STEM is often pushed aside in 1st and 2nd grade, but it plays a critical role in building thinking, language, and confidence. In this session, a teacher from a rural Title I school in North Carolina shares how simple, hands-on STEM experiences can create powerful learning moments for students with limited access to real-world opportunities. Participants will engage in classroom-tested activities like a paper airplane design challenge and a chain link engineering task using basic materials. These experiences show how STEM supports literacy, problem-solving, and collaboration. Attendees will leave with practical, realistic strategies they can use immediately.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use simple, low-cost STEM activities in 1st and 2nd grade to build student language, problem-solving, and real-world understanding, especially in classrooms with limited resources.

SPEAKERS:
Kristin Calhoun-Minnis

Purposeful use of quality media can be an engaging strategy for supporting the STEM learning of young learners. Familiar characters can help students build important foundational knowledge and skills such as computational thinking, accessing and creating informational text, and observing and asking questions about the world around them. We will showcase free, standards-aligned media-rich resources that can be seamlessly integrated into the elementary science curriculum. Friends can model how to engage in scientific practices to prepare learners to investigate and make sense of phenomena themselves through three-dimensional instruction. We will highlight how this strategy can be used to support young learners’ investigations into Earth, space, and physical science phenomena.

TAKEAWAYS:
You’ll leave the session with a list of free resources from PBS LearningMedia and ideas for actively engaging your students with media to support science instruction that aligns with the Next Generation Science Standards.

SPEAKERS:
Shawn Stevens

Discover incredible opportunities in STEM education with a range of NSTA-administered K-12 opportunities that engage through innovative programming and recognize achievement with amazing awards. We’ll explore programs and awards that are sure to ignite a passion for discovery and innovation

TAKEAWAYS:
Empower your teaching with dynamic STEM programs and awards administered by NSTA as you learn about innovative opportunities to boost engagement and enthusiasm for K-12 students and teachers.

SPEAKERS:
Kathryn Lasky

This session presents three low-prep, high-impact instructional routines for PreK–3 classrooms that advance student sensemaking, science discourse, and science practices. Grounded in purposeful questioning, co-constructed anchor charts, and class-generated science books, these function as efficient, reusable instructional structures that support inquiry, evidence-based reasoning, and equitable participation. Designed for implementation within typical time, material, and planning constraints, the strategies embed formative assessment by capturing student thinking in real time. PreK inclusive classroom-tested examples illustrate how these approaches scaffold language development, support diverse learners, and promote coherent understanding of core science concepts over time. This presentation shares adaptable templates, questioning frameworks, differentiated instruction and replicable routines that enhance instructional rigor while streamlining planning and materials management.

TAKEAWAYS:
Ready-to-implement approaches with examples–purposeful questioning, anchor charts, and class science books—that strengthen student sensemaking and discourse while embedding formative assessment and reducing planning time for Inclusive, PreK classroom-tested, science instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Jue Wang, Karen Rinehart

This poster session shows how to upgrade what teachers are already doing (bell ringers, notes, exit tickets, stations) into high-impact learning experiences using Embedded Targeted Vocabulary Instruction (ETVI)—without adding new lessons or extra prep time.

TAKEAWAYS:
You don’t need more time or new lessons—small upgrades to what you already do (bell ringers, notes, exit tickets) can dramatically increase student understanding by turning vocabulary into a tool for thinking, not memorization.

SPEAKERS:
Ashley Hill

Many secondary science classrooms struggle to move beyond task completion to true student thinking. This poster session highlights low-prep, high-impact strategies that transform everyday lessons into opportunities for student-driven sensemaking—without increasing teacher workload. Participants will explore how to embed sensemaking routines into what they already do using strategies such as CER (Claim-Evidence-Reasoning) micro-responses, structured student talk, and phenomenon-based prompts across topics like cells, genetics, and ecology. The featured lesson showcase demonstrates how a typical class period can shift from passive learning to active meaning-making through small instructional moves implemented before, during, and after instruction. By centering sensemaking, these strategies help students construct explanations, use evidence, and engage in scientific discourse, all while remaining practical for real classrooms with limited time and resources.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn that sensemaking doesn’t require new lessons—small shifts like CER, structured talk, and phenomena-based prompts can turn everyday instruction into opportunities for students to actively build understanding.

SPEAKERS:
Ashley Hill

Looking for a way to bring authentic Earth System data to life for your students? Check out our My NASA Data StoryMap collection! My NASA Data StoryMaps offer an immersive storytelling experience that blends rich narrative text with interactive maps and NASA visualizations designed to captivate students. These resources use high-quality multimedia—including images and video— empowering students with the tools to explore complex Earth system processes. Each of the My NASA Data StoryMaps follows the 5E Instructional Model (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate), is aligned with NGSS Earth System phenomena, and is ready for "plug and play" use in whole-class instruction, small group rotations, or independent student-led explorations making them a seamless fit for your existing curriculum. Bring Earth system science to your classroom through real world storylines that will engage your students with NASA data relevant to what they are experiencing in their own community.

TAKEAWAYS:
Each of the My NASA Data StoryMaps follow the 5E Instructional Model (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate), is aligned with NGSS Earth System phenomena, and is ready for "plug and play" use in whole-class instruction, small group rotations, or independent student-led explorations.

