During this session (on the HASTI Pathways document), HASTI members and non-members are able to come and interact with HASTI Board members. They can ask questions, offer suggestions, and share their thoughts about the future of HASTI.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will be able to connect with HASTI board members, find out about our current work and offer suggestions for future work.

SPEAKERS:
Kristen Poindexter

Want to help high school students analyze community and citizen science data? Want to use real data in your classroom to support your existing curriculum? FieldScope and BSCS Science Learning offer "Invitations to Inquiry," free instructional activities designed to connect learners with real-world environmental data. These free lessons build student confidence in using scientific evidence to answer critical questions about our planet and the natural world. BSCS Science Learning's Invitations to Inquiry help high school students work with community and citizen science data from projects hosted on FieldScope—BSCS’s platform for collecting, displaying, and analyzing data. Invitations to Inquiry are activities in which students explore FieldScope’s mapping and graphing tools to dig into data in the context of meaningful questions. Each lesson engages students in interpreting graphs and maps to learn about where the data are collected and what they mean.

TAKEAWAYS:
Free, ready to use, and adaptable lessons, datasets, and visualizations for your classroom, using community and citizen science projects! Learn how to use the lessons as is or to build them into your existing curriculum! Teacher guides, slides, handouts, and other instructional resources included!

SPEAKERS:
Jamie Noll

In this interactive session, teachers will experience the science practice of Asking Questions from the perspective of their students. Participants will engage in phenomena-based tasks that spark curiosity, generate investigable questions, and refine those questions through collaborative routines. By functioning as learners, teachers will develop a clearer understanding of how questioning supports sensemaking and drives investigations at different grade levels. Educators will leave with questioning structures, talk moves, and classroom-ready tools to empower students to lead their own learning. Experience the science practice of Asking Questions from the perspective of their students. Engage in phenomena-based tasks that spark curiosity and prompt authentic, investigable questions. Refine and improve questions through collaborative routines and discussion. Leave with questioning structures, talk moves, and classroom-ready tools that empower students to take ownership of their learning

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will engage in phenomena-based tasks to spark, refine, and prioritize student-led questions. By practicing collaborative routines and talk moves, you’ll leave with classroom-ready tools to shift ownership to students, using their curiosity to drive deep sensemaking and investigation.

SPEAKERS:
Heather Galbreath, Misty Richmond

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

What happens when 5th graders think like real scientists and engineers? In this interactive poster session, explore a high-energy engineering design lesson that gets students asking questions, solving problems, and making sense of the world around them. You’ll see exactly how the lesson unfolds from sparking curiosity at the start, to hands-on investigation, to meaningful reflection and extension. Walk away with ready-to-use resources, student examples, and simple strategies you can bring straight into your classroom. If you’re looking for ways to boost engagement, deepen thinking, and make science come alive for your students, this session is for you.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with a complete, ready-to-implement 5th-grade science/STEM lesson, along with practical strategies to increase student engagement through inquiry. Attendees will walk away with clear, actionable approaches for aligning science instruction to standards.

SPEAKERS:
Samantha Henery

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Jue Wang, Karen Rinehart

This poster showcases CLUES (Crucial Literacy for Understanding Essential Science), an innovative professional learning model designed to support middle school educators—particularly in rural and under-resourced settings—in integrating disciplinary literacy within NGSS-aligned science instruction. CLUES equips science and special educators with strategies to embed reading, writing, reasoning, and communication into three-dimensional science learning. Attendees will explore a lesson showcase featuring before, during, and after instructional supports, with adaptable tools to meet varied learner needs. This work advances NSTA’s mission by promoting equitable, high-quality science instruction through professional learning, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and scalable, practice-based resources that empower all students to engage meaningfully in science.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will be introduced to how to integrate disciplinary literacy into NGSS-aligned science instruction using practical, classroom-ready strategies that support diverse learners, including students with disabilities, and strengthen equitable science learning outcomes.

SPEAKERS:
Brooke Moore

Feeling isolated? Looking for other teachers to connect with outside of your building or district? Learn how we built a thriving, local physics teacher network from scratch in the Columbus, OH region. We’ll share recruitment strategies, intentional norms, and organizational tools used to sustain our community for the last two years. Join us to get some ideas and support—if we can do it, you can too!

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will hear about how we approached building and sustaining a community of teachers we did not know, and walk away with strategies for how to do it in their own context.

SPEAKERS:
Amy Pochodylo

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Ashley Hill

The lesson presented in this showcase from The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis focuses on the principles, protocols, and technology needed to successfully collect evidence from the scene of a mystery. Teachers will be empowered to lead their students through an activity where they will have the opportunity to practice following procedures, making observations, and using the tools that forensic technicians use in their work. Teachers will also be able to lead students in the analysis of the evidence collected, allowing them to draw conclusions as to who might be responsible for leaving the evidence behind.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will see how to set up a simulated crime scene and learn how to guide students through the collection of evidence using real forensics techniques.

SPEAKERS:
John McCollum

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

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Ashley Hill

The session will showcase literacy integration examples from ML-PBL Science Classrooms. Handouts will provide links to the FREE OER ML-PBL units of instruction for Grades K-5, unit/lesson framework showcasing coherence, cross-disciplinary connections; lesson overviews and instructional routines; guidance for formative and summative assessment; literacy integration affordances; and alignment with The Framework/NGSS. ML-PBL units are designed to address ALL grade level NGSS, provide guidance for three-dimensional instruction and learning, engaging all students in sensemaking, and developing and using language literacy and mathematics tools to develop usable science knowledge. Examples of trade books included in the units will be shared.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will peruse plans for integrating science and literacy, and for extending science ideas throughout the school day as shared by ML-PBL Elementary Teachers. They will learn how to access FREE OER Elementary Science Units.

