The public needs a fundamental literacy regarding data science—its methods, functions, and role in daily life. This is vital today as data science powers the AI algorithms shaping our world. Its relevance is underscored by massive field growth; the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 36% job growth in data science and computing sectors by 2032. To meet this demand, we must prepare students for a workforce where data fluency is a prerequisite. Science education is a critical venue for this across the K-12 science spectrum. This session presents a selection of author contributions from data science special issues in NSTA’s Science & Children, Science Scope, and The Science Teacher. These exemplars offer concrete starting points for designing and assessing data science learning across all grade levels. By bridging the gap between raw data and classroom practice, we aim to empower teachers to equip students with the competitive skills necessary for modern data-driven careers.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will gain a working definition of data science literacy and see how science teachers design data science lessons using real-world applications. The session also covers pedagogical opportunities and challenges when integrating data science and AI into the science classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Peter Lindeman, Colby Tofel-Grehl, Justice Walker

This presentation focuses on student use of AI, with an emphasis on how their motivation can help build a classroom of Sensemakers. Participants will engage with several AI tools and applications commonly used by high school students and evaluate how these tools can be leveraged to support Sensemaking. A strong emphasis will be placed on classroom assessment examples, particularly those involving the critique of AI-generated responses to traditional open-ended student questions. Additionally, survey data from current high school physics students will be shared to help examine student voice regarding the use and leverage of AI implemented instructional strategies. Attendees will leave with adaptable tools and clear next steps to immediately implement routines and activities that foster a community of Sensemakers who also use AI in their learning environments.

TAKEAWAYS:
Instead of fighting AI, flip the script in your high school classroom. This session will explore multiple AI tools, but more importantly, how to leverage those tools to build a community of Sensemakers that critically analyze AI-generated content. Special emphasis will be placed on assessment use.

SPEAKERS:
Matthew Bulman

In the modern science classroom, literacy extends far beyond the lab bench, it now encompasses the digital interfaces through which our students consume and process scientific information. This session explores the critical convergence of digital, media, and AI literacies and how they can be leveraged to sharpen, rather than bypass, scientific thinking. As students navigate a digital Wild West of social media algorithms and AI-generated content, the traditional motto of "seeing is believing" is no longer enough. We will discuss how to move students from passive consumers to active investigators by teaching them to recognize human influence in media, understand AI as a pattern-recognition tool rather than a "truth machine," and apply epistemic vigilance to scientific claims found online.

TAKEAWAYS:
Moving from the era of "finding information" to "filtering information" to ensure students use digital tools for the betterment of society. Join us to discover how to transform the potential distractions into powerful opportunities for deep sensemaking and critical scientific inquiry.

SPEAKERS:
Christine Anne Royce

What if elementary students could explore real careers while building essential STEM skills? In this session, discover how micro:bit and the engineering design process can introduce students to CTE pathways through hands-on, career-connected learning. Participants will experience ready-to-implement lessons that integrate coding, problem-solving, and career exploration in fields such as engineering, marketing, transportation, and animal science. These engaging strategies help students build early awareness of workforce opportunities while making learning relevant and meaningful. Walk away with practical tools, lesson ideas, and a framework for embedding career-connected STEM into your classroom—starting tomorrow.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use micro:bit and design-based STEM lessons to introduce elementary students to CTE career pathways through engaging, real-world, hands-on experiences.

SPEAKERS:
Lauren Kelly

Get your students excited about science with a hands-on project that demonstrates how to help prevent mosquito-borne disease spread using data science with real data collected from a NASA satellite and scientists. Mosquitos that carry serious diseases, such as Lyme disease, West Nile virus, and Zika virus, are becoming more prevalent in the United States because of climate change. Unlike the United States, less prosperous countries do not always have sufficient resources to eliminate mosquitoes and stop the spread of these diseases. In these lessons, we will learn how data science and sensemaking can help solve the problem of mosquito-borne diseases in a cost-effective, time-efficient manner. Your students will see how studies using data science techniques can synthesize data to obtain relevant information that can help solve many societal problems in the 21st century. This relates to careers in biology, environmental science, and data science.

TAKEAWAYS:
This presentation will demonstrate how to use data science to find the answers to problems in our environment. The lesson will be based on the eight NGSS Science and Engineering Practices. You will receive the lesson plan, the data, and tips for engaging diverse learners.

SPEAKERS:
Kelly Feille

Augmented Reality (AR) tools, including Merge Cubes, offer an engaging way to make abstract science concepts more visible (and interactive) for elementary students. This poster highlights how pre-service teachers (PSTs) integrated AR into inquiry-based, NGSS-aligned lessons within an educational technology course. Using a 5E instructional model, PSTs learned to move beyond the novelty of using AR to embed purposeful questioning and scaffolding strategies that support student sensemaking. We will share common implementation challenges and offer practical supports such as lesson templates and classroom routines. Findings suggest that intentional, pedagogy-driven integration of AR builds confidence and supports meaningful science learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
AR tools like Merge Cubes can enhance elementary science learning when paired with intentional pedagogy. Using the 5E model and structured supports helps teachers move beyond novelty to create meaningful, inquiry-based lessons aligned to standards.

