What if one carefully crafted question could transform engagement in your high school biology class, especially for multilingual Black and Brown learners? In this interactive session, participants explore the Cultural Bridges strategy: using a single, intentional question to connect learners’ lived experiences to NGSS biology phenomena without lowering rigor. We will examine provided biology lesson excerpts that include subtle deficit or paternalistic “savior” framings and practice rewriting them through Cultural Bridges questions that honor learners’ cultural and linguistic wealth. Educators will analyze sample questions, see how they shift discourse and sensemaking, and consider where this move fits naturally in upcoming units. No materials required—examples and templates are provided. Participants are welcome to bring their own for reference and crosswalking.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants leave with simple templates and sample Cultural Bridges questions for high school biology that they can adapt to connect learners’ lived experiences to NGSS phenomena while interrupting deficit and white savior framings.

SPEAKERS:
Almitra Berry

Experience how embedding literacy supports for reading, writing, and academic discourse in 3D teaching and learning promotes sensemaking and science understanding for ALL learners! Learn how the BSCS Anchored Inquiry Learning (AIL) instructional model succeeds the 5Es and embeds literacy supports throughout cycles of inquiry. The NGSS calls for 3D learning grounded in real world phenomena to ensure science learning is equitable and relevant to all students. The SEPs and CCCs require sensemaking of complex texts and data as well as communicating explanations and arguments and engaging in scientific discourse. In this session, participants will 1) experience literacy strategies that support student engagement in the SEPs and CCCs, 2) consider how these strategies support all students, particularly below grade-level readers and EMLs, in sensemaking, and 3) consider how embedding these strategies in assessments allows all students to demonstrate their learning.

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

SPEAKERS:
Cynthia Gay

How can we design science learning that allows multilingual learners to shine? This session explores instructional approaches and teacher moves that create rich opportunities for students to use their full range of meaning-making resources. Through classroom examples—such as building consensus ideas or sharing noticings and wonderings about puzzling phenomena—we'll examine moments when students make their thinking public, collaborate, and grow as sensemakers. Drawing on BSCS Science Learning's research and curriculum development, this session offers concrete, classroom-tested strategies you can bring back immediately.

TAKEAWAYS:
Multilingual learners are brilliant and capable of engaging in rich and rigorous scientific sensemaking when classrooms make space for their ideas. Walk away with practical tools and routines that elevate student thinking and strengthen whole-class science sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Susan Gomez Zwiep

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

What if the same tool students use to measure focus could help teachers reclaim theirs? This hands-on workshop introduces HRV biofeedback — technology trusted by clinical researchers and elite athletes — as a team-based professional learning model for building educator resilience. Participants experience live demonstrations where physiological data shifts in real time as stress responses activate and coherence techniques restore balance. Teachers don't just learn about burnout — they measure it, and then figure out how to change it. Grounded in autonomic nervous system science and NGSS-aligned data practices, this model translates directly into PLC structures, instructional coaching frameworks, and school-wide wellness protocols. Participants leave with team implementation guides, facilitation protocols, and a roadmap for department- or school-level adoption — building shared capacity without adding initiatives or expectations.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will implement a team-based HRV biofeedback model that builds educator resilience through real-time physiological data — translating personal regulation practice into shared PLC structures and sustainable school culture.

SPEAKERS:
Nichi Avina, Kim Condurso

How can educators (re)imagine science education that builds authentic, transformative opportunities for deepening engagement towards career and community readiness? We will introduce participants to a framework for Place-Based Science Teaching that dynamically supports science teachers in (re)envisioning and creating learning activities to respond to the historical and present contexts of students and schools, all while integrating rigorous science practices and phenomena. In this NGSS-aligned session, participants will explore high-interest activities that strengthen students’ sense of geographic location and geologic time, all while triangulating themselves and their potential as scientists in their local context. We’ll then provide an opportunity for participants to engage in a (re)design challenge of an existing activity through the lens of the Place-Based Science Teaching framework. This framework was published in our book with Corwin Press (2025).

TAKEAWAYS:
Place-based learning honors the lived experiences of students and the living beings that form a community. Participants will learn how to develop NGSS-aligned, place-based science lessons that cultivate curiosity and innovation.