SPEAKERS:
Susan Codere

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 showcases a classroom-tested framework that supports student agency through real-world problem solving. The poster will feature visual models of the research cycle, student project examples (including food justice and environmental initiatives), and scaffolds used to guide learners from idea to implementation. Attendees will explore practical tools such as project planners, research protocols, and assessment rubrics, along with strategies for supporting diverse learners in open-ended inquiry. This poster is designed as a “lesson showcase,” highlighting what happens before, during, and after student projects. Participants will leave with adaptable resources to implement this research model in their own classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with adaptable resources to implement this research model in their own classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Kavita Gupta

This poster will present an exploratory qualitative study examining how high school science teachers conceptualize students’ science identities and how these understandings shape their use of the curriculum and instructional decision-making. Although science identity has been widely recognized as important for students’ participation and persistence in STEM, less is known about how teachers define science identity in practice and how these definitions influence how they adapt, evaluate, and enact the curriculum. Drawing on sociocultural theory, particularly figured worlds and teacher sensemaking, this study uses semi-structured interviews with high school science teachers in the greater Seattle area to investigate how teachers imagine who belongs in science and how curriculum can support students’ identity development. Findings will contribute to conversations on identity-supportive teaching, teacher learning, and science curriculum design.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn that supporting science identity is not only about STEM pathways but also about helping students build academic confidence, engage in scientific reasoning, critically question information, and see science as meaningful for their community.

SPEAKERS:
Anqi Zu

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Mary Oloyede

How do we move beyond traditional assessments to truly measure three-dimensional learning? This poster session explores the differences and connections between Transfer Tasks and Case Studies as high-quality NGSS-aligned assessment strategies. Using agriculture-based phenomena, participants will examine how each approach supports sensemaking, increases cognitive demand, and provides meaningful opportunities for students to apply scientific understanding in real-world contexts.

TAKEAWAYS:
Clear comparison of two high-impact assessment strategies Ready-to-use examples grounded in real-world agricultural contexts

SPEAKERS:
Angela Gulotta, Hannah Wedger

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Renee Shaw

Elementary students make sense of the natural world through curiosity, discussion, investigation, and meaningful connections, and children’s literature can play a powerful role in that process. Children’s literature can support science sensemaking and go beyond the traditional read-aloud or topic introduction. Using engaging examples and classroom applications for the PK-2 classroom, this session highlights ways teachers can intentionally integrate literature to spark wonder, support evidence-based discussions, encourage modeling and explanation, and help young children connect science ideas across experiences. Participants will leave with developmentally appropriate strategies, book recommendations, and practical ideas for integrating literacy and science in meaningful and authentic ways.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with practical ideas for moving beyond the traditional read-aloud to create literacy-rich science experiences that deepen curiosity, thinking, and sensemaking in the PK-2 classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Beth Pesnell

What does it take to build and sustain an effective district Professional Learning Community (PLC) that improves teaching and learning? This session equips teachers, instructional coaches, and administrators with a practical framework for creating and leading high-impact PLCs that drive collaboration, instructional coherence, and student achievement. Participants will learn to design and facilitate PLCs by setting clear goals, using data protocols, and maintaining a focus on student learning. Through discussion and authentic examples, attendees will examine how educators use data to identify trends, address misconceptions, and plan targeted Tier 1 and Tier 2 instruction aligned to NGSS. The session highlights how PLCs support teacher growth, strengthen collaboration, and demonstrate value for school leaders. Attendees will leave with actionable tools to create, sustain, and improve PLCs while addressing common challenges like inconsistent participation and lack of focus.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to design, implement, and sustain effective science PLCs using structured protocols, data-driven practices, and facilitation strategies that improve collaboration, student learning, and Tier 1 and Tier 2 instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Tonya Flannery

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 addition to the national conferences on science education, NSTA provides year-round in-person, online, and blended personalized professional learning experiences for groups of K–12 educators. This is the ideal formula for best professional learning, as it must be high-quality and on-going. So, what are your PD plans for the teachers in your school or district? Join us to learn what NSTA has to offer. The online option, known as the NSTA Partner Program, provides educators with access to professional learning resources, virtual events, the online community, expert staff, and digital professional membership for all participants. A variety of in-person workshops are available, including OpenSciEd. Presenters will share case studies that are representative of the different professional learning options available. NSTA staff will be available to answer your questions.

TAKEAWAYS:
Education leaders will learn about professional learning opportunities that NSTA offers, delivered online, in-person, and blended that give their teachers the power to personalize their learning as well as the ability to learn with their peers. Some programs include membership for all participants.

SPEAKERS:
Flavio Mendez

The NSTA Sensemaking Tool can help educators be critical consumers of instructional materials and create/revise lessons that reflect the shifts required by new standards (sensemaking). Gain experience using the tool and facilitating criteria-based consensus conversations with your colleagues!

TAKEAWAYS:
Use the NSTA Sensemaking Tool to evaluate instructional materials (lessons) and provide feedback.

SPEAKERS:
Emily Mathews

This opening session will introduce current initiatives in science, computer science, AI, and STEM from the Indiana Department of Education. Participants will receive an overview of the major projects, resources, and instructional supports currently available to Indiana educators. The session will also provide a conference road map that highlights sessions, workshops, and presentations relevant to Indiana priorities so that participants can maximize their learning throughout the event. The purpose of the session is to ground attendees in the current vision for science and STEM education in Indiana and to support informed participation in the sessions that follow. This session is designed to be accessible to educators from all states who are interested in statewide implementation models and cross state alignment of STEM and science initiatives.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will gain a clear picture of current IDOE science, computer science, AI, and STEM initiatives and will receive guidance on navigating Indiana relevant sessions throughout the conference.

SPEAKERS:
Eimear Towler

Are you interested in learning more about what HASTI has to offer or how you can become more involved? Attend this session to hear from current board members about their experiences and learn more about each board position. We have a position for everyone! We will share a short history of HASTI and why our mission and focus is so important, now more than ever! Teachers of ALL grade levels and areas are welcome, including pre-service, informal, and postsecondary educators!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn about HASTI's mission and how they can become more involved with our state science teachers association.

