Sponsoring Company: Switch Classroom

Prepare your students for success on the AP Enviro exam with expert tips for tackling multiple-choice and free-response questions. Learn strategies to enhance critical thinking and test-taking skills, helping your students achieve their best scores.

SPEAKERS:
Jillian Swets

In this workshop, we will explore several phenomena-based hands-on science activities developed by the Exploratorium Teacher Institute, known as science snacks. We will apply an equity lens to draw connections from the scientific phenomena to some social phenomena. Participants will learn to make metaphorical connections between the science of perception and equitable teaching practices, which will help in science teacher professional development, science teaching, and also in public outreach.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn to make metaphorical connections between the science of perception and equitable teaching practices

SPEAKERS:
Eric Muller, Desiré Whitmore, Rachel Myers

Sponsoring Company: Vernier Science Education

Do you know where your electrical energy comes from? How is energy captured from the wind? Find out with KidWind Renewable Energy Kits! Introduce students of all levels to renewable energy by exploring energy generation. Optimize your wind turbine by building prototypes and testing blade design.

SPEAKERS:
Tom Smith

Learn about Educating for Environmental Change (EFEC), a free Indiana University program that helps educators teach the science and policy of climate change and participate in exemplar activities. This workshop will introduce the EFEC project and provide information on how teachers can get involved. The presenter will also facilitate exemplar activities from the project that are designed to engage students in the practice of scientific argumentation. Surfacing student thinking, addressing student misconceptions, and alignment to the NGSS will also be emphasized. The EFEC project is designed to elucidate and deepen understanding of environmental issues through hands-on lessons co-designed by IU's Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, the School of Education, and veteran K-12 science teachers. EFEC utilizes the following driving questions: how do we know the climate is changing; what are the impacts of these changes; what can be done moving forward; and how do we cultivate optimism in our students?

TAKEAWAYS:
The Educating for Environmental Change (EfEC) project utilizes the following driving questions: how do we know the climate is changing; what are the impacts of these changes; how can we mitigate these changes; and how do we cultivate optimism in our students while teaching them about climate change?

SPEAKERS:
Adam Scribner

Explore how place-based and environmental justice focused lessons transform science learning by connecting students’ lived experiences to local water systems. Participants will examine three NGSS aligned case studies: Salmon in the Klamath, San Gabriel Valley groundwater pollution, and Owens Valley water conflict, to see how Traditional Ecological Knowledge, local data collection, and storytelling deepen understanding of Living Earth systems. Attendees will engage in interdisciplinary strategies that integrate biology, earth science, and environmental policy while supporting multilingual and neurodiverse learners through visual data tools, community mapping, and reflective journaling. The workshop models assessments that invite students to think critically, act locally, and communicate scientifically. Teachers will leave with ready-to-use lesson frameworks demonstrating how equity-centered science increases engagement, equity, and agency in the STEM classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will gain ready-to-use, NGSS-aligned frameworks for teaching local water systems through place-based and environmental justice lenses. They will leave equipped to integrate storytelling, data analysis, and traditional ecological knowledge to engage all learners in equitable science.

SPEAKERS:
Mary Ann Ng

Explore interactive strategies to inspire student engagement in complex science discussions. Using genetic engineering as a focus, this session highlights how you can support students in discussing the intersection of innovation with bioethics and public policy. Learn approaches to guide students in researching diverse perspectives on GMOs and CRISPR use and regulations, analyzing case studies, and participating in discussions. Discover ways to foster civil discourse on ethical debates while building independent research and synthesis skills. You will leave with practical tools and free resources to make real-world connections, helping students strengthen communication, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills. Aligned to honors and AP Biology (Unit 6), the session also connects to environmental science, ethics, government, and economics, offering interdisciplinary connections for deeper learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will learn strategies and gain resources to engage students in real-world science conversations, with a specific focus on the intersections of genetic engineering, bioethics, and policy. This is to better support building student research, communication, and critical thinking skills.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Lane

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Science

Come experience what Carolina + OpenSciEd Elementary is all about through a hands-on model lesson in which students explore water in natural systems, determine if it is healthy or unhealthy, and discuss what can be done. Discover how the new Carolina Certified Version of OpenSciEd’s high-quality instructional materials are more accessible, more user-friendly, and enhanced for classroom safety. Participants will walk away with valuable resources for their classroom.    

SPEAKERS:
Hoover Herrera

Sponsoring Company: RAYN Growing Systems

Hydroponics gives students a living laboratory where science, literacy, and agriculture come alive. In this hands-on workshop, educators will explore NGSS-aligned investigations using a cheap plastic cup experiment to teach plant growth, environmental science, CTE, and STEM. Participants will experience a phenomena-based lab that models real agricultural research—how pH affects plant development—using simple and cheap materials that work in any school setting. We will demonstrate student-friendly data collection strategies, cross-curricular literacy connections, and ways to integrate STEM and sustainability. Educators will leave with ready-to-use lessons, assessment rubrics, and digital student data tables that build scientific thinking and support National Agricultural Literacy Outcomes. Whether teaching PreK–5, middle school, or high school, attendees will learn how to transform food systems learning into powerful experiential education while helping students explore career pathways

SPEAKERS:
Bryce Corning

This session will highlight strategies for supporting two key attributes of sensemaking: student ideas and science ideas. Presenters will share an NSTA tool for evaluating lessons, focusing on equitable instruction. In small groups, participants will experience hands-on strategies that promote student discourse and equitable access, such as chalk-talk, QFT, card sorts, and whiteboarding. These strategies will be grounded in classroom evidence from Physics, Chemistry, and Environmental Science, using examples of engineering design, data analysis, and models. The session includes dedicated time for reflection, allowing participants to connect these techniques to NSTA's sensemaking criteria and plan for implementation in their own teaching. Through small-group discussions and large-group share-outs, participants will personalize their learning and gain valuable insights from their peers.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will experience and review student work from strategies that create equitable, sensemaking science environments. Focusing on science and student ideas, participants will identify strategies to implement in their own practice to improve sensemaking for all learners.

SPEAKERS:
Emilie Cross, Kevin Henson

How can a greenhouse become more than a structure, serving as a space for equity, sustainability, and student voice in science education? The Greenhouse Initiative at New Brunswick Public Schools showcases how place-based, three-dimensional learning can transform science education through sustainability, equity, and community engagement. Created as a living lab, the greenhouse provides equitable spaces for Multilingual Learners and Ability Diverse Learners to engage in authentic, NGSS-aligned learning experiences that honor student voice and foster inclusion. This initiative led to the development of an elective course that naturally integrates science, health, and environmental problem-solving, positioning students as leaders in addressing local and global challenges tied to UNSDG #11: Sustainable Cities & Communities. District leadership, science specialists, teachers, and community members collaborated to design and sustain this work, ensuring alignment with system-wide priorities.

TAKEAWAYS:
We will explore how a Greenhouse Initiative promotes a place-based approach to environmental challenges, while advancing equity for all and cultivating strong community partnerships. This initiative deepens three-dimensional learning and drives system-level advocacy for sustainable practices.

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Nunez

Sponsoring Company: FLINN

Get energized with Flinn’s newly designed and refreshed AP Environmental Science labs, fully aligned with the 2024 College Board Course and Exam Description. Explore classroom-ready investigations that have been reimagined to strengthen exam readiness, featuring updated AP-style multiple-choice and free-response questions that mirror the AP Exam experience. This interactive session includes hands-on demonstrations of inquiry-based learning, engaging outdoor activities, and practical teaching resources designed to captivate students, deepen understanding, and inspire real-world environmental thinking. Handouts included.

SPEAKERS:
Jodi Knabe

Broaden young students’ environmental literacy while developing skills in scientific inquiry, modeling and data analysis. In this hands-on session, engage in creative games and collaborative problem solving on natural resource use, ecosystem health and pathways to sustainability. Create 3-D representations of global land use, model natural resource extraction, and simulate carrying capacity in nature and habitat fragmentation. Discuss the power of cumulative action for environmental stewardship with an elementary art project. The NGSS-aligned activities nurture students’ sensemaking, critical thinking and communication skills. Participants will receive lesson plans and background materials in an electronic format.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn ways to introduce elementary students to human ecology concepts, including natural resource use and interdependence in ecosystems with NGSS-aligned hands-on activities (3D simulations, collaborative problem solving and games).

SPEAKERS:
Helen De la Maza

Engaging place-based Pacific-Coast-centered storylines are presented that allow students to develop sensemaking skills for investigating up-to-date, research-driven climate science and how it relates to their home communities. For example, the Pacific Ocean El Niño / La Niña cycles greatly influence the climates of the U.S. West Coast, including regional temperature and precipitation variations and therefore the timing and locations of floods, droughts, and wildfires. Increased global warming due to increased greenhouse gases is amplifying some of these impact. A recent example is the Southern California wildfires of 2025, where global warming has now extended the lengths of La Niña droughts into January, so they are now overlapping with the start of the winter Santa Ana winds. Another example is how increased Pacific Ocean surface temperatures increase the likelihood of future atmospheric rivers that can cause severe flooding along parts of the West Coast.

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

SPEAKERS:
Michael Wysession

This vocabulary strategy engages students in authentic research and visual learning. Using Google and Google Images, students investigate science terms to build accurate definitions and context. They then transform their research into labeled diagrams, comparisons, and sketches, reinforcing meaning through both inquiry and visualization. By moving beyond rote memorization, this method helps students actively “piece together” vocabulary, fostering deeper understanding, stronger retention, and connections between words and concepts.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave this session with a ready-to-use vocabulary strategy that combines digital research with visual synthesis, making abstract terms more concrete and memorable for students.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Davis

This poster highlights The Great Indoors, a free, NGSS-aligned climate and health unit for grades 6–8 that connects cutting-edge research with practical classroom strategies. Built around case studies and data-rich activities, the unit helps students explore how climate-driven events—such as wildfires, flooding, and pesticide use—affect indoor environments and human health. Students engage in experiments, analyze data, and use design thinking to propose solutions that build community resilience. Aligned with NGSS and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the unit integrates frameworks such as Causal Learning in the Classroom (CliC) and the 5E instructional model. Lessons are modular, adaptable to various schedules, and accessible to diverse learners. Teachers will walk away with free, classroom-ready resources that support sensemaking, foster student problem-solving, and make climate science engaging and relevant to middle school learners.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will discover a ready-to-use, research-backed climate and health unit. They’ll learn strategies to engage students with case studies, experiments, and design challenges that make climate science relevant, inclusive, and action-oriented.

SPEAKERS:
Chris Link, PhD

This interactive poster explores the fascinating world of native bumble bees and discover how creativity can inspire conservation! Visitors will learn to recognize local bumble bee species by their distinctive color patterns, behaviors, and preferred native plants. Participants will design and build “bee bracelets” that mimic real species—like the White-shouldered Bumble Bee or the Golden-belted Bumble Bee—while learning how these color combinations help bees communicate, defend, and thrive in their environments.    Educators and citizen scientists will receive free identification guides, plant lists, and data-collection resources to help them engage in citizen science projects such as Bumble Bee Watch and iNaturalist. The booth invites teachers of all grade levels to connect art, science, and stewardship—leaving with a tangible reminder of local biodiversity and a call to action to go outdoors, observe, and share their bee discoveries to support pollinator research and conservation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to identify native bumble bees by color pattern and behavior, connect these traits to pollination ecology, and engage students or visitors in creative, hands-on activities that inspire participation in citizen science and local pollinator conservation.

SPEAKERS:
Claire Lannoye-Hall

Explore an April Earth Month calendar that offers a diverse range of daily engaging and educational activities designed to inspire environmental consciousness. The resource can be printed or distributed digitally, and all actions can be done at home or school. This provides attendees with an accessible tool to participate in events that promote a healthier, more sustainable future for our planet.

TAKEAWAYS:
Explore an April Earth Month calendar that offers a diverse range of daily engaging and educational activities designed to inspire environmental consciousness.

SPEAKERS:
Benjamin Charles

The National Earth Science Teachers Association (NESTA) empowers educators to advance their instructional practice through professional learning, high-quality resources, and a supportive community aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). This session highlights how NESTA—through strategic partnerships—helps teachers integrate Earth and space science phenomena that inspire student-centered inquiry and authentic sensemaking. By fostering educator resilience, collaboration, and leadership, NESTA promotes excellence in Earth and space science education. Participants will explore NESTA’s wide range of offerings, including timely classroom resources, professional development opportunities, access to best practices through our peer-reviewed journal The Earth Scientist, and strategies for building interdisciplinary connections across the sciences.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn about a community that elevates Earth and space science teaching! NESTA helps educators connect, grow, and lead—transforming curiosity into discovery through shared resources, collaboration, and real-world phenomena that inspire student learning.

SPEAKERS:
Kellyn Hardin, Natalie Macke

Within in food education, Pilot Light has set the table, where they have created a national footprint by impacting students, teachers, and families in Chicago, NYC, and nationwide. They are now part of school culture with in 26 states, over 530 educators have received professional development, and over 24,640 have engaged in the program. Pilot Light has created a vision for a future where Food Education becomes an integral part of schools nationwide, through the leases of curiosity, community, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity. The standards: 1. Food connects us to each other. 2. Foods have sources and origins. 3. Food and the environment are interconnected. 4. Food behaviors are influenced by external and internal factors. 5. Food impacts health. 6. We can make informed food choices. Each of these standards can and have been integrated within the NGSS, Common Core, and SEL.

TAKEAWAYS:
Planting the seeds of change, Pilot Light has created a cultural shift in food education where they cultivated food standards, within the lenses of NGSS, Common Core, and SEL. One apple at a time....food education is here to stay!

SPEAKERS:
Lisa Ernst, Antoinette Schlobohm, NBCT, NCST

This poster presents a lesson that has students explore how single phrases can allow you to pick up on a source’s tone towards climate change. Students begin by highlighting and coding an article using a key provided with the goal of identifying biases in the news source. Then, students create a blackout poem using the key phrases they identified to focus attention on the source’s bias towards climate science. This lesson combines critical reading & creative writing with climate science communications and is adaptable for students ranging from middle school to graduate school.

