that fosters academic achievement across disciplines.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will engage in hands-on activities, collaborative discussions, and reflective exercises to gain practical insights into the seamless integration of science education and the Science of Reading initiatives. They will receive valuable resources and lesson ideas that can be applied.

SPEAKERS:
Mike Larson

If you have done inquiry based learning you know that it can be challenging when students don’t seem to have any questions they want to investigate! The good news is that you can build and foster a classroom community that makes curiosity the default rather than something you have to manufacture. Whether they realize it or not, students want to understand the world around them, they just often don't think it's worth the work to actually do so. By creating a culture where questions are normal, expected, and encouraged, I'm able to push students to continue working towards content mastery rather than deciding they "know enough to pass the test". Strategies like question boxes, science hot seat, question stems, and others have been invaluable in bringing back the curiosity in my middle and high school students that is so inherently present in younger grades.

TAKEAWAYS:
Curiosity isn’t something that exists naturally in all groups of students, but fear not and come join me to discover how to build a curious classroom culture!

SPEAKERS:
Anneliese Johnson

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

This session focuses on designing, building, and using three-dimensional formative assessment tasks. The session will feature ways to use assessment within scientific investigation to inform teachers and students of learning three-dimensional science learning progress. The role of crosscutting concepts in focusing performance tasks will be modeled in the sessions. The session will feature discussions about the effective alignment of assessment tasks to three-dimensional science standards.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will take away lessons that include formative assessment tasks and how to use formative assessment to enhance classroom instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Brett Moulding

In this session, we will examine how to leverage time used to practice and reinforce math and reading skills to also include phenomenon-based science. By using math and ELA standards as a starting point, short units building off of a common science phenomenon are created.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will experience the process of creating a phenomenon-based, science-focused lesson series to help reinforce and practice the standards in math and ELA, thus leading toward equity for students and subject areas.

SPEAKERS:
Miranda Orellana

Good data begins with accurate measurements. Students often struggle with science data due to a lack of facility with the International System of Units (SI). A series of engaging, hands-on measurement activities can empower students to be successful using SI in the practices of computational thinking and arguing from evidence. A Concrete to Representational to Abstract approach is used during the exploration lab on finding volume by displacement. This technique boosts the confidence of students who may struggle with written communication. The crosscutting concept of scale, proportion, and quantity is the focus of concept development activities where students estimate values before measuring them. The series culminates in a formative lab assessment where students argue from indirect evidence they gathered regarding the density of water. Appropriate levels of scaffolding for the computational thinking required by this activity will be discussed. Walk away with 3 great measurement labs!

TAKEAWAYS:
Students need to be proficient with various measurement techniques. They also need to be adept at reading, recording, and comprehending data in System International units. Find engaging lessons that incorporate literary and computational skills into explaining phenomena with measurements.

SPEAKERS:
James Duff

The Next Generation Science Standards describe a vision of scientific literacy that emphasizes informed and participatory citizenship on issues related to science in society.  Many elementary teachers, however, avoid debatable socioscientific issues such as whether we need zoos, the value of a national space program, or whether certain sports are too dangerous for children, because of concerns about arguments in their classrooms and fear of broaching moral/ethical issues.  During this interactive session, participants will be introduced to the theoretical framework behind the Socioscientific Issues (SSI) approach.  They will then collaboratively engage in an activity from the NSTA Press book, It’s Still Debatable, during which they will model negotiation of a debatable issue while analyzing the lesson’s use of SSI, NGSS three-dimensional science learning, alignment with interdisciplinary standards, and multiple means of assessment for all learners.

TAKEAWAYS:
During this interactive workshop, participants will learn an array of strategies for using debatable societal issues related to science to develop their elementary students’ scientific literacy while modeling 3D teaching and learning.

SPEAKERS:
Sami Kahn

[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

Discover innovative STEM activities tailored to complement popular read-alouds. Participants will experience firsthand three engineering challenges inspired by beloved books. This hands-on workshop empowers educators to confidently integrate STEM into their existing curriculum, enriching students' learning experiences. Leave equipped to inspire young minds with the magic of reading and the excitement of engineering.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with everything they need to implement three read-alouds with follow-on STEM activities in their classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Terra Tarango

Integrating science and literacy is essential for supporting elementary teachers in science instruction. This presentation presents an argument for using science investigation to motivate students to read, write, and engage in discourse. Participants receive a set of hands-on science lessons to motivate students to learn.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants develop insights and understanding of how to effectively integrate science learning with language arts skills development. Participants will be provided with hands-on scientific investigations that include meaningful reading resources aligned to the lesson.

SPEAKERS:
Brett Moulding

For elementary classrooms, integrating Science with English Language Arts is necessary due to limited time and abundance of content. This engaging workshop integrates Earth Science content and maps with The Hobbit, allowing participants to make connections with the physical world and the imaginative Middle Earth. Identify landforms and land features, classify climates across Middle Earth, and apply weather knowledge. 3D learning includes asking questions, looking for patterns, and understanding Earth systems.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be able to describe weather and climate in various regions, both real and imaginary. They will learn how to connect literature passages with science content in ways that encourage creative thinking and active learning.