SPEAKERS:
Angela Rizzi, Tina Harte - Ballinger

In rural Alaska, Science becomes most meaningful when it is rooted in place, culture, and lived experienced. This teacher-student collaborative project investigates how locally available resources and subsistence knowledge systems can be integrated into formal science instruction to increase student engagement, conceptual understanding, and scientific identity. Students participated in multiple inquiry-based investigations using materials sourced from their environment, including spruce sap as a potential adhesive, freeze-thaw plant growth systems using lettuce, Do it yourself Pipeline, and Alaskan blueberries as pH paper. These investigations were designed to connect Western scientific methods with Indigenous knowledge systems and rural subsistence practices. This project highlights how place-based, culturally responsive science education can transform student attitudes toward STEM while maintaining rigorous scientific inquiry.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how integrating local subsistence knowledge and hands-on investigations can increase student engagement, strengthen scientific thinking, and make science more meaningful in rural and culturally diverse classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Adrian Suladay

Bring STEM to life without breaking your budget! In this hands-on session, educators will learn how to guide students in designing, building, and testing balloon-powered cars using recycled and everyday materials. Participants will explore key science concepts such as force, motion, friction, and air resistance while engaging in an engineering design challenge that promotes creativity and problem-solving. Walk away with ready-to-use strategies, classroom management tips, and ideas for differentiating instruction for diverse learners. Perfect for elementary and middle school teachers, this session shows how “trash” can be transformed into high-impact learning that supports standards and excites students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to design and facilitate a low-cost, standards-aligned STEM challenge where students build and test balloon-powered cars from recycled materials to explore force, motion, and engineering design.

SPEAKERS:
Daniell Cossey

Engaging with science concepts and their contextual applications is a predominant challenge for English Language Learners (ELLs). This challenge stems from the inability of students to communicate fluently in English, let alone the language of science. Beyond the academic implications, this challenge impacts their social interaction with other students in the classroom. This study explores how visualization impacts the engagement of ELLs when incorporated within a dialogic teaching environment. Visualization tools, including images, pictures, videos, simulations, and building models, were used as instructional strategies. Also, student-student talk and teacher-student dialogue were facilitated while students engaged in building a physical model of the phases of mitosis. The engagement level of students was contextualized across three domains: Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral. The outcome of the strategy showed the effectiveness of visualization and dialogue in science classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Visualization, when paired with dialogic teaching in science classrooms, enhances the cognitive, behavioral, and affective engagement of English Language Learners

SPEAKERS:
Mary Oloyede

What if the true origin of scientific thinking begins with what students see? In this visually rich, graphic novel–inspired session, discover how Visual Wonder acts as the catalyst for engaging students in Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs). Through compelling imagery and simple, classroom-ready routines, you’ll explore how noticing, questioning, and interpreting visuals can spark curiosity and lead students into authentic investigation and sensemaking. Grounded in NGSS and aligned with a Wonder → Investigation → Sensemaking structure, this session offers practical strategies that are both meaningful for students and manageable for teachers. Walk away with ready-to-use tools that help students think and act like scientists, starting with the power of what they see.

TAKEAWAYS:
Visual Wonder sparks curiosity that leads directly to Science and Engineering Practices. With simple routines, teachers can turn what students see into meaningful investigation and sensemaking, helping them think and act like scientists.

SPEAKERS:
Renee Shaw

This session showcases how a single agricultural anchoring phenomenon can launch and sustain a coherent storyline across a high-quality unit of instruction. Participants will experience a sample lesson from an HQIM genetics unit, focusing on the phenomenon of the influence of genetics and environment on cattle growth over time. Activities include observation of the agricultural phenomenon, developing a driving question board, making student models that support predictions and phenomenon explanations. Teachers will reflect on how anchoring phenomena can be used in their own classrooms and receive access to all unit materials, including how the resources map the phenomenon to NGSS dimensions and teacher moves for student sensemaking.

TAKEAWAYS:
Anchoring phenomena rooted in agriculture topics can spark curiosity and drive coherence across lessons.

SPEAKERS:
Hannah Wedger, Angela Gulotta

Ready to energize your science block without adding more to your plate? In this fast-paced Speed Sharing session, you’ll rotate through five high-impact, classroom-tested strategies designed for immediate use. From quick phenomena starters that spark curiosity to simple routines for building Claim-Evidence-Reasoning, each idea is practical, low-prep, and aligned to three-dimensional science learning. Walk away with ready-to-use tools, student-friendly structures, and fresh inspiration to increase engagement, deepen thinking, and make science stick all starting tomorrow!

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with ready-to-use phenomena starters, CER frameworks, formative assessment tools, and low-prep science strategies that can be implemented immediately to increase engagement and support three-dimensional learning.

SPEAKERS:
Samantha Henery

Traditional lab reports and written responses do not always reveal what students understand about a science concept. Short student-created video explanations give learners another way to explain phenomena, defend models, interpret data, reflect on labs, and communicate claim-evidence-reasoning arguments. This presentation shares a classroom-ready approach for using concise video explanations as formative and summative evidence of science understanding. Attendees will explore prompt types, success criteria, feedback routines, and grading strategies that keep the focus on science thinking rather than production quality. Examples will show how video explanations can support multilingual learners, oral rehearsal before writing, student self-assessment, and teacher identification of misconceptions. The session emphasizes low-prep routines that help students practice science communication while making their thinking more visible.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use short student-created video explanations to make science thinking visible, strengthen communication, and assess understanding without creating grading overload.

SPEAKERS:
Lynette Dickerson

Students often struggle to connect Punnett squares and inheritance patterns to real outcomes. This speed sharing session introduces a classroom-tested, low-prep card game that uses euchre to model genetic inheritance. Participants will learn how trump and non-trump cards represent dominant and recessive alleles, allowing students to explore variation, probability, and trait expression through gameplay. The activity supports NGSS-aligned practices such as developing and using models and analyzing data while increasing engagement and participation. Attendees will walk away with clear implementation steps, differentiation ideas, and ready-to-use strategies that require only a standard deck of cards, making genetics both meaningful and memorable for middle school learners.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to use a simple card-based game to model genetic inheritance, helping students understand dominant and recessive traits, probability, and variation through an engaging, low-prep activity aligned to NGSS practices.