TAKEAWAYS:
Students will learn how to identify hidden biases in news sources discussing climate change.

SPEAKERS:
Zachary Krauss

For many urban students, “nature” can feel far away, tucked into forests or national parks. But what if we flipped that idea on its head? This poster highlights a community-based science unit that helps students rediscover the ecosystems woven into their own neighborhoods. Set in Philadelphia, this freshwater ecology unit invites students to explore how rivers, streets, and people form one dynamic, interconnected system. It features classroom-ready examples that blend science, historical data, and art-based activism. The lessons combine three-dimensional NGSS practices with a historical lens to trace how local rivers and surrounding communities have transformed over time. Drawing inspiration from local storytelling and art movements, students design public-facing eco-art that raises awareness about the relationship between the city and nature. This poster is designed to help educators create meaningful community based and culturally relevant experiences for all learners.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with adaptable strategies for designing place-based investigations that help students see nature and ecological systems not as something distant, but as part of their everyday urban experience woven into the streets, rivers, and rhythms of their own communities.

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Szablya

This session showcases a forward-thinking place-based curriculum model aligned with NGSS, integrating the expertise of local water authority professionals. Designed for middle-schools, the curriculum seamlessly connects scientific concepts with real-world applications, linking classroom learning directly to career opportunities in water management. This collaboration not only provides students with a practical understanding of environmental science but also inspires future career paths in the sector. The curriculum model equips students with essential skills, preparing them for success in the evolving job market. Attendees will discover how to adopt this model to advance science education and career readiness, laying the groundwork for further workforce development initiatives in schools.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn to implement a place-based NGSS-aligned curriculum that connects classroom learning to real-world careers through collaboration with industry professionals, enhancing student engagement and workforce readiness.

SPEAKERS:
Trevor Harder

Explore the rich diversity of butterflies through data-driven conservation! In this hands-on workshop, participants will act as student scientists using real-world datasets—expert range maps, citizen science observations, and historical records—to identify priority areas for butterfly protection at the state level. Using California as a model, attendees will analyze species richness and habitat suitability data to locate biodiversity hotspots, then design localized action plans that maximize butterfly diversity through host plant selection and habitat design. The session models NGSS-aligned practices in analyzing and interpreting data, using models, and designing solutions to real-world challenges. Participants will receive adaptable lesson materials and digital resources to localize the activity anywhere in the country—empowering students to use and collect authentic data to protect butterflies in their community.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use real butterfly biodiversity data to identify conservation priorities, analyze habitat potential, and guide students in designing localized, data-driven actions that protect diverse pollinators—moving beyond individual species to broader ecosystem awareness.

SPEAKERS:
Claire Lannoye-Hall

Virtual field trips (VFTs) blend active, place-based learning with immersive digital exploration, connecting science content to real-world places. Come sample three VFT experiences to bring ecosystems and adaptations (LS2.A and LS4.C) to life! Introduce – Ecosystems BINGO: Travel across diverse U.S. ecosystems to investigate biotic and abiotic factors and see how they shape ecological communities. See if your team can complete your bingo board first! Develop – Create Your Own VFT: Step into the role of science communicator and design a virtual field trip that highlights the unique features and importance of an ecosystem of your choice. Apply – Alien Habitat Rescue: Apply your understanding of ecosystems by recommending a suitable Earth home for a stranded alien, based on its traits and needs. After learning about and exploring parts of these activities, participants will brainstorm ways they might use them in their classrooms. All related teacher and student resources will be shared.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will experience three ecosystem-focused virtual field trip activities and explore how place-based, immersive learning technology can support learners in making sense of science concepts through exploration, application, and creation.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Williams-Habibi, Kyla Cook

The 6th-8th grade students at AuTrain-Onota Public School, are in their fourth year building and wiring underwater remote operated vehicles (ROVs). The students have worked with local conservation districts on a fish habitat project, as well as won trophies at ROV competitions. This past school year, the teacher, Amy Pihlainen-Gabler, contacted the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, (WHOI), regarding their use of ROVs. WHOI scientists, including a senior scientist on the Titanic wreckage expedition, have spoken to the students several times about the real-world applications of these ROVs. Mrs. Pihlainen-Gabler traveled to Woods Hole in Massachusetts this past March and will discuss her trip to WHOI and how the scientists welcomed her on tours and provided materials and information to further inspire her students. She will also discuss future plans for the program with Kall Morris Inc. and the Lake Superior SCUBA harbor clean up effort.

TAKEAWAYS:
The most important thing as a teacher is to show students the real-world applications of what they are learning. The "why do I care/need to learn this?"

SPEAKERS:
Amy Pihlainen-Gabler

How can we empower students to explore, understand, and protect ecosystems? This interactive session highlights how 5th grade students combined hands-on fieldwork with AI tools such as image recognition, sound classification, and digital modeling, to investigate habitats, track species, and model environmental changes. The case study features Florida’s Everglades, coral reefs, and red tide–impacted waters, but the strategies and activities can be applied anywhere. Participants will experience a hands-on design sprint, ideate AI-powered solutions, prototype projects, and share insights. Educators will leave with adaptable classroom-ready projects, make-and-take activities, and strategies for integrating AI, digital inquiry, and design thinking to inspire environmental stewardship.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with a replicable framework for student-led conservation projects, practical strategies for integrating AI and design thinking, and adaptable classroom activities that combine fieldwork, digital inquiry, and hands-on environmental problem-solving.

SPEAKERS:
Vicki Spitalnick, Traci Phillips

Sponsoring Company: Switch Classroom

Fuel your curiosity—and your teaching toolkit—with this dynamic exploration of how our world powers itself. Participants will dive into two of Switch Classroom’s most popular energy activities. Start with Energy Resource Stations, comparing coal, wind, solar, natural gas, and more through short videos, hands-on evidence sorting, and lively discussion of benefits, limitations, and trade-offs. Then shift into Energy Transformations, tracing how energy changes from chemical to thermal, mechanical, and electromagnetic as you build explanations, use models, and make real-world connections. Leave with free Switch Classroom lessons and classroom-ready strategies for grades 4–12.

SPEAKERS:
Jillian Swets

Discover data-driven activities that challenge environmental science students to investigate global population trends, resource use, and climate change connections. In this hands-on session, participants will engage with interactive simulations and data analysis that foster systems thinking, modeling, and defending arguments from evidence. Lessons connect directly to NGSS standards (HS-LS2, HS-ESS3) and APES topics including population ecology, land and water use, and global change. In collaborative groups, participants will analyze and discuss data sets from universities and international agencies to identify trends and patterns and make predictions. They will learn strategies to help students analyze complex sustainability challenges, evaluate solutions, and apply scientific reasoning to real-world environmental issues. Attendees will leave with adaptable classroom tools that promote critical thinking, environmental literacy, and informed decision-making.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn NGSS-aligned, hands-on activities that build students’ environmental awareness, data skills, and problem-solving abilities while inspiring them to take informed action on real-world sustainability challenges.

SPEAKERS:
Barbara Huth

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek, Inc.

Imagine you’re a wildlife conservator preparing to introduce captive-bred lions into the wild. But before setting them free, there’s one crucial question: Do these lions actually belong in this habitat? Using phylogenetics, scientists analyze markers within a lion’s DNA to match the individuals with their compatible wild populations. In this interactive workshop, we’ll explore the use of RFLP analysis and phylogenetics in conservation biology. We will analyze the DNA samples of two lions and compare them to common genetic types across the continent of Africa. Your results will guide the decision to return these animals to their native habitats to help rewild the area. Can you send these lions back to their ancestral home?

SPEAKERS:
Maria Dayton

Use demos to talk about resources and environmental sustainability, with copper as a specific example and a focus on the impact of resource acquisition and resources to highlight the depth and complexity of these issues. Participants will observe a copper vein set up they could use in class. This single replacement reaction has some interesting steps and the chemistry that occurs will be discussed. Then the decomposition of malachite will be discussed along with extracting copper by smelting and an analysis of energy used. These reactions give an opportunity to discuss chemistry, geology and environmental science. The idea of the “rock footprint” and how much raw material is needed will be explored. The Berkeley Pit (in Butte) will be one reference point. Resources provided will help students understand the challenges faced when balancing competing interests. The timeline and impact of mining in various areas will be discussed.

TAKEAWAYS:
Environmental impacts of mining from raw material acquisition to processing energy to site clean-up, with an emphasis on the chemistry and sustainability of current practices. Leave with several labs, a classroom activity to highlight the physical impacts of mining, and enthusiasm for recycling.

SPEAKERS:
Briana Richardson

Teaching is hard! Educators work long hours, do not get paid the most lucrative salaries, and can easily get bogged down by all the difficulties that come with the career. This session will discuss professional development opportunities for both formal and informal educators to reignite their passion for education and bring real-world experience back to their students. In addition, experiences discussed provide educators with opportunities to collaborate with scientists, educators, artists, and cultural leaders from around the world to develop engaging content for the classroom and broader community. Specific professional development discussed includes Fund for Teachers, National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship, Ecology Project International Teacher Fellowship, Earthwatch Project Kindle, Bimini Biological Field Station Educator Fellowship, Ocean Exploration Trust Science Communication Fellowship, and Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Fellowship.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will take away insights and application suggestions on professional development opportunities from past fellowship participants. Participants will also gain knowledge on how to utilize those experiences to increase student engagement and global competencies within their community.

SPEAKERS:
Rebecca Maynard, Matthew Holden

Sponsoring Company: MiniOne Systems

In the late 1980s, only 22 California condors remained in the wild. Their survival—and the health of the ecosystems they support—depended on conservation biologists to come up with innovative strategies. In this session, discover how genetics helped bring these iconic scavengers back from the brink. Explore how scientists manage breeding programs, track gene flow, and protect populations from environmental toxins. Learn how to engage students in authentic conservation challenges while showing how biology can save a species when time is running out.

SPEAKERS:
Erika Fong

Pandemics are complex phenomena that can be understood only by combining data, analyses, and insights from multiple scientific fields in truly interdisciplinary fashion. To set the stage, evidence-based storytelling about past pandemics can convey the magnitude of threats posed by pandemics and their long-lasting societal effects. Enhancing student awareness of the power of pandemics to change the course of human history can galvanize challenging exploration of data and insights from several fields. Host-pathogen interactions involve both pathogen physiology and host immune responses. The spread of disease depends on population dynamics of both pathogens and hosts, individual host behavior, and societal responses to outbreaks that include public health practices, vaccine availability, medical treatments, and communication about all of these dynamic processes. Only by combining all these perspectives and insights can society effectively address current and future global health crises.

TAKEAWAYS:
Understanding pandemics requires interdisciplinary knowledge and skills from multiple scientific fields and humanities. Storytelling about past pandemics enhances science understanding about disease emergence, spread, and consequences, and the importance of science policy, and societal action.

SPEAKERS:
Joseph Levine

Sponsoring Company: The Energy Coalition

Inspire students to lead energy actions and the transition to clean energy! This hands-on workshop is designed to bring renewable energy to life in the classroom. The session will equip educators with practical knowledge and resources to engage students in energy-related concepts, including renewable resources, while fostering energy literacy and sustainability awareness. During the session, participants will accomplish the following: - Understand the country’s energy system, energy resilience, and the different types of energy sources. - Build a model wind turbine and test the energy output with digital multimeters. - Reflect on and discuss their own learning, and consider how they could implement the activity in their own classrooms using the provided resources.

SPEAKERS:
Bianca Avina

Our Earth’s surface is continually impacted by the physical forces of nature: weathering and erosion. What is the impact of plants and soil amendments in preventing water runoff and soil erosion? Students will use soil tray models set at specific angles to measure water outwash and soil erosion. If soil is level, students will explain why and how water seeps into the soil and, if soil is on a slope, how water runs downhill. Students will be able to explain how slope, wind and precipitation affect the movement of water across soil surfaces and how soil is carried by water on a slope using terms from their geography vocabulary lists (sediments, weathering, etc.). The terms detachment, transport, and deposit (DTD) will be introduced. Students will discuss how rainfall and slope affect water outwash and soil erosion. Students will quantitate the percentage outwash and erosion, graph results, and compare various amendments preventing such occurrences.

TAKEAWAYS:
Water is the major force in shaping our planet. Students use simple models to measure water outwash and soil erosion. Simple models show students how plants and plant residue play major roles in preventing water outwash and soil erosion.

SPEAKERS:
Suzanne Cunningham

Explore the evolution of life on Earth by constructing a "tree of life" -- metaphorical art that arranges groups of organisms by characteristics and when scientists think they first evolved. Build from life's beginnings in the ocean to beloved animals living today using cut out puzzle pieces and/or an interactive online puzzle. The first 30 participants can even receive beautiful "Tree of Life" posters by award-winning artist Ray Troll, complements of Shape of Life [shapeoflife.org]! Learn about other free lessons created by Engaging Every Student with Shape of Life and other partners, including one with an interactive animation about the tree of life and cartoon-creator activity, and the "Exploring Ocean Mysteries" curriculum created in partnership with NOAA and National Geographic Society.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn hands-on strategies to engage students in the mysteries of evolution and other ocean-related phenomena.

SPEAKERS:
Rick Reynolds

Lost or abandoned crab pots pose both environmental and navigational risks and can continue to catch animals or "ghost fish" long after they are lost. During this shar-a-thon, Delaware Sea Grant will share their newly created Ghost Fishing activity. In this lesson for middle and high school students, participants engage in an activity that simulates ghost fishing by derelict crab pots. This activity is based upon data collected during Delaware Sea Grant's annual derelict crab round-up. In addition to this activity, Delaware Sea Grant will be handing out copies of their 3D Horseshoe Crab Model activity and 3D Dogfish Model activity.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about ghost fishing by derelict crab, how this can affect ecosystems and populations of aquatic organisms, and how teachers can use this new created activity in their classroom.

