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

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

SPEAKERS:
Anton Olbricht, Taylor Wusk, Betsy Barent

My classroom is known for having lots of great professionals come speak to my students. This is not an accident. It does take work, but its front load work, then the professionals come in and the students are engaged. The students learn about a plethora of science careers from these professionals. I have had fish and wildlife employees, veterinarians, pathologists, naturalists, foresters, chiropractors, physical therapists, and many more come in. I encourage the speakers to bring a hands-on component when they can and let them know we can always go outside. I would like to help encourage teachers to bring in professionals and to make use of their outdoor space!! How does STEM look in the real world. I'm planning a STEAM careers presentation to help students connect what they're learning now to real-world jobs in science, tech, engineering, arts, and math. The goal is to increase awareness of future opportunities and help students start thinking about their own paths. I’ll use a short presentation, videos, and a STEAM career-matching activity, followed by a goal-setting worksheet. If possible, I’ll include a guest speaker or a virtual lab/company tour. This aligns with our theme of future readiness by giving students practical tools and exposure to career paths they may not have considered. It’s also a chance to promote equity by highlighting diverse voices and careers in STEAM.

TAKEAWAYS:
I would like to help encourage teachers to bring in professionals and to make use of their outdoor space!! Attendees will leave with practical strategies to help students explore and connect with real-world STEAM careers, using interest-based tools and goal-setting activities that make future planning more engaging, relevant, and personalized for every learner.

SPEAKERS:
Erin Wagner, Kyra Warner, Sam Northey

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Abigail Bradbury, Erin Snelling, Mara Johnson

How can educators adapt nationally-written science lessons to reflect local contexts while maintaining rigorous 3D learning? Nebraska's NASELI Leadership Institute has developed "connection cover sheets" that seamlessly integrate regional agricultural phenomena into existing high-quality instructional materials. This session showcases our approach using "Corn, Sugar Beets, and Ice: A Nebraska Chemistry Lesson on Freezing Points" as an exemplar. Participants will examine how we transform generic freezing point investigations by incorporating Nebraska's corn and sugar beet industries, creating authentic local connections without compromising the lesson's crosscutting concepts, disciplinary core ideas, or science practices. This session will invite reflection on how teacher choices shape student sensemaking by analyzing specifically the HHMI Better Bioreactors assessment. This session will explore how intentional teacher facilitation impacts the overall depth and direction of student reasoning. Together we will analyze student responses from the HHMI Better Bioreactors formative assessment and discuss how choice can either be a support or limit in connecting key STEM principles. A goal of this session will be to reflect on providing the opportunity for the development of a students scientific thinking processes through discussion and formative feedback. What do cow burps, climate change, and media literacy have in common? In this STEM-integrated agriculture lesson, students investigate the dairy industry’s environmental impact—tracing methane from microbes in a cow’s rumen to the atmosphere, busting misleading media claims, and using real data and computer modeling to uncover the truth. By merging hands-on animal science with climate modeling, students learn to think critically, argue with evidence, and solve complex, real-world problems at the intersection of agriculture and the environment.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will walk away with a framework for adapting existing high-quality science lessons using local agricultural phenomena that preserve NGSS alignment while increasing student engagement. Participants will gain strategies for effective evidence collection in STEM implementation in order to leave with a clear understanding of how intentional teaching can enhance our students learning, not only in the task at hand, but with all science instruction. Participants will gain tools to engage students in evidence-based discussions about the dairy industry while integrating media literacy, computer modeling and real-world data. Receive an NGSS aligned unit which is at the intersection of agriculture and the environment.

SPEAKERS:
Jennifer Jones, Angelica Tesch, Kelley Tuel

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

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Karisa Boyer, Jon Rodgers, Tiska Rodgers

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

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

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

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

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Li Sun

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

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

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

Preparing new teachers to integrate socioscientific issues (SSI) in the elementary classroom increases the comfort level and confidence to teach ‘controversial’ real-world, age-appropriate science topics that are meaningful and engaging to students within their unique community contexts. This approach provides increased perspectives as well as critical thinking within ongoing scientific inquiry, thereby promoting interest and application of science content for classroom students. Additionally, an SSI framework promotes deeper exploration for facets of empathy and moral reasoning as connected to real-world science-based scenarios that students investigate. Specific instructional practices implemented within a university science methods course led to significant shifts in preservice teachers’ comfort levels and confidence for integrating SSI into their elementary science classrooms. Furthermore, preservice teachers’ use of SSI informed the in-service community as well.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about research-based strategies / methods to support student-centered, contextual, real-world, and content-rich Socioscientific Issues lessons that can shift teachers’ comfort / confidence, and thus increase intention to infuse SSI into their own elementary classroom lessons.

SPEAKERS:
Ly Do, Stephanie Arthur

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Anna Ammerman, Samantha Dolen, Nicole Grojean

Instructors using NSTA in lieu of a textbook (or as a supplement to a textbook) have students who create a library of resources, grow their network, and enhance their content and pedagogical knowledge as they complete their assignments. Instructors get a class landing page to manage the course, a private forum for asynchronous discussions, and an instructor's dashboard to monitor students' work. All instructors receive a free digital professional membership, and their students become members for a year or through graduation, depending on the price selected by the instructor. In this session, instructors talk about how they integrate NSTA in their courses. Come and listen to their stories and ask them questions. Find out the benefits that this opportunity provides you and your teacher candidates.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will meet and ask questions of instructors who are using NSTA resources, webinars, and online community in courses for preservice teachers of science. Participants will learn how others integrate NSTA in their courses and about the benefits of the program for easy implementation.

SPEAKERS:
Flavio Mendez

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Kirsten Landry

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Deborah McAllister

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

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Michele Koomen

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

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Myrna Rezcallah

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

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Kristel Winger

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Zack Bateson

Elementary students are not ready to jump directly to organizing data in tabular format. In this session, learn about a strategy for organizing data onto case cards that helps make the data collection and organization process manageable for younger students and builds skills that will be needed in the secondary level. I'll introduce two modes for doing this, one analog and the other digital, using a free tool called Tuva Jr.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will leave with a concrete strategy for helping younger students collect and organize data onto "case cards", which will scaffold the eventual creation of tabular data.

SPEAKERS:
Jocelyn Foran