SPEAKERS:
Kristen Poindexter

The science practice of developing and using models supports students in applying crosscutting concepts such as recognizing patterns, making claims about cause and effect, and explaining system changes, to make sense of disciplinary core ideas. This session focuses on designing ‘look-to-learn’ items to guide all students, including learners with varied language and literacy backgrounds, in analyzing visual models from high-content diagrams to simplified comics used as sensemaking prompts. These items can be used at any point in a lesson as group or individual assessments that provide feedback supporting student discussion and explanation revision. Workshop materials include clear examples of look-to-learn items and design rationales, links to effective visuals, and a list of tools to support development. Item types include open-ended, scaffolded performance tasks and closed-ended, multi-modal questions for life & earth sciences, chemistry & astronomy (6-12+, including AP & Onramps).​

TAKEAWAYS:
Expect brief modeling and an overview of materials; spend the workshop collaborating or working solo to design ‘look‑to‑learn’ items (low‑ or ed‑tech) or select from a gallery. Return to your classroom with items that support student sensemaking through structured model analysis.

SPEAKERS:
TeNeal Metcalf

The Crosscutting Concepts (CCCs) are abstract, everywhere, and often overlooked. The good news is that your students are likely already using these powerful conceptual tools every day. Come see how you can make them visible and leverage their power as sensemaking lenses. We developed a straightforward framework to help you build students’ sensemaking skills through use of the CCCs. See how this framework can help you set meaningful learning goals and scaffold students toward success. No matter the curriculum you use, this workshop will help you build student competency using CCCs to make sense of phenomena. Participants will leave with the resources and experience needed to bring CCCs to the foreground of their NGSS classroom. Anchored Science by Mi-STAR is a middle school curriculum project created by teachers in collaboration with engineers and scientists from Michigan Technological University, dedicated to quality NGSS-aligned curriculum and OER resources since 2015.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with a roadmap for building student competencies with the Cross Cutting Concepts as conceptual tools. Attendees will be able to use this roadmap to set meaningful learning goals, scaffold students toward success, and make the CCCs a visible part of their classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Tony Matthys

In this hands-on session, participants will explore the science and engineering practice of Developing and Using Models by stepping into the shoes of K–12 learners. Teachers will assume the role of the student as they create, revise, and refine models that represent their own learning and understanding of phenomena. Through this immersive experience, educators will uncover how modeling deepens sensemaking and progresses across grade levels. Participants will leave with ready-to-use modeling routines, templates, and strategies that make student thinking visible. Experience the science and engineering practice of Developing and Using Models from a K–12 student perspective. Create, revise, and refine models to represent their own understanding of phenomena. Explore how modeling supports sensemaking and conceptual progression across grade levels.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will leave with ready-to-use modeling routines, templates, and instructional moves that help students create, revise, and use models to make their thinking visible and build understanding of scientific phenomena across K–12 grade levels

SPEAKERS:
Misty Richmond, Heather Galbreath

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

The Science and Engineering Practices help students show how they question, investigate, model, analyze data, construct explanations, and argue from evidence. In this interactive session, participants will examine traditional science assignments and identify where student thinking may remain invisible. Using the SEPs as a design lens, educators will revise tasks so students must use evidence, make decisions, critique ideas, and explain their reasoning. The session helps participants strengthen existing lessons so student sensemaking remains central, even when students have access to AI tools.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to use the Science and Engineering Practices as a design lens to revise science tasks so student reasoning, evidence use, critique, and sensemaking remain visible, even when students have access to AI.

SPEAKERS:
Velma Itamura

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

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Samantha Henery

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Lynette Dickerson

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

Take your students’ learning to new heights in this interactive workshop designed to help you plan and launch a school-wide Project-Based Learning (PBL) experience that’s truly out of this world! Participants will actively explore how our middle school implemented a collaborative, hands-on rocketry project that engaged every student and teacher across grades 7 and 8. In this workshop, you will experience and design elements of five major challenges: stomp rockets, model rockets, horizontal rockets, parachute design, and egg-safe landing. You’ll work through key components of the planning process, including organizing student groups, facilitating design thinking, and structuring trial tests and final launch events. Walk away with practical strategies, planning tools, and adaptable resources to implement a large-scale PBL experience in your own school. Be ready to collaborate, create, and launch ideas you can take back to your classroom immediately!

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn a practical, scalable strategy for organizing a school-wide PBL experience that engages all students and staff through structured team roles, STEM-based challenges, and efficient implementation.

SPEAKERS:
JoElla Hauselman, Abbi Richcreek

Look‑to‑learn items are brief, visual prompts that guide students to analyze models, discuss evidence, and revise explanations during sensemaking lessons. In this speed‑sharing presentation, the presenter will model look‑to‑learn items that use existing diagrams, GIFs, and simplified comics. Participants will see classroom‑ready examples of both open‑ and closed‑ended look‑to‑learn items and learn how these quick scaffolds can be used at multiple points in a lesson. The presenter will also share brief rationales for matching question types to visuals based on the intended performance outcome. Examples are drawn from grades 6–12 science classrooms, including AP Environmental Science and AP Biology, though the underlying principles are broadly transferable.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn practical ways to use visuals—diagrams, GIFs, and comics—as prompts for categorizing, fill‑in‑the‑blank, matching, and sequencing tasks that help students notice patterns, discuss evidence, and revise explanations. Receive a link to a library of classroom‑ready examples with feedback.

SPEAKERS:
TeNeal Metcalf

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Paula Menta Rodriguez

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Kysely

Great ag-based science lessons already exist! But do they align with your standards...? NASELI (Nebraska Agricultural Science Education Leadership Initiative) developed a simple cover sheet model that helps teachers localize existing agricultural curriculum to fit both state science standards and NGSS's three-dimensional learning framework. In this session, you'll see how NASELI teacher leaders create localized guides to connect agricultural phenomena, such as corn genetics and water management, to disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts. The result: ready-to-use lessons grounded in local agriculture and aligned to the standards you already teach. Walk away with a replicable model you can use to adapt agriculture curriculum in your own classroom or region, plus access to a free, growing repository of localized and aligned agriculture guides and curriculum on OER Commons.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to use NASELI's localization model to utilize existing ag-based science curriculum and connect it to your state standards and NGSS's three-dimensional learning framework.