SPEAKERS:
KIRTIKA PANWAR, Sarah McDowell

What does digital literacy actually look like in a classroom? In this lesson showcase, step inside an Inquisitive Technology lesson and experience how students move from clicking to thinking. Through a real classroom example, see how inquiry-based routines help students use digital tools with purpose, communicate responsibly, and make informed choices online. Watch how a simple, open-and-go lesson builds understanding of digital systems, online safety, and responsible decision-making. Notice how student thinking is surfaced, supported, and extended through discussion, interaction, and reflection. With built-in supports and multiple entry points, these lessons make digital literacy meaningful for students and manageable for teachers. Walk away with practical ideas you can use right away.

TAKEAWAYS:
Seeing a digital literacy lesson in action reveals how simple, structured routines can help students think critically, make informed choices, and act responsibly in a digital world.

SPEAKERS:
Renee Shaw

Explore meaningful ways to incorporate AI into your classrooms, clubs, and science festivals that encourage critical examination of this emergent technology. Use AI as a tool to examine AI via: the eeriness of voice cloning, the biases counterfactual thinking combined with prompt engineering can reveal, and the inaccuracies uncovered by testing AI on content that you and your students are experts in.  Learn about field-tested activities on the construction and programming of small autonomous robotic arms (available online at arm.ttic.edu). TTIC (ttic.edu) is a philanthropically endowed university and research institute focused on AI and CS theory. NGSS Alignment.  NGSS Alignment: CCC 1, 2, & 4; Practices 1, 3, 4, 6, & 8.

TAKEAWAYS:
AI is here but one should take it with a grain of salt - here is how.

SPEAKERS:
Michael Rodgers, Randall Landsberg

Explore how Micro:bits can empower students to quickly design and conduct their own science investigations using built-in sensors. This poster highlights hands-on, NGSS-aligned activities that engage learners in real-time data collection, analysis, and evidence-based reasoning across grade levels. Discover how students can investigate phenomena through motion, temperature, light, and more while integrating computational thinking and scientific practices. The poster shares classroom-tested lessons, strategies for scaffolding inquiry, and approaches to support equitable access and participation in STEM. Attendees will see examples of student-driven investigations, discuss implementation ideas, and gather adaptable, ready-to-use resources. Walk away with practical tools to foster curiosity, ownership, and deeper sensemaking through data-rich, student-centered science learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to empower students to design and carry out investigations using Micro:bits’ built-in sensors. Walk way with NGSS-aligned activities that integrate real-time data collection, computational thinking, and student-driven inquiry across grade levels.

SPEAKERS:
Leslie Silbernagel

This poster shares preliminary findings from a qualitative thematic analysis of public responses to AI-generated speculative science content on TikTok and Reddit. Guided by research on epistemic play and the NRC Framework’s science and engineering practices, we examine how non-experts question claims, test plausibility, construct explanations, and challenge inaccuracies in comment-thread discussions. Preliminary analysis suggests that humor, exaggeration, and speculative framing can function as low-risk entry points into science sensemaking, making critique and tentative reasoning more socially acceptable in public online spaces. These findings can inform conversations about AI literacy and scientific reasoning in informal learning spaces.

TAKEAWAYS:
AI-generated science media can be a productive prompt for questioning, critique, and evidence-based sensemaking, giving science educators a useful lens for teaching AI literacy and critical engagement with scientific representations.

SPEAKERS:
Lucy Bae, Xinyu Xu

This poster session highlights how students use real-world data to investigate scientific questions and make evidence-based decisions. It showcases a structured approach to building data literacy within science instruction, allowing students to analyze patterns, interpret results, and communicate findings. Attendees will explore a classroom model that integrates data analysis into everyday learning without requiring additional courses or resources. The poster will include sample tasks, student learning progression, and strategies that support inquiry, sensemaking, and engagement. Participants will leave with practical ideas to help students connect scientific concepts to real-world applications through data-driven learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use real-world data to support student inquiry, helping students analyze information, identify patterns, and make evidence-based decisions in science.