SPEAKERS:
Michele Shultz

Insect collecting has long been part of K-12 science education because it gives students direct access to biodiversity, inquiry, classification, and place-based learning. At the same time, growing concern about insect decline and animal welfare has led many to question whether lethal insect collecting is still appropriate in classrooms. This session presents a balanced framework for thinking about the educational value and ethical challenges of insect collecting with K-12 students. Attendees will explore the major arguments for and against collecting, consider issues such as conservation, student consent, and cultural or religious perspectives, and leave with practical ideas for developing a classroom code of ethics and identifying when non-lethal alternatives may be more appropriate.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with a practical framework for deciding when insect collecting is educationally justified, how to address ethical concerns, and how to build a classroom code of ethics.

SPEAKERS:
Peter White

Insects and other arthropods are common, affordable, and highly engaging for students across grade levels. Because of their ubiquity, rapid life cycles, and essential ecological roles, insects make excellent low-cost model organisms for exploring biological concepts and scientific practices in the classroom. In this Speed Share Session, Purdue entomologists will share NGSS aligned lesson plans and other resources, with a focus on low-prep strategies and answer questions about integrating insects and entomology into your classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Insects and other arthropods are among the most accessible and engaging organisms available to science teachers. This session will provide NGSS-aligned resources for integrating insects into your curriculum that are easy to implement and highly effective.

SPEAKERS:
Emily Justus

Help students see themselves in a STEM career through career-connected science learning that illustrates real-world applications and can build their confidence in their knowledge and skills. Learn how media-based career resources can broaden students’ ideas about different types of careers within an industry, the range in points of entry, and the problems these careers solve. Strategies will help you support students in reflecting on their strengths and goals as they explore careers that align with their interests and plan potential pathways to prepare for their futures.

TAKEAWAYS:
Leave the session with a list of FREE resources from PBS LearningMedia for sustaining career-connected learning that integrates seamlessly into your curriculum throughout the year.

SPEAKERS:
Paula Menta Rodriguez

This session showcases how a Science Communication Lab video, Corals on the Brink, was used to anchor a 7th grade NGSS-aligned lesson sequence. Students begin by analyzing coral bleaching as a real-world phenomenon, then build models of coral–algae relationships and explore ecosystem interactions through a hands-on marine ecosystem simulation. Learners analyze data trends, evaluate human impacts, and construct evidence-based arguments about whether humans should intervene to save coral reefs. The session highlights strategies that integrate science content with communication practices, including CER writing, peer review, and solution evaluation. Attendees will explore classroom-ready resources and interactive activities that promote systems thinking, argumentation, and real-world connections in middle school science.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use Science Communication Lab videos and resources to anchor NGSS-aligned lessons that engage students in modeling ecosystems, analyzing data, and constructing evidence-based arguments about real-world environmental issues like coral reef decline.

SPEAKERS:
Jennifer Langston

What if one prompt, added to the end of every lecture, lab, and assignment, could deepen student sensemaking, surface misconceptions before the exam, and build professional identity, all without additional prep or grading? The Teacher Lens does exactly that. Embedded throughout a college biology course for pre-service elementary educators, the prompt asks students to explain each concept to a child in their future classroom. The consistency is the mechanism: students begin to anticipate it and do the cognitive work during instruction rather than only at the end. This session shares three concrete examples showing how the same prompt surfaces different depths of understanding across biology topics, plus one formative use that requires no collecting or grading.

TAKEAWAYS:
A single reusable prompt: "How would you explain this to a student in your future classroom?" that deepens sensemaking, reveals misconceptions, and builds pedagogical thinking across any science course or grade band. Zero new prep required.

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Hasenmyer

Short on time but want to bring meaningful engineering into your classroom? Are you looking for plug-and-play STEM labs that require minimal prep while maximizing student engagement and real-world connections? In this fast-paced session, educators will explore ready-to-use, NGSS-aligned engineering labs that come with all materials provided—at no cost. Participants will see how students engage in hands-on problem-solving while collaborating virtually with professional engineers and college mentors, helping them make sense of science concepts through authentic application. What Participants Will Experience: Quick overview of a complete, ready-to-implement engineering lab Hands-on interaction with lab materials Snapshot of how virtual mentorship supports student thinking and engagement Practical strategies for immediate classroom implementation Classroom Relevance: Zero-prep or low-prep labs ready “out of the box” Applicable to existing science units Designed to fit typical class

TAKEAWAYS:
With over 6,900 schools and 1.3 million students served nationwide, engineering focused labs demonstrate how high-quality, equitable STEM experiences can be both scalable and easy to implement—helping students build the durable skills they need for future success.

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Kysely

Much like the game of football, science teachers need to get their students across the goal line of learning important science concepts with little time to spare. As a science teacher in a busy school environment, the task of reaching all learners is difficult when faced with a diverse student population with various strengths, weaknesses, and diverse backgrounds. To ensure that teachers maximize equity and inclusion of ALL students, low-prep and high-impact lesson strategies are an important component of helping students make sense of the natural world around them, participate in classroom discussions, and ultimately express their understanding of science concepts. This presentation will discuss some key strategies, set in the context of a high school geoscience class, which allow teachers to use and adapt easily based on student needs. An example lesson will be provided to participants, as well as access to the strategies to try out in their classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
The presentation will include an example lesson demonstrating how low-prep, high-impact strategies can be integrated into a geoscience lesson with diverse learners. Teachers will receive access to the instructional tools and resources, which can be adapted based on the needs of their students.