SPEAKERS:
Jennifer Jones

This presentation explores the integration of three-dimensional thinking into science curriculum and assessment, emphasizing a deeper understanding of scientific concepts and practices. Attendees will discover practical strategies to design curricula that foster critical thinking, inquiry, and real-world application. The session will also highlight effective assessment techniques aligned with three-dimensional learning, ensuring that student evaluations reflect their conceptual knowledge, scientific practices, and crosscutting concepts. Ideal for educators seeking to enhance science instruction and improve student engagement, this presentation offers insights to transform traditional teaching approaches into dynamic, interconnected learning experiences that prepare students for future scientific challenges.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to effectively incorporate three-dimensional thinking into science curriculum and assessments, enhancing student engagement and understanding by connecting core concepts, scientific practices, and crosscutting themes for deeper, real-world learning experiences.

SPEAKERS:
Treshana Weise

What if students could inhabit the perspective of a threatened monarch butterfly or painted dog, then use that empathy to drive real conservation action? In this session, we share how sixth graders in Wheeling, IL combined MagicSchool AI, ESRI crowdsourced mapping, and the HomeStories storytelling platform to research endangered local wildlife, write compelling stories blending science and heart, and present solutions to actual community decision-makers. Students published their wildlife stories on a global map, connecting classrooms across Illinois, Iowa, and Botswana. We will share curriculum, student examples, technology tools, and lessons learned from this interdisciplinary model integrating science, language arts, and civic engagement. Leave with a replicable framework for transforming students into empathetic scientists and community advocates who fall in love with local nature and fight for its survival.

TAKEAWAYS:
When students write from the perspective of endangered wildlife, combining scientific research with empathy, they become powerful conservation advocates who take real civic action in their communities.

SPEAKERS:
Kevin Burke, Tracy Crowley

This session focuses on the trilogy of NSTA Press books on the Three Dimensions and is led by NSTA’s former in-house expert on science standards who recruited the lead authors of all three books. Helping Students Make Sense of the World Using Next Generation Science and Engineering Practices provides a play-by-play understanding of the practices. Disciplinary Core Ideas: Reshaping Teaching and Learning provides an in depth perspective on the disciplinary core ideas. Crosscutting Concepts: Strengthening Science and Engineering Learning is designed to help educators grasp the foundational issues that undergird crosscutting concepts. These books are written in clear, nontechnical language. Many of the authors contributed to the development of the Framework and NGSS. The authors also share a wealth of real-world examples drawn from their own classroom experiences to show what’s different about three-dimensional teaching and learning at all grade levels.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn techniques to use these three books to help educators have a deep understanding of practices, core ideas, and crosscutting concepts to foster better student learning in their classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Ted Willard

This session introduces educators to the process of identifying agricultural phenomena and connecting them to NGSS science concepts and emphasizes how to make science instruction more relevant by integrating agriculture as a lens for exploration and inquiry. Participants will engage in hands-on activities including an agriculture phenomena sort, a game designed to evaluate and align examples of agricultural phenomena with the NGSS three dimensions and science standards. Teachers will brainstorm local phenomena and leave with tools like a phenomena checklist and a ready-to-use list of agricultural phenomena that can be used across disciplines.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers leave with tools to identify and incorporate agricultural phenomena that are observable, puzzling, and connected to NGSS three dimensions.

SPEAKERS:
Hannah Wedger, Angela Gulotta

The NSTA Sensemaking Tool can help educators be critical consumers of instructional materials and create/revise lessons that reflect the shifts required by new standards (sensemaking). Gain experience using the tool and facilitating criteria-based consensus conversations with your colleagues!

TAKEAWAYS:
Use the NSTA Sensemaking Tool to evaluate instructional materials (lessons) and provide feedback.

SPEAKERS:
Emily Mathews

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

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Nora Walsh

Discover how mathematics becomes a powerful tool for science sensemaking in elementary classrooms through the lens of OpenSciEd Elementary units. In this session, participants will experience how elementary-age learners engage with mathematics and computational thinking and data—measurements, observations, sketches, photos, and recordings—to make sense of real-world phenomena featured in OpenSciEd investigations. We’ll explore how children notice and describe variability, create visual displays to organize their ideas, and analyze and interpret patterns to answer questions and spark new inquiries. Through an immersive experience grounded in OpenSciEd materials, participants will experience how integrating mathematics, computational thinking, and data science practices into elementary science instruction deepens reasoning, supports a range of learners, and empowers children to think critically about the data they encounter every day.

TAKEAWAYS:
OpenSciEd K-5 units create rich opportunities to use math as a tool for sensemaking by exploring variability, creating data displays, and analyzing and interpreting patterns—strengthening students' mathematics, computational thinking, and data literacy while supporting grade-level standards.

SPEAKERS:
Amy Belcastro

Early career science teachers face challenges such as learning to manage classrooms, enacting instruction aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and implementing effective strategies for diverse learners. These challenges can impact a teacher’s well-being and lead to teacher burnout. One approach that can be used to mitigate the effects of teacher burnout is self-care. In this session, we will share teachers’ voices from our three-year longitudinal study on early career science teachers’ well-being and self-care practices in high-need schools. Our data indicate individual self-care practices alongside collaborative approaches that build capacity to support teachers’ well-being and retention. We will share these research-based strategies, examples, and self-care planning tools. These strategies are important because teachers need to take care of their own well-being in order to provide effective science instruction, as suggested by the NGSS, for all students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn about research-based self-care strategies for teachers, and how individuals and organizations can foster supportive environments for teacher self-care and well-being. Attendees will participate in self-care reflections and will leave with self-care planning tools and goals.

SPEAKERS:
Lisa Borgerding, Ella Yonai, Shannon Navy

This closing session will provide an opportunity to reflect on Indiana-relevant conference sessions and to consider next steps for strengthening science instruction. Attendees will examine themes that emerged across sessions connected to science, computer science, AI, and STEM. Participants will be invited to consider how the Indiana Department of Education can continue to support classroom teachers, school leaders, and districts in implementing high quality science instruction. The session will focus on actionable feedback, statewide needs, and future directions for improving coherence and alignment in science education. Educators from all states are welcome to participate in this reflection, as the process for gathering input and identifying supportive structures is applicable to any state or district context.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will reflect on Indiana relevant conference sessions and provide input on how IDOE can continue to support improvements in science instruction across the state.