SPEAKERS:
Stephanie Triplett

Is your classroom bringing learning to life, or is it simply a space where students learn? Dr. Chad LeDune draws on 22 years of public education experience to demonstrate how innovative, student-centered learning environments can transform science instruction into a launchpad for career-connected success. This session explores how technology tools function best not as the focus, but as process-driven supports that enhance inquiry, problem-solving, and real-world application of content knowledge. Participants will examine how iterative instructional design builds entrepreneurial thinking, career awareness, and durable, AI-resilient skills. Through practical examples, attendees will learn how to create engaging environments where students apply science concepts to authentic challenges, develop solutions, and communicate outcomes with purpose. Walk away with strategies to foster engagement, learning, and clear connections between classroom experiences and future career pathways.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will leave understanding how to design learning experiences where technology supports an iterative process of inquiry, application, entrepreneurship, and career-connected problem solving

SPEAKERS:
Dr. Chad LeDune

Data plays a central role in how students make sense of scientific phenomena. In this hands-on session, co-facilitated by the NSTA Professional Learning Team and Tuva, participants will build confidence with foundational data skills while exploring how graphing, statistical reasoning, and data interpretation support students in analyzing evidence, identifying patterns, and constructing explanations. Using real-world datasets and interactive tools in Tuva, participants will examine graph choice, variability, distributions, and common data visualizations through the lens of science instruction.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will deepen their understanding of core data literacy concepts and learn practical strategies for helping students use data to analyze evidence, identify patterns, and engage in science sensemaking aligned to the NGSS Science and Engineering Practices.

SPEAKERS:
Jocelyn Foran, Brianna Reilly Oliveira

In this session, educators explore how to redesign assignments for the AI era to strengthen student thinking, creativity, and authenticity. We will examine practical strategies for updating tasks that emphasize curiosity and responsible use, ensuring AI becomes a tool for deeper learning rather than a shortcut. Participants will learn how to approach AI integration at a pace that feels manageable and aligned to their students’ needs and teaching style. By the end, teachers will leave with concrete redesign ideas and a personalized pathway for thoughtfully and confidently incorporating AI into their unique instructional practice.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will have a better understanding of how to increase the rigor of science-related tasks while integrating the use of GenAI.

SPEAKERS:
Tanika Kinartail

"This session will demonstrate a classroom-tested approach for teaching series and parallel circuits through hands-on materials, mathematical reasoning, and digital simulations. Participants will experience how a simple circuit kit can introduce key concepts such as brightness, current distribution, and the effect of removing a bulb in a series circuit. The session will also highlight how students use calculations to determine total resistance, voltage drops, and current flow. The presenter will show how the PhET Circuit Construction Kit simulation supports verification, modeling, and deeper conceptual understanding. The session will end with a look at a culminating engineering design challenge where students design and build a functional house prototype using series and parallel circuits. An optional competition format where students present their prototypes to judges for evaluation will also be discussed. "

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn a complete, classroom-tested way to teach series and parallel circuits using hands-on kits, math reasoning, PhET simulations, and a student house‑prototype design challenge.

SPEAKERS:
JOANNA MARIE DE BORJA, Kelly Feille

Description Students are increasingly using AI in science classrooms, but using AI does not automatically lead to deeper thinking. This session shares one simple, classroom-ready strategy that uses AI to prompt students to pause and extend their reasoning during scientific tasks. A single prompt can push students to clarify their thinking, identify gaps, and strengthen explanations, supporting NGSS-aligned practices such as analyzing evidence and constructing explanations. This quick, practical move is easy to implement and positions AI as a support for student thinking rather than a source of answers.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn one simple way to use AI to prompt students to pause, extend their thinking, and strengthen scientific explanations during classroom tasks.

SPEAKERS:
Michelle McClanan

In the rapidly evolving landscape of STEM education, artificial intelligence is often viewed through the lens of academic integrity concerns. However, when integrated intentionally, AI can serve as a powerful catalyst for authentic learning, bridging the gap between classroom theory and real-world scientific inquiry. This speed talk explores two distinct case studies in high school Chemistry and Environmental Science. First, we examine the use of AI in Chemistry, where students evaluate Large Language Models (LLMs) to support their learning of Chemistry topics. Second, we highlight an Environmental Science project in which AI-driven tools enabled students to evaluate ecological problems, identify areas impacted using data collected from the internet, and create an infographic using that data to help solve the problem, transforming them from passive observers into active participants in the solution.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with a framework for designing not AI-resistant, but AI-enhanced use that prioritizes critical thinking, data interpretation, and the ethical application of emerging technologies.

SPEAKERS:
Joe Hendrzak

Technology literacy is an increasingly important part of science and STEM education, yet technological literacy now extends beyond simply using digital tools. Students must also learn to critically evaluate technologies, consider tradeoffs, and make informed decisions about technologies in personal, societal, and scientific contexts. Research suggests that students often hold uncritical positive views toward emerging technologies, which can limit thoughtful decision-making and engagement with socio-scientific issues (Ankiewicz, 2016). At the same time, many science teachers receive limited preparation in how to facilitate deeper conversations about technology and its impacts. This session will provide an overview of what it means to be technology literate in today's world and introduces a simple, adaptable questioning tool designed to help teachers embed technology literacy discussions into existing science instruction without requiring major curricular changes.