SPEAKERS:
David Christopher

Join the Ocean Exploration Trust & the National Center for Education and the Economy to learn about a new collaboration bringing Project Based Learning to classrooms, connecting the excitement of discovery with the largest living system on Earth - the ocean! Dive into how you and your classroom can get involved in paid, field-testing opportunities of these new Depths of Discovery materials. Learn more about programs that link the Exploration Vessel Nautilus with classrooms through interactive programs, scientific data sharing, and live streaming from never-before-seen corners of the planet.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will learn about opportunities to bring the salty 70% of the planet to their learners through deep-ocean exploration and STEM role models through live interactive programs and project based learning in the Depths of Discovery curricular project.

SPEAKERS:
Megan Cook

For formal or informal educators working with all ages and audiences! Get FREE access to ready-to-use, NGSS-aligned activities to build meaningful connections to ocean ecosystems through real-world science. Species ID video games, mock coral collections with remotely-operated vehicles, deep-sea mission board games, scavenger hunts, coloring pages, animated shorts, live connections with scientists at sea, and engaging videos. Learn about colorful corals, fascinating creatures, human impacts, seafloor mapping, underwater robots, and more through work happening right now to restore deep-sea coral communities injured by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. These resources serve diverse audiences including classroom teachers, informal educators, families, communities, and adults looking for careers in marine science. See demonstrations of interactive educational materials and highlights from livestream broadcasts to easily implement these free activities and resources for all ages.

TAKEAWAYS:
Free resources to connect all ages with deep-sea habitats, human impacts, tech, and careers using real-world science and interactive activities. Bring out-of-reach ecosystems to a range of learners through livestreams with scientists at sea, videos of unseen places, skill-building games, and more.

SPEAKERS:
Sasha Francis

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) website has a wealth of ocean resources but was previously difficult to search and use. We cataloged the content based on alignment with NGSS and Ocean Literacy Principles as well as topic and type of media and created a searchable database. This “Ocean Learning Hub” is now a searchable database that provides easy and fast access to the content as well as a bookmarking system so you can collate your resources for future reference. We will walk you through this updated website as well as provide an overview and demonstration of one of our available lesson plans developed with a WHOI researcher that explores ocean currents and specifically “underwater waterfalls”, i.e., overflows in the North Atlantic. I will share editable slides that include a quiz, instructions for a hands-on experiment, and two videos. The slides are annotated with teacher notes to help with narration, background information, and conduction of the experiment.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will learn how to navigate the new standards based, educator-friendly WHOI Ocean Learning Hub website, gain ocean resources to use in their classroom and for outreach use, and all ages will understand the ocean’s role in our planet’s future.

SPEAKERS:
Grace Simpkins

Visiting teachers will explore practical strategies, structures, and resources for starting or strengthening a Green Team within their school community. Drawing on experience advising both upper-elementary (4-5) and middle school (7-8) Green Teams, the presenter will share developmentally appropriate approaches for engaging students in sustainability initiatives. Participants will gain actionable guidance on recruiting student leaders, setting achievable goals, aligning projects with science standards, and fostering collaboration among staff, families, and community partners. The session will highlight real-world examples of student-driven projects such as waste reduction, conservation efforts, and schoolwide sustainability campaigns. Educators can discuss how Green Teams can build leadership skills, environmental stewardship, and authentic science learning. Teachers will leave with adaptable tools and ideas to confidently launch, grow, or revitalize a Green Team at their own school.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn about options for meeting schedules, team goals, & varying levels of involvement, so they can decide what will work best for their students. Beginners and those advisors with established teams will leave inspired with actionable ideas to implement and improve their green team.

SPEAKERS:
Kristin Slota

Pilot Light supports healthy classroom communities. The program integrated Food Education improves academic outcomes.. Standard-based models allow for flexibility to meet schools' individual needs. It is not "another thing on an educators plate. The resources, and fellowships make food education accessible of all. At the present time over 15 years, 24,000 + students, 534 educators and 24 states. With developed standards from FES-1-Food Connects us to each other. FE-2-Foods have sources and organs. FES-3-Food and the environment are interconnected. FES-4-Food behaviors are influenced by external and internal factors. FES-5-Food impacts health. FES-6-We can make informed food choices. FES-7-We can advocate for dood choices and changes that impact ourselves, our communities, and or world. Common Core/SEL

TAKEAWAYS:
It is to support students as they learn and advocate for informed choices by origin the lesson they learn to the food on their lunch trays, at home, and in their communities. As part of this, food impacts us all as individuals and as members of the food systems, but is rarely taught in schools.

SPEAKERS:
Lisa Ernst, Antoinette Schlobohm, NBCT, NCST

Dive into the world of whale science with this interactive session designed for educators eager to bring authentic marine biology into their classrooms. Join us as we share innovative lessons, classroom activities, and take-home resources that immerse students in the study of baleen whales, with a special focus on the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale, one of the most critically endangered large whale species in the world. Our session offers a mix of hands-on learning, digital media, and inquiry-based activities that help students explore how scientists study whales in their natural habitats. Participants will leave with free, ready-to-use materials and online tools that connect students directly with real data, real science, and real conservation issues. By studying baleen whales, students learn not only about marine biology but also about the broader scientific process, including observation, data collection, pattern recognition, and informed conservation decision-making.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave this session with classroom-ready materials, including handouts, short videos, and links to resource lists, as well as strategies for integrating whale research into science, geography, and environmental studies curricula.

SPEAKERS:
Jennifer Kennedy

I will share hands-on lessons and activities that use models of light in the sea, formation of hydrothermal vents, biodiversity on seamounts, and chemosynthesis. Learn how to incorporate incredibly engaging and new phenomena from the ocean that students love. Lessons allow students to make sense of photosynthesis, light energy in the ocean, precipitates of salts, biodiversity and habitat complexity, and chemosynthesis. Some of these concepts can also make incredible transfer tasks for students!

TAKEAWAYS:
Deep sea phenomena and using models.

SPEAKERS:
Tami Lunsford

Sponsoring Company: Switch Classroom

Get ready to roll up your sleeves and let the breeze inspire your inner engineer! In this lively, hands-on session, teachers will explore Switch Classroom’s Intro to Wind lesson and see how engaging renewable energy instruction can be. You’ll investigate how wind becomes power, then design, build, and test a mini windmill using everyday recycled materials like cardboard, paper, and plastic bottles. Adaptable from upper elementary through high school, this engineering challenge brings real-world problem solving into any classroom. Participants will engage in NGSS-aligned practices by developing prototypes, testing and refining designs, analyzing performance data, and explaining how kinetic energy transforms into mechanical and electrical energy (MS-PS3-5, MS-ETS1-1–4, HS-ETS1-2). Leave with free Switch Classroom resources, a classroom-ready design challenge, and wind-powered inspiration to energize your students.

SPEAKERS:
Jillian Swets

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Science

Construct an eco-column to model ecosystem interactions and human impacts. This workshop provides materials and experiment ideas—such as testing fertilizer effects on water quality—while connecting investigations to NGSS concepts like energy flow and matter cycling. Ideal for middle and high school science.

SPEAKERS:
Julie Stubbs

Sponsoring Company: FLINN

Discover how algae beads can transform the way students explore photosynthesis and cellular respiration. In this interactive session, participants will design experiments to test how light intensity, wavelength, and temperature influence these biological processes. Experience a hands-on investigation that helps students visualize complex concepts while practicing authentic scientific inquiry.

SPEAKERS:
Marissa Zefeldt

Sponsoring Company: HHMI BioInteractive

Experience new ways to support student thinking with HHMI BioInteractive’s Model Builder. This free digital tool helps make student thinking visible as they model scientific phenomena. After an introduction to Model Builder and its library of resources, participants will experience a sample lesson sequence for the classroom, using Model Builder to model the evolution of the rock pocket mouse. They will then engage in strategies that help students use their models for learning and consider how to adapt the resources and strategies for their own contexts. Please bring a laptop or tablet if you have one.

SPEAKERS:
Marisa Alvarado, Deanna Digitale-Grider

Sponsoring Company: FLINN

Are you struggling with instructional materials that feel overly scripted, too complex, or lack the essential background students need to succeed? This session introduces a new line of science kits designed for ease-of-use and student buy-in. We move away from sprawling, complicated sequences in favor of short, modular kits that focus on real-world science students care about. Explore context-rich investigations into the energy of lithium-ion battery fires, the molecular architecture of NSAID drugs, and the stoichiometry of Hollywood practical effects. Discover how these streamlined science kits provide the necessary support and high-interest phenomena to keep students engaged without the burden of heavy, inflexible curriculum. These manageable, hands-on experiences are designed to make modern science more accessible for students while maintaining clear alignment to NGSS standards.

SPEAKERS:
Mike Marvel, Ph.D.

Join us for hands-on, critical thinking activities that explore electricity, magnetism, and how we can generate power from ocean energy and offshore wind. Engage your students with visualizations that make emerging technologies easier to understand while showing the power of water and wind in action.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will experience hands-on lessons—just as their students would—that demonstrate how ocean and wind energy can do work, while deepening understanding of the emerging technologies used to harness this power.

SPEAKERS:
Don Pruett, Jr.

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Science

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

SPEAKERS:
Crystal Risko

Students are witnessing the effects of climate change and want both knowledge and hope. This workshop introduces Seeds to Solutions: a free, solutions-focused set of supplemental K–12 units designed to help educators integrate climate change and environmental justice into their practice. Using an inquiry-based, storyline instructional approach, this interdisciplinary curriculum supports data literacy, place-based learning, and the development of models to explain the effects of climate change while allowing students a chance to plan local solutions. Lessons are aligned to California Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and participants will learn how to adapt the units to their own state/local context. Participants will experience a sample lesson that fosters student inquiry and addresses different learning styles. The sample lesson is from a middle school unit, but the program offers resources for all K–12 educators.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will experience a sample middle school lesson to see how the Seeds to Solutions storyline instructional model engages a wide range of learners in grades K–12. Participants learn how to create a sense of agency in the face of climate change and adapt units to their state/local context.

SPEAKERS:
Holly Steele

What is the impact of having a dog park in your community? In this hands-on session, participants explore the chemistry of runoff from dog parks and how excessive phosphates from dog waste can disrupt ecosystems and contribute to water pollution. Participants will test soil samples for phosphate levels and use the data to design eco-friendly dog parks that minimize the impact of dog parks on the local community. Learn how phosphate buildup leads to problems like algal blooms and eutrophication. Copies of lessons are provided.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore the chemistry of runoff from dog parks and how phosphates from dog waste can disrupt ecosystems and contribute to water pollution. Participants will apply analytical skills to measure soil chemistry and use the data to design eco-friendly dog parks.

SPEAKERS:
Cameron Good, Madeline Stallard, M. Gail Jones

Led by NSTA Early Childhood-Elementary Committee members, the session addresses the relationship between the NSTA book series and natural phenomena, providing an interactive platform for educators to discover how this series of books can support & enhance SEPs in the classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore the integration of this series with science and engineering practices through cross-disciplinary connections and hands-on activities. Resources provided.

SPEAKERS:
Simone Nance, Anne Lowry, Melissa Parks, Jennifer Williams

Wildfires severely impact soil through physical, chemical, and biological changes. Physically, they destroy protective vegetation, causing immediate erosion, mudslides, and the formation of water-repellent hydrophobic soil. Chemically, fire releases some nutrients but removes vital nitrogen, leading to long-term soil deficiencies and disrupting the nutrient cycle. Biologically, intense heat kills critical microbial communities and beneficial fungi, slowing post-fire recovery for years. This science is translated into 3-D (DCI-SEP-CCC) aligned learning opportunities, including investigations in soil chemistry, microbiology, and physical properties. Climate change has made wildfires a personal issue for so many students, and therefore, culturally relevant pedagogies are addressed within the workshop and materials. All workshop materials will be freely available.

TAKEAWAYS:
Wildfires cause severe physical, chemical, and biological soil damage, leading to erosion, nutrient loss (nitrogen), and microbial death. This workshop will share freely available, and 3-D NGSS-aligned investigations that engage students in the science and issues related to wildfires.

SPEAKERS:
Margaret Holzer

Teaching about global change is challenging. The interdisciplinary science is complex, because it involves far more than “just” climate change —infernally complicated on its own. As important as climate change is, its effects on ecosystems and the biosphere act alongside other anthropogenic alterations to the biosphere including land-use change, industrial and agricultural practices, and more. To make things even more difficult, today’s students need the cognitive and analytical tools necessary to handle a tidal wave of misconceptions, misinformation, and disinformation. Misconceptions arise from gaps in knowledge. Misinformation and disinformation arise from intentional distortion for political, economic, or ideological reasons. So we must help students achieve functional scientific literacy: the ability to evaluate sources, interpret data, recognize logical fallacies or manipulative rhetoric, and make scientifically-informed decisions aimed at sustainable societal goals.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teaching about global change requires a full-court press to create an interdisciplinary effort involving ecology, geology, climatology, earth science, population biology, oceanography, atmospheric science, as well as socially-informed efforts to counter rampant misinformation and disinformation.

SPEAKERS:
Joseph Levine

In this hands-on 120-minute workshop, participants will engage in the design and implementation of data-enabled POGIL (Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning) modules using a no-code to low-code tool, such as CODAP (Common Online Data Analysis Platform), that lowers the barrier to data analysis. These modules are interdisciplinary, culturally relevant and foster natural collaboration around real-world, high social-impact challenges that intersect with science, specifically geosciences, food and water systems, environmental science and health disparities; this aligns well with the conference strand #Trending in Data Science Education. Participants of this workshop will be trained in POGIL and CODAP and will be provided with instruction materials to enable them to deliver data-centric content. Expected outcomes in students include: increased engagement, data analytic skill development and empowerment through action. This workshop material was created through NSF grant #2304100.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will receive training in both the pedagogical approach of POGIL and the technical application of CODAP. This will prepare them to help their students develop the knowledge and skills necessary to work with and learn from data.