SPEAKERS:
Kirstin Milks, Whitney Aragaki

The proliferation of special education frameworks and expectations for general education science and math teachers, whether in the form of inclusion, documentation, behavioral and classroom management expectations, curriculum design, accommodations, etc., has resulted in a whole new world of challenges for teachers without special education training, often accompanied by vague and potentially misleading ‘guidance’ from education professionals who are not themselves SPED and/or science and math teachers. *SPEDagogy provides an approach to support science and math teachers by using the foundations and practices in special education to provide ways to differentiate instruction and assessment as well as assist social emotional learning in gen. ed. classrooms. This session will highlight the interplay of supporting learners and teachers by presenting an overview of adaptations and accommodations to highlight special education’s “how” with science content and applied activities’ “what”.

TAKEAWAYS:
We'll provide you with tools and tips for planning, teaching, and assessment, as well as classroom management in the age of inclusion, while maintaining intellectual rigor and behavioral expectations.

SPEAKERS:
Deborah Bruns, Travis Clayton

In this interactive session, participants will put on ‘student hats’ to experience beginning-of-year routines that launch themselves and their creativity into a science community. These community-building routines bring multilingual learners’ (MLs) identities into a science class, embed support for MLs within core science instruction, and invite curiosity in learning using crosscutting themes in science. Beginning the year intentionally is essential to cultivate a language-rich learning environment. Participants will engage in structured discussion, scaffolded writing, and identity-centered activities that position students’ linguistic resources as building blocks for learning. Teachers will analyze student work and instructional materials to see how these routines establish norms for collaboration and opportunities for assessment of executive functioning skills. Designed for typical secondary class periods, participants will leave with ready-to-use scaffolds and discussion structures.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will bring back multiple strategies for beginning-of-year activities that center student diversity into secondary science classrooms, and an overview of assessment opportunities, guiding teachers towards developing a welcoming, language-rich, and collaborative learning environment.

SPEAKERS:
Kirby Selle, Alexander Dafforn

Students often see science as a static body of knowledge instead of a dynamic human endeavor. Join the author of Notable Notebooks, Exemplary Evidence, and Wild Wonderings to learn how these books (and the stories of the scientists in them) can illuminate the nature of science. We’ll use the classic Draw-A-Scientist Test (DAST, Chambers 1983) to guide reflection on our own perceptions of scientists, as well as that of our students, and we’ll learn more about scientists featured in each book through story, primary source analysis, and discussion. Finally, we’ll utilize portions of the NGSS’s Appendix H (Understanding the Scientific Enterprise) and discuss how this integrated approach can help students gain age-appropriate understanding of the nature of science. Chambers D.W. 1983. Stereotypic images of the scientist: The draw-a-scientist test. Science Education 67 (2): 255–265.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about the lives and work of historical and contemporary scientists, why telling these stories is an important strategy for helping students understand the nature of science, and how they might use these books in their classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Jessica Fries-Gaither

Participation in science classroom discussions is often uneven, with multilingual learners (MLs) contributing less frequently despite having valuable ideas to share. Because scientific learning depends on engaging in practices such as argumentation from evidence and constructing explanations, limited participation can restrict opportunities for MLs to develop and demonstrate understanding. This presentation synthesizes research from science education, language development, and classroom discourse to examine factors that shape who participates in science discussions. Particular attention is given to how classroom norms, teacher responses, and interactional structures influence MLs’ opportunities to engage in evidence-based reasoning. Drawing on literature and classroom examples, the session highlights approaches that support more equitable participation and meaningful engagement in scientific discourse.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will examine how classroom structures shape participation in science discussions and how to make multilingual learners’ thinking visible in scientific discourse.

SPEAKERS:
Tina Ahmadi

Participants will explore the importance of building a positive STEM identity and integrating it into the K–12 curriculum. This poster will highlight strategies for fostering an environment that promotes competence, curiosity, and confidence in students as they pursue STEM learning. Attendees will discover ways to leverage students’ existing “working knowledge” to deepen engagement and connection to STEM concepts. Resources and examples will be provided to help educators support students in developing a strong and lasting STEM identity. This session is ideal for educators seeking to empower their students in STEM, regardless of background or experience. Participants will leave inspired and equipped to make a meaningful impact on their students’ STEM identity.

TAKEAWAYS:
Unlock students' STEM IDENTITY with hands-on strategies that inspire confidence, curiosity, and STEM skills. Learn how aviation and aeronautics can promote a growth mindset and create real-life engineering scenarios and career connections. Get free resources and actionable steps at this session.