SPEAKERS:
Eimear Towler

This session highlights practical, classroom-ready strategies for strengthening three-dimensional sensemaking in high school science courses, with an intentional focus on courses with heavy content standards (e.g. honors and AP classes). Participants will engage with coherent lesson sequences that intentionally integrate DCI's, SEP's and CCC's through anchoring phenomena and the use of student voice. Concrete examples of instructional routines, assessment tasks and student work samples will demonstrate how to make student thinking visible and actionable. Emphasis will be placed on designing and using assessments that capture evidence of reasoning, model development and evidence-based explanation, while informing real-time instructional decisions. Attendees will explore adaptable templates, scoring tools, and planning protocols aligned to typical classroom constraints, ensuring feasibility without increasing workload.

TAKEAWAYS:
Explore instructional shifts that can be implemented immediately in your high school classroom. Participants will leave with small, practical adjustments to lesson planning that allow student voice to drive instruction while still addressing rigorous, content-heavy standards.

SPEAKERS:
Matthew Bulman

Scientific sensemaking requires students to question claims, evaluate evidence, revise ideas, and defend decisions. In this interactive session, participants will explore how AI can be positioned as a reasoning partner within SEP-based classroom routines. Rather than treating AI as an answer source, educators will consider how structured routines can prompt students to analyze information, test claims against evidence, identify gaps in reasoning, revise ideas, and explain their decisions. Participants will examine adaptable routine structures and consider how they could support purposeful AI use, productive struggle, and evidence-based discussion in their own science classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to facilitate SEP-based classroom routines that position AI as a reasoning partner while keeping students responsible for evidence, critique, revision, and sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Velma Itamura

Have you read great articles in the NSTA journals that changed or added to the ways you and your students do science for the better? You could inspire other educators across the country in the same way by sharing your teaching ideas, activities, or lessons as an NSTA journal author!

TAKEAWAYS:
Instructions and tips on how to prepare and submit your manuscript for publication in NSTA's journals.

SPEAKERS:
Peter Lindeman

When students have access to AI, a polished final product may not provide enough evidence of what they understand. This interactive session helps educators use the Science and Engineering Practices to identify what student reasoning should look like and how it can be assessed. Participants will explore how different types of student work, discussion, revision, and explanation can provide evidence of reasoning when tasks are designed around the Science and Engineering Practices. The session focuses on designing assessment approaches that value evidence use, critique, revision, explanation, argumentation, and decision-making in science learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to use the Science and Engineering Practices to identify and assess evidence of student thinking, critique, revision, and reasoning defense in AI-resilient science learning.

SPEAKERS:
Velma Itamura

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Patrick Brown

Discover the power of NSTA Collections – curated "bundles" designed to organize your NSTA Library with resources from NSTA and beyond. This hands-on workshop guides you through creating your own collection, a vital tool for saving time when searching for topic-specific materials. Learn how to effectively share these collections with your colleagues or make them public to benefit the wider NSTA community. Leave ready to build and leverage collections to streamline your resource management.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave knowing how to create NSTA Collections, add NSTA and external resources, and manage sharing options. They will grasp the benefits of organizing, including time savings and collaboration, and gain practical skills to build and share curated resource lists.

SPEAKERS:
Flavio Mendez

Science data analysis relies on mathematical and statistical reasoning that develops across grade levels. Co-facilitated by the NSTA Professional Learning Team and Tuva, this workshop explores how NGSS Science and Engineering Practices connect with grade-level math standards to support student data analysis and interpretation. Participants will analyze authentic science datasets to identify grade-level mathematical, statistical, and data skills. They will examine how these math standards and science practices align and discover how to leverage math learning to strengthen science sensemaking.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will identify grade-level data and statistical reasoning skills and examine how they support student use of the Science and Engineering Practices. Teachers will leave with strategies for connecting mathematics learning to data-rich science instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Jocelyn Foran, Brianna Reilly Oliveira

This presentation will explore how Formative Instructional Practices (FIP) can transform classroom instruction. FIP is a research-based approach that emphasizes continuous feedback, student involvement, and clear learning goals to improve academic achievement. The goal of this session is to equip educators with practical strategies to implement FIP effectively, helping students take ownership of their learning while enabling teachers to make informed instructional decisions. FIPs are not new, but when used consistently, they can be a game-changer in classrooms. This presentation will begin by reviewing the core principles of FIP, including the importance of setting clear learning targets, using descriptive feedback, involving students in the learning process, and adjusting instruction based on evidence of student understanding. Participants will reflect on their current practices and identify opportunities to integrate FIP more deeply into their teaching routines.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session delivers formative instructional practices (FIPs) that are easy to implement, but will make a big difference. Participants will walk away with a cache of strategies that elevate student learning and engagement without adding extra work to their plates.

SPEAKERS:
Mesa Davis

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

An integral focus of this session is providing concrete examples of curriculum structures embedded within an established, high-quality curriculum: OpenSciEd. Rather than asking teachers to build culturally responsive units from scratch, this workshop provides explicit scaffolds to overlay cultural assets onto existing OpenSciEd middle school units. Reviewers and participants will actively examine middle school student artifacts from OpenSciEd Units, demonstrating how Latin-American folktales can be utilized as an equitable entry point for multilingual learners to engage in complex spatial modeling and data analysis. By showing actual student-generated models that map tectonic data directly onto the geography of oral myths, the session provides clear, classroom-tested evidence that leveraging students' linguistic and cultural resources as assets directly strengthens their capacity for evidence-based scientific reasoning.

TAKEAWAYS:
We don’t need to reinvent the curriculum wheel to be inclusive. We just need to provide the tools that allow students to navigate that wheel using the rich, ancestral roadmaps they already bring from home.

SPEAKERS:
Ivan Ochoa Martinez

How do literacy and science practices strengthen one another, and what can that look like in elementary classrooms? In this session, participants will learn about key research-based principles for integrating literacy and science in elementary classrooms. We will also engage with K-5 materials from the OpenSciEd Elementary curriculum as a model for how to enact these principles in classrooms. This will include a review of student-facing materials, including a variety of grade-level science texts, to showcase how integrating literacy practices into science lessons enhances both science and literacy learning. We will also examine teacher-facing materials and other curricular resources to understand how these tools help make the connections between science and ELA explicit. Finally, the presentation will highlight how teachers can apply these key principles in their classrooms to support young children’s sensemaking and ELA development.