SPEAKERS:
Earvin Balderama, Marc Boumedine, Ravanasamudram Uma

When students approach complicated science issues through multiple disciplines, they gain the depth needed to find meaningful solutions. Using the 19th century forced diaspora of Native Americans and its lasting impact on the Great Lakes watershed as a lens for understanding today’s environmental challenges. For thousands of years, Native peoples were wise stewards of North America’s waters, protecting ecosystems of great richness. In contrast, non-Native settlement and declared ownership brought devastating consequences—rivers that caught fire, freshwater seas declared “dead,” the evaporation of saltwater lakes, and the collapse of the Colorado River basin. Today, Native communities, such as the Water Walkers, are leading efforts to heal these waters and inspire change. Through storytelling, music, science, writing, and debate, attendees will experience strategies they can take back to their classrooms—helping students imagine, collaborate, and act as responsible stewards of water.

TAKEAWAYS:
Addressing complex environmental issues requires integrated teaching connecting multiple disciplines. Presenters will show how integrating learning helps students make connections, understand complexity, and develop thoughtful, real-world solutions.

SPEAKERS:
Deborah Draper

Sponsoring Company: Discovery Education

Clothing waste is a growing challenge, but it also creates powerful opportunities for learning. In this session, inspired by The Wear Longer Project created in partnership with Levi’s, participants will explore how everyday clothing items are made, used, repaired, and reused—and what those choices mean for sustainability. Using a simple button-sewing activity as a model, the session highlights how hands-on making builds problem-solving skills and design thinking. This approachable skill sparks meaningful conversations about fibers, tension, stress points, and the environmental impact of repairing versus discarding clothing. Participants will also see how this activity can be adapted for classrooms, makerspaces, clubs, and community programs. You’ll leave with practical ideas and ready-to-use strategies to help students build confidence, think creatively, and ask better questions about materials, durability, and sustainability in their everyday lives.

SPEAKERS:
Carrie Willis, Caitlin Arakawa

A Framework for K-12 Science Education identifies critiquing, arguing, and analyzing as evaluative processes that are foundational to science learning. However, misinformation and the influence of social media make it challenging for students to think critically and scientifically about controversial topics. This session introduces a scaffold that can be used as a formative assessment tool to help students purposefully evaluate connections between lines of evidence and alternative explanations of phenomena for sensemaking. In doing so, middle grades and high school students not only construct a deeper understanding of science topics, but exercise negotiation, evaluation of claims and argumentation among peers which are skills that intertwine with English Language Arts. These resources are available through funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) as a collaborative effort for the Lateral Reading & Model-Evidence-Link (LR/MEL) project.

TAKEAWAYS:
The Model-Evidence-Link instructional scaffolds are assessments designed to assist learners as they evaluate the plausibility of evidence connected to models and to exercise negotiation and argument-building skills from evidence. Participants receive access to all instructional materials.

SPEAKERS:
Margaret Holzer, Derek Piper, Lorraine Ramirez Villarin

One of the hardest things to accomplish in the classroom environment is engaging students in the true nature of science. Not the cookbook labs that many of us grew up with (the ones where we knew the answer before we even set foot in the lab) but the adventure of experimental design, data analysis, failure, and success. Real science is messy and there is no substitute in science education. It is something that we all strive for, engaging students in real science, but is much harder in practice. In this presentation, teachers will be provided with real examples of application within the classroom, across various levels of biology. Activities such as strawberry DNA extraction, project based science learning, citizen science opportunities, and student lead scientific research projects will be featured. By analyzing activities, scaffolding, rubrics, and student examples, teachers will leave with the knowledge of how (and when) to implement participatory science in the classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will leave with a clear understanding of participatory science, examples and provided activities (Google Drive Folder), and an increased comfort/confidence about integration in their own classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Marissa Hamilton

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Add a hands-on lab to your Ecology and Evolution units. Join an expedition to Madagascar to decide if an extinct lemur species has been rediscovered! Test DNA with gel electrophoresis, build phylogenetic trees, and analyze authentic field data from the Duke Lemur Center.

SPEAKERS:
Allison Nishitani, PhD

This interactive workshop helps educators bridge classroom science concepts with real-world environmental action. While national in scope, the session highlights examples and opportunities specific to West Coast educators—illustrating how local environmental issues, from coastal monitoring to drought resilience, can anchor student inquiry and action. Participants will explore place-based and participatory science practices that engage students in locally relevant, data-driven investigations inspiring stewardship and problem-solving. Through a model lesson, teachers will learn to guide students in discussing community needs through the lens of sustainability goals, helping them connect science learning with purposeful action. By the end of the workshop, participants will have access to free resources, databases, and networks that support stewardship-oriented instruction and leave ready to design their own classroom-to-community project.

TAKEAWAYS:
Experience how classroom science can lead to real-world impact! Leave with free resources, data tools, and networks that support stewardship-based teaching—and the inspiration to design your own classroom-to-community project. Find out how to get $5000 toward your project.

SPEAKERS:
Liz Martinez, Peggy Steffen

Sponsoring Company: MiniOne Systems

Valley Fever, a respiratory infection caused by soil-dwelling fungi, is quietly spreading beyond the Southwest as climate change alters ecosystems. In this hands-on workshop, participants explore case studies, examine symptomology and risk factors, and discuss genetic susceptibility. Simulate environmental testing by using PCR and gel electrophoresis to detect fungal DNA in soil samples, then compare results with regional data. Gain classroom-ready strategies that connect evolution, environments, public health, and climate impacts through engaging, authentic and pop culture scenarios.

SPEAKERS:
Erika Fong

Lots of things are made of plastic in our world. One of the unintended consequences is plastic waste and in particular microplastics, which are found in every environment. In this interactive workshop, you’ll step into your students’ shoes as we explore microplastics using a 5E teaching model that integrates science, math, and ELA strategies. Using Algalita’s standards-aligned classroom toolkits, you'll engage in hands-on investigations to identify microplastics, uncover where they’re found, and connect these to actionable solutions students can take in their own lives to address one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time. Standards addressed include: Human Impact, Synthetic Materials, Water Pollution, Physical and Environmental Science. We’ll end with discussions of classroom extensions such as action guides, lesson plans, mini-grants, etc. Algalita is an environmental education nonprofit specializing in plastic pollution research and education.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about microplastics and how to use this as a science lesson to engage students in a relevant, timely science topic and think about solutions. This session will also show teachers ways that they can use science to build ELA and Math connections in 3-5 and 6-8 classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Emily Wanous, Virginia (Gini) Oberholzer Vandergon

Come discover how free, NSF-funded simulations and curricula from The Concord Consortium can add all three dimensions of the NGSS to your earth and environmental science teaching, with a special emphasis on earthquakes, wildfires, and natural hazards. Take away free tips and resources and get access to free curriculum materials you can use immediately to bring NGSS to life in your classroom! This session will demonstrate a wide variety of materials using free simulations and resources developed by The Concord Consortium over decades of NSF funding. Participants will explore free, open source interactive earth and environmental models and learn how they can be used to enhance use of three-dimensional learning in the classroom, with a particular emphasis on use of the Science Practices. Examples and hands-on interaction will engage participants in using models and simulations for powerful NGSS-aligned teaching and learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session will demonstrate a wide variety of materials using free software developed by The Concord Consortium over a decade of NSF funding. Participants will explore authentic Earth science models and simulations including wildfires, earthquakes, and natural hazards and receive free curriculum.

SPEAKERS:
Chad Dorsey

Attendees will participate in a national science and social studies aligned lesson created by the City of Lexington, Kentucky’s environmental education team. They will analyze maps, satellite imagery, and other data to compare and contrast green space, alternative transportation, and sanitary sewers in three cities across the U.S. They will then determine if the practices in each city are considered sustainable using a shared definition. The lesson allows for individual or group work depending on students’ needs and incorporates various learning modalities to support multilingual learners. Educators will learn about resources for locating similar data on their community and gain access to a template for presenting the data to students and the accompanying worksheet. This lesson can be part of a 4-lesson unit that delves further into sustainable urban planning topics. Student and teacher experiences participating in this lesson will be shared along with data from the unit assessment.

TAKEAWAYS:
What makes a city sustainable? Participants will answer this question by evaluating data from three communities. Educators will learn how to adapt the lesson to include sustainability data on their city to promote place-based learning and how the introductory lesson can fit into a 4-lesson unit.

SPEAKERS:
Sagan Goodpaster

Sponsoring Company: Switch Classroom

Prepare your students for success on the AP Enviro exam with expert tips for tackling multiple-choice and free-response questions. Learn strategies to enhance critical thinking and test-taking skills, helping your students achieve their best scores.

SPEAKERS:
Jillian Swets

Sponsoring Company: Simulation Curriculum

Dive into Earth's wonders! Our Earth Science workshop offers hands-on activities, expert insights and teaching strategies to inspire curiosity and deepen understanding. Join us in exploring the dynamic systems of our planet! Geology, Meteorology, Atmosphere & Climate! Grades 5-8, 9-12 & AP.

SPEAKERS:
Michael Goodman

Discover how teachers, students, and scientists can team up to address local biodiversity challenges through NGSS storylines—sparking student voice, community action, and powerful learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Collaboration drives student agency and community solutions to real-world biodiversity issues.

SPEAKERS:
Susan Gomez Zwiep, Jill Grace

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) website has a wealth of ocean resources but was previously difficult to search and use. We cataloged the content based on alignment with NGSS and Ocean Literacy Principles as well as topic and type of media and created a searchable database. This “Ocean Learning Hub” is now a searchable database that provides easy and fast access to the content as well as a bookmarking system so you can collate your resources for future reference. We will walk you through this updated website as well as provide an overview and demonstration of one of our available lesson plans developed with a WHOI researcher that explores ocean currents and specifically “underwater waterfalls”, i.e., overflows in the North Atlantic. I will share editable slides that include a quiz, instructions for a hands-on experiment, and two videos. The slides are annotated with teacher notes to help with narration, background information, and conduction of the experiment.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will learn how to navigate the new standards based, educator-friendly WHOI Ocean Learning Hub website, gain ocean resources to use in their classroom and for outreach use, and all ages will understand the ocean’s role in our planet’s future.

SPEAKERS:
Grace Simpkins

Sponsoring Company: Vernier Science Education

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

SPEAKERS:
Colleen McDaniel

Help students connect science learning to the world around them through engaging, hands-on activities that explore ecological connections between people’s land and resource use, climate change, wildlife habitat, and sustainable communities. In this interactive session, participants work collaboratively on systems modeling, simulations and problem-solving challenges that build environmental literacy and inspire students to take informed action. The presented activities emphasize human–environment interactions through crosscutting concepts like cause and effect and stability and change. Attendees will leave with classroom-ready materials that foster curiosity, critical thinking, and environmental literacy, empowering middle school learners to see themselves as problem solvers in a changing world. The presenter will also introduce a tool kit for students to extend their learning to civic engagement and multi-media projects outside of the classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn NGSS-aligned, hands-on activities that build students’ environmental awareness, data skills, and problem-solving abilities while inspiring them to take informed action on real-world sustainability challenges.

SPEAKERS:
Laura Short, Barbara Huth

How can storytelling bridge the gap between science and society by supporting youth to grapple with the complexity of real-world sustainability issues? This session showcases contextual storytelling to create nuanced understanding. We will explore ways youth can tell their own stories to establish personal relevance, gather place-based community stories through participatory action research, and analyze causality through storytelling. Through a combination of hands-on activities and student work examples, participants will learn about visual, oral, and narrative storytelling as a method of transdisciplinary sensemaking in a science classroom. Skills covered will include developing systems, futures, and critical thinking through storytelling. The Smithsonian Science for Global Goals team will share how they leverage storytelling as an engaging tool to develop knowledge of complex global issues and build youth confidence in their ability to take action to create the future they envision.

TAKEAWAYS:
Storytelling is an important tool to understand complexity. When learning about sustainability issues this tool can allow youth to localize global topics, engage in community-based research, explore different perspectives, make sense of the world around them, and express their ideas in an engaging way.

SPEAKERS:
Khadijah Thibodeaux, Erika Bonnett

Sponsoring Company: FLINN

Students to explore microfiber pollution released from synthetic clothing during washing. Participants will simulate laundering, visualize fibers with fluorescence and microscopy, and compare shedding across fabrics and brands. Drawing on current research, the unit connects environmental science, chemistry, and biology while helping students evaluate evidence and consider the science behind everyday consumer choices.

SPEAKERS:
Mike Marvel, Ph.D.

Sponsoring Company: HHMI BioInteractive

Wondering how you can better support your students to effectively analyze and interpret data? Join us as we engage with HHMI BioInteractive’s Data Explorer, a free, student-friendly tool, to visualize and analyze changes in atmospheric carbon. In this session, we will journey beyond the Keeling Curve and explore data at different scales and time periods to develop a deeper understanding of how data informs climate science. This session will be of particular interest to those who teach life or environmental science with a quantitative focus or those who want to incorporate quantitative skills.

SPEAKERS:
Kathlyn Van Hoeck, Jim Lane

Class pets are a fun way to spark a love for nature in young learners! Stop by this Share-a-thon Station to learn how to incorporate class pets into your early childhood curriculum. There will not be live animals at this station; teachers will learn strategies to bring class pets into their own classrooms. Examples include butterflies, beetles, pill bugs, and earthworms. Educators will leave with lesson ideas, including hands-on learning experiences, read-alouds, and math, writing, and art connections.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to care for and manage class pets in the early childhood classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Lucy Krause

Learn about all the fun ways to engage young children in STEM through map making, tracking and compass use. Children and adults of all ages can have a blast, when mapping is on the table!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will explore a range of age-appropriate activities around reading and making maps, animal tracking and compass work. They will leave with ideas that they can use in their classrooms, no matter the resources or space.

SPEAKERS:
Rina Zampieron

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Stephen Kos

Discover the Health DataWell instructional materials, co-developed by HESI and NSTA, to address the lack of materials focused on public health. Research shows that high school is a key time in career awareness and preparation. These materials provide students with an opportunity to expand their understanding of health professions and to consider the roles of community members in promoting public health. In this session, you will hear from teachers who implemented the materials (Health Data Well Ambassadors) and gain practical strategies for connecting students to public health roles in their communities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources to help students explore public health careers and understand the impact of community roles in promoting health.