SPEAKERS:
Christina Davis

We know that elementary students can make sense of phenomenon but often elementary curriculum materials do not give them to the opportunities to dig deeply and develop rich explanations. In this session, we will explore how we can have learners engage meaningfully with phenomenon, engage in wondering and create questions that inspire awe, design the investigations to answer their own questions, and explain phenomenon using multiple formats. Guided by the recommendations in the Brilliance and Strengths report of 2022, we will engage in advocacy to provide support for finding more time in the elementary day for science learning. We won't leave out literacy as part of the plan. We will share our broad view of literacy in science and examples of high-quality trade books!

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will envision elementary learners' sense making as an asset we can build from to engage young learners in true science (interdisciplinary) learning experiences.

SPEAKERS:
Mary Starr

Join us to explore the core themes identified by practitioners and researchers at the 2025 NSF-funded Localizing and HQIM convening that took place at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science. [DRL#2413236]. This session will build on themes that emerged from that conference, by supporting attendees to focus on the systemic roles that educators and leaders can play in supporting equitable localization of high-quality instructional materials. Drawing from the project convenings’ cross-role dialogues, we will examine how leaders can reduce the burden on individual teachers by legitimizing localization work, enabling partnerships, and providing aligned professional learning. The session will explore policy levers and collaboration models that make localized instruction using HQIMs, feasible and effective across contexts. The session will also highlight how localization can serve as a viable strategy for advancing equity in science education.

TAKEAWAYS:
Explore insights from the Lawrence Hall of Science on localizing K-12 science HQIM. Learn how partnerships and professional learning make high-quality materials relevant and equitable. Discuss and share strategies that reduce teacher burden and make localized science effective for every student.

SPEAKERS:
Shannon Wachowski

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

How do teacher leaders, coaches, and site leaders develop the vision, language, and tools to support teachers making the shifts called for by NGSS? In this session, participants will experience 3-dimensional, phenomenon-driven science instruction through a learner lens using the same high-quality materials their teachers use. Then participants will examine that experience through a coaching lens. We'll surface the real barriers to implementation that coaches encounter, build a shared set of observation look-fors grounded in firsthand experience, and develop coaching conversation starters tied directly to 3D learning in the classroom. Through this dual lens of learner and coach, participants will leave with a clearer picture of what effective NGSS implementation looks like, sounds like, and feels like and what it takes to support teachers in getting there.

TAKEAWAYS:
Leaders who have been inside the learning coach with more precision. Walk away with observation look-fors and coaching moves built from firsthand experience with OpenSciEd Elementary materials and prepared for your next classroom visit and coaching conversations.

SPEAKERS:
Guy Ollison

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

How do we transform standard instructional materials into powerful showcases of three-dimensional learning without increasing teacher workload? This workshop aligns with the Three-Dimensional Teaching, Curriculum, and Assessment strand, demonstrating how to adapt OpenSciEd and ClassCrunchLabs units into authentic transfer tasks. Participants step into the student hat to experience a mini design challenge modeled after Shark Tank and ExploraVision formats. We connect to NGSS goals like MS-PS2 magnetic fields and engineering design. To ensure Science for All, we provide multiple equity examples, including accessible scaffolding templates for diverse learners and inclusive team structures. Shifting to the teacher hat, participants will analyze student-facing pitch templates and use a provided crosswalk tool. You will map these formative and summative assessment strategies directly to your local Portrait of a Graduate competencies, leaving with classroom-ready diagnostic rubrics.

TAKEAWAYS:
Stop rewriting curriculum from scratch. Transform OpenSciEd or ClassCrunchLabs units into thrilling Shark Tank or ExploraVision style transfer tasks. Gain inclusive strategies to make three-dimensional thinking visible and incorporate your school's Portrait of a Graduate durable skills.

SPEAKERS:
Kathleen Boucher-Lavigne

Learning in Places supports all elementary learners, their families, communities, and educators in creating relationships with the outdoors. Join us to learn more about how to effectively engage learners in identifying important phenomenon in their place, creating Should We questions, answering them through inquiry experiences students design, and designing models that help support developing understanding. Ultimately, Learning in Places advances change making and decision making as durable skills but through the lens of science exploration, transdisciplinary learning, and explanation of relationships with phenomenon. We will explore a storyline and some of the critical pieces of this amazing education resource.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will explore Learning in Places and learn more about how transdisciplinary explorations by elementary students elevate decision making and change making in their community.