TAKEAWAYS:
Help students move beyond simply using technology to critically evaluating it. Participants will leave with a practical questioning tool that promotes effectively embedding technology literacy discourse into science classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Isaiah Kent-Schneider

What does digital literacy actually look like in a real lesson? In this fast-paced 15-minute session, take a speed tour through an Inquisitive Technology lesson using the 5E model. See how students move from initial curiosity to making thoughtful decisions in digital spaces through structured, inquiry-based learning. Experience how each phase, Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate, supports students in thinking critically, communicating responsibly, and making informed choices online. With simple routines, built-in supports, and ready-to-use materials, this approach makes digital literacy both meaningful for students and manageable for teachers. Walk away with practical ideas you can apply immediately.

TAKEAWAYS:
A 5E lesson structure helps teachers turn digital literacy into meaningful, manageable learning by guiding students from curiosity to informed decision-making.

SPEAKERS:
Renee Shaw

This session demonstrates how science methods instructors can leverage an "AI Portfolio" to bridge the gap between AI as a convenience and AI as a cognitive catalyst for pre-service teachers (PSTs). By guiding PSTs through a structured cycle of "Quick Writes" and "AI Interaction Evidence," instructors can challenge students to evaluate the quality of AI-generated outputs against established content and pedagogical knowledge. This process pushes PSTs to go beyond passive consumption, requiring them to generate new knowledge by synthesizing AI suggestions with their own emerging expertise and creativity. Attendees will see how this framework builds essential skills in critical decision-making, as students must explicitly justify why they keep or reject specific AI outputs. Ultimately, this session provides a roadmap for methods instructors to help PSTs refine their professional judgment and develop the durable skills needed to use AI as a sophisticated thought partner in the classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
A digital checklist and set of reflection guiding questions that can be immediately integrated into university science methods courses to facilitate responsible AI use.

SPEAKERS:
William Thornburgh

Diminished conceptual understanding of core concepts in physics and calculus acts as a primary barrier to STEM persistence. Students frequently struggle to apply theoretical concepts which lead to lower retention in STEM majors. This presentation will focus on how educators can enhance understanding and build connections between various metrics in sports and foundational concepts of math and physical science. Utilization of affordable sensor technology to capture real student/athlete generated data in sport settings such as golf and baseball will help educators visualize how to bring these concepts into their classrooms. The application of various Artificial Intelligence platforms to manipulate student/athlete generated data in various functions and calculations in math and science will be covered and a case study presented. Finally, pilot data demonstrates how conceptual understanding of core concepts in calculus and physics is improved through presented methods.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how sports analytics connects calculus and physics through real athlete-generated data, affordable sensors, and AI tools. Explore how students can apply math and science concepts to analyze performance, solve problems, and deepen conceptual understanding in authentic sports scenarios.

SPEAKERS:
Timothy Goodale

What if you could build a fully interactive, standards-aligned science skill practice page in under five minutes, no coding required? In this speed session, participants will watch a working web tool built live using Claude's Design and Code feature, starting from a plain-language prompt and ending with a browser-ready page that students can use the same day. The prompt structure demonstrated supports educators in designing a single web page that engages students in developing skills from NGSS Science and Engineering Practices and Cross-Cutting Concepts into any science scenario. Attendees leave with a reusable prompt template card, three grade-band-specific example prompts, and a QR-linked resource page to share with their department. Let's create a simple skill-building scenario, ready before the next bell.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with practical, repeatable methods for turning science skills into an interactive, single-page web experience using AI, enabling faster creation of meaningful, skill-based learning experiences.

SPEAKERS:
Mike Huber

This session presents a secure, fully offline AI system for K-12 science classrooms that supports assignment generation, auto-grading, and real-time AI tutoring. Aligned with the AI and Data education strand and the NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education, the tool demonstrates how instructional design and feedback can support NGSS three-dimensional learning, including Science and Engineering Practices such as analyzing and interpreting data and constructing evidence-based explanations. Participants will explore classroom-ready workflows showing how assignments are created, how student work is evaluated using consistent rubrics, and how tutoring responses adapt to learner input using performance data. The system enables continuous instructional feedback loops grounded in student work. Designed for privacy-sensitive and low-bandwidth environments, the platform operates entirely offline to ensure equitable access while reducing teacher workload and improving feedback consistency.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn an offline AI workflow for K-12 science education that supports NGSS-aligned instruction through assignment generation, auto-grading, and adaptive tutoring, enabling data-informed feedback, reduced teacher workload, and equitable implementation.

SPEAKERS:
Nitindra Chowdary Pavuluri

The process of science is driven by questions. While it’s easy to ask a general question, crafting an investigable question requires deeper thinking and intentionality. Doing so within the constraints of an existing dataset creates an additional challenge. This session, co-facilitated by the NSTA professional learning team and Tuva, will highlight strategies for helping students clarify what data they have to work with, determine the types of questions that can and cannot be answered with a given dataset, and frame six different types of questions about data.

TAKEAWAYS:
The types of questions you can ask depend on the data you have. Participants will learn how to guide students in identifying the structure and limits of the local datasets they encounter and in framing investigable questions that unlock the potential of data.