SPEAKERS:
Malalai Sayedi, Lena Cosentino

Phenomena are the starting point for NGSS and Louisiana’s science standards, yet many educators wonder how to guide students from curiosity to deep sensemaking. The MOSAIC Framework: Modeling, Observation, Scaffolding, Assessment, Inquiry, and Collaboration offers a practical, equitable framework for designing lessons that engage all learners. In this 60-minute interactive workshop, participants will experience MOSAIC as learners by investigating a Louisiana swamp fire phenomenon, where fires smolder in wetlands and release harmful smoke for weeks. Teachers will model combustion, analyze data on methane and oxygen, and collaborate to explain how fire persists in a wet environment. Each step will be paired with ready-to-use scaffolds such as diagrams, talk stems, and formative checks.

TAKEAWAYS:
By the end, participants will see how MOSAIC supports 3D learning and equitable sensemaking in chemistry and environmental science, leaving with practical strategies and a planning template for teaching local, real-world phenomena.

SPEAKERS:
Neotha Williams

Sponsoring Company: HHMI BioInteractive

Who has time to write high quality, aligned assessment items?! In this session, participants will learn how to use the Assessment Builder Tool to access and export a variety of assessment items that can be modified for use at the HS level. Engage with HHMI BioInteractive activities that bring vetted assessment items into the hands of students. Participants will have access to all the free materials, including 600+ assessment items.

SPEAKERS:
Samantha Johnson, Dawn Norton

The Global Ocean Biogeochemical Array (https://www.go-bgc.org/) provides researchers and educators access to over 400 floats that are profiling the water column from 2000 meters to the surface collecting biogeochemical data (pH, oxygen, temperature, nitrate, CO2, fluorescence, Chl, and salinity). Educators also have the option to adopt a float (https://www.go-bgc.org/outreach/adopt-a-float) providing a sense of ownership and pride in the float and the data being gathered. Tutorials and lesson plans are available on the website but this presentation will demonstrate and enable educators to see how easy it is to access the data. Lesson plans are linked with both the Ocean Literacy Principles and the Next Generation Science Standards.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will learn how to utilize real data being gathered by scientific instruments around the world. Hands-on investigation will empower educators with the ability to locate and analyze biogeochemical data and correlate it to biological and physical oceanography.

SPEAKERS:
Jennifer Magnusson, George Matsumoto

Sponsoring Company: RAYN Growing Systems

Hydroponics gives students a living laboratory where science, literacy, and agriculture come alive. In this hands-on workshop, educators will explore NGSS-aligned investigations using a cheap plastic cup experiment to teach plant growth, environmental science, CTE, and STEM. Participants will experience a phenomena-based lab that models real agricultural research—how pH affects plant development—using simple and cheap materials that work in any school setting. We will demonstrate student-friendly data collection strategies, cross-curricular literacy connections, and ways to integrate STEM and sustainability. Educators will leave with ready-to-use lessons, assessment rubrics, and digital student data tables that build scientific thinking and support National Agricultural Literacy Outcomes. Whether teaching PreK–5, middle school, or high school, attendees will learn how to transform food systems learning into powerful experiential education while helping students explore career pathways

SPEAKERS:
Bryce Corning

Science teachers play a vital role in inspiring and equipping students to navigate a world that faces ongoing global changes. This responsibility is especially significant in the physical sciences, where students explore how chemistry and physics shape, and are shaped by, Earth’s systems. However, teachers without a formal background in environmental sciences are often left without sufficient resources to embed these topics in their curriculum. Many teachers also may simply struggle to find time to teach environmental concepts alongside the core disciplinary content without feeling like they’re cramming two courses into one. This session explores strategies for designing science units centered around Earth and environmental science phenomena to anchor existing units of study. Participants will examine how local and global phenomena can be leveraged to seamlessly blend Earth and Environmental Sciences into core science courses to create relevant, inquiry-driven integrated units.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore ways to anchor a unit around local and global Earth and environmental science phenomena that can be integrated into Biology, Chemistry, and Physics classes.

SPEAKERS:
Aaron Schwartz

Explore a free 2-week set of lessons that guides secondary students on an adventure, tracing microplastics from local systems into the Arctic. Students experiment and use models to investigate the potential impacts of microplastics in the Arctic while building optimism as they take action for change. The lesson plans will help you, as their teacher, use storytelling, guided research, experimentation, sensemaking and optimistic student action to explore the paths and impacts of microplastics in the Arctic. This workshop will allow you to explore the lab set ups and access all materials - which have been collaboratively developed by teachers and students working as part of a research project that spans five institutions. You will also explore some of the questions students will grapple with such as: What impact could microplastics have on Arctic ice, climate, and us? Are microplastics in the Arctic a mega-problem? How do we know and what steps can I take now?

TAKEAWAYS:
You can use storytelling, guided research, lab experiments, global models, and sensemaking to help secondary students explore the paths and potential impacts of microplastics in the Arctic. By doing this, students learn standards-based interdisciplinary STEM while finding solutions & taking action.

SPEAKERS:
Barbara Steffens

Native fish provide authentic, place-based phenomena that support student sensemaking and NGSS integration. I created the Glass Eel Project with Save Coastal Wildlife to give schools an alternative to Trout in the Classroom, a program that—despite its popularity—often introduces non-native trout and can harm local ecosystems. In this project, students raise glass eels—an iconic migratory species—while practicing observation, data collection, and scientific modeling before releasing them back into the wild. Participants will see how this approach builds NGSS-aligned science practices, cross-curricular connections (art, statistics, coding in Python/R), and environmental stewardship. Most importantly, the model can be adapted with native fish in every state, giving teachers a framework for engaging students with their own local ecosystems.

TAKEAWAYS:
Using native fish as classroom phenomena fosters NGSS-aligned science practices, cross-curricular learning, and environmental stewardship, with adaptable models for every region.

SPEAKERS:
Ashley Taylor, Angela DiPaolo, Stephen Knott

This interactive workshop highlights The Great Indoors, a free, NGSS-aligned unit for grades 3–5 that blends storytelling, inquiry, and design challenges to turn science learning into real-world action. Students follow Mira, a curious learner investigating the air in her new home, and conduct hands-on experiments to test factors such as ventilation, humidity, and particulates. As they observe, ask questions, and design solutions, they build the competence to apply science in meaningful ways. Students share findings and make plans with their families and extend ideas into their communities. This unit integrates the three dimensions of NGSS, fosters sensemaking through authentic phenomena, and builds student agency. Lessons are modular, adaptable to different schedules, and accessible to all learners. Teachers will participate in sample activities, discuss implementation strategies, and leave with turn-key resources that make science engaging, empowering, and action-oriented.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will discover strategies from a ready-to-use unit that engages students in investigating indoor air quality and empowers them to take meaningful actions - first at home and in class, then in their wider communities.

SPEAKERS:
Chris Link, PhD

Join Mary Beth Hatch in hearing how a few inches separate students from learning in a space that truly engages them in all content areas, the outdoors! This session will dive into how the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is utilizing outdoor learning to truly unlock best practices, promote health and well being, and connect to core content areas for students and teachers. Through a structured process, the Education Division of the Commission has created a playbook for schools to truly unlock the power of real world learning through conservation and outdoor recreation experiences that are tied directly to state learning standards.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how educators are implementing outdoor learning into core content and elective courses in partnership with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission as well as student and teacher leadership opportunities in grades PreK-12.

SPEAKERS:
Mary Hatch

Why do birds matter? Birds reflect the health of our planet and spark curiosity—especially species like the dazzling birds-of-paradise. This session explores how bird-centered storytelling and participatory science can engage youth, promote interdisciplinary learning, and inspire conservation. Birds are powerful connectors between people and place, helping learners see links between their communities and the wider world. Attendees will explore the fascinating lives of our avian counterparts—from eBird to iNaturalist—to inspire students to observe, ask questions, and take local action. Leave with practical strategies to use birds as a gateway for deeper connections between people, place, and planet.

TAKEAWAYS:
Birds connect people to nature, place, and global ecosystems. Through storytelling and participatory science, educators can engage youth in interdisciplinary learning and conservation action, starting in their own communities and expanding outward.

SPEAKERS:
Lyanne Abreu

This interactive session will explore rigorous, relevant teaching tools designed to engage grade 1–8 learners using GLOBE.gov, NGSS-aligned practices, and STEAM integration. The session draws on field research and curricula tested in rural Ohio and urban California/New York classrooms, which were supported by GLOBE. We will demonstrate practical strategies that: -Support sense-making and brain-based learning. -Connect ancient concepts of meaning-making with contemporary classroom challenges. -Provide teachers with ready-to-use tools, rubrics, and resources aligned with federal, state, and local standards. -Address workforce projections and student motivation using data from LMI, BLS, and EDD.gov/ca. This session is designed to inspire and sustain them by offering: -Collaborative tools and curriculum aligned with science standards. -Strategies to build self-confidence, motivation, and resilience in students. -Approaches to community building and funding opportunities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to take an abstract idea and simplify it so that your students are excited to learn it.

SPEAKERS:
Cynthyny Lebo

Sponsoring Company: Esri

Geographic maps (GIS) are powerful tools for visualizing and analyzing scientific data from the schoolyard to the planet. Learn how to use no-cost, no login tools from Esri to explore and understand data using our new tools, including the National Geographic MapMaker. Learn to use 3D data and sketching to improve the map.

SPEAKERS:
Thomas Baker

In an age where catastrophic damage from environmental-related events circulates through social and print media, it is important to build communities of hope for our elementary students. Placed-Based education is a vehicle for creating hope and building strong, resilient communities where students are empowered to act for themselves and their natural surroundings. Local phenomena can be leveraged to engage elementary students in civic responsibility and science and engineering practices, inspiring students to take action through proposing solutions to community issues.

TAKEAWAYS:
As environmental-related events occur, it is essential to build communities of hope for children. Place-based experiential learning builds resilient communities where children are empowered to act for themselves.

SPEAKERS:
Candace Penrod

Discover the Health DataWell instructional materials, co-developed by HESI and NSTA, to address the lack of materials focused on public health and data literacy. The materials provide opportunities for students to build data literacy by analyzing complex public health data, using statistics and computational models, and comparing sources to develop evidence-based explanations and solutions. In this session, you will hear from teachers who implemented the materials (Health Data Well Ambassadors) and gain practical strategies for utilizing complex public health data analysis tools with your students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will gain practical strategies for implementing the Health DataWell instructional materials, focusing on using real-world data and data analysis tools to identify disparities in health outcomes.

SPEAKERS:
Robert Palmer, Jentry Yard, Crystal McDowell

Through hands-on investigations and activities developed by NOAA Ocean Exploration, participants will experience how students can think and work like ocean scientists. Educators will engage in lessons that use mapping technology, water column investigations, and underwater robotics to gather and analyze data, revealing the patterns scientists use to locate hydrothermal vents. These classroom-ready experiences show how students, no matter where they live, can explore the ocean and contribute to understanding new habitats and species. The session will also highlight a recent real-world example from researchers and educators at the University of Delaware and collaborators aboard the R/V Atlantis, who captured the first-ever observations of an underwater volcanic eruption in progress.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will learn how modern technology helps students explore the ocean from wherever they live. Hands-on investigations model the work ocean scientists and explorers use every day to gather new data and find new habitats and species.

SPEAKERS:
David Christopher, Tami Lunsford

Exposure to lead has lifelong health impacts, especially for children who are most vulnerable. North Carolina’s Clean Classrooms for Carolina Kids™ program provides an authentic context for student learning as schools test water for lead and address environmental health hazards. In this workshop, participants will step into a middle school project-based learning unit where students investigate three real-world case studies of lead exposure, analyze data to uncover causes and impacts, and apply cross-curricular skills in science, math, social studies, and ELA. Acting as scientists and engineers, students engage in sensemaking by leveraging the science and engineering practices in the context of a real-world phenomena culminating with students designing informational materials for various audiences that propose actions for safer communities. Participants will experience portions of the unit from a student perspective and leave with adaptable resources to integrate environmental health into engaging, standards-aligned instruction.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how a cross-curricular PBL unit empowers middle school students to investigate lead exposure, analyze real data, and advocate for safer communities through evidence-based action.

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Mills

Sponsoring Company: Switch Classroom

Fuel your curiosity—and your teaching toolkit—with this dynamic exploration of how our world powers itself. Participants will dive into two of Switch Classroom’s most popular energy activities. Start with Energy Resource Stations, comparing coal, wind, solar, natural gas, and more through short videos, hands-on evidence sorting, and lively discussion of benefits, limitations, and trade-offs. Then shift into Energy Transformations, tracing how energy changes from chemical to thermal, mechanical, and electromagnetic as you build explanations, use models, and make real-world connections. Leave with free Switch Classroom lessons and classroom-ready strategies for grades 4–12.

SPEAKERS:
Jillian Swets

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Science

Come experience what Carolina + OpenSciEd Elementary is all about through a hands-on model lesson in which students explore water in natural systems, determine if it is healthy or unhealthy, and discuss what can be done. Discover how the new Carolina Certified Version of OpenSciEd’s high-quality instructional materials are more accessible, more user-friendly, and enhanced for classroom safety. Participants will walk away with valuable resources for their classroom.    

SPEAKERS:
Hoover Herrera

Step into the role of a student scientist and uncover the hidden world of bats through sound! This hands-on workshop introduces educators to bioacoustics, the study of sound in nature, as a powerful tool for participatory science. Participants will analyze real ultrasonic bat recordings, visualize calls as spectrograms, and interpret how sound data reveal species diversity and ecosystem health. Using free digital tools and open-access datasets, educators will experience how students can collect, analyze, and contribute to authentic biodiversity research. The session models NGSS-aligned practices—asking questions, interpreting data, and constructing evidence-based explanations—while highlighting connections across physics, biology, and environmental science. Participants will leave with classroom-ready materials, citizen science pathways, and strategies to help students become acoustic explorers who connect technology, storytelling, and conservation through the science of sound.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use bioacoustics—the science of sound—to engage students in authentic, data-driven investigations of bat biodiversity, connecting NGSS practices with citizen science and conservation to make science learning locally relevant and engaging.