SPEAKERS:
Jordan Sherry-Wagner, Mary Starr

Discover a powerful, replicable model for community partnership (local and national), student leadership and vertical alignment in STEM education. This session details the creation and execution of a STEM Ambassador Program where high school students partner with an elementary school to teach 4th graders the Design Thinking Process. We will provide a practical blueprint covering essential components: high school student selection and training, curriculum development, securing materials and funding, and managing the necessary time commitment.

TAKEAWAYS:
Walk away with actionable strategies for building a thriving community partnership as well as cross-grade partnership and experience a hands-on, simulated 4th-grade lesson to see the curriculum in action! Learn how to transform your high school students into effective, inspiring STEM educators.

SPEAKERS:
Melinda Clark, Lauren Allman

Learn how to write for grants and awards. Whether you've never written a grant, have tried but have never won, or just want to improve your skills as a writer. The presenter has written for numerous grants and awards. To date he's won 30 grants for over $60,000 to expand what he's able to offer for students in his rural school. Additionally, he has made progress on numerous awards (and won some). Furthermore, he will share about his experience as a Fund for Teachers Fellow and share sources for funding and recognition.

TAKEAWAYS:
The presenter is an award winning teacher who has also won 30 grants for over $60,000 for his rural classroom. He'll share his tips and tricks for writing to help you learn how to bring in new materials to improve student learning and for funding to support yourself as a teacher.

SPEAKERS:
Eric Sullenberger

Multilingual learners often need targeted language support in the moment—without interrupting sensemaking or lowering cognitive demand. In this session, participants will explore just-in-time instructional strategies that support multilingual learners during science discussions, investigations, and explanation-building. Attendees will analyze classroom video to identify teacher moves that provide timely language scaffolds while keeping students engaged in authentic science and engineering practices. Participants will leave with concrete strategies they can immediately apply to support student talk, writing, and reasoning in science classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to use just-in-time language scaffolds to support multilingual learners’ talk, writing, and reasoning while maintaining high cognitive demand and authentic science sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Brianna Reilly Oliveira

Looking for strategies that support all learners in your science class? Join experienced co-teachers as they share how they’ve built an inclusive biology course for both traditional diploma students and those earning an alternate diploma, typically students with significant cognitive disabilities. Learn how teachers use Indiana standards and modified Content Connectors to build assessment, class supports, and more to support the sensemaking of a wide range of students. This session will include a comparison between assignments, assessment, and tools that we use between our traditional and alternate diploma students. We will share our biology curriculum map that shows our approach on reaching standards for learners with disabilities. While the focus is on co-teaching, many of these approaches can be used by teachers that do not co-teach to help support students.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this session, teachers will discover practical strategies, planning tools, and alternate assessments that support sensemaking for both traditional diploma students and students with significant cognitive disabilities in inclusive science classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Fabian Lopez, Zackary Lopez

With 54% of teachers considering leaving the profession due to burnout and lack of support (Arizona Governor’s Office, 2024), strengthening educator capacity requires more than individual coping strategies—it demands system-level approaches. This session shares a practical model used by a statewide science education organization to support teacher well-being through structured reflection, collaboration, and intentional use of time. Participants will explore tools such as wellness scales and mid-year reflection protocols, along with patterns of support aligned to the rhythms of the school year. Framed through both teacher and administrator perspectives, this presentation highlights how small, strategic shifts can improve working conditions, build professional trust, and sustain instructional focus. Attendees will leave with adaptable tools and realistic approaches to leverage existing time and structures to support educator well-being without adding new initiatives.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to implement system-level support including reflection tools, structured check-ins, and strategic use of time, that build educator capacity and well-being while improving collaboration and sustainability without adding to workload.

SPEAKERS:
Sara Torres

This session provides a deep dive into a phenomenon-driven chemistry unit centered on climate change. Participants will experience how a full unit can be built around the question: “How do we use chemistry to help solve the climate crisis in a fair way as a global community?” The unit uses fossil fuel combustion, ice core data, and greenhouse gas chemistry phenomena to teach mole conversions. stoichiometry, limiting reactants, percent composition, and molecular structure. Participants will engage with student-facing materials, data sets, and modeling tasks that connect chemical equations to real-world climate impacts. A key focus of the session is integrating climate justice into chemistry instruction by examining how emissions, energy systems, and environmental harm are distributed unevenly across populations. Participants will leave with a fully mapped unit storyline, assessment ideas, and instructional routines for supporting student sensemaking.