SPEAKERS:
Jocelyn Foran, Brianna Reilly Oliveira

How can we safeguard future scientists against automation bias, cognitive offloading, and scientific slop? The SIFT (Stop-Investigate-Find-Trace) framework is a learner-focused procedural approach for assessing the contributions of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a partner in the context of inquiry science. Phase 1 emphasizes literacy as students develop a method for critically evaluating their own use of AI, a model’s reliability, and the viability of the output. In Phase 2, they broaden their critical lens to assess output in regards to its validity within the field: Is it accurate? Does it align with current scientific consensus? What might it be overlooking or excluding?

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be able to scaffold AI-enhanced lesson plans with an active learning process that develops a student’s habit of a routine critical evaluation of collaborative AI in the context of accuracy, usefulness, and suitability.

SPEAKERS:
Laura Yost

Generative AI makes it easier for students to produce polished science responses without necessarily showing deep understanding. This session presents a research-informed approach for using conceptual modeling to make student thinking visible by revealing how learners represent components, relationships, processes, and change. Drawing on empirical work with undergraduate engineering students and broader research on systems thinking and modeling, the session shows how conceptual representations can expose gaps that fluent written answers may hide. Rather than using AI mainly to generate content, the session explores how AI-informed prompts can support questioning, reflection, revision, and formative assessment. Attendees will leave with practical ideas for prompts, feedback, and assessment that can be adapted for science settings in secondary, postsecondary, and teacher education.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how conceptual modeling and AI-informed prompts can help reveal and support real student understanding, not just polished AI-assisted answers.

SPEAKERS:
Roee Peretz

We grew up with encyclopedias. Our students grew up on Google. Now AI is here and the digital divide is widening every day we wait. This is not a debate about whether to use it. It is a conversation about whether our students can afford for us to keep stalling. This workshop skips the hype and gets to work. You will open your actual state standards, identify a vertically aligned strand, and build one real standards-aligned artifact using AI before you leave this room. Grounded in NGSS Science and Engineering Practice 8, obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information, AI literacy is science literacy. Then you will consider what honest, responsible student use looks like, grounded in a classroom-tested model where Title I students were quizzed, challenged, and guided without ever getting an answer handed to them. Real concerns get named. Policy gets addressed. In April 2025, a federal executive order directed schools to advance AI education for every student.

TAKEAWAYS:
One self-built artifact tied to your own state standards, a plain-language guide for locating your district AI policy, and a framework for teaching students to use AI as a thinking tool, not a shortcut, before they need it.

SPEAKERS:
Jacqueline Cormier

The STEM workforce is changing. From facilities in Indiana to global tech hubs in Asia, companies now use Physical AI (intelligence built into physical tools like sensors) and Agentic AI (systems that can finish multi-step tasks on their own). This session shows how science and engineering are evolving. We demonstrate how teachers can use these technologies to prepare for and teach in class by incorporating low-cost pocket computers and sensors. Physical and Agentic AI can help teachers align lessons to NGSS Science and Engineering Practices, improve skills, and make sense of student lab data more quickly. This allows for better instructional choices and helps teachers give more helpful feedback. Integrating these tools into a structured science classroom can level the playing field for all students. By the end of this session, you will see how robust science education paired with AI—not just technology for its own sake—prepares every student to lead and innovate in modern careers.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will receive an Advanced AI Science & Engineering Education Toolkit that shows how to use Physical and Agentic AI to make planning smoother, lab feedback easier, and improve decision-making while helping students learn the skills needed for modern science and engineering careers.

SPEAKERS:
Naeem Turner-Bandele, PhD

This workshop will have teachers to critically examine the role of Deep Fakes in science classrooms. Educators will be challenged to challenge their students to critically examine media for reliability and credibility. The workshop will revisit the role of background research in the science classroom and how to teach learners to navigate a world of AI and Deep Fakes.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will learn how Deep Fakes are made and how to teach their learners to spot them.

SPEAKERS:
Cecelia Gillam

Participants will explore a classroom-ready video and engineering task using research from the University of Rhode Island Robotics Lab, where drones are programmed to monitor algae blooms in local ponds. Educators will engage in hands-on algorithm design, pattern recognition, and optimization challenges that mirror authentic engineering practices. This session provides additional classroom-ready videos, tasks, and facilitation strategies to foster an engineering mindset while introducing students to STEAM careers in robotics, environmental science, and computer science. Attendees will leave with ready-to-use materials that promote problem-solving, collaboration, and real-world community connections.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will leave with ready-to-use, classroom-tested open source resources and strategies to engage students in real-world engineering with drone technology, strengthen problem-solving skills, and explore STEAM careers.

SPEAKERS:
Charlene Tuttle, Rachele Limberakis

It’s hard to miss the growing importance and capabilities of generative AI. While first seen as something that needed to be avoided, especially by students, views about its usefulness and appropriateness are evolving. In this session, we will explore different AI platforms, how they can be used to lighten teacher workload, and most importantly how they can be used by students as an instructional tool. We will leverage Science Olympiad’s recent work exploring AI as a learning and competition tool to provide teachers with concrete examples as well as brainstorm solutions to current challenges that attendees may be facing.