SPEAKERS:
Claire Lannoye-Hall

Sponsoring Company: NOAA

NOAA’s Ocean Service has a number of activities and lesson plans focused on ocean and climate literacy. We also know the value of using multimedia in the learning settings to teach not only complex topics, but to also reach visual learners. A new component of our education materials will include hands-on demonstrations to accompany the lesson plans and activities that so many educators already use. This session will provide a sneak peek into the brand new videos and gauge interest on which topics should be prioritized for additional content.

SPEAKERS:
Symone Barkley

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Science

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

SPEAKERS:
Crystal Risko

Sponsoring Company: Vernier Science Education

Make environmental science local! Learn how Vernier sensors support long-term indoor and outdoor monitoring as students investigate natural and human-influenced phenomena like storm systems, watershed water quality, heat islands, and traffic pollution. Includes a look at the new Air Quality Sensor!

SPEAKERS:
Colleen McDaniel

Innovative chemistry labs focused on current topics play an essential role in inspiring and educating students at the undergraduate and high school levels. A timely example is the ongoing accumulation of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. One promising approach to mitigate the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere is the electrochemical reduction of CO2 into carbon monoxide (CO), a valuable precursor for renewable fuels. This presentation shows the development of a low-cost H-cell system so that CO2 electrolysis can be explored in the classroom laboratory. Different variables, including electrolyte source/concentration, voltage level, and CO2 source (compressed tank, human breath, mineral water, and dry ice), were investigated to determine their impact on CO2 production. With the results from these trials, a hands-on, accessible laboratory experiment was designed to make these complex scientific concepts become real for students.

TAKEAWAYS:
This new laboratory activity empowers all students to actively explore key principles in electrochemistry and current trends in renewable energy, promoting engineering, collaboration and problem solving in a hands-on, innovative, and accessible experiment.

SPEAKERS:
Kyra Morris

This lesson incorporates an engaging phenomenon that has been a part of Louisiana history for generations. With our warm an mostly tropical climate, we have become home to several invasive species. Students will first hear about our great states law makers radical resolution for one aggressive plant species in particular and also fix the decline in meat on the bayous! Can you guess the species our dear Huey P was trying to bring into our waterways? The solution was not only 2 fold, but utterly ridiculous! But, this lesson in ecosystem balance, biodiversity, natural selection, and invasive species shines light on how far we have come and how biotechnology may pave the way ahead in ecosystem balance in the future.

TAKEAWAYS:
Ecosystems present as a delicate balance. Our Bayous, though complex and brackish, have a very delicate composition of abiotic and biotic components that make it such a magnificent sanctuary. Solving the problem of invasive species is more difficult due to this balance.

SPEAKERS:
Karen Marshall

The use of noninvasive insects, order Blattodea, is an excellent way to teach life cycles, biomass, food waste composting, and biophilia. Attendees will be shown the comparison between vermicomposting and blatticomposting. Information on six neotropical species currently being researched/used will be shared. Of the 4,500+ species, 30 are found to be USA pests. The four top species are the American cockroach, German cockroach, Oriental cockroach, and the brown-banded cockroach. None of which should be used. Noninvasive roaches are perfect models for phenomena and science ideas in sensemaking. We are working with Green Banana roaches (Panchlora nivea), Death’s Head roaches (Blaberus craniifer), Ivory Head roaches (Eublaberus distanti), Argentinian Wood roaches (Blaptica dubia) and Madagascar Hissing roaches (Gromphadorhina portentosa). Blatticomposting enclosures are placed in school districts, used to create the state’s ITP test questions, and mentored to interested individuals.

TAKEAWAYS:
An IKEA-like plan, and NGSS-aligned lessons, will be shared to recreate hands-on, noninvasive, blatticomposting enclosures currently being used in K-12 educational settings.

SPEAKERS:
Michael Bechtel

Dive into a hands-on experience where students explore buoyancy, density, and forces through culturally relevant activities inspired by chinampas and the axolotl! Learners design a floating paper axolotl capable of holding 20 pennies, testing and selecting materials based on observable properties while planning and conducting investigations. By connecting ancient Mesoamerican ingenuity to modern sustainable farms in flood-prone Sri Lanka, students discover how diverse cultural and global perspectives inform real-world problem-solving. These immersive experiences foster curiosity, critical thinking, perseverance, confidence, and positive identification with science, helping learners see themselves as capable problem-solvers and innovators.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn strategies to teach buoyancy with hands-on projects inspired by chinampas and axolotls, creating culturally relevant experiences that foster curiosity and problem-solving while helping students see themselves as capable scientists.

SPEAKERS:
Monica Dennis

Discover the Health DataWell instructional materials, co-developed by HESI and NSTA, to address the lack of materials focused on public health and data literacy. The materials provide opportunities for students to build data literacy by analyzing complex public health data, using statistics and computational models, and comparing sources to develop evidence-based explanations and solutions. In this session, you will hear from teachers who implemented the materials (Health Data Well Ambassadors) and gain practical strategies for utilizing complex public health data analysis tools with your students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will gain practical strategies for implementing the Health DataWell instructional materials, focusing on using real-world data and data analysis tools to identify disparities in health outcomes.

SPEAKERS:
Eric Lewis

Freshwater salinization has been an increasing issue as the use of road salts has become more abundant. Many studies focus on the impacts of salinization on aquatic invertebrates and neglect the impacts on aquatic plants. Additionally, less is known how the formulation of the road salts impact the growth of the aquatic plants. The objective of the current study was to evaluate road salt formulations on Lemna minor survival and growth. If freshwater salinization from various road salt formulations impacts L. minor survival and growth, it may not only impact the health of this species but also pose a threat to other freshwater species in aquatic ecosystems that rely on aquatic plants.

TAKEAWAYS:
By looking at how road salts impact freshwater plants, this opens the question as to what else the addition of the road salts may do to the environment. This can connect to the high school setting, as students can get hands-on experience while seeing things that directly impact their environment.

SPEAKERS:
Myah Shier

Discover a wealth of free, high-quality instructional resources from Windows to the Universe to enhance Earth and space science teaching and learning. This poster/share-a-thon presentation will introduce attendees to a variety of materials, including engaging activities, multimedia, and interactive simulations, designed to captivate their students and foster a deeper understanding of our planet and the universe. They will learn how to seamlessly integrate these resources into their curriculum to address a wide range of NGSS-identified Earth and space science topics. From plate tectonics to solar system exploration, they will find everything they need to create dynamic and effective lessons. By utilizing these resources, they can inspire their students to become lifelong learners and develop a passion for scientific inquiry.

TAKEAWAYS:
Enhance your Earth and Space Science teaching and student learning with free instructional resources from Windows to the Universe! Bundle high-quality materials for effective lessons related to any Earth and space science topic.

SPEAKERS:
Margaret Holzer

Learn from two experienced transdisciplinary teachers how to assess students as they combine science-based storytelling and justice advocacy. In our food systems/justice context, students make observations around urgent food-related topics, including interviews at local farmers' markets and with community partners. They then explore related scientific evidence on topics they choose, including SNAP budgeting, food waste, and front-of-packaging labeling. Students generate ideas for evidence-based storytelling through interactive "tabling" showcases held during school lunch. For this poster, we'll showcase the lesson arc, portfolio rubric, student work, and sample booths as a clear before/during/after model for other teachers to use. As food insecurity, climate impacts, and equity shape students’ lives and policy shifts affect access and opportunities, this assessment provides a model for teaching science in a social justice context, empowering youth to connect content to action.

TAKEAWAYS:
Discover a model of authentic assessment where science and justice meet as students observe, investigate, and generate ideas while turning their science learning into civic leadership.

SPEAKERS:
Tania Bettis, Elizabeth Gottlieb

Discover the Health DataWell instructional materials, co-developed by HESI and NSTA, to address the lack of materials focused on public health and data literacy. The materials provide opportunities for students to build data literacy by analyzing complex public health data, using statistics and computational models, and comparing sources to develop evidence-based explanations and solutions. In this session, you will hear from teachers who implemented the materials (Health Data Well Ambassadors) and gain practical strategies for utilizing complex public health data analysis tools with your students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will gain practical strategies for implementing the Health DataWell instructional materials, focusing on using real-world data and data analysis tools to identify disparities in health outcomes.

SPEAKERS:
Madison Staton

This Lesson Showcase shares an interdisciplinary elementary unit developed in response to a parent’s concern about food waste at school. Using the bilingual trade book Rainbow weaver / Tejedora del arcoíris as a central teaching resource, students engaged in real-world investigations of food waste at home and school. Hands-on activities, such as sorting and weighing food waste, helped students connect abstract science concepts to real world experiences. Literacy connections through reading, discussion, and family interviews made complex science content more relevant to their everyday lives. Students also highlighted cultural traditions that shaped how families reuse food and materials, illustrating the power of integrating personal and community knowledge into science learning. By grounding lessons in authentic issues of waste and sustainability, the unit encouraged student agency by linking science with meaningful action in their lives and communities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will receive all lesson materials and resources to implement this interdisciplinary, bilingual unit that connects food waste, culture, and sustainability through hands-on science, literacy, and family knowledge.

SPEAKERS:
Caitlyn Ishaq

Discover the Health DataWell instructional materials, co-developed by HESI and NSTA, to address the lack of materials focused on public health. Research shows that high school is a key time in career awareness and preparation. These materials provide students with an opportunity to expand their understanding of health professions and to consider the roles of community members in promoting public health. In this session, you will hear from teachers who implemented the materials (Health Data Well Ambassadors) and gain practical strategies for connecting students to public health roles in their communities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources to help students explore public health careers and understand the impact of community roles in promoting health.

SPEAKERS:
Rachel Di Silvio

This poster highlights The Great Indoors, an NGSS-aligned unit for grades 3–5 that blends storytelling, inquiry, and design challenges to help students explore indoor air quality and practice problem-solving. Students follow Mira, a curious learner investigating the air in her new home, and conduct hands-on experiments with variables such as ventilation, humidity, and particulates. They make observations, ask questions, and apply engineering design to create simple solutions that improve the spaces where they live, learn, and play. Developed with university partners, the unit integrates the three dimensions of NGSS, builds action competence, and supports sensemaking through authentic, place-based phenomena. Each lesson is modular, adaptable to different schedules, and accessible to all learners. Teachers will be introduced to lesson designs, experiments, and free resources that make science engaging, inclusive, and relevant to the air we breathe indoors.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will explore a ready-to-use, NGSS-aligned unit where grades 3–5 students investigate indoor air quality through storytelling, inquiry, and hands-on experiments, building sensemaking, action competence, and problem-solving through design thinking and engineering.

SPEAKERS:
Chris Link, PhD

18 Master Teacher Fellows participating in a 5-year NSF-funded Robert Noyce Teachers Fellows project are engaging in extensive professional learning about K-5 STEM teacher leadership focusing on sustainable and inclusive teaching practices. This poster will showcase profiles of teachers' development and enactment of STEM teacher leadership within their classrooms and schools.

TAKEAWAYS:
Visitors to this poster will have a chance to view the many ways in which STEM teacher leadership is enacted in K-5 environments. Visitors will learn clear strategies for serving in leadership roles after viewing this poster.

SPEAKERS:
Helen Corveleyn, Lauren Madden

Discover the Health DataWell instructional materials, co-developed by HESI and NSTA, to address the lack of materials focused on public health and data literacy. The materials provide opportunities for students to build data literacy by analyzing complex public health data, using statistics and computational models, and comparing sources to develop evidence-based explanations and solutions. In this session, you will hear from teachers who implemented the materials (Health Data Well Ambassadors) and gain practical strategies for utilizing complex public health data analysis tools with your students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will gain practical strategies for implementing the Health DataWell instructional materials, focusing on using real-world data and data analysis tools to identify disparities in health outcomes.

SPEAKERS:
Rebekah Hall

Wipro Climate V-CCLS This is a course study with Stanford/Wipro/SFUSD. Climate Science, Climate Anxiety, Climate Change, and Climate Justice. This was a research study through research articles at Alice Fong Yu K-8 in SFUSD. The research was done by four educators, 6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade and the Middle School Music Teacher, along with entire Middle School student body. The lessons are aligned to the Common Core, SEL and the NGSS. Along with the research and lessons, AFY was filmed by the Sustainability Office of SF Gov, which was played on SFGov.. The final component was the students were Climate Change Agents at the SF GOV 2nd Annual Climate Action Youth Summit. The students designed stations for the 2500 students, along with writing and performing a Climate Change Summit Song for the event. This summit, has and will continue to be part of the fabric of Alice Fong Yu and commitment as stewards of change.

TAKEAWAYS:
The main takeaway is aligned to creating a culture where Science Research at a school site can impact and not only a student, their family but the community at large. The collaboration, creativity, curiosity, collaboration, communication was demonstrated by the educators, for the students.

SPEAKERS:
Stephanie Yue, Lisa Ernst

It’s no question that humans have vastly changed the landscape of local and global environments. Pollution has many detrimental and unintended impacts throughout ecosystems. What remains less understood is how organisms adapt to these changes. Pollution Evolution invites students to analyze data on peppered moths and draw conclusions about how organisms adapt to human-caused changes. This lesson plan follows the following standards: first, from NGGS HS-LS4-3. Apply concepts of statistics and probability to support explanations that organisms with an advantageous heritable trait tend to increase in proportion to organisms lacking this trait; second, Alabama’s SC15.BIO.14 Analyze and interpret data to evaluate adaptations resulting from natural and artificial selection that may cause changes in populations over time.. This lesson utilizes a simulation lab developed by askbiologist.asu.edu that students follow along with a lab worksheet.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers should take away that this lesson is about connecting environmental science with evolutionary biology, while students are encouraged to think critically about human impacts on nature.

SPEAKERS:
Brianna Santallana, Jonathan Scott

This poster presents a 7th-grade PBL unit integrating Western science and Native Hawaiian knowledge to restore ecosystems at Kalauhaʻihaʻi. Students investigate biodiversity, energy flow, and human impacts, conduct field studies, test models of structures like kuapā walls, engineering, and present solutions to community experts. The project shows how culturally grounded, place-based science fosters engagement, collaboration, and stewardship.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to design NGSS-aligned, phenomenon-driven PBL units that integrate Western science and Native Hawaiian knowledge, using real-world ecosystem restoration to foster student inquiry, cultural relevance, and community stewardship.