SPEAKERS:
Karen Covil

Educators will explore NGSS-aligned interactive, ready-to-use, digital lessons that support sensemaking. Learn how media-rich lessons can engage students in science and engineering content through a variety of self-paced formats including image hotspots, drawing, or drag-and-drop to involve students in organizing ideas, analyzing data, and building evidence-based explanations. Designed in manageable segments with embedded supports, the lessons promote reasoning, analysis, and discourse, with access for diverse learners. Teachers can flexibly implement interactive lessons within existing units—whole class, group, or independent work—without extra planning. Classroom examples, teacher tips, and student deliverables will be included in this session to help educators integrate these strategies, make student thinking visible, boost engagement, and engage students in meaningful science practices by connecting content to their lives and society.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be able to use and assign a set of free, NGSS-aligned interactive lessons on PBS LearningMedia, that support student sensemaking and discourse while leveraging embedded formative assessments to check for understanding and reduce planning time.

SPEAKERS:
Stefana Dunn

Under the philosophy of "We Do Science," The Citizen Science Lab (TCSL) positions students not as consumers of science content, but as practicing scientists. In this hands-on workshop, participants will do the same, designing and prototyping their own microbial fuel cells (MFCs), devices that use living microorganisms to generate electricity from organic matter. TCSL's ICE-T Project requires young scientists to simultaneously engage microbial metabolism, electrochemistry, circuit design, biosensor data collection, and computational modeling as a single integrated experience. Students author their own prototypes, propose hypotheses, iterate, and present findings of authentic research inside a community nonprofit. Educators will experience the ICE-T model firsthand, leaving with a replicable framework for bringing genuine cross-disciplinary research into their own classrooms regardless of budget, building, or zip code.

TAKEAWAYS:
A replicable framework for designing cross-disciplinary STEM programs that treat science as a unified practice. Strategies for building science identity in youth who have historically been excluded from science culture, including how space, story, and community change who feels like a scientist.

SPEAKERS:
Dr. Andre Samuel

Interactive notebooks are powerful tools that physically relate activities to concepts which supports student construction of the lesson arc. Use of dynamic manipulatives, particularly with structured inquiry, provides more opportunities for illustrating relationships and making deep connections than static artifacts. Integrating these components in a notebook provides permanent scaffolds for content and support for continuing review and engagement with the material. Ready-to-use templates and examples, suitable for courses ranging from physical science through chemistry I and AP Chemistry will be shared. Attendees will be encouraged to make and take a variety of examples, ranging from stand alone activities to notebook-ready page layouts. All materials were created by and have been published on Chemical Education Xchange by the presenter, and are freely available for download. Student-made interactive notebook examples will also be available for review and discussion.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will experience several mini-lessons from the student perspective using interactive notebook pages and manipulatives to explore the impact of these artifacts on the classroom experience. Participants will then be able to self-select stations to make and take manipulatives.

SPEAKERS:
Nora Walsh

Learn how to use the Uncovering Student Ideas probes in an explore-before-explain instructional sequence to support a classroom where all students' ideas matter!

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn about a new NSTA press resource for formative assessment and explore-before-explain teaching.

SPEAKERS:
Patrick Brown

Explore online tools that enrich forest & watershed activities from Project WET and Project Learning Tree that will help you localize the phenomena desired in the environmental science classroom. These ecosystem activities are designed for grades 6-12 instruction and have extensions that can be used at the AP/IB level.

TAKEAWAYS:
Explore online tools that enrich forest & watershed activities from Project WET and Project Learning Tree that will help you localize the phenomena desired in the environmental science classroom. These ecosystem activities are designed for grades 6-12 instruction and have extensions that can be use

SPEAKERS:
Kristen Poindexter

Participants will learn how to integrate PreK-2 science and math concepts into English Language Arts (ELA) instruction to support students’ literacy development while nurturing critical thinking, problem-solving, and a lifelong interest in the world around them. Primary students are exposed to the 5 C’s of STEM: critical thinking, creativity, communication, collaboration and character which will help them to be better prepared for a 21st Century workforce.

TAKEAWAYS:
STEM learning in the Primary grades supports the most critical point of brain development (between birth to age 5). STEM learning improves social-emotional learning skills, builds vocabulary and encourages a positive school experience.

SPEAKERS:
Kimberly Berry

The Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP) immerses students and educators at all levels for free in STEM programming. Through competitions, summer camps, and comprehensive professional development, AEOP stands at the forefront of educational innovation, preparing participants to excel in life.

TAKEAWAYS:
You’ll discover how AEOP spans a variety of educational stages, offering tailored programs that empower both students and teachers to thrive in STEM. We’ll cover how these initiatives equip participants with crucial skills and experiences, setting the stage for personal and professional success.

SPEAKERS:
Kathryn Lasky

PhET Interactive Simulations are free, high-quality, interactive science and math simulations that are perfect for any science classroom. Whether you are new to PhET or a seasoned user, this session will help you explore and navigate the extensive PhET resources, including activities, teacher guides, teaching strategies and more. Presented by U.S. PhET Simulations Fellow Vanessa Wentzloff, attendees will walk away with a deep understanding of all that PhET has to offer. Teachers will be able to select a simulation aligned to their curriculum and begin planning an engaging lesson centered on inquiry and discovery that they can use in their classroom right away. This session is perfect for teachers looking to boost student engagement, simplify complex topics, and walk away with something practical they can use immediately.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn how to effectively navigate and use the full range of PhET resources, including simulations, activities, teacher guides, and instructional strategies and leave with practical ideas for integrating these tools into their classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Vanessa Wentzloff

This workshop will introduce the Educating for Environmental Change project at Indiana University 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

In today’s science classrooms, engagement alone is no longer the goal—students need experiences that develop scientific thinking, strengthen conceptual understanding, and mirror the practices of real scientists. While quiz-based review platforms like have helped increase participation and excitement, they do not allow students to develop deep understanding or higher-level reasoning. This session moves beyond surface-level gamification to explore game-based learning structures that are immersive, strategy-driven, and tightly aligned to the practice of science. Participants will experience and analyze three classroom-ready game models designed specifically for science instruction: escape rooms, scientific mystery investigations, and strategy-based board games.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore game-based learning strategies for the science classroom that are aligned to the practice of science. All participants will receive three class-room ready game models.