TAKEAWAYS:
Integrating literacy practices within elementary science strengthens learning in both science and ELA. Participants will learn key research-based principles for integrating literacy into science time to support students’ sensemaking in science, while also building their ELA skills.

SPEAKERS:
Amy Belcastro

Dinosaurs are a high engagement topic for elementary students, and not only captivate imaginations but have rich scientific connections. As books on dinosaurs or featuring dinosaurs as main characters are reading available provide rich opportunities to connect literacy and STEM. During this session we will explore the overlap of literacy skills and STEM practices through the lens of dinosaurs. When students are responding to and reflecting on what they have read, they often use skills such as sequencing, comparing and contrasting, or character features. In STEM experiences, we often ask students to do the same thing – consider the sequence of cycles, identify physical features or compare and contract phenomena. This session will explore these intersections and how they can be used to support STEM and literacy instruction using a variety of children’s books on dinosaurs, fossils and geologic time.

TAKEAWAYS:
The skills students use when exploring STEM and processing what they have read intersect in several ways, and using high interest topics will support learning across STEM and literacy.

SPEAKERS:
Becky Wolfe

Across STEM education, there is a growing push to move beyond isolated disciplines toward learning that reflects the complexity of real-world challenges. This session shares insights from co-design work between Boston University’s Center for STEM Professional Learning at Scale and Vivayic focused on developing convergence professional learning pathways and impact networks. Participants will explore how to design transdisciplinary, phenomenon-based learning grounded in real problems and local contexts. Through examples from pathway design and facilitation, the session highlights strategies such as systems mapping, stakeholder mapping, and collaborative routines that help make sense of complex problems. Attendees will also examine how convergence approaches and networks of educators and organizations can break down silos and support scalable approaches that foster systems thinking, agency, and equitable participation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how convergence-based professional learning can support educators in designing learning experiences that help students make sense of complex, real-world problems across disciplines and leverage community assets.

SPEAKERS:
Craig Rebich, Brian Beierle

This session focuses on building authentic assessments tied to agricultural phenomena. Teachers will role-play a condensed transfer task centering around a relevant agricultural phenomenon, analyze its components, and discuss the potential design of their own using a provided template. The session emphasizes how transfer tasks connect classroom learning to real-world challenges, encouraging students to apply science concepts meaningfully. Participants will leave with a blank and sample template to use in their own instructional setting.

TAKEAWAYS:
Agricultural transfer tasks give students authentic assessment opportunities where they can apply their science learning.

SPEAKERS:
Angela Gulotta, Hannah Wedger

In this session, I will share classroom tested ideas aligned to the Indiana Science Academic standards along with principles of the Science of Reading. I will show how to incorporate science topics, using a variety of children's literature and integrate comprehension, phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, and vocabulary. Lessons will include several from the Picture Perfect Science series (NSTA Press text) along with other science related children's literature. Participants will receive access to digital copies of children's literature titles along with brief activity examples. To engage attendees during the session, participants will have the opportunity to try out many of the hands-on activities that are shared and leave with at least one example to remind them of the activity. The children's literature will cover all areas of science as well as STEM and will include a diverse group of scientists represented within them.

TAKEAWAYS:
Short on science teaching time?? In this session you will find out how to integrate children's literature that focuses on science into your other content areas. During this session, attendees will hear about classroom tested lessons that help them integrate science content throughout their school

SPEAKERS:
Kristen Poindexter

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

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Kathryn Lasky

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Vanessa Wentzloff

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

Join BSCS as we share and discuss how leadership can support NGSS implementation through planning for professional learning experiences that center the needs of teachers and students through the use of high quality instructional materials. We will discuss how leaders can leverage high quality instructional materials to strengthen the shared vision of the instructional shifts called for by the NGSS. Hear how a state level partnership with multiple LEAs deepened teacher’s knowledge of the NGSS and three dimensional instructional practices.

TAKEAWAYS:
Using high quality instructional materials as a lever to further NGSS implementation across multiple district/school contexts can support teachers and leaders as they enhance and expand their practice to improve outcomes for their students and learning communities.

SPEAKERS:
Jenine Cotton-Proby

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Eustace Smarrella

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

Discover how real-world research can transform your STEM classroom. This session is designed for middle and high school educators interested in connecting authentic research experiences to meaningful student learning. Learn how the Army STEM Teacher Fellowships support teachers in bringing real-world science and engineering into their instruction. You’ll explore practical ways to turn research experiences into integrated STEM lessons that help students connect core ideas, apply science and engineering practices, and build skills in problem-solving and data analysis. Through classroom-ready examples, you’ll see how teachers translate authentic research into engaging lessons that promote critical thinking, collaboration, and evidence-based reasoning. You’ll leave with adaptable ideas and strategies you can use right away to create more connected, real-world learning experiences that prepare students for future careers and complex challenges.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about Army STEM Teacher Fellowships (RESET). When working alongside Army researchers & Engineers, teachers don’t just gain content knowledge, they bring back real-world context, current practices, & practices, &increased confidence that improves how they teach STEM.

SPEAKERS:
Winnie Boyle

What if science did not compete with literacy and math, but actually made them stronger? In this interactive, hands-on workshop, experience how inquiry-based, phenomena-driven science turns classrooms into places where reading, writing, speaking, and math all have a real purpose. You will step into a model lesson where curiosity leads the way and students use evidence, language, and data to make sense of the world around them. Along the way, we will uncover simple, classroom-ready strategies that protect science time while strengthening cross-curricular learning. Expect a few “oh, this just makes sense” moments and plenty of ideas you can use right away. Walk away with practical tools that make science the most connected and doable part of your day.

TAKEAWAYS:
When science leads, literacy and math gain real purpose, helping teachers protect science time while engaging students in meaningful, connected learning through inquiry, evidence, and sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Renee Shaw

The NGSS and other standards based on the Framework of K-12 Education are quite complicated and often tricky to interpret. What teachers need is an easy-to-use reference guide to the standards, and since its’ release in 2014, the NSTA Quick-Reference Guide (aka The Purple Book) has become a perennial bestseller and an essential reference tool for many educators across the country. A new version of the Quick-Reference Guide was released in 2022, specifically designed to support not only NGSS, but all standards based on the Framework. This session will review the features of the Quick-Reference Guide and show how to use various tools in the guide to unpack the crosscutting concepts. Crosscutting concepts (CCCs) are ideas such as patterns, cause and effect, and systems that are not unique to any one discipline but that cut across several disciplines. By better understanding the CCCs, students are better prepared to make sense of the phenomena they see in the world about them.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to unpack the three dimensions using the tools and resources in the Quick-Reference Guide and will gain insights into the meaning of the crosscutting concepts.