SPEAKERS:
Shawna Nishimoto

Several hands-on activities/demonstrations will demonstrate various soil physical, chemical and biological properties and their application to engineering and environmental science. Sand castles demonstrate the basic forces of friction, adhesion and cohesion and the effect of particle size on the angle of repose. Soil is a Filter and Soil is Charged are companion activities that demonstrate soil charge properties and require students to use inductive reasoning to determine the charge on the soil and organic dyes in grape Koolaid and discuss leaching and water pollution. A biology activity will demonstrate microbial diversity or activity. All demos start as simple, visual activities suitable to demonstrate principles for elementary students but are easily scaled to all grades by applying the scientific method to design experiments and make observations, measurements and calculations and draw conclusions.

TAKEAWAYS:
Every Soil Has a Story. Learning its story starts with basic science. Soil science is an applied, interdisciplinary science that can be used to introduce and generate interest in physics, chemistry, biology and environmental science for all grade levels.

SPEAKERS:
Clay Robinson

This poster aims to provide insight into how scientists answer biology's most fundamental questions, “Who is there and what are they doing?” The activities shared will encourage learners to explore innovative methods for obtaining this critical information through environmental DNA (eDNA). Through a series of guided inquiries, learners discover how DNA barcoding is applied to ecological studies. As a culminating activity, learners will use Google My Maps to create map layers to display existing species data (expert range maps, participatory science observations, and historic records) and propose locations for eDNA collection for a locally selected species. These activities emphasize the importance of sampling and the value of multiple lines of evidence in allowing scientists to conclude, while acknowledging potential problems that could arise. Visitors to the poster receive all materials and a structured framework to be localized to serve their practice.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore how eDNA can be used in conjunction with participatory science and historical surveys to provide multiple layers of evidence, thereby maximizing conservation efforts.

SPEAKERS:
Claire Lannoye-Hall

Planting a school garden is a goal for many classroom and science teachers. Gardening helps connect science with a variety of subjects, and students love eating what they have planted. Gardening connects to NGSS such as describing patterns of what plants need to survive, organization for matter and energy flow in organisms, crosscutting concepts such as patterns in the natural world, and how systems in the natural and designed world have parts that work together. But many schools are reluctant to begin a garden because of both space and financial restrictions. This class will show teachers how to begin planting using upcycled and free materials, how to reuse containers as planters, how to make biodegradable seedling planters in seconds, and how to transform desolate ground into a blooming wildflower garden with seeds and a container of air-dry clay. Educators will learn how to start a successful garden using such common materials as newspaper, tin cans, and air-dry clay.

TAKEAWAYS:
How to start a school garden, even with a very limited budget.

SPEAKERS:
Rebecca Kurson

Discover the Health DataWell instructional materials, co-developed by HESI and NSTA, to address the lack of materials focused on public health and data literacy. The materials provide opportunities for students to build data literacy by analyzing complex public health data, using statistics and computational models, and comparing sources to develop evidence-based explanations and solutions. In this session, you will hear from teachers who implemented the materials (Health Data Well Ambassadors) and gain practical strategies for utilizing complex public health data analysis tools with your students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will gain practical strategies for implementing the Health DataWell instructional materials, focusing on using real-world data and data analysis tools to identify disparities in health outcomes.

SPEAKERS:
Shanna Bohrer

Discover the Health DataWell instructional materials, co-developed by HESI and NSTA, to address the lack of materials focused on public health and data literacy. The materials provide opportunities for students to build data literacy by analyzing complex public health data, using statistics and computational models, and comparing sources to develop evidence-based explanations and solutions. In this session, you will hear from teachers who implemented the materials (Health Data Well Ambassadors) and gain practical strategies for utilizing complex public health data analysis tools with your students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will gain practical strategies for implementing the Health DataWell instructional materials, focusing on using real-world data and data analysis tools to identify disparities in health outcomes.

SPEAKERS:
Jennifer Davis

Sponsoring Company: MiniOne Systems

Human expansion into wild habitats creates conflict—but science can help mediate it. Learn how DNA forensics allows wildlife biologists to determine which bears are responsible for neighborhood mischief and make informed management decisions. Step into the role of a conservation scientist as you investigate case scenarios and propose solutions that protect wildlife while keeping communities safe. Bring home a classroom-ready activity that links genetics to environmental stewardship.

SPEAKERS:
Erika Fong

Sponsoring Company: Switch Classroom

Get ready to roll up your sleeves and let the breeze inspire your inner engineer! In this lively, hands-on session, teachers will explore Switch Classroom’s Intro to Wind lesson and see how engaging renewable energy instruction can be. You’ll investigate how wind becomes power, then design, build, and test a mini windmill using everyday recycled materials like cardboard, paper, and plastic bottles. Adaptable from upper elementary through high school, this engineering challenge brings real-world problem solving into any classroom. Participants will engage in NGSS-aligned practices by developing prototypes, testing and refining designs, analyzing performance data, and explaining how kinetic energy transforms into mechanical and electrical energy (MS-PS3-5, MS-ETS1-1–4, HS-ETS1-2). Leave with free Switch Classroom resources, a classroom-ready design challenge, and wind-powered inspiration to energize your students.

SPEAKERS:
Jillian Swets

Sponsoring Company: BFW Publishers

Transform your AP® classroom with mastery grading techniques designed to boost student achievement and AP® Exam scores. This session provides a practical framework for transitioning to equitable grading using CED-aligned textbook resources, which include learning objectives, and assessment tools. You will learn practical integration by using existing tools and resources to streamline the transition without starting from scratch. Using examples from AP® Environmental Science, we will explore how clear objectives and equitable retake policies can drive success across all AP® courses.

SPEAKERS:
Kristi Schertz

This Speed Sharing session highlights two free, ready-to-use NGSS-aligned units that bring climate and health science into grades 3–8 classrooms through storytelling, experiments, and case studies. In the elementary unit, students follow Mira as she investigates indoor air quality and proposes simple solutions. In the middle school unit, students analyze data and explore how climate-driven events like wildfires, flooding, and pesticide use affect indoor environments and human health. Both units end with a community-focused design challenge. Developed with university partners, the lessons integrate the three dimensions of NGSS, foster sensemaking, and build student action competence. They are modular, adaptable, and accessible to diverse learners. Teachers will leave with ready-to-use resources and strategies that make climate and health science engaging and relevant.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will discover free, ready-to-use, NGSS-aligned units for grades 3–8 that use storytelling, experiments, and case studies to connect climate science, indoor environments, and human health. These units empower students to ask questions, solve problems, and take action.

SPEAKERS:
Chris Link, PhD

Over the long history of our planet sea levels have always been changing. After the last ice age, sea level rose about 120 meters or about 4 feet per century. We have real time data records about sea level rising the past 150 years ago and the impacts of sea level rise are being felt along the coastlines of the United States and its territories. Attendees will learn about where to find information about the causes of sea level rise and local information about the amount of rise for a coastal locality. Attendees will then 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. The simulation is appropriate for upper elementary through adult ages. The results of the simulation provide opportunities for discussion on how coastal communities can be prepared in the face of sea level rise and severe weather.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will learn how to set up and run the simulation in their own classroom and how to find resources that relate to sea level rise and community resilience strategies.

SPEAKERS:
Margaret Holzer, Peggy Steffen

The Catfish in the Classroom initiative serves as a model for how collaboration between schools, universities and environmental organizations can inspire students to engage directly with conservation science while strengthening community ties throughout southern Ohio. Through the program, students across these districts have been raising catfish that will later be released into local waterways, including Raccoon Creek and the Scenic River in Vinton and Rio Grande, as well as Jackson Lake and the Ohio River. The effort provides hundreds of students with practical experience in ecosystem management and environmental science while emphasizing the importance of conservation in Ohio’s high-biodiversity Appalachian region.

TAKEAWAYS:
The Catfish in the Classroom initiative serves as a model for how collaboration between schools, universities and environmental organizations can inspire students to engage directly with conservation science while strengthening community ties throughout Appalachian Southern Ohio.

SPEAKERS:
John Davis III

Population Education staff will share activities that address some of the fundamentals of human ecology – understanding how people have changed the landscape and ecosystems as our population has grown. They will share best practices in facilitating environmental education activities that are interactive, inquiry-based, inclusive, and collaborative. They will also provide information on how the activities address NGSS. Visitors will receive electronic versions of activities and background materials to use environmental education centers, science museums, zoos and other informal education sites.

TAKEAWAYS:
Share-a-thon visitors will discover ways to incorporate hands-on activities into their programming that explore relationships between people and the environment.

SPEAKERS:
Barbara Huth

GrowingGreat’s mission is to empower children to make healthy food choices through hands-on science and garden education. We are all about hands-on activities for gardens and classrooms and we would like to share everything with YOU! We will feature two of our award-winning national programs. With "Seeds to STEM"’s inquiry-based curriculum, supported by NIH, we work with children ages 3-5 and their teachers to promote early science, technology, engineering and math skills, literacy and nutrition to help prepare children for kindergarten. Through "Food in Space and in the City", our NASA Community Anchor program, K-12th grade students explore air, water and soil resources and the important role they play in food security. Activities include: developing experimental design, critical thinking and science literacy skills; designing and publishing activities aligned to NASA themes; and evaluating the intersections of food security, environmental justice and space exploration.

TAKEAWAYS:
We are giving away 20+ activities, each featuring hands-on STEM, garden and/or nutrition, a healthy snack, and, for the younger ones, a read-aloud book and song to sing. We address incorporating nutrition education in day-to-day curriculum and lack of access to fresh produce and green space.

SPEAKERS:
Jill Coons, Jennifer Jovanovic

Discover the Health DataWell public health instructional materials, co-developed by NSTA and HESI Global. The materials provide opportunities for students to investigate public health phenomena using real-world data. In doing so, students gain an understanding of the complex factors that influence public health, and the roles that community members and public health experts play in promoting community health. The session will focus on a lesson in which students use disciplinary core ideas about structure and function and variation of traits to answer questions about the relationship between air pollution exposure and chronic lower respiratory diseases. Participants will experience the phenomenon and hear from the 2025-2026 Health DataWell Ambassadors about their experiences implementing the materials.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will gain practical strategies for implementing the Health DataWell instructional materials in their classrooms, enabling them to effectively engage students in investigating public health phenomena.

SPEAKERS:
Patrice Scinta

Sponsoring Company: U.S. Geological Survey

In this workshop, attendees will have the opportunity to explore free educational resources from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). As the science arm of the U.S. Department of the Interior, the USGS brings an array of earth, water, biological, and mapping data and expertise to support decision-making on environmental, resource, and public safety issues. This workshop will consist of an overview of USGS earth and environmental science educational resources and provide information on how and where educators can access them. Attendees will then have the opportunity to explore selected USGS educational resources in a choose-your-own-adventure style by completing 2-3 mini adventures that highlight USGS science (energy and minerals, water resources, ecosystem science, natural hazards, mapping, etc.) through lessons, real-world data exploration, or hands-on activities.

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Williams

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, our presenter 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:
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.

SPEAKERS:
Benjamin Charles

In this session, we will demonstrate how to incorporate outdoor data collection into your curriculum to both enhance student engagement and understanding of the phenomena. Using the local ecosystem as a guide, we will demonstrate how to design a placed based unit that engages students in asking questions that can be answered by investigating in your own back yard. Assessment can be integrated through portfolios showcasing their work, peer evaluations, and reflective journals. For example, teaching students how scientist gather information using quadrats, transects, and other simple measuring techniques can teach data recording and analysis skills while meeting science standards.

TAKEAWAYS:
Place based learning activities can be more than just a fun outdoor activity. Facilitating opportunities where students will investigate the ecosystem right outside their back door. A clear template for engaging students organizing and analyzing their own data to make sense of local phenomena.

SPEAKERS:
Karen Marshall

Effective climate education is more than teaching environmental science – it is about transdisciplinary learning that is coupled with meaningful, real-world climate action. Join us as we share recently-launched tools that support this vision! This session will (1) introduce Action-Oriented Pedagogies (AOP; Weinberg et al., 2024), which position students to contribute to culturally- and locally-relevant climate solutions using content knowledge and science and engineering skills; (2) navigate a website created by the Empowering Youth Climate Action research team, which can be leveraged to make climate topics and data more accessible to teachers and students; and (3) explore examples from real classrooms featuring the use of AOP and digital climate learning resources. In a time of prevalent climate denial and misinformation, effective climate education is critical. Attend this session and come away with tangible resources and insights for supporting climate action in your classroom!

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be introduced to Action-Oriented Pedagogies and gain access to recently-launched digital resources that support the bridging of students’ academic learning and skills development with real-world climate action to bring about more just and sustainable futures.

SPEAKERS:
Michelle Jordan, Brianne Loya, Sarah Suloff

As data science becomes increasingly important in the twenty-first century, educators continue to develop instructional strategies to incorporate data into their classrooms effectively. The Data Ecosystem Project is a research initiative focused on two main aspects of K-12 science education: data-rich pedagogy (DRP) and the connection between data-driven strategies that support science content learning and the development of data skills in learners. Throughout the school year, five middle school science educators received both group and individual professional learning support for DRP. End-of-the-year interviews revealed that educators acknowledged the significance of DRP in fostering critical thinking and real-world problem-solving. However, they faced challenges in implementing DRP due to curriculum limitations. Educators evaluated their DRP and positioned themselves on a continuum at the project's beginning and end. All educators enhanced their use and understanding of DRP.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session will incorporate examples of data-rich pedagogy for middle school science educators through group professional learning sessions and one-on-one support.

SPEAKERS:
Tracy Ostrom

Investigate the role of scale, quantity, and proportion during an interactive activity. Explore how to make simple, but useful, estimates of quantities that are too large to observe directly. The activity is part of a new free high school curriculum called Scientific Thinking for All: A Toolkit. The course provides a toolkit of cognitive strategies applied to real-world issues such as water quality, energy use, and student well-being. Students utilize scientific approaches for interpreting evidence, engaging in probabilistic reasoning, identifying sources of uncertainty, and developing iterative solutions. They develop skills in reasoning and collaboration, equipping them to deal with the challenges of the 21st century. The material is an adaptation of a University of California, Berkeley course created by Nobel Prize winner Saul Perlmutter and is being developed by the UC Berkeley Lawrence Hall of Science.