TAKEAWAYS:
By attending this session, attendees will gain a better sense of AI options and capabilities as well as how those capabilities can be used to lighten their load while at the same time engaging their students in meaningful learning and problem solving.

SPEAKERS:
John Loehr

This workshop demonstrates how data interpretation and AI-supported tools can strengthen real-world science learning using H5N1 (bird influenza) in poultry. Led by a teacher educator and an agricultural diagnostician, the session makes connections to relevant topics such as disease spread and egg prices. Participants will engage in two free, classroom-ready lessons: (1) analyzing real-time USDA outbreak data to identify patterns in commercial and backyard flocks, and (2) an introductory activity with UniProt and AlphaFold that explores the cell receptor the H5N1 virus uses to dock and infect poultry cells. These activities highlight practical classroom applications and reflect tools used in agriculture and health science careers. Participants will leave with ready-to-use materials and strategies to help build transferable skills in data analysis, problem solving, and evidence-based reasoning, grounded in current events.

TAKEAWAYS:
Walk away with two ready-to-use lessons that use real bird flu outbreak data and simple AI tools to help students analyze patterns, understand disease spread, and connect science to real-world issues like rising egg prices.

SPEAKERS:
Jane Hunt, Zack Bateson

Students are increasingly using AI in science classrooms, but using AI does not always lead to deeper thinking. This workshop focuses on how teachers can design classroom tasks that use AI to support, rather than replace, scientific reasoning. After a brief introduction, participants will work through example tasks from a student perspective and examine how specific prompts can push thinking, reveal gaps, and strengthen explanations. Grounded in NGSS practices, this session emphasizes analyzing evidence and constructing explanations. Participants will leave with practical strategies and a clear structure for designing tasks that position AI as a tool for thinking.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to design classroom tasks that use AI to prompt deeper thinking and strengthen evidence-based scientific reasoning.

SPEAKERS:
Michelle McClanan

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

Simulations and games have shown great promise in science education, increasing students' scientific reasoning, enhancing motivation, and reducing cognitive load. However, teachers have been relying on developers to offer a fixed set of simulations or games. With the emergence of AI coding tools such as Claude Code (CC), teachers and students can now design simulations and games tailored to their own needs and interests. With coding no longer a barrier, mathematical and scientific principles can be harnessed to create something teachers and students are passionate about. We start with a 15 min intro to CC with a demonstration of a simulation and a game developed by a nonprofessional coder. The next 15 min, teachers brainstorm a game or simulation supporting phenomenon sense-making. The remaining time is dedicated to implementation using CC on six provided computers with CC pre-installed. We close with a 5-minute wrap and will provide resources including an installation guide and a proc

TAKEAWAYS:
Familiarizing oneself with simulation and gaming possibilities one can create for their class on CC with alignment to NGSS and 3D learning. Understanding the current limitations of the tool, such as computational power and working memory. Awareness of the ethical aspects of using CC.

SPEAKERS:
Ella Yonai, Emanuel Eidin

This presentation shares findings from a study of preservice science teachers using a custom AI chatbot designed to support NGSS-aligned, phenomenon-based lesson and unit planning. Drawing on analyses of chatbot interactions, interviews, and teacher reflections, we highlight how participants used the tool to identify engaging phenomena, align instruction to standards, generate lesson ideas, and strengthen unit coherence. We also discuss challenges, including evaluating AI-generated suggestions and avoiding over-reliance on AI. Participants will leave with practical strategies for using AI to support science teaching and teacher learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Custom AI tools can be a valuable planning partner for science teachers when it helps them think more deeply about instructional decisions rather than making those decisions for them.

SPEAKERS:
Kate Henson

Connecting AI to the physical world (aka embodied AI) is the next technological frontier. Join us to explore project-based activities that combine AI with physical robots via the construction and programming of autonomous robotic arms. These field-tested actives use Python and an accessible (relatively cheap ~$300) hardware platform. This workshop will walk you through the parts, construction, Python skill building, game theory, object detection, and autonomous arm programing modules. All components: parts, 3D printing files, construction instructions, programming activities, and lecture slides are available online (arm.ttic.edu) and can be used as a whole or piecemeal for clubs and classrooms. High school interns who explored these activities saw key indicators of retention and success in CS, such as Sense of Belonging in Computing, increase. TTIC is a university & research institute focused on AI and CS theory. NGSS Alignment: HS-ETS1-1 & HS-ETS1-2; CCC 1,2,4,& 6; Practices 1,2,3,4 &

TAKEAWAYS:
Robots + AI = Tool You Can Use + Student Engagement

SPEAKERS:
Michael Rodgers, Randall Landsberg

Discover practical ways science teachers can use AI tools to streamline planning, differentiate instruction, generate assessments, create engaging review activities, and support diverse learners. This interactive poster session features authentic classroom examples, ready-to-use prompts, QR-linked resources, and a live “Prompt Makeover” station where attendees can revise and improve their own classroom prompts for immediate implementation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will leave with practical AI prompts, classroom-ready examples, and implementation strategies they can immediately use to create engaging, differentiated, and standards-aligned science instruction while saving valuable planning time.