SPEAKERS:
Laurie Boulden

Popular science books are written to engage a wide variety of readers who are interested in learning about science topics. These books are especially important in today’s world as they address scientific misconceptions, explain how science is done, and make connections between science and our society. This session will share how I implemented popular science books into science courses with both high school students and undergraduates. Topics explored will include how books were evaluated for connections to NGSS disciplinary core ideas, how student learning of science content was evaluated while reading, how connections were made to literacy standards, and how students demonstrated their learning through the construction of a mini zine. Participants will have a chance to make their own mini-zine, which can be easily reproduced, and brainstorm classroom ideas with peers. Sample zines by students will be shared along with templates and rubrics.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with the tools to facilitate the implementation of science books in their own classrooms while also guiding students in the construction of mini-zines to assess learning. Sample zines, templates, and rubrics will be provided.

SPEAKERS:
Carrie Sharitt

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

Explore the storyline of a newly released OpenSciEd unit and see how students leverage connections to ELA and math as they investigate and make sense of a puzzling phenomenon.

TAKEAWAYS:
OpenSciEd Elementary units provide significant opportunities for students to explicitly connect with grade-level mathematics, reading, writing, speaking & listening, and language standards in service of their science sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Susan Gomez Zwiep

Do you need some fresh ideas for stories? Join us as we share some newer/recent stories that can support your existing science curriculum and provide a means for learning outside. Gain practical ideas on how to integrate the science and engineering practices using literature as a launching point for a science lesson. Learn how having your students experience outdoor lessons can build a sense of community and the local level and beyond. No matter how much outdoor space you have access to, discover ways to use what’s available to engage students in learning and exploring. Outdoor lesson ideas that can be used no matter what month of the year it is will be shared along with practical tips for how to find success.

TAKEAWAYS:
No matter what your outdoor setting is like, you will come away with ideas to implement outdoor lessons in your classroom next week. No matter what grade or curriculum you use, learn ideas that can fit into your existing curriculum and spark engagement and benefit students.

SPEAKERS:
Jill Jensen, Kim Benton

Experience how embedding literacy supports for reading, writing, and academic discourse in 3D teaching and learning promotes sensemaking and science understanding for ALL learners! Learn how the BSCS Anchored Inquiry Learning (AIL) instructional model succeeds the 5Es and embeds literacy supports throughout cycles of inquiry.

The NGSS calls for 3D learning grounded in real world phenomena to ensure science learning is equitable and relevant to all students. The SEPs and CCCs require sensemaking of complex texts and data as well as communicating explanations and arguments and engaging in scientific discourse.

In this session, participants will experience literacy strategies that support student engagement in the SEPs and CCCs, consider how these strategies support all students, particularly below grade-level readers and EMLs, in sensemaking, and consider how embedding these strategies in assessments allows all students to demonstrate their learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
The research-based BSCS Anchored Inquiry Learning instructional model succeeds the 5Es and embeds literacy supports for reading, writing, and academic discourse in conjunction with science and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts to promote students in figuring out key science ideas.

SPEAKERS:
Cynthia Gay

This session will focus on effective strategies for fostering STEM vocabulary development for newcomer multilingual learners. I will start with a quick activity to highlight the challenges and opportunities in learning STEM terminology. Participants will then engage in a series of hands-on, collaborative tasks that model vocabulary-building strategies such as listener/speaker bookmarks, differentiated word banks, and context-based sentence stems specific for Newcomers. The session will feature sample STEM activities with embedded language supports, showcasing how to teach key academic vocabulary through inquiry-based learning. Attendees will have the opportunity to share ideas in small groups. The session will close with a reflection and resource share to help educators create vocabulary-rich, inclusive STEM classrooms for multilingual learners.

TAKEAWAYS:
Discover practical, research-based strategies to build STEM vocabulary for newcomer multilingual learners. Explore engaging activities, scaffolding techniques, and tools to support word learning in context while promoting inquiry, collaboration, and language growth.

SPEAKERS:
Maria Cieslak

Many students struggle with the challenging literacy demands of science, including complex texts and specialized vocabulary. In this interactive session, participants will engage with an array of evidence-based literacy strategies specifically tailored to support science instruction at the secondary level. These strategies were thoughtfully developed and implemented through a partnership between science teachers and their literacy coaches. Attendees will explore practical approaches for integrating literacy practices into science curricula, with the goals of fostering equity, increasing deep student understanding, promoting inquiry-based learning, and enhancing classroom engagement. The session will highlight how embedding literacy within scientific contexts aligns with the NGSS strands of Asking Questions and Defining Problems, and Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communication Ideas. Participants will leave with concrete examples to integrate literacy with science in their own schools.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with concrete, NGSS-aligned literacy strategies they can immediately apply to make science instruction more engaging, equitable, and inquiry-driven.

SPEAKERS:
Jeremy Parker, Jodi Baker

Generative AI is an emerging technology that has made its way into the classroom and cannot be ignored. I developed and will share a summative assessment for a Biodiversity class aimed at promoting proper usage of GenAI while developing technological and ecological literacy. Traditional assessments can inadvertently disadvantage students who excel in areas beyond rote memorization. Incorporating AI into an assessment can promote equitable classroom practices by offering multiple means of representation and expression. This proposal attempts to integrate all 3 dimensions of the NGSS: application of scientific and engineering practices, by using GenAI, disciplinary core ideas in ecology, and crosscutting concepts. The AI assessment supports NGSS’s overarching goal to develop scientifically literate citizens. I will discuss the rationale for the assessment, its development and implementation in the class, how students engaged in the activity, and will share examples of the students' work.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will experience one example of how we can integrate AI into the science curriculum, fostering curiosity and engagement with technology, while promoting proper use of AI. This type of assessment can be applied to a variety of science topics.