SPEAKERS:
Ted Willard

Join us for an immersive journey where STEM standards meet epic, character-driven quests! This workshop explores a transformative framework for elementary classrooms. We bridge rigorous science and math skills—with vital character education, rebranding them as "Superpowers." Participants will learn to guide students through the design process, using geometry standards to craft personalized superhero characters. We’ll demonstrate how to synthesize math and creativity through collaborative school-wide mural projects and AI-assisted art creations, proving that every student has the potential for scientific heroism. Leave with a practical, high-engagement roadmap to inspire the next generation of innovators.

TAKEAWAYS:
Rebrand STEM skills as tangible 'superpowers' to boost engagement. By using geometry in character design and collaborative AI art, we empower every student to see themselves as a scientific hero, transforming the classroom into a launchpad for connecting to Scientists with Superpowers.

SPEAKERS:
Annette Larson

This session explores how graphical representations can be leveraged to develop elementary students’ understanding of Scale, Proportion, and Quantity, one of the NGSS Crosscutting Concepts. Using examples from OpenSciEd Grade 5 Earth in the Universe, participants will examine how students use standard units of measure, data displays, number lines, and comparative models to make sense of patterns in the Sun, Moon, and stars. Attendees will explore the role of graphical representations in helping students make sense of patterns and relationships across scales that are otherwise difficult to observe directly. Participants will leave with practical strategies for leveraging graphical representations and digital tools to support student sensemaking, develop Scale, Proportion, and Quantity thinking, and deepen understanding of Earth and space science phenomena.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how graphical representations can make otherwise inaccessible Earth and space science phenomena observable, helping elementary students develop Scale, Proportion, and Quantity thinking while making sense of patterns in the Sun, Moon, and stars.

SPEAKERS:
Jacob Noll

This interactive session will explore the benefits of authentic problem-based learning (PBL) while addressing challenges that teachers encounter during its implementation. Participants will engage in group activities that spark reflection and creative thinking while sharing ideas that will equip them with practical strategies and ready-to-use tools for their classrooms. Educators will also be introduced to a free STEM competition that offers resources designed to support teachers and students, such as grants, classroom-ready lessons, student incentives and so much more.

TAKEAWAYS:
Engage in interactive activities centered around problem-based learning (PBL) as we explore classroom challenges with implementing PBL, potential solutions and free resources that you can utilize to engage students.

SPEAKERS:
Kathryn Lasky

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

Science and STEM learning deepen when students engage concepts through multiple modalities. In this interactive session, participants will explore three elementary arts integration experiences embedded within science and engineering units. Attendees will experience movement-based investigations of wind, forces, and energy transfer; a watercolor mixing inquiry that mirrors scientific experimentation in a properties of matter unit; and a partner movement activity that explores material properties through physical representation. Participants will leave with practical strategies for integrating visual arts and movement into science instruction to strengthen conceptual understanding, student engagement, and durable skills such as creativity, collaboration, communication, and problem-solving.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how purposeful integration of movement and visual arts can deepen elementary students’ understanding of scientific concepts while building creativity, collaboration, communication, and problem-solving skills.

SPEAKERS:
Trudy Giasi

Discover how to leverage AI to design high-impact, interdisciplinary elementary STEM lessons that prepare students for the future workforce. While not all students pursue STEM careers, these lessons cultivate the essential 21st-century skills—critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication—needed for all career pathways. Explore why early engagement is critical for students to identify diverse career opportunities. Participants will learn to apply Backward Design—identifying results, determining evidence, and planning instruction—to integrate community-led STEM experiences. Walk away with actionable, AI-generated lesson examples to implement immediately.

TAKEAWAYS:
Take away a roadmap for AI-assisted, career-aligned STEM instruction. Attendees will use a QR code to access a comprehensive Padlet of resources, featuring the Backward Design framework and ready-to-use interdisciplinary lesson examples for immediate classroom implementation.

SPEAKERS:
Annette Larson

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Darla French

HERO (Healthcare Experience and Research in Oncology) is a two-week, part-time virtual program designed to introduce high school students to oncology through a collaborative, cross-institutional model. Led by multiple institutions in partnership with the American Cancer Society (ACS), the program integrates hands-on research, cancer care education, and mentorship. Students engage in a hybrid curriculum that includes laboratory training, case studies, and career panels, culminating in a holistic understanding of cancer and its human impact.

TAKEAWAYS:
The model exemplifies a scalable approach to cultivating future oncology professionals and advocates (or that of other in-demand STEM expertise).

SPEAKERS:
Carey Dieleman

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

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Tsianina McCain

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Alexis Markavage

his session explores innovative strategies for integrating science and literacy instruction to improve student engagement, critical thinking, and academic achievement across K–12 classrooms. Participants will examine how reading, writing, speaking, and inquiry-based learning can work together to deepen scientific understanding and strengthen literacy development. The presentation will highlight practical classroom approaches including scientific argument writing, close reading of informational texts, vocabulary development, collaborative discussions, and hands-on STEM investigations. Attendees will gain access to standards-aligned instructional resources, interdisciplinary lesson ideas, and evidence-based practices that support diverse learners and promote equitable access to high-quality STEM education. Educators will leave with ready-to-use tools and strategies designed to foster scientific literacy, increase student confidence, and create engaging, student-centered learning environm

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn practical strategies for integrating science and literacy instruction to increase student engagement, strengthen critical thinking, and improve achievement through inquiry-based, student-centered STEM learning.