SPEAKERS:
Eustace Smarrella

Have you struggled keeping up with Driving Question Board and Consensus Model using only sticky notes and chart paper? What do you do if you have multiple biology sessions, but you DON'T want your other classes to see what previous classes came up with earlier? Do you struggle with creating "organized" models/driving question boards? Do you struggle with helping students keep up with their personal glossary protocols? Join me as I go over how I use instructional technology to make the sense-making process more smooth, interactive, and visible to ALL students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn to use instructional technology platforms such as Canva whiteboard to enhance the sensemaking process for students.

SPEAKERS:
Alicia Choi

This session explores creative, non-traditional uses of AI to enhance science instruction in the biology classroom. Participants will learn how AI can be used as an instructional tool to increase engagement and deepen understanding through four approaches: 1. Responsive ecosystem simulations where students manipulate variables (species introduction, resources, climate) and observe real-time ecological outcomes, supporting inquiry and systems thinking. 2. AI-generated songs and music videos that teach scientific processes and concepts (e.g., the cell cycle, energy transfer, biomes) to support memory, retrieval practice, and student creation. 3. AI-generated interviews with scientists such as Darwin, Mendel and Rosaland Franklin, allowing students to “interview” them to learn more about their work and challenges they faced. 4. AI-Field Journals for use in outdoor field observations.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with practical examples, design ideas, and NGSS-aligned strategies for integrating AI into interactive, student-centered science instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Eustace Smarrella

In this hands-on professional development workshop, teachers will use physical and conceptual models of atoms and isotopes to explore how scientists reconstruct past climates. Participants will investigate how isotopic signatures preserved in ice cores and sediments reveal information about vegetation, temperature, precipitation, and Earth’s climate history. Model-based reasoning and alignment with NGSS and Indiana science practices will be emphasized. The goal of this workshop is to support teachers in translating authentic climate science research into engaging classroom investigations. This workshop will be led by Dr. Julia Kelson, IU Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, and Dr. Robyn Embry, high school science teacher, Mitchell High School. This workshop was developed for Indiana University’s Educating for Environmental Change project (EfEC) project.

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:
Julia Kelson, Adam Scribner

How do we move students from "checked out" to "self-directed" without adding hours of prep? This session introduces classroom-tested, high-leverage routines that build student self-efficacy and grit through the lens of John Hattie’s Visible Learning research. Participants will explore low-prep strategies to foster Collective Efficacy and Teacher Credibility, turning the "space of struggle" into a launchpad for success. We will examine common "grit-robbers" and replace them with adaptable structures for meaningful feedback and stronger classroom cohesion. Attendees will leave with a practical toolkit of routines that strengthen sensemaking and resilient learning, shifting the focus from fixing students to optimizing the environment to support science practices.

TAKEAWAYS:
Implement high-leverage routines that foster student agency and collective efficacy. Leave with a low-prep toolkit to transform classroom 'struggle' into productive grit, using evidence-based strategies that boost engagement and sensemaking without increasing your workload.

SPEAKERS:
Jeff Anderson, Christina Sladek, Scott Albright

This poster presents an interdisciplinary teaching strategy that integrates close observation methods from art museum education with biological inquiry to deepen student engagement and challenge misconceptions about arthropods. Many students enter biology courses with limited visual analysis skills and negative attitudes toward arthropods. By adapting visual thinking strategies and slow-looking protocols, students observe living and preserved specimens alongside artistic representations with greater attention and openness. This approach fostered curiosity, strengthened descriptive language, and encouraged students to question assumptions, ultimately increasing participation, improving observational notes, and generating more thoughtful engagement with arthropod structures and adaptations critical for taxonomic identification. The poster offers educators practical ways to incorporate observation-based learning to promote scientific thinking and interdisciplinary connections.

TAKEAWAYS:
Observation-based, art-informed teaching strategies can significantly improve student engagement, curiosity, and scientific thinking in biology classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Darla French

Purposeful use of quality digital resources can enrich science instruction and remove barriers to support the learning of all students. We will demonstrate how free media-rich resources can provide strategies for engaging all K–12 learners in instruction aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). See how supplemental digital resources can provide opportunities to investigate a broad range of phenomena; visualize data in unique ways; and actively engage in scientific practices to make sense of the world around us. We will showcase strategies for using the digital media and accompanying materials to support all students, including multilingual learners and students with disabilities, in meeting level-appropriate Earth, space, and physical science learning goals.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with ideas for actively engaging their students in NGSS-aligned instruction through free media-rich resources from PBS LearningMedia to create an inclusive science classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Shawn Stevens

This poster describes a field-based biochemistry laboratory designed to integrate scientific inquiry with Ignatian pedagogy and the mission of Jesuit higher education. Implemented in an undergraduate biochemistry course, the multiweek experience engaged students in environmental sampling, water quality assessment, biodiversity observations, community cleanup, and proteomics-based laboratory analysis. Guided by the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm and the Universal Apostolic Preferences, students connected biochemical concepts to ecological stewardship, environmental justice, and ethical discernment. Assessment through student reflections, surveys, discussions, and instructor observations suggests increased engagement, systems thinking, and awareness of the relationship between scientific knowledge and care for our common home. The project provides a replicable model for integrating experiential learning, service, and student formation within STEM education.