TAKEAWAYS:
We will explore how we can use molecular-level explanations to support student climate reasoning, allowing students to integrate climate justice and equity considerations into chemistry-based solutions.

SPEAKERS:
Christine Gustafson

Current research around ML science focuses on creating a supportive environment, moving from traditional teaching methods like frontloading to integrating language with learning (Lee, 2021; Lee & Grapin, 2025). However, ML equity can be misunderstood, replicating deficit perspectives in the classrooms. Thus, we will dive into reframing linguistic justice by centering key attributes for a culturally sustaining space. Culturally rich classrooms strive to understand ML youth, ranging from those within language programs and students in ‘regular’ tracked courses. The diverse linguistic, academic, and cultural knowledge of students and their communities should be drawn from and developed. This can happen by creating a collective community, giving language space to flourish, centering social justice in planning, problematizing/humanizing the science and classroom. We will expand on these attributes, provide examples, reflect together to develop strategic plans for the coming school year.

TAKEAWAYS:
This interactive and reflective workshop centers multilingual youth to develop a culturally sustaining classroom for linguistic justice through key strategies. Participants will walk away with a toolbox and a structure to implement that supports ML student learning throughout the school year.

SPEAKERS:
Diana Bonilla, Jessica Garcia

Over six years, our science department transformed assessment from a traditional grading model to a skills-first competency-based system. Beginning with NGSS-inspired exploration and classroom pilots, we gradually developed shared competencies, common assessment practices, and department-wide expectations that emphasize scientific skills, feedback, and student growth. In this session, participants will explore the evolution of our framework, the challenges and successes of implementation, and the lessons learned from moving from isolated experiments to a fully integrated competency-based program. Through examples of assessments, rubrics, student reflections, and feedback systems, attendees will examine practical strategies for building competency-based assessment in their own classrooms and departments.

TAKEAWAYS:
Leave with a roadmap for implementing competency-based assessment in science, including competencies, rubrics, feedback systems, student reflection, and lessons learned from six years of implementation.

SPEAKERS:
Joseph Grissom

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

Science texts are filled with vocabulary that can interrupt comprehension before students reach the concept. Technical terms, academic words, and familiar words used in scientific ways can all derail reading flow, especially for multilingual learners and students who need stronger disciplinary language support. This presentation shares a predictive vocabulary routine teachers can use before reading to identify likely barriers, prioritize essential terms, and prepare students to make meaning from complex science texts. Attendees will learn how to sort vocabulary into must-know science terms, concept-supporting academic words, and words students can infer through context. The session connects vocabulary preparation to science notebooks, annotation, discussion, CER writing, and student-generated explanations. The focus is not memorizing definitions; it is helping students read, reason, and communicate like scientists.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn a predictive vocabulary routine that prepares students to read complex science texts with stronger comprehension, discussion, and written explanation.

SPEAKERS:
Lynette Dickerson

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

Every Place Runs on Science is a place-based NGSS model that helps teachers turn local environments into meaningful science learning experiences. Instead of starting with a textbook, this approach begins with real places and phenomena, allowing students to investigate the science happening in their own communities. Each location serves as a ready-to-use lesson anchor that includes a short explanation of the science, NGSS alignment across grade bands, and practical classroom ideas. The model integrates AI and digital tools to support research, data analysis, and student-driven inquiry. Students can explore their own interests by creating and contributing new place-based entries, making the learning scalable and personalized. This approach supports three-dimensional learning by connecting practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas through real-world systems, while also building relevance, engagement, and connections to culture and community.

TAKEAWAYS:
Start with place, not the textbook. When students investigate real locations and phenomena, science becomes relevant, engaging, and meaningful. Using NGSS, AI tools, and student-driven inquiry, this model helps learners explore their world and discover that science is already all around them.

SPEAKERS:
Chelsea Lucas

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

This proposal recommends science lessons for grades 6–8. Students explain the transformations of matter & energy in chemical reactions using household products like baking soda & vinegar. Teachers receive low prep lessons that develop students' thinking & cognitive engagement, promote scientific discourse, & build connections between green chemistry & real-world sustainability. Lesson 1: What Is a Chemical Reaction? — Observe phenomena & identify evidence. (Anchor Phenomenon) Lesson 2: Mass Before & After — Investigate mass conservation. Analyze data. (Matter and its Interactions- particle model) Lesson 3: Gas in a Reaction — Explore how gases are produced or used. (Energy and Matter) Building thinking classroom strategies: collaborate in random groups, use non-permanent vertical surfaces (VNPS), maintain flow by providing hints & extensions, & ask thinking questions. Evidence of Student Learning: CER responses, drawings on VNPS, & listening to student conversations.