SPEAKERS:
Caitlynn Richardson

This poster session explores practical strategies for integrating AI and data tools into middle school science classrooms while building career-connected learning pathways. Attendees will discover classroom-safe AI platforms (ChatGPT, Perplexity, NotebookLM) and data analysis tools (CODAP, Google Sheets, Python/Colab, Tuva Labs) mapped to real STEM careers. The session features a sample "AI vs. Human: Data Detective" activity using the CER framework to help students evaluate AI-generated analyses alongside human scientific work. We will also discuss how to connect each tool and activity to real STEM career pathways, giving students a clear picture of where these skills lead. Resources include ready-to-use rubrics, datasets, and career profile cards. Whether you are new to AI or looking to deepen data literacy instruction, this share-a-thon format offers hands-on resources, mentor guidance, and actionable takeaways to prepare students for data-driven futures.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with practical strategies and ready-to-use resources for integrating AI and data tools into science instruction, helping students build critical thinking skills while connecting classroom learning to real STEM career pathways.

SPEAKERS:
Treshana Weise

This session presents a secure, fully offline AI system for K-12 science classrooms that supports assignment generation, auto-grading, and real-time AI tutoring. Aligned with the AI and Data education strand and the NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education, the tool demonstrates how instructional design and feedback can support NGSS three-dimensional learning, including Science and Engineering Practices such as analyzing and interpreting data and constructing evidence-based explanations. Participants will explore classroom-ready workflows showing how assignments are created, how student work is evaluated using consistent rubrics, and how tutoring responses adapt to learner input using performance data. The system enables continuous instructional feedback loops grounded in student work. Designed for privacy-sensitive and low-bandwidth environments, the platform operates entirely offline to ensure equitable access while reducing teacher workload and improving feedback consistency.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn an offline AI workflow for K-12 science education that supports NGSS-aligned instruction through assignment generation, auto-grading, and adaptive tutoring, enabling data-informed feedback, reduced teacher workload, and equitable implementation.

SPEAKERS:
Nitindra Chowdary Pavuluri

Artificial intelligence can do more than answer questions. With thoughtful design, it can support student thinking. In this hands-on session, you will experience a custom AI Tutor from a student’s perspective, examine how its prompt shapes its behavior and learn how to define the instructional purpose of a tutor bot. We will focus on one key design step: turning a classroom learning need into clear bot instructions. You will draft a purpose statement and initial prompt for an AI Tutor that could support review, practice, feedback, or student questioning in your own classroom. You will see how AI can support this entire design process. This session is designed to show that effective AI tutoring begins with instructional design, not technical expertise. Bring your computer so that you can get the most out of this session.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with a practical process for translating a classroom learning need into clear bot instructions that can guide an AI Tutor to support student thinking.

SPEAKERS:
Adam Pennell

Science leaders from a large, urban, school district will describe and model a process they have developted to utilize generative AI tools for making their district-level science assessments better (psychometrically, linguistically, standards-alignement-wise, etc...).

TAKEAWAYS:
Generative AI tools can be used to help shape the development of resources in ways that account for context-specific requirements within a local education association.

SPEAKERS:
Kate Henson

Students use AI but do they critically think about it? This workshop will explore classroom activities that use AI to examine the veracity, biases, flaws, and ethics of AI. Delve into voice cloning technology, and debate its pros and cons. Employ counterfactual/what if thinking and prompt engineering (e.g., images generated from “old man in a church” vs “Asian old man in a church”) to reveal biases in AI models. Try a simple student-centered activity to critically analyze AI by testing its knowledge of something you yourself and/or your students are experts in. TTIC (ttic.edu) is a philanthropically endowed research institute and university focused on AI and CS theory. NGSS Alignment: HS-ETS1-2 & 3; CCC 1, 2, & 4; Practices 1, 3, 4, 6, & 8.

TAKEAWAYS:
These activities will help your students to think critically about AI in their lives and in the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Randall Landsberg

This presentation describes the design and implementation of a health data science professional development program created for middle and high school educators participating in a one-week, face-to-face summer teacher institute. The program integrated foundational data science concepts with laboratory sciences through authentic healthcare delivery contexts. Teachers engaged with real healthcare laboratory datasets, using Excel to analyze data, identify trends, and create data visualizations that mirror practices used in health and laboratory science careers. A primary goal of the program was to expand awareness of laboratory science, data science, and health-related career pathways among rural teachers and their students, while providing classroom-ready curriculum that supports career-connected science learning. Instruction emphasized core data science practices, ethical use of health data, and technology-supported analysis, aligning with the NSTA Position Statement on Data Science.