SPEAKERS:
April Braddy

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Shawn Stevens

A key part of learning science is developing language to talk about your ideas. Traditional methods of introducing a science lesson or unit with a vocabulary list and definitions don’t help students develop understanding of science ideas or hold onto the language. In this session, participants will explore instructional strategies for introducing and earning science vocabulary that support understanding for all learners, and especially multilingual learners. Attendees will analyze classroom video to identify teacher moves that embed vocabulary instruction within investigations and discussions. Participants will leave with practical strategies for helping students actively develop and use new science terminology in their sensemaking.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to embed science vocabulary development within investigations and discussions to strengthen student sensemaking and support all learners, especially multilingual students.

SPEAKERS:
Brianna Reilly Oliveira

In this session, we will share our motivation for adopting competency based grading and the reasons we will never go back to traditional, “average of total points,” grading. As part of the session, we will ask participants to consider what they believe grades communicate and examine their current grading practices to determine if their stated priorities match their grading practice. We will offer advice and suggestions for a smooth implementation of a competency based grading system including how to use generative AI to reduce your workload and make the writing process more efficient, and win over colleagues, administrators, and parents. Finally, we will share our standards for our chemistry and physics courses as well as examples of how our integration of the 3D NGSS standards with and have improved our classroom instructional practices, homework alignment, and assessments.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn the advantages, philosophy, and basic mechanisms of 3D, competency-based assessment and grading in the high school science classroom utilizing the NGSS and generative AI

SPEAKERS:
Gary Pritts, Amanda Horan

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Liz Perotti

Collecting and analyzing data to inform decision-making is an important step in sustaining broad and effective implementation of HQIM and the practices likely to improve each student’s learning. Join BSCS to dig into one district’s efforts to enact and monitor a curriculum implementation plan.

TAKEAWAYS:
One important step in sustainability of teacher and leader practices that are likely to improve the learning of each student is to collect and analyze implementation data to inform decision-making.

SPEAKERS:
Jenine Cotton-Proby

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

This workshop incorporates principles of student-driven science notebooking with practical realistic applications for today’s science classrooms. Building on the ideas and strategies in Jessica Fries-Gaither’s NSTA Press publication, Science Notebooks in Student-Centered Classroom, participants will discover how using notebooks increases student engagement and ownership when attempting to make sense of a phenomenon using the three-dimensions. Participants will experience authentic notebooking from the student perspective in either K-4 or 5-8 grade bands, connect their experiences to Jessica’s four principles of student-centered science notebooks, and apply these ideas by incorporating science notebook principles and strategies to a lesson/unit of their own choosing. This session will demonstrate how well-selected science notebook scaffolds that are removed over time help students gain confidence and motivation to use notebooks as authentic sensemaking tools.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with a science notebook of their own that contains strategies, scaffolds, and organizational structures that increase realistic use of student-centered science notebooks as sensemaking tools.

SPEAKERS:
Kristen Moorhead, Jessica Fries-Gaither

In a Title I classroom where 99% of students qualify for free lunch, 5th graders matched the NC state science average despite serving a population that statewide scores 13 points lower. That gap does not close by accident. This workshop puts participants in the student seat. You will experience a full STEM Talk protocol, examine real student notebook entries across proficiency levels, and leave having looked at one lesson from your existing curriculum through both lenses. Grounded in NGSS Science and Engineering Practices, specifically argumentation from evidence and obtaining and communicating information, these structures meet the standards and the student simultaneously. The structures here were built for students who arrived writing random letters in English, for ELL students who had never argued a scientific claim out loud, and for EC students who had never been called on because someone believed they had something worth saying. They did. They do. So do yours.

TAKEAWAYS:
Three questions to hold against any lesson: How do I reach every student with this content? What does mastery look, sound, and feel like here? How do I keep every student thinking, talking, and valued? Applicable to any standard, any grade, any state.

SPEAKERS:
Jacqueline Cormier

Multilingual learners bring diverse strengths, experiences, and language resources to the science classroom. Using a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) lens, this session explores how teachers can make intentional instructional choices to support meaningful participation for multilingual learners and benefit all students. Participants will analyze classroom video to identify how teachers proactively make choices that provide multiple ways for students to access ideas, engage in sensemaking, and communicate their thinking. Participants will leave with classroom-ready strategies for supporting multilingual learners.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to use a UDL-informed approach to design science instruction that leverages multilingual learners’ strengths and provides multiple pathways for all students to engage in sensemaking and communicate their thinking.

SPEAKERS:
Brianna Reilly Oliveira

Instructional and assessment frameworks were developed to support coherent NGSS‑aligned science instruction in Indiana. The instructional frameworks for Grades 4, 6, and Biology organize each performance expectation into disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts, evidence expectations, academic vocabulary, and driving questions to guide instruction. The corresponding assessment framework translates the same performance expectation into phenomena, task demands, content limits, and proficiency‑level descriptors to support item design and formative assessment. During the session, participants will examine and use these frameworks to analyze how three‑dimensional sensemaking can be supported in classroom instruction and assessment. Frameworks for additional grade levels will be updated at a later date. The tools presented illustrate an approach that can be applied in any state using NGSS or NGSS‑aligned standards.

TAKEAWAYS:
Clear strategies for supporting three‑dimensional instruction will be gained by examining and using science instructional and assessment frameworks for Grades 4, 6, and Biology, demonstrating how NGSS performance expectations can be translated into coherent classroom practice.

SPEAKERS:
Eimear Towler

The NSTA Atlas of the Three Dimensions maps out learning progressions based on the Framework for K–12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The 62 maps in the Atlas organize all of the elements from standards on a particular topic (e.g., modeling, patterns, or definitions of energy) on a single page. The elements from grades K–2 are at the bottom of the page, and those from grades 9–12 are at the top. Arrows connect elements to indicate how ideas in a particular topic build on each other and how elements in different topics connect to one another. Studying the maps in the Atlas and the additional resources in the appendixes can provide educators with new insights about the standards. This session will provide an overview of how to read a map, the other features of the Atlas, and how educators can use this powerful navigational tool to develop and implement curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to read the maps and use other tools in the Atlas to understand and interpret standards and plan instructional sequences as part of their work in curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

SPEAKERS:
Ted Willard

Speaker will actively engage attendees with explorations and discourse, and offer strategies and ideas teachers can implement, to set up Science and STEM explorations and simple engineering problems for young children that support NGSS. She will help attendees grasp the vast scientific concepts and exploration opportunities that