TAKEAWAYS:
Build Thinking Science classrooms through the lens of green chemistry with low-prep, classroom-ready lessons your students will relate to.

SPEAKERS:
Aparna Chandra

During a unit of study on the Respiratory System, 10-12th grade students engaged in a written conversation protocol followed by a facilitated circle conversation evaluating trends of lung capacity data when a race factor is applied to respiratory health for non-White people and how this impacts overall Respiratory health for people of color, particular the Black community. This poster session includes samples of authentic student work from the activity and educator facilitation recommendations that utilize anti-racist practices.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will be able to identify existing social justice topics connected to their science curriculum content and be able to facilitate a written conversation data analysis activity.

SPEAKERS:
Elly Walsh-Rock

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

The Lawrence Hall of Science conducts groundbreaking research and partners with stakeholders to transform science education and prioritize innovative teaching and learning for students worldwide. Connected to this work, The Lawrence Hall of Science is exploring ways to impact and contribute to the grades 9-12 science environment by engaging teachers and leaders directly in the process. In this session, participants will engage with the initial findings from a landscape study related to teachers’ expertise, capacity, and identity. They will contribute their own perspectives about the challenges in high school science, and brainstorm solutions they can apply in their own contexts. This session will support participants in translating research into action, developing shared understanding, and building the relationships and tools needed to lead and implement actions to support Framework-aligned grades 9-12 science pedagogy and instruction.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will take away findings from a landscape study conducted at the Lawrence Hall of Science, that explored common challenges in grades 9-12 science. They will strategize solutions related to a community effort to support science educators and students, including in their own context.

SPEAKERS:
Shannon Wachowski

Teachers face the challenge of making NGSS-aligned instruction meaningful for students with diverse identities, interests, and community and workforce contexts. The K-12 Framework emphasizes student sensemaking through authentic engagement with real-world phenomena, but teachers need more than materials to do this well. They need practical strategies and adaptable frameworks for customizing curriculum without losing coherence. This session shares guidance for modifying curriculum and OER using place-based design to better reflect students’ lives, communities, and workforce connections. Drawing on work with national STEM initiatives, participants will explore models that support three-dimensional learning, strengthen equity, and expand access for diverse learners. Through classroom examples and adaptations, attendees will leave with concrete approaches for designing rigorous, culturally responsive STEM learning grounded in place.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn practical strategies to customize curriculum for local contexts by using community assets, relevant phenomena, and culturally responsive place-based practices.

SPEAKERS:
Rick Henningfeld, Brian Beierle

How do leaders move from "talking the talk" to "walking the walk" with science equity? Often, the barrier is a systemic avoidance of uncomfortable conversations regarding race and instructional priorities. Our team will lead this interactive session and introduce the World Café Protocol—a low-prep, high-leverage discussion framework designed to build psychological safety. Participants will examine compelling national data showing that science is the engine of literacy and economic agency, practice facilitating courageous conversations about the "STEM Desert," and leave with three concrete leadership commitments to foster durable change without contributing to burnout.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave this session with: ● A World Café Facilitator's Guide ● An Equity Data Deck ● 3 Leadership Commitments

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Williams, Tyrone McNichols

Science is a fundamental right for every student, starting in the earliest grades. However, elementary science is often reduced to simplified facts or infrequent activities. This session challenges that narrative, presenting a framework for consistent, complex, and equity-based science instruction across all grade levels. We will explore how to transition from traditional "experiments" to student-led investigations where sense-making is the primary goal. Participants will learn how to leverage three-dimensional instruction (SEPs, CCCs, and DCIs) to build student agency and ensure that every learner—regardless of background or language proficiency—has access to high-level scientific thinking. We will discuss the selection of support materials that reflect diverse voices and the development of non-biased assessments that prioritize conceptual complexity. By treating science as a core pillar of the elementary experience, we create a more equitable landscape for all students. Attendees wi

TAKEAWAYS:
Science belongs in every grade level. Equity is achieved when students are "doers" of science. Use Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs) to create inclusive, complex environments where all students have agency to make sense of the world, regardless of their reading level or background.