TAKEAWAYS:
Authentic healthcare laboratory data can be effectively used with accessible technology like Excel to build teachers’ data science skills, connect science instruction to real healthcare careers, and empower educators—especially in rural settings—to introduce ethical, career-connected data analysis a

SPEAKERS:
Rebecca Reynolds

Bring bioinformatics into your classroom through introductory, plant-focused investigations. This session highlights classroom-ready activities such as DNA barcoding for species identification, phylogenetic analysis using carnivorous plants, and exploring plant immune systems. Designed for high school classrooms, these lessons use free, web-based tools and genetics to build student skills in data interpretation. Activities are scaffolded, flexible, and aligned to NGSS, allowing teachers to integrate them into units on evolution, heredity, and plant biology. Participants will see how bioinformatics can move beyond human-focused examples to increase relevance, accessibility, and student interest using plants as a familiar and meaningful context.

TAKEAWAYS:
A practical starting point for teaching bioinformatics through classroom-ready plant investigations you can use immediately, built on free tools and real data, no prior experience required.

SPEAKERS:
Zack Bateson

Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming education, but many science teachers are still searching for practical, classroom-ready applications that genuinely improve instruction rather than simply automate tasks. In this session, participants will explore how generative AI tools such as Claude can support science teaching through lesson planning, assessment creation, differentiation, lab design, review games, data analysis, and student engagement activities. Participants will leave with practical prompt templates, implementation ideas, and strategies for responsibly integrating AI into science classrooms in ways that enhance efficiency, accessibility, and student learning. This presentation is designed for educators with little to moderate experience using AI tools.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with practical, classroom-tested strategies for using AI to design engaging science lessons, differentiate instruction, create assessments, and save planning time while maintaining strong pedagogy and teacher oversight.

SPEAKERS:
Caitlynn Richardson

Students often struggle with science concepts because hidden prerequisite skills go undiagnosed. A student may appear to misunderstand ecosystems, chemical reactions, forces, or data analysis when the real barrier is vocabulary, graph interpretation, proportional reasoning, measurement, or evidence-based explanation. This presentation shares a practical mastery-mapping process teachers can use to break science tasks into essential skills, identify likely points of breakdown, and plan targeted next steps. Attendees will see examples of how quick evidence checks can support grouping, reteaching, intervention, extension, and student ownership of progress. The session focuses on a repeatable instructional workflow: define the target skill, identify prerequisite knowledge, gather evidence, assign a targeted next step, and monitor progress toward mastery.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use mastery maps to identify hidden skill gaps in science tasks and plan targeted next steps that move students toward standards-based mastery.

SPEAKERS:
Lynette Dickerson

In this session, we will explore the dual nature of AI in the modern classroom. Teachers often feel caught between preventing misuse and embracing progress. AI is something that is not going away so we need to discover how it can be used to our benefit within our classrooms. I will show you how to navigate both the positive and negative aspects of AI. We’ll dive into practical strategies for designing curriculum that maintains academic integrity in an AI-driven world, ensuring student work remains authentic. On the flip side, we will discover how to leverage these same tools to personalize instruction and bridge accessibility gaps, making high-quality content available to every student regardless of their starting point.

TAKEAWAYS:
We’re going to explore the dual nature of AI in education. I'll show you how to design curriculum that maintains academic integrity in an AI world, while using these same tools to personalize learning and bridge accessibility gaps for all students.

SPEAKERS:
Andrew Bean

This session presents a secure, fully offline AI system for K-12 science classrooms that supports assignment generation, auto-grading, and real-time AI tutoring. Aligned with the AI and Data education strand and the NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education, the tool demonstrates how instructional design and feedback can support NGSS three-dimensional learning, including Science and Engineering Practices such as analyzing and interpreting data and constructing evidence-based explanations. Participants will explore classroom-ready workflows showing how assignments are created, how student work is evaluated using consistent rubrics, and how tutoring responses adapt to learner input using performance data. The system enables continuous instructional feedback loops grounded in student work. Designed for privacy-sensitive and low-bandwidth environments, the platform operates entirely offline to ensure equitable access while reducing teacher workload and improving feedback consistency.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn an offline AI workflow for K-12 science education that supports NGSS-aligned instruction through assignment generation, auto-grading, and adaptive tutoring, enabling data-informed feedback, reduced teacher workload, and equitable implementation.

SPEAKERS:
Nitindra Chowdary Pavuluri

Students are increasingly using AI in science classrooms, but using AI does not always lead to deeper thinking. Many students rely on AI-generated responses without fully engaging in scientific reasoning. This session explores how teachers can use AI to support, rather than replace, student thinking. Attendees will see classroom examples of how targeted prompts can help students clarify ideas, identify gaps, and strengthen explanations, supporting NGSS-aligned practices such as analyzing evidence and constructing explanations. This session focuses on practical strategies that position AI as a tool for thinking, not an answer source.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use AI to support student thinking and strengthen scientific reasoning rather than replace it during classroom tasks.

SPEAKERS:
Michelle McClanan