TAKEAWAYS:
Field-based biochemistry laboratories can integrate scientific rigor, Ignatian pedagogy, and ecological stewardship, helping students connect molecular science to environmental responsibility, ethical discernment, and care for our common home.

SPEAKERS:
Corey Damon

Geology can be a challenge to teach because its core processes are often too slow and vast for students to easily grasp. Traditionally, we ask students to piece together static stages of a process, which can make geology feel less 'hands-on' than other sciences. This session introduces activities that bridge the gap between deep time and classroom time. We’ll explore how rock tumblers compress decades of weathering and erosion into weeks; how to build tactile, scale stratigraphic maps of bedrock, and how to conduct an interdisciplinary rock cycle tour in a local cemetery - making the unobservable visible and tactile.

TAKEAWAYS:
Despite deep time processes being slow and hard to comprehend, these hands-on activities will help teachers make it tangible for students. Explore how rock tumblers compress decades of weathering and erosion into weeks; how to build tactile, scale stratigraphic maps of bedrock, and how to conduct a

SPEAKERS:
Eric Sullenberger

A presentation of low-cost ideas for Middle School, Chemistry, and ICP lessons using low-cost materials for mini- science labs and demonstrations. Concepts discussed will be the classification of matter, identifying chemical reactions, and calculations from chemical reactions. Materials for the activities are found in Dollar Tree and Walmart. Other concepts discussed will be how to keep students' interest when tackling scientific terms, concepts, or ideas.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will see how a single lesson can be applied in various contexts across Chemistry concepts.

SPEAKERS:
Tsianina McCain

This interactive poster session showcases Pop-Up Science Sparks, a collection of low-cost, interactive science experiences designed to encourage observation, questioning, conversation, and sensemaking in elementary and informal learning spaces. Attendees will explore examples of portable, hands-on exhibits, examine student-facing “Try This” prompts, and discuss how simple materials can support curiosity-driven science learning. The session highlights practical ways teachers can create engaging science experiences without expensive equipment while still supporting scientific practices such as noticing patterns, testing ideas, modeling, and collaborative discussion. Examples may include a human kaleidoscope, balancing ball, Newton’s cradle, magnetic field exploration, and other adaptable interactive displays for classrooms, libraries, STEM nights, and hallway learning spaces.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with practical design principles for creating low-cost interactive science experiences that invite student exploration, talk, and sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Alexis Markavage

A goal of science instruction is to help students learn about and explain the world around us. Digital media can expand the world students can investigate by making a broader range of phenomena and data accessible to the classroom. Media can also make science and engineering content more engaging and meaningful to students by providing stories that connect it to their daily lives, communities, or greater society. Authentic STEM role models can broaden students’ ideas of who is and can be a STEM professional as well as what they do and model scientific practices to provide students with opportunities to evaluate and argue with evidence they would be otherwise unable to collect in the classroom. We will showcase how free standards-aligned supplemental digital resources can seamlessly integrate into the middle school science curriculum and support three-dimensional phenomena-driven instruction aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

TAKEAWAYS:
You’ll leave with ideas for actively engaging middle school students in science and engineering practices to make sense of phenomena with crosscutting concepts using free media-rich NGSS-aligned resources and strategies for answering the question “why is learning science important?”

SPEAKERS:
Shawn Stevens

In this interactive session, members of the DoW STEM Ambassadors cohort will showcase free, classroom-ready resources available through the DoW STEM ecosystem and its partners. Participants will explore hands-on activities, virtual and in-person learning opportunities, career-connected STEM experiences, competitions, educator professional development programs, and student engagement resources that support innovation, problem-solving, and workforce readiness. Ambassadors will share implementation strategies and examples from various educational settings while providing attendees with a curated toolkit of resources that can be immediately adapted for classrooms and informal learning environments. Participants will leave with practical materials, new professional connections, and actionable ideas to engage students in authentic STEM learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with a curated collection of free, classroom-ready STEM resources, opportunities, and implementation strategies that connect science learning to authentic careers, innovation, and future workforce pathways.

SPEAKERS:
Daniella Hubbard, Stephanie McGrew, Elizabeth Colton, Nicole Mills, Sara Leikin

Choose Your Own (OA)dventure (CYOA) is an interactive platform to improve educator accessibility and inclusion of expert-curated materials on ocean acidification (OA). By providing a personalized compilation of resources, tailored to teaching needs, CYOA lowers preparation time and bolsters confidence with teaching this complex topic. Educators can navigate a comprehensive database of multimedia and curricula, building their toolkit based on criteria like topics, activity types for different learning styles, regional relevance, or age groups (K-12). This approach streamlines finding classroom-ready content through clear categories such as "Background information for educators," "Engage your students," "Hands-on learning," and "Explore and visualize data." Ultimately, the CYOA empowers teachers with the tools and assurance to foster ocean literacy and inspire students to take informed action toward OA solutions. Attendee feedback will directly improve the next version of NOAA's CYOA.

TAKEAWAYS:
Get the resources and confidence you need to bring ocean acidification (OA) science and literacy into your K-12 classroom, with NOAA’s interactive, online Choose Your Own (OA)dventure platform.

SPEAKERS:
Liz Perotti

Climate change will bring uneven effects to different communities around the world, with poorer and less advantaged communities hit harder by extreme weather events, crop failures, sea-level rise, and more. Incorporating this reality into science classrooms can be a challenging endeavor, from both a practical and a conceptual perspective. The MacArthur Foundation and TERC have begun a nationwide program to address this pedagogical gap by bringing together teachers from across the country, in order to begin conversations and share ideas. Practical activities, such as using mapping programs rich with demographic as well as climate data, can begin conversations in your classroom about the disconnect between advantaged and disadvantaged communities. Join us as we show you examples of how to use these programs in your classroom and incorporate ideas of climate justice alongside NGSS modeling and data analysis.