TAKEAWAYS:
Investigate the role of scale, quantity, and proportion during an interactive activity. Explore how to make simple, but useful, estimates of quantities that are too large to observe directly. The activity, a part of a 10-lesson unit on modeling in the context of ecology, is free for download.

SPEAKERS:
Janet Bellantoni, Sarah Metz

Sponsoring Company: HHMI BioInteractive

How has the mouse, of all animals, evolved to become one of the most extreme endurance athletes on the planet? Join us as we explore this phenomenon using HHMI BioInteractive's Scientists at Work video “Science of the Extreme Animal Athlete” and the “Biomolecules on the Menu” Click & Learn activity. We'll engage in sense-making activities as we work to build an explanation of this phenomenon and deepen our understanding of biomolecules, energy, metabolism, and evolution. Attendees will leave with classroom-ready strategies, lesson ideas, and free resources that make challenging concepts more accessible and engaging for students.

SPEAKERS:
Keri Shingleton, Michele Koehler

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Science

Join us for an interactive exploration of how wind, water, and ice shape Earth’s surface through erosion. Using modeling and integrated literacy activities, participants will examine the difference between slow processes, such as mountain weathering, and rapid events, such as landslides. By engaging in hands-on modeling, participants will illustrate landform characteristics and visualize the impact of erosion over time. Leave with valuable classroom resources. 

SPEAKERS:
Hoover Herrera

The deep sea represents almost 95% of Earth’s livable habitat! Without photosynthesis, how do animals survive in the deep? Participants will explore whalefall ecosystems like scientists, discovering, studying, and collaborating to make sense of this vital ecosystem. With storytelling, peer-to-peer learning, authentic science data, and collaborative hands-on activities they’ll build and refine models, examine mouthparts, and discuss feeding strategies. Leverage prior knowledge of terrestrial communities to support sensemaking of core science concepts (Hammond, 2025) and this unique ecosystem and its connection to global systems via the 5E instructional model. We’ll highlight culturally responsive teaching practices for a learning environment that is inclusive of multilingual and neurodiverse learners and fosters collaboration through science-focused discourse. Participants leave with tools to refine existing lessons or design new, meaningful ones that support students-as-scientists.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn the critical role dynamic whalefall ecosystems play in global nutrient cycling in a place where the sun doesn't shine. Use storytelling grounded in real world phenomena to illuminate student ideas with simple sensemaking practices that build confidence and understanding of real-world science.

SPEAKERS:
Kulia Blick, Lisette Khaoone

This workshop will incorporate the phenomena of underwater sound into physical and biological science activities and investigations. Online resources such as an audio gallery of underwater sounds produced by animals, people, and the natural world and activities challenging students to produce spectrograms and explore the science of sound.

TAKEAWAYS:
Using the topic of underwater sound can be an engaging vehicle for students to explore physical science concepts and connect these fundamental principles with the undersea environment and science of sound.

SPEAKERS:
Liesl Hotaling

Sponsoring Company: Adventerra Games

Explore Adventerra Games’ 14 environmental education board games and puzzles (including My Eco School, Hungry Bins, Mission Ocean, Recycle Rally, WaterGame, PowerHaus, and Global Warning) and how you can use them to teach environmental concepts. Games are linked to the NGSS DCIs, SEPs, and CCCs, while helping to build environmental literacy. Come play a game, then share ideas with other participants about using eco games in your classroom, including ways to convince your school administrators that playing games helps students better retain environmental content. Adventerra is dedicated to studying the evidence for using environmental education games to support learning. Find out how you can participate in upcoming research projects to study the use of Adventerra’s and others’ eco games. Three lucky lottery winners will win an Adventerra game or puzzle of their choice!

SPEAKERS:
Bryan Mundell, Cynthia Crockett, Peter White

A growing body of research suggests that partnering formal education with non-formal education has significant potential for improving student outcomes, particularly in STEM topics. Benefits of such partnerships include: Increased accessibility and inclusion, which works to close the opportunity gap, contextual learning through authentic experiential activities leading to deeper understanding of Disciplinary Core Ideas, connecting students to real-world career correlations that increase learner's connection to their communities. These a few of many ways non-formal education can support Three-Dimensional Learning in STEM Education. This session will take non-formal education beyond the traditional field trip and bring it directly into the classroom both virtually and in-person. With 20 years of combined experience in non-formal education spaces, presenters will show participants how, why and with whom they should make contact to receive STEM support for their classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this session participants will develop their own curated list of potential industry partners based on their teaching location, participate in innovative STEM lessons , with materials provided, and walk away with useful strategies for engaging non-formal educators in their STEM teaching.

SPEAKERS:
Damaris Velez, Sharon Gutierrez

Participants will take part in a Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience co-created by university educators, Piscataway citizens, classroom teachers, informal educators, and NOAA. This collaborative curriculum weaves Indigenous knowledge systems with Western science, modeling inclusive, place-based approaches to K–12 science education. Guided by the principle of Two-Eyed Seeing (Marshall, 2004), viewing the strengths of Indigenous knowledge and Western science, the framework highlights the importance of representation and local environmental phenomena in learning. Through hands-on activities, participants will examine how ecocentric relationships with the natural world can foster conservation, sustainability, and stewardship. Centered on keystone species of the Chesapeake Bay, and especially the diamondback terrapin, the unit invites learners to connect ecology, culture, and care for future generations while advancing the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore an inquiry-based environmental science curriculum on the Chesapeake Watershed and Diamondback Terrapins. They will leave the session with a usable pluralistic framework that integrates Indigenous knowledge with Western science to enrich science learning.

SPEAKERS:
Angela Stoltz

Finding relevance in real-world scientific events increases students’ motivation for learning. Elementary schools have neglected to include science as a main part of the curriculum hindering students’ development of critical thinking and argumentation-building skills. This session introduces storytelling to enhance science understanding. As a scaffold, Rosita the pink dolphin, helps students purposefully evaluate connections between lines of evidence and alternative explanations of human impact to the environment. The story promotes content integration between science and English Language Arts to further scientific literacy among children. As a collaborative effort, preservice candidates will create the art and a second storybook-like scaffold focusing on mitigating actions to promote awareness of anthropogenic damage. In its initial phase, this project is a modified version of the model-evidence-link (MEL) resources on middle grades and high school Earth and Enviromental science.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how elementary pre-service teacher students interpret and extend model-evidence-link (MEL) relationships within a story about mitigating actions to promote awareness of anthropogenic damage. Their work samples should incite discussion about elementary MEL interpretations.

SPEAKERS:
Omah Williams-Duncan, Lorraine Ramirez Villarin

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Peggy Steffen

This session uses a human-centered lens to help students find their research spark and outline a project that is relevant to the students’ community and that they are personally concerned about. Hands-on activity and resources will be shared with attendees to boost their in-class mini-research activity.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will walk-through a mini-research project on the topic of climate education. During this session, we will discuss a flowchart of science practices, strategies to address student connection with real world problems related to climate science., and how to embrace a human-centered research

SPEAKERS:
Josephine Mesina, Brianne Loya, Nicole Rosen

Join this interactive session to examine how environmental literacy as operationalized through the free California-focused Seeds to Solutions units, can serve as a bridge across statewide efforts—from civic engagement to the Native American Model Curriculum to science implementation. Participants will analyze examples and consider how to bring this integrated approach to their own classrooms, schools, and districts.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore how to braid together statewide efforts (e.g., civic engagement, Native American model curriculum, and science implementation) using Seeds to Solutions instructional units.

SPEAKERS:
Holly Steele, Rachel Myers

How can we empower students to take meaningful action on environmental challenges in their own communities? This session explores a flexible framework that uses student-driven design sprints to inspire innovative thinking, research, and problem-solving. In a design sprint, student teams identify an environmental issue, investigate its root causes through research and collaboration, and develop creative solutions through ideation and rapid prototyping—all within a condensed time frame. The process fosters deep engagement by emphasizing student choice, local relevance, and connections to community and environmental contexts. This model aligns naturally with interdisciplinary teaching and incorporates multiple content standards. Attendees will begin developing concept for a design sprint they can use with their students, building a foundation for fostering ownership, creativity, and real-world impact through environmental education.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how the design sprint model engages students in solving local or state environmental challenges through research, collaboration, and creative problem-solving. They will develop an initial plan for implementing a design sprint in their classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Liz Martinez

This engaging lesson, designed for K-2, introduces the concept of weather to students. During the 60-min workshop, participants will learn from SubjecttoClimate’s elementary lesson plan on how to activate students to inquire, investigate and inspire with regards to earth & climate science. Key elements will include: learning ‘what is weather?’, watching and reading Fabienne’s Wild Weather Adventure, starting individual weather journalling as well as designing a weather wheel to predict Earth’s climate in 30 years. Attendees will engage in turn-and-talks and guided usage of activities. We’ll also discuss classroom applications, adaptations, and differentiation strategies. Walk away with a classroom-ready NGSS aligned lesson and ideas on how to implement climate change into what you’re teaching now.

TAKEAWAYS:
During this 60-min workshop, participants will learn from SubjecttoClimate’s elementary lesson plan on how to activate students to inquire, investigate and inspire with regards to earth & climate science.

SPEAKERS:
Benjamin Charles

In this session we will introduce a 3-step process for incorporating environmental justice into your science classroom. Environmental justice explores the intersection of science, society, and ethics while also examining how environmental issues disproportionately affect marginalized communities. Regardless of your content area, environmental justice can be included in your curriculum. By using our instructional approach and related resources, your curriculum can: (Step 1) familiarize students with environmental justice (Step 1). Next, they’ll further investigate environmental justice via a local environmental justice problem (Step 2). Finally, they’ll engage in collaborative problem solving and action planning (Step 3). This tool was co-designed by a group of high school science teachers as they explored ways to create a science classroom community that invites all students to participate equally in classroom discussions.

TAKEAWAYS:
Our 3-step process can be used as a scope-and-sequence that teachers can adapt to their own classrooms. Environmental justice is more impactful when approached from a hyperlocal standpoint, and our instructional approach assures that local phenomenon will be included in your curriculum.

SPEAKERS:
Aneela Raza, Amanda Lacey, Joseph Kelly, Linda Fuselier, Justin McFadden, Anna Gleason

Climate change will affect every part of our lives, from health care to food systems and business. Understanding climate change and how we can respond is critical knowledge for the next generation of experts, leaders, and citizens. Today’s students are the best advocates for climate mitigation we have, and are eager to act. Students deserve the chance to interrogate information—free of fear and bias—to learn how to reduce impacts, build resilience, and contribute to a zero-carbon future. Integrating knowledge of causes, impacts, and solutions into the science classroom will prepare them to face these challenges and envision their role in shaping the future. OER Project: Climate offers free, accessible resources that can be integrated across disciplines. Science standards create a natural opportunity to bring climate into discussions of energy, carbon cycles, the environment, and more. Discover essential information, strategies, and support to bring climate literacy to your students.

TAKEAWAYS:
OER Project: Climate helps students explore climate change critically, without fear or bias, building the skills and motivation needed to shape a better future. Explore ways to teach it in your science classroom and leave with a clear plan, grounded knowledge, and free, ready-to-use materials.

SPEAKERS:
Erik Christensen

Air quality data can be used as an entry point to data collection and analysis, citizen science activism, and phenomena-based learning. By providing air quality monitors and professional development to both science and social studies teachers, we have witnessed growth in pedagogical content knowledge and civic action taking pedagogies among teachers. Yet more powerful is the work the students create when presented with personally meaningful data that their school’s air quality monitor produces. This presentation will demonstrate how to use real-time air quality data in the science classroom and even link it to health and wellness data and environmental changes. A central focus of the workshop will be different pedagogical techniques and assessments for students using air quality data including research projects, public service announcements, and cross curricular activities.

TAKEAWAYS:
The importance of personally meaningful data as a method of student engagement, motivation, and civic action taking.

SPEAKERS:
Stephen Farenga, Salvatore Garofalo

Almost everything we buy comes wrapped or packed in plastic. Globally, we produce about 57 million metric tons of plastic pollution each year. Plastics fragment into microplastics (pieces smaller than 5 mm), which have now been detected in Arctic ice, the Mariana Trench, and even our blood. Larger pieces of plastic also accumulate in massive ocean gyres, such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is bigger than the states of Texas and California combined. What if your students could tackle the plastic pollution problem in class? This session presents a classroom-ready and expandable research project that enables middle and high school students to engineer nanocellulose composite films as an alternative to packaging plastics. Using simple materials like cellulose nanofiber (CNF - orderless, non-toxic, and chemically benign), mason jars, and biodegradable additives, students design and test their own films for water permeability and other properties.

TAKEAWAYS:
Students can authentically engage in cutting-edge sustainability research, build eco-friendly composites, collect real data, and connect science learning to one of the world’s most urgent problems: plastic pollution.

SPEAKERS:
Tracy Vassiliev

In today's high-pressure environment, mental and emotional health often takes a backseat to academic success, overshadowing the essential need for wellness. This situation can leave educators feeling overwhelmed. To help address this issue, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County has developed Wellness Workshops aimed at supporting educators, enabling them to better care for themselves and avoid burnout, alongside the youth they teach. These workshops leverage the healing power of nature and the importance of open, constructive dialogue to build trust within the education space. In this session, you will hear about the Wellness Workshop’s core strategies used to foster trust and build stronger relationships between Museums, educators, and youth including nature-based mindfulness exercises. By fostering connection and reflection, Museums can help educators become more effective advocates for their own and their students overall well-being.

TAKEAWAYS:
Introduce communication techniques that facilitate judgment-free conversations between teachers and students, allowing for empowerment and trust building, and utilize available green space to provide a calming, restorative space where educators can reconnect with themselves and each other.

SPEAKERS:
Molly Porter