SPEAKERS:
Rita Margarida Quinones De Magalhaes

Have you read great articles in the NSTA journals that changed or added to the ways you and your students do science for the better? You could inspire other educators across the country in the same way by sharing your teaching ideas, activities, or lessons as an NSTA journal author!

TAKEAWAYS:
Instructions and tips on how to prepare and submit your manuscript for publication in NSTA's journals.

SPEAKERS:
Peter Lindeman

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

This session explores how formative assessment tasks can reveal students' 3D learning as well as students' ability to use language to express their scientific thinking. Come learn how well-designed tasks can be an asset for supporting science learning and literacy growth for all students! Participants will experience formative tasks, examine student responses, and practice identifying students’ language-in-use and 3D learning. Eliciting and recognizing evidence of science learning for elementary students has long presented challenges. All too often, the use of academic vocabulary serves as evidence of science knowledge. Language-in-use reframes how students use language in two ways: (1) as a tool for developing one's own scientific thinking, and (2) as a means of communication that aids with demonstrating one's science learning. This framing helps teachers more adeptly interpret what students know. Participants will leave with strategies for using this framing in their own classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with new knowledge about how 3D assessment tasks can elicit important information about students' 3D learning as well as students' ability to use language to demonstrate their learning. This knowledge is highly valuable for using assessment to support teaching and learning.

SPEAKERS:
Alison K Billman, Christopher Harris

Do you struggle to help your multilingual students (MLP) engage with and understand your science lessons? If so, please join us to explore specific, practical strategies that you can use immediately to assist your MLP students.

TAKEAWAYS:
How to apply various strategies for Scientific Literacy, such as using, Language Objectives, graphic organizers, and color-coding key vocabulary to any science unit.

SPEAKERS:
Sydnie Chouery

The booklet Explorations into the US Space Program was developed for elementary students. Using personal narratives, primary sources, thinking routines, creative thinking, and STEM, the booklet engages students. They'll learn about astronauts, the impact of the space program on the local economy, and design and test model paper rockets. The booklet is geared towards fourth and fifth grades and includes annotated text features to support ESE and language learners. Come learn how to access the booklet and teacher guide for free. These resources have been made possible by grants with the Eastern Region for Teaching with Primary Sources.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to download Explorations into the US Space Program and its teacher guide for free. They'll learn how to use the activities in the booklet to integrate literacy and STEM. They'll learn how to support student learning using annotated text features.

SPEAKERS:
Laurie Boulden

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

Wondering how to fit meaningful science into your busy day? Finding time for science in the busy, often fragmented schedules of primary classrooms can be a challenge—but it’s not impossible! Discover time-saving strategies and flexible routines to help you integrate science into the school day without sacrificing literacy, math, or play-based learning. This session will explore NGSS-aligned activities and assessments that work in short blocks of time, across subject areas, and within real classroom constraints. Practical examples will show how to turn everyday moments into science opportunities, how to use quick routines to build scientific thinking, and how to adapt lessons to fit your district schedule. Whether you have 10 minutes a day or 30 minutes once a week, you’ll leave with ideas that fit your classroom and support your students’ diverse learning needs. Perfect for new and experienced teachers looking to keep the joy and wonder of science alive when only given minimal time.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will leave with flexible routines and NGSS-aligned activities that integrate easily into busy PK–2 schedules. They will be able to adapt time-saving strategies to weave science into literacy, math, and daily routines—making science a natural, joyful part of every school day.

SPEAKERS:
Michelle Forsythe

Want to transform student writing from vague claims to powerful, evidence-based explanations? In this interactive workshop, discover SPARK – a flexible, student-friendly writing framework that deepens scientific thinking. SPARK (Statement, Proof, Analysis, Reasoning, Knowledge) expands CER and scaffolds students to write like scientists while encouraging ownership of their ideas. Participants will experience the framework firsthand, analyze student samples, and leave with editable tools for both in-person and cyber classrooms. Aligned with NGSS SEPs and ELA writing standards, SPARK supports diverse learners in constructing high-quality scientific explanations and arguments from evidence.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to use the SPARK writing framework to help students construct clear, evidence-based science explanations aligned with NGSS and CER, using templates, prompts, and digital tools that support writing in all learning environments.

SPEAKERS:
Caroline Combemale

Sponsoring Company: Teachers' Curriculum Institute (TCI)

Elevate your students’ science thinking with CER Writing! This interactive workshop will equip educators with practical strategies for guiding students in constructing Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning. Learn how to scaffold the CER process, integrate it seamlessly into science lessons, and support students at all ability levels in developing strong scientific explanations. Participants will analyze student work, share best practices, and take away ready-to-use resources that foster critical thinking and effective science communication in the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Sara Kumar

How much do NGSS-aligned strategies for teaching science have in common with recommended instruction of English Language Learners (ELL)? Learn about research and resources that overlap effective methods for supporting students as they strengthen both science content understanding and literacy skills.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will review and compare strategies for NGSS instruction and language development for ELL students across four domains (writing/reading/speaking/listening), taking away a list of practical elements to include in lesson planning and teaching.