TAKEAWAYS:
Addressing climate anxiety in the classroom and talking about concrete solutions with students, whether in terms of broad policy decisions, or hands-on ecosystem restoration solutions, shows students that no matter where they live, they can have a meaningful impact on their future.

SPEAKERS:
Sara Young, Carl Armstrong

This workshop will present a climate engineering teaching module that was co-designed by Indiana University atmospheric scientists and veteran high school educators for the Educating for Environmental Change (EfEC) project. The module consists of five complete lessons that encourage students to design technological solutions to slow global warming: including in-class experimentation demonstrating the potential cooling effect resulting from brightening marine clouds. The hands-on activities are supplemented with cutting-edge climate engineering and climate modeling research – including discussions on geoengineering’s potential to limit the negative impacts of climate change. Each lesson is aligned with Indiana state science standards and the Next Generation Science Standards. This workshop will be led by Dr. Ben Kravitz and Dr. Paul Goddard from Indiana University’s Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.

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:
Ben Kravitz, Paul Goddard, Adam Scribner

Why do some natural hazards become disasters while others do not? This workshop explores the complex relationship between natural processes, human decision-making, and community resilience. Through data analysis and case studies, participants will examine hazards such as floods, droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, extreme heat, and earthquakes while considering the social, economic, and environmental factors that influence their impacts. In this workshop, teachers will engage in activities to better understand how climate change, land-use decisions, infrastructure, and public policy shape vulnerability and resilience. Participants will explore classroom-ready activities that integrate environmental science, geography, and civic decision-making, helping students investigate real-world challenges through inquiry-based learning. This workshop was developed for Indiana University’s Educating for Environmental Change (EfEC) Project.

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:
Michael Hamburger, Adam Scribner

This workshop offers an opportunity to consider how our work as STEM educators can be more meaningfully tied to citizenship, equity, and socioscientific issues. Using audio/visual data and analysis from a 2-year ethnographic dissertation study, this session will demonstrate how one early childhood educator positioned and supported her students as scientific citizens, focusing on their personhood and multifaceted identities as community members during science-based learning experiences. Attendees will be invited to examine scenarios from their own perspective and the perspective of others in order to apply the concepts discussed in the dissertation study.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will be given tools to expand their view of what science and STEM can be in the PreK to 12 educational landscape. This workshop encourages them to look beyond the neoliberal tendencies of STEM education to consider how personhood, community, and science can be purposefully integrated.

SPEAKERS:
Joseph Spurlock

Transform your classroom into a hub of engineering innovation using everyday items! This interactive session will give 3rd-8th grade science teachers an engaging activity for integrating STEM engineering challenges into their classroom. Participants will dive into a hands-on activity to show how they can spark critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity in their students making engineering accessible, exciting, and highly effective, proving that impactful STEM learning is within reach for all. Join us to ignite curiosity and cultivate the next generation of innovators!

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will engage in a hands-on engineering challenge using everyday materials and leave with a ready-to-use classroom activity that builds problem-solving, critical thinking, and creativity in grades 3–8 STEM instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Mills

Family STEM nights can strengthen school-community relationships, increase STEM engagement, and help students see science and engineering as collaborative, creative, and accessible. Many educators struggle with limited budgets, staffing constraints, activity planning, and concerns about family participation. This interactive session equips educators with practical tools to plan and facilitate successful STEM nights in schools, libraries, museums, and community organizations. Participants will explore adaptable themes, low-cost activity stations aligned to NGSS, volunteer coordination strategies, accessibility considerations, assessment tools, and methods to increase family engagement across diverse communities. Attendees will leave with ready-to-use planning templates, budget examples, NGSS aligned activity ideas, and implementation strategies suitable for a variety of grade levels and settings.

TAKEAWAYS:
Plan engaging, low-cost, engaging Family STEM Nights that build school connections and boost STEM interest. This interactive session provides themes, NGSS aligned activity ideas, volunteer strategies, and ready-to-use templates to support inclusive, effective events across diverse settings.

SPEAKERS:
Emily Wonnacott-Stanley, Liza Basden

Through the use of primary sources, inquiry explorations, and STEM strategies, STEM Stories engage elementary students. Teachers get free access to booklets that guide students in active learning activities.

TAKEAWAYS:
STEM Stories include student booklets and teacher guides ready for immediate classroom use. Investigations using common household materials to maximize learning and engagement.

SPEAKERS:
Laurie Boulden

Well-designed lockbox activities are more than just games; they are powerful pedagogical tools that foster critical thinking (sensemaking), collaborative problem-solving (productive student discourse), and deep engagement with core curriculum. In this interactive session, you will transition from player to creator. We will begin by solving clues together as a large group, modeling diverse activity styles that successfully translate complex concepts into immersive challenges. Our team will share a variety of classroom-tested examples from our science-based lockbox activities. Whether you want to implement a premade lesson or build a custom experience from scratch, these resources will be immediately available for your teaching needs. All participants will receive full access to our resources, including templates and digital guides, to adapt these tools for any subject or grade level.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will gain full access to our premade lock box style lessons and templates, enabling them to customize these resources for any grade or subject area.

SPEAKERS:
Steven Smith

A high yield practice (HYP) is based upon John Hattie’s research from Visible Learning (2009) that consistently leads to gains in student learning. These practices represent the best return on investment for instructional time, planning, and collaboration. While there are numerous HYPs, one of the strongest influences on student achievement is teacher clarity. In this interactive session, science educators will explore what teacher clarity looks like in an NGSS-aligned classroom and how it can increase student engagement, sensemaking, and achievement. Participants will examine practical strategies for making learning intentions, success criteria, scientific thinking, and classroom expectations more explicit for students. Through real classroom examples, collaborative discussion, and ready-to-use tools, teachers will learn how clarity can support all learners, including multilingual learners and students with diverse learning needs.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with immediately implementable strategies for improving communication, structuring student discourse, clarifying complex scientific concepts, and increasing student ownership of learning for deeper science understanding.