SPEAKERS:
Tyrone McNichols, Mike Szydlowski, J Carrie Launius, Nicole Williams

Explore research-backed and interactive zines that help teachers shift their instructional practice to empower students as epistemic agents in the science classrooms. The zines support teachers in unpacking what it means to redistribute power and authority in the classroom through culture norms, curriculum materials, routines and classroom talk. Teachers can use the zines to support reflection, to prepare and adapt lessons, and as tool for developing professional learning communities.

TAKEAWAYS:
You'll take home zines and facilitator guides to can support your and your colleagues’ to make instructional and curricular decisions that shift power and authority in your classroom!

SPEAKERS:
Kate Henson

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

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

This session will run as a panel of state organizational leaders and other industry leaders. These experts will answer: What challenges are you facing in your state and how are you addressing them? What tools and strategies have you found to be especially useful in supporting educators in your context? How do you support rural schools, educators, and students? How do you collaborate with informal educators, industry partners, and other orgs to provide high quality instruction to students in your region? How have you leveraged local expertise and resources to meet the needs of your educational communities? Have you used a PLC structure to support professional growth for educators in your state and if so, what model have you used and what is working well? In New Mexico, we struggle to meet the needs of our diverse educators from our largest district, Albuquerque with ~70,000 students down to 20 microdistricts with fewer than 200 students each, representing a total of 2,360 students.

TAKEAWAYS:
As we talk with our peers in other states, we realize this is not an uncommon problem. With open communication and collaboration, we can learn from each other to build better systems to support our own educators, and yours. We will see you at the table.

SPEAKERS:
Allison Heneghan, Heather Summers

Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) programs provide educators opportunities to participate in science research and connect it to their classroom practice. While positioned as a valuable form of professional learning, participation and experiences within these programs may be influenced by a range of personal, professional, and sociocultural factors. This collaborative discussion will be centered on how teachers experience RET programs and what factors shape access and participation such as motivation, identity and belonging in science learning contexts, and institutional support and structures that may unintentionally support or limit participation. This session is intended for K-12 educators, teacher educators, and RET facilitators interested in equitable and inclusive professional learning opportunities. Participants will leave with discussion-based insights for expanding participation and supporting diverse teacher experiences within RET programs.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will gain shared insights from educators, researchers, and program facilitators about the opportunities and challenges associated with RET participation and will leave with actionable ideas for creating more inclusive and supportive RET experiences for teachers.

SPEAKERS:
Amanda Morrison

Discover how preservice teachers at Indiana University Indianapolis are transforming elementary science education through culturally responsive, inquiry-based lesson design that integrates 3D printing, artificial intelligence, and community data. This session highlights a capstone project where future educators co-create lessons with students, connect science standards to lived experiences, and use technology tools to build hands-on investigations and models. Participants will explore practical strategies for leveraging AI and 3D printing to personalize learning, foster equity, and deepen conceptual understanding. The session also shares plans to integrate ePortfolios and career competencies, empowering teachers to curate evidence of growth, communicate impact, and prepare for dynamic STEM careers. Join us for actionable ideas, innovative practices, and inspiration to advance career-connected science teaching.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will gain practical strategies for integrating AI, 3D printing, and culturally responsive pedagogy to design equitable, inquiry-based science lessons and learn how ePortfolios and career competencies can prepare students for future-ready STEM careers.

SPEAKERS:
Brittany Garvin

Come see how two master teachers use targeted, well-defined rubrics for select SEPs to support student goal-setting and year-long growth. Employing the best of NGSS pedagogy with standards-based grading philosophy, Robin and Jessica support students in developing the skills they need to succeed in writing CERs, Modeling, and Analyzing and Interpreting Data. Because these SEPs are woven throughout their curriculum, students are able to record their own growth across units and across the year. This approach allows for flexible and differentiated assessment, giving students multiple opportunities and modalities to demonstrate proficiency, and even opportunities to work beyond the middle school standards. There are no ceilings in this classroom and no one left behind. Attendees will leave with practical strategies, sample proficiency scales, and tools to implement SEP-based grading systems that increase student ownership, motivation, and equity in the classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Empower students to take ownership of their learning while employing standards based grading with the SEPs. Learn how two teachers help students set goals and track growth on three key SEPs over the course of a school year. Walk away with rubrics and a system you can use next week!

SPEAKERS:
Jessica Renfro, Robin Allen