SPEAKERS:
Daniel Bergman

Climate change is one of the most important scientific topics of our time—and students are eager to learn about it. SubjectToClimate is an innovative and free online platform that provides teachers with a suite of engaging and interactive climate change teaching resources and lesson plans that are aligned to NGSS standards. In this 10-minute presentation, Ben will introduce SubjectToClimate's science resources and demonstrate how they can be used to enhance climate change education. We will walk through the platform's features, including lesson plans by teachers, news for students, teaching guides, and more. Attendees will leave this presentation suite of free resources they can immediately access to effectively teach climate change, no matter their grade level or subject. Join us to learn how SubjectToClimate can help you educate and inspire the next generation of climate leaders.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how SubjectToClimate’s free, NGSS-aligned resources can help you confidently teach climate change across any grade level or subject, and inspire your students to become climate leaders.

SPEAKERS:
Benjamin Charles

As inquiry and data literacy become increasingly emphasized in K-12 science education, accessible, authentic research opportunities for students are critical. This session explores how to introduce students to the inquiry process via ecological investigations with arthropods and environmental factors. Teachers will learn how to leverage place-based ecological phenomena to guide students through creating testable questions, designing and carrying out experiments, and selecting appropriate analyses to process, visualize, and interpret data. Specifically, teachers will explore a lesson that opens with a reading from Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer and continues with a “wonder wander” activity to spark curiosity and connect learning to place. Participants will also learn ways to support students with arthropod sampling and identification and data analysis tools and methods in order to link student-collected arthropod data to local environmental variables.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session will explore fostering inquiry and data literacy in secondary life science education through authentic, ecological investigations using arthropods and environmental factors.

SPEAKERS:
Matthew Retterath

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Donna Young

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Madison Benson

Participants will engage with routines and text sets—including primary sources from the Library of Congress—that can be used to support civically engaged argument writing about cross-disciplinary environmental issues like space debris, fast fashion, palm oil in foods, and minting new pennies. Our communities are full of arguments—debates, discussions, and conversations about how we should live together as members of a community. Participants will learn about freely available text sets and classroom routines developed by teachers for supporting civically engaged argument writing about environmental issues. In our civic argument writing unit, students create texts for audiences outside of the classroom. For example, in our curriculum resources on orbital debris or "space junk," students in a grade 5 classroom crafted letters to their senators. Most units call for students to draft Op-Eds for publication in local newspapers.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to support students in (1) making sense of multiple perspectives and (2) contributing to ongoing civic conversations about issues of importance with the help of approaches and tools that have been developed by teachers and are freely available online.

SPEAKERS:
Lisa Lapina, Javaha Ross, Trey Smith

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

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

Students must develop effective disciplinary literacy practices. They must learn the difference between reading with understanding and reading complex texts like a scientist – reading charts and graphs to make inferences about data; reading and using specialized language and text structures; and reading controversial text, to critique and refine knowledge. Students must learn how to formulate questions to be answered; design investigations to help answer those questions; observe phenomena objectively and analyze and annotate observations; apply critical thinking skills to determine effective ways to communicate findings. Disciplinary literacy, the application of knowledge, combined with analytical and critical thinking skills, should enable students to think, act and communicate as scientists. Attendees will learn how to guide and enable students to engage in this process successfully. Handouts.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to help students formulate effective questions to guide their investigations, and then apply their critical thinking skills and disciplinary skills (objective observations and analysis of phenomena), to determine cause and effect and analyze results of the investigation.

SPEAKERS:
Donna Knoell

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

Where does literacy fit into an NGSS aligned curriculum? When do our students develop skills for reading science text? And what do we do when some of our students read well, while some struggle? We’ve worked with West Ed's Reading Apprenticeship and other specialists to integrate a variety of literacy tasks with scaffolded guides into our lessons. We’ve developed both instructional pieces and optional reading support materials, designed with strategies to promote metacognition and model the text interactions of skilled readers, for students of all reading levels. We’d like to share our journey, and also share examples and templates for teachers to use to build literacy and equity in their own classrooms. Anchored Science by Mi-STAR is a middle school curriculum project, created by classroom teachers in collaboration with engineers and scientists from Michigan Technological University, and dedicated to quality NGSS-aligned curriculum since 2015.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will experience examples and templates for metacognitive literacy strategies adapted from Reading Apprenticeship, Project Zero, and others, along with the opportunity to analyze differentiated scaffolds for grade-level texts. Use them with your own texts in your classroom next week!

SPEAKERS:
Lindsey Watch, Chris Geerer

The Next Generation Science Standards describe a vision of scientific literacy that emphasizes informed and participatory citizenship on issues related to science in society. Many elementary teachers, however, avoid debatable socioscientific issues such as whether we need zoos, the value of a national space program, or whether certain sports are too dangerous for children because of concerns about arguments in their classrooms and fear of broaching moral/ethical issues. During this interactive session, participants will be introduced to the theoretical framework behind the Socioscientific Issues (SSI) approach. They will then collaboratively engage in a series of activities from the NSTA Press book, It’s Still Debatable, during which they will model negotiation of debatable issues while analyzing the lesson’s use of SSI, NGSS three-dimensional science learning, alignment with interdisciplinary standards, and multiple means of assessment for all learners.

TAKEAWAYS:
During this Professional Learning Workshop, participants will engage in a series of in-depth activities in order to learn an array of strategies for using debatable societal issues related to science to develop their elementary students’ scientific literacy while modeling 3D teaching and learning.

SPEAKERS:
Sami Kahn

Join us for an interactive workshop where you’ll experience dynamic, student-centered teaching aligned with the latest science and ELA standards. Learn how to integrate literacy practices, such as reading, writing, and speaking, into your science instruction to create a rich, 3D learning environment. Participate in a hands-on science investigation about an Elk reintroduction project in Virginia, engaging with complex scientific ideas while strengthening literacy skills. Through small-group activities, discover strategies to support students' sensemaking and deepen their thinking. Walk away with practical tools to: • Integrate literacy into science lessons for cross-disciplinary learning • Foster collaboration through reading, writing, and speaking activities • Use real-world phenomena to deepen student engagement • Provide timely support to challenge all learners Transform your science instruction and inspire your students with engaging, hands-on experiences!

TAKEAWAYS:
Student sense-making and development of important literacy skills are enhanced when a learning experience requires students to read, write, talk, and listen with the goal of obtaining and communicating new information and evaluating what they figured out.

SPEAKERS:
Victor Sampson

Stellar evolution is a cycle from the formation of protostars and stars in cold molecular clouds, through their final collapses into stellar cores. NASA’s multiwavelength image sets of star formation regions, protostars, red giants, white dwarfs, neutron stars, pulsars, supernovas, and black holes are used to investigate physical properties of stars as they evolve. Stars form in giant molecular clouds of gas and dust in massive star formation complexes, and depending on their initial mass, follow sequences that result in their destruction in catastrophic collapses and explosions. During the final stages of evolution, nucleosynthesis creates the elements which will enrich the next generation of protostars and planets. This process of stellar evolution provides the energy which drives the universe, and thereby determines its future. This basic sequencing activity is one of a series of activities designed to show how scientists view, study, and examine the process of stellar evolution.

TAKEAWAYS:
Stars form in giant molecular clouds of gas and dust in star formation regions. Depending on their initial mass, stars follow sequences that end in their destruction in catastrophic collapses and explosions. Plotting their physical and chemical properties with H-R diagrams illustrates this process.

SPEAKERS:
Donna Young

Translanguaging aligns with culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy and promotes equity in science learning (García et al., 2017). This session explores how translanguaging can be integrated into inquiry-based science instruction in elementary dual language immersion (DLI) classrooms and demonstrates practical applications from Grade 5 Mandarin-English DLI settings. Drawing on classroom experience and research (Du, 2022; Tian, 2020; Zhou, 2021), the presenter shows how educators can create purposeful opportunities for students to use both their first and target languages during hands-on science activities. In an ecosystem unit, for example, students co-construct a food web in Mandarin, read English science texts to deepen content knowledge, and discuss their reasoning in Mandarin. Attendees will see classroom-tested tools and how translanguaging supports science-specific literacy practices such as modeling, reasoning, and argument from evidence.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session offers strategies for integrating literacy and science through translanguaging, aligned with NGSS practices and designed to support multilingual learners in developing deep conceptual understanding.

SPEAKERS:
Hsiaomei Tsai

Keeping 10th grade students focused and engaged during a 90-minute chemistry class can be challenging, especially with complex content and varying student interest levels. This 30-minute session will explore research-based strategies and practical tools that promote sustained engagement, curiosity, and comprehension in extended chemistry classes. The presentation will blend pedagogy with actionable methods, focusing on lesson pacing, interactive elements, and scaffolding techniques that meet students at different levels of readiness and interest.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session will empower educators to reimagine the long chemistry class as a dynamic, student-led journey. With a combination of cognitive and classroom-tested strategies, teachers can confidently lead their students through complex concepts—without losing their attention or enthusiasm.

SPEAKERS:
Mary Chuboff

Where we live includes our experience of the sky. Students can collect data, but they can also connect with stars and seasons beyond the facts. Find classroom-tested activities for students to appreciate our skies through direct observations, digital methods, tactile experiences, and personal connections. What we see in our daytime and nighttime skies directly relates to our place on the planet. Appreciate our place on Earth, and evoke curiosity and connection with interdisciplinary lessons. After all, the sky is the primary source for observations around the world throughout time. Take a glimpse of the present, past, and future by looking up.

TAKEAWAYS:
Students collect data about the sky through direct observations, digital methods, tactile experiences, and personal connections to appreciate our place on Earth.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Weaver

In this interactive session, participants will explore the connection between targeted vocabulary instruction and enhanced comprehension in science, aligning with NGSS, such as, HS-ESS3-1: Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per capita consumption of resources impact Earth’s systems. This standard emphasizes precise vocabulary in scientific arguments for deeper understanding. Through discussions and practical activities, attendees will learn effective strategies to enhance scientific literacy while maintaining curricular rigor. The session draws on insights from Bringing Words to Life by Beck, McKeown, and Kucan, highlighting how explicit vocabulary practices support student learning. Participants will review student samples from a focused vocabulary activity and discuss its optimal placement in unit and lesson plans. Ready to improve student engagement and comprehension in science the next day.

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

SPEAKERS:
Shana Pyatt-Buckner

In this session, participants will learn about vocabulary strategies that can be used to increase scientific literacy, student learning, and engagement. Vocabulary strategies are aligned with the science of reading and designed to create interdisciplinary connections between the sciences and English, math, and even other contents. Interdisciplinary connections can increase student engagement, retention, and learning. The session will begin with an overview of the science of reading and will follow with a demonstration of three vocabulary strategies that can be used and adapted with students at all levels and in multiple grade bands.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants in this session will leave with research-based vocabulary strategies that will create more space for student learning and engagement in the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Jessica VanValkenburgh

Get a brief introduction to free OER integrated science curricular units for Grades K-5 and see how well the features of Project-Based Learning provide the tools and routines to support sensemaking. Review the extensive integration of literacy and mathematics throughout the units. Learn more about the research behind the curriculum and resources available to support implementation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will get a detailed description of the free resources, look at how PBL works, hear examples from the Multiple Literacies in Project-Based Learning (ML-PBL) Research and Development Project. They will learn how to access the free resources for later review, and connect with free support.

SPEAKERS:
Susan Codere

Using real data can be daunting - from finding it to understanding it to using it in your lesson plans. This session aims to minimize the anxiety of teachers wanting to use real data in their teaching. We will focus on engaging students in data literacy in authentic and meaningful ways by exploring publicly available large ecology data sets. We will describe the process of selecting a subset of data and provide strategies that can be used to incorporate data into various education levels as students grow in their abilities and gain confidence. Examples of lesson plans and Data Nuggets developed by educators using real-world data will be shared and discussed. Teachers will leave with ideas to help their students tap into understanding science in our society and help motivate the next generation of scientists.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session will guide teachers in the exploration of large data sets and how to select a subset of the data to use in classroom lessons by sharing strategies used by educators to access and incorporate real data in their teaching.

SPEAKERS:
Rachel Rigenhagen, Claire Gunder, Amanda Morrison

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Caroline Gochoco-Tsuyuki

In this session, an Earth Science teacher and literacy coach will share their ongoing story of the collaboration they have embarked upon to cultivate students' natural curiosity and enhance their questioning skills. Participants will gain insights into integrating literacy practices with science content, leading to more student-driven inquiry and richer learning experiences through reading, writing, and discourse. Presenters will delve into their process, highlighting their partnership and the impact of their collaboration. Specific examples of literacy and science integration will be shared. This session connects with the scientific and engineering practices of Asking Questions and Defining Problems and Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information. Participants will learn practical strategies for integrating literacy instruction into the science classroom and will consider how collaborative teaching partnerships can enhance teaching practices and impact student learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Through literacy and science collaboration, educators can increase opportunities for students to become more curious and skillful questioners and thinkers, ultimately deepening their understanding and engagement in both disciplines.

SPEAKERS:
Kevin Molohon, Jodi Baker

Looking for practical ways to strengthen literacy in your science classroom? This session explores how explicit vocabulary instruction—focused on Tier 2 academic words and high-utility morphemes—can empower students to decode meaning across disciplines. Learn how teaching roots, prefixes, and suffixes within the context of three-dimensional science learning enhances comprehension and improves cross-curricular fluency. You'll see how brief, high-impact strategies like vocabulary squares, morpheme games, and daily reading fluency routines using real science texts can transform your students’ confidence and performance. This 30-minute session will be packed with ready-to-use tools, classroom examples, and ways to meet your students where they are—while raising the bar for where they can go. Leave inspired, and ready to make literacy and science truly inseparable.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with ready-to-use strategies for teaching Tier 2 vocabulary through morphemes, boosting science literacy, and engaging students in meaningful reading fluency—tools that support vocabulary instruction across disciplines.

SPEAKERS:
Alexandra Sackett, Kathryn Kobany

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to transform our world, it is crucial that STEM educators not only teach students how AI works but also the ethical considerations surrounding its use. In this session, we will explore strategies for teaching students how to think critically about AI, understand its potential for both good and harm, and make ethical decisions about its development and deployment. Participants will leave with practical tools and an engaging hands-on activity that can be used in the classroom to initiate meaningful discussions on AI ethics.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to incorporate ethical considerations of AI into their STEM curriculum, empowering students to not only understand the technical aspects of AI but also reflect on its societal implications and make responsible, informed decisions in their future careers.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Petroulis

In this engaging professional development session, educators will explore how to effectively integrate the Writing Revolution approach into the middle school science classroom. This course provides practical strategies for using writing as a powerful tool to deepen students' understanding of scientific concepts, enhance critical thinking, and improve communication skills. Through hands-on activities and real-world examples, teachers will learn how to implement sentence-level writing techniques, structured responses, and content-based writing exercises that support inquiry-based learning and foster student engagement in science.

TAKEAWAYS:
By the end of this training, educators will have a clear understanding of how writing can be seamlessly integrated into science instruction to benefit their students, enhancing both their scientific knowledge and writing skills.

SPEAKERS:
Christa Samber

As the politicization of science grows, teacher educators must ask: Are preservice science teachers authentically prepared—and permitted—to teach science equitably and meaningfully? This session shares findings from a cross-institutional survey of early childhood, elementary, secondary, and higher education science educators, including faculty and in-service teachers. We explore how respondents perceive their preparation for addressing DEI, sociocultural relevance, and controversial topics in science education—and whether they feel they have the autonomy to do so. This work emerges from a collaboration between a science education researcher in biology and a teacher educator in curriculum and literacy, reflecting on their shared but mismatched goals in culturally responsive preparation. Participants will consider the disconnect between teacher education ideals and the constraints of today’s science classrooms, identifying next steps for responsive and realistic preparation programs.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how science teacher candidates and faculty perceive their autonomy to teach science authentically, especially regarding DEI and sociocultural relevance, and will explore how teacher preparation must evolve to meet the realities of 2025 classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Julia Poplin

In this session, participants will engage in a step-by-step process that integrates the four language modalities of reading, writing, listening, and speaking through the creation of science tutorial videos. Teachers can have students use free tech tools such as Adobe Express (free to educators) and YouTube to share their expertise in various science topics to an authentic audience of their own community. This deepens student learning, is engaging and collaborative, and makes for great end-of-unit assessments.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn to integrate the four language modalities into science through the creation of student-made science tutorial videos. You will learn how to integrate a couple of very useful tech tools as well as how to support English Language Learners.

SPEAKERS:
Eliana Belle

Teaching about climate change today is doubly challenging; the interdisciplinary science is complex, and the sheer volume of misconceptions, misinformation, and disinformation is staggering. Misconceptions often arise from gaps in basic knowledge, while misinformation and disinformation arise from intentional distortion for political, economic, or ideological reasons. To address these issues, we must guide students through 3D learning practices aimed at cultivating functional scientific literacy: the ability to understand and apply scientific concepts in everyday life. This goal requires equipping students with the ability to evaluate sources, interpret data, and recognize logical fallacies or manipulative rhetoric. Along the way, we must integrate critical thinking, sense-making, and media analysis with solid, factual information. We should also encourage students to question dubious claims, seek credible sources, and make scientifically-informed decisions aimed at sustainable goals.

TAKEAWAYS:
Enhancing functional climate science literacy empowers individuals to recognize and reject climate misinformation by using 3D learning to foster critical thinking, source evaluation, and a deeper understanding of scientific evidence, aimed at encouraging sustainable solutions.

SPEAKERS:
Joseph Levine

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Peggy Steffen

Communicating science is just as critical as knowing science—after all, science progresses through collaboration, discussion, and shared understanding. In this session, we’ll explore what true literacy integration looks like in the elementary STEM classroom. Reaching about science is not science. We will look at how our students can authentically use their literacy skills as a tool for solving scientific problems. We'll discuss how to design learning experiences where literacy and science practices work hand-in-hand, empowering students to communicate like a scientists while also giving them essential skills to interact with science as a citizen of our community.

TAKEAWAYS:
Reading about science is not science. Explore integrating authentic literacy into your STEM classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Justine Boecker Harren

What does the Science of Reading have to do with reading and writing science? Quite a bit, actually! In this session, we will explore some of the reasons students struggle to read, write, and comprehend scientific texts. More importantly, we’ll dive into some strategies you can use to support students in accessing grade-level texts, including doing more hands-on science! Educators will engage in real practice and take away tangible ideas to bring better literacy practice into any type of science classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use strategies from the Science of Reading philosophy to help students become better readers, writers, and speakers of science.

SPEAKERS:
Obie Martin

This interactive session explores engaging, game-based strategies to enhance multilingual learners’ academic language development in science and STEM classrooms. Participants will experience and analyze various hands-on classic games that promote vocabulary acquisition, structured conversations, and critical thinking, with a special focus on supporting multilingual learners in elementary settings. Attendees will work in small groups to play and adapt Vocabulary Grab Bags, Vocabulary Dice Games, Tic Tac Toe Review, Connect Four, Pictures Connections, Domino chains, Jenga Review, Taboo, and Dice Conversation games. Each game will be accompanied by tips for differentiation and language scaffolds. This session will wrap up with ways to incorporate gamification into daily instruction.

TAKEAWAYS:
Experience how gamifying academic language can boost engagement and language growth for multilingual learners. Explore hands-on, in-person interactive games that build vocabulary, foster collaboration, and support content learning in fun, meaningful ways.

SPEAKERS:
Maria Cieslak

Science doesn’t exist in isolation—and neither should science instruction. This session explores how integrating literacy and mathematics into science deepens students’ understanding and mirrors real-world learning. Participants will engage in high-leverage routines that promote vocabulary development, data analysis, and evidence-based reasoning through reading, writing, speaking, and mathematical thinking. We'll share practical strategies for weaving language arts and math into science lessons, along with classroom examples, planning tools, and take-home resources. Whether you're a science teacher, an elementary teacher, or part of a cross-curricular team, you’ll leave with ideas that build disciplinary literacy and mathematical thinking—while keeping science learning at the center.

TAKEAWAYS:
Discover why integrating literacy and math strengthens science learning, how to embed them seamlessly into lessons, and what high-impact strategies support vocabulary, data analysis, evidence-based reading, writing, and sensemaking across content areas.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Wenger, Wendy Towery-Stove, Kimberly Morton

As long as there have been CER templates, there have been students who struggle. What’s the difference between evidence and reasoning, or an explanation and an argument, exactly? Our 5E, open-source CER lesson helps answer these questions with scaffolded tools and engaging activities. In this session, teachers work together to build CERs and to evaluate arguments written by others. Then, they construct their own arguments using an interactive productive talk routine and persuasive language prompts. Participants gain confidence in supporting students to construct explanations and arguments, along with first-hand experience with a lesson, templates, and activities they can take back to their classroom for immediate use. Anchored Science by Mi-STAR is a middle school curriculum project, created by classroom teachers in collaboration with engineers and scientists from Michigan Technological University, and dedicated to quality NGSS-aligned curriculum since 2015.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with clear and concise definitions of reasoning, explanations, and argumentation, along with a lesson plan, activities, and templates to help students define and construct all three in the science classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Tony Matthys, Chris Geerer

Approximately 15-20% of students in the United States have dyslexia which affects reading, spelling, and writing skills. The purpose of this presentation is to share ideas with educators on how they can better support their students with dyslexia in Elementary and Middle grades. During our presentation we will review the neurological origin of dyslexia and how it may manifest in the science classroom. Then, we will discuss general classroom environment structures that support students with dyslexia. We will end by giving specific instructional practices that we do in our classrooms to improve content understanding and reinforce vocabulary. The strategies presented are not exclusively for students with dyslexia, but are universally beneficial for students in learning scientific content. Between the two presenters, we have over a decade of science teaching experience at a school for students with language-based learning differences.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with an understanding of dyslexia and how it appears in the classroom. Teachers will be able to immediately implement classroom management and instructional strategies to support their students with dyslexia.

SPEAKERS:
Meg Narwold, Hannah Blackburn

Participants will be introduced to a published graphic story related to science and discuss the research paper(s) it relates to. Each participant will choose a science article and I will walk them through the tools I use to have students rewrite the article as a graphic story.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how I use graphic stories as part of my Unified Science curriculum with low level/high need learners by actively participating in a sample lesson.

SPEAKERS:
Robert Palmer

Promoting meaningful science instruction is critical. To support elementary teachers in leveraging equity and sensemaking-oriented instruction, we propose six core sensemaking practices (SPs). Two key SPs include using relevant and meaningful driving questions to spark student wonderment about phenomena, and leveraging multimodal representations to support various ways of expression and explanation. Evidence from research shows that SPs supports teachers as they learn to teach science in a sensemaking, equity and justice-oriented vision. We will introduce teachers with the SPs as a set of instructional strategies. Then, we share NGSS-aligned, open-source project-based learning curricular materials for 3rd grade science classrooms. Teachers discuss how the curricular materials align with SPs by adjusting and modifying them considering their own teaching contexts. At the end, they will analyze student work (assessments) from 3rd grade classrooms and reflect back on their analysis.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers explore six sensemaking practices (SP) on how to promote equity and sensemaking-oriented elementary science instruction. They analyze NGSS open-source project-based learning materials, and student work from 3rd grade classrooms. Teachers incorporate SP by using quality curricular materials.

SPEAKERS:
Joseph Krajcik, Tingting Li, Selin Akgun

In an era of widespread misinformation, cultivating scientific literacy is essential for preparing students to critically evaluate information and make informed decisions. This session explores evidence-based strategies for improving scientific reasoning and critical thinking in both high school and postsecondary science education. We will discuss how to integrate media literacy, primary literature analysis, and science communication into science curricula to equip students with the skills to navigate scientific claims in a digital age. Additionally, we will address common misconceptions, cognitive biases, and how to help students distinguish between credible science and pseudoscience. Participants will leave with practical strategies, assessment tools, and classroom-ready activities that promote science literacy across disciplines, with an emphasis on fostering collaboration between secondary and postsecondary educators to create a more cohesive approach to scientific reasoning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Gain a clear understanding of why scientific literacy is vital in combating misinformation and helping students critically evaluate scientific claims in today’s digital world.

SPEAKERS:
Matthew Blank, Cheryl Robertson

In today’s world, false information spreads faster than ever—thanks in part to powerful artificial intelligence tools that make it easy to create and share fake content. From wild health claims to viral conspiracy theories, students are wading through a convoluted information environment. It’s more important than ever to help young people build sharp critical thinking and disciplinary literacy skills, so they can sort fact from fiction and take better care of themselves and their communities. In this hands-on session, you’ll explore The News Literacy Project’s free resources, including the Checkology® platform, dive into the “Evaluating Science-Based Claims” lesson, and try out the FLOATER toolkit — a fun, easy way to test the credibility of health and science claims. Then we’ll put the toolkit to the test on some buzzworthy but sketchy health trends. Are these trends helpful or hype? You get to decide!

TAKEAWAYS:
Discover how to help students build the critical thinking skills they need to make sense of science-based claims in today’s confusing, AI-powered information world. Explore NLP’s free resources, like the Checkology® virtual classroom, while digging into popular—but questionable—health claims.

SPEAKERS:
Brittney Smith