SPEAKERS:
Lisa Pavic

This roundtable discussion will use a collaborative approach to develop tips for facilitating teamwork in college classrooms. I have taught using a team-based approach in and out of the classroom, including asynchronous courses, with enrollments ranging from 15 to 180 students. Despite years of experience, I continue to learn more tips whenever I have conversations with my colleagues. Therefore, I am facilitating a round table discussion to promote these conversations with guided questions, such as “What are your ideas and/or experience in assigning roles to students who work in teams?” This conversation will be open to any attendees who teach or are interested in teaching in a college classroom, regardless of their experience implementing teamwork.

TAKEAWAYS:
Collaborate in small groups to discuss and develop tips on facilitating student teamwork in the college classroom, regardless of enrollment size or the level of experience, if any, implementing teamwork.

SPEAKERS:
Andrea Bierema

Want to introduce fun chemistry concepts into your upper elementary classroom? This session showcases a suite of physical science lessons developed by Purdue University Honors Chemistry students specifically for upper elementary educators. Participants will explore a curated collection of "kitchen chemistry" investigations that transform common household items (red cabbage, honey, and baking soda) into scientific tools. We will demonstrate how to model abstract concepts like surface tension and proton transfer through kinetic group games, and how to use student-built spectroscopes to investigate the properties of light. Participants will learn how hands-on approaches support student sensemaking and facilitate interest in science. These lessons emphasize student learning while keeping prep time and material costs at a minimum.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore fun and creative “kitchen chemistry” demonstrations to use in the upper elementary classroom. Attendees will gain full access to premade lesson plans and resources.

SPEAKERS:
Hannah Starr

Four middle school science teachers (grades 6–8) share practical, classroom-tested strategies for supporting student access and participation in NGSS-aligned OpenSciEd classrooms. Over two years of implementation, they've developed scaffolds, routines, and structures that help students engage in discourse, modeling, investigation, and sensemaking. Attendees will explore concrete supports—including student binders and guided note systems—that help students organize thinking, connect ideas across the storyline, and revise explanations as learning develops. Teachers will also share discussion routines for Scientist Circles, scaffolds for modeling and scientific argumentation, and classroom systems that boost engagement and confidence during investigations. Throughout the session, presenters will share authentic classroom examples, visuals, and lessons learned from real OpenSciEd classrooms across grades 6–8.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with practical scaffolds, routines, and classroom structures they can immediately implement to help more students successfully access OpenSciEd instruction, participate in scientific discourse, connect ideas across a storyline, and revise their thinking over time.

SPEAKERS:
Claire Hanrahan Aldridge, Blair Morwick, Alison Cole, Sarah Stuart

Uncover the secrets of the past using the power of nuclear chemistry through an engaging exploration of geochronology and absolute dating. This hands-on session demonstrates how scientists utilize radioactive isotopes to reconstruct Earth's 4.6-billion-year history, bridging the gap between physics, chemistry, and archaeology. Participants will explore the fundamental concepts of radiation and half-life, starting with the visualization of charged particles in cloud chambers and moving into simulations that model the random nature of radioactive decay. Participants will learn how to calculate decay constants and analyze carbon-14 activity. These skills are put to the test in a series of "artifact mysteries," where data is used to verify the authenticity of items. This presentation provides high school educators with classroom ready materials to help students investigate the reliability of scientific evidence and the precision of the primary tools used in modern geochronology.

TAKEAWAYS:
Understand radiation and half-life through cloud chamber visualization and simulations. Learn to calculate decay constants and apply carbon-14 dating to determine the absolute age of materials. Participants will get usable lessons that can be taught in person or virtually.

SPEAKERS:
Steven Smith

Explore the creative use of board games as a dynamic and effective tool for teaching science concepts in the classroom. In this session, participants will select from a variety of board games that align with various science curriculum standards. Through hands-on play, educators will gain practical strategies for incorporating and adapting board games into their teaching practice to enhance student engagement, sensemaking, and problem-solving skills. Presenters will address the benefits of board games in fostering collaborative learning, promoting scientific literacy, and making science accessible to students of all backgrounds. No experience is required to play any of the games that we will be presenting. Presenters will teach the games as we go. Participants will be provided access to templates and planning tools for immediate classroom use. No gaming experience required.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to boost student engagement and sensemaking by integrating board games into their science curriculum. This hands-on session offers practical strategies for collaborative learning and provides templates and planning tools ready for immediate classroom use.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Nern

Integrating inquiry instruction and writing instruction is the most effective method for improving student’s academic writing across disciplines (Miller, Scott and Mc Tigue). We will make it easy for teachers to accomplish this with the following activities: 1. We will introduce the PMT Model and then provide a video case study demonstration of how it is used to frame inquiry instruction and the inquiry dialogue. We will pause the videos periodically to identify best practice strategies and facilitate reflection on how to meet standards for disciplinary concepts, inquiry, and essay writing. 2. Participants will then pair up for collaborative lesson planning using the PMT Lesson Planning Template and content from a two-minute video on cuttlefish. 3. We will then introduce the PMT Teacher Self-Reflective Tool and explain how it is used for both self-assessment and reciprocal coaching with peers. 4. The remaining time will be used for participant lesson plan exchanges.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Teachers will be able to use the Picture Me Thinking Model (PMT Model) to develop lesson plans and deliver instruction that integrates standards for inquiry-based instruction and argumentative essay writing instruction in grades 5-12.

SPEAKERS:
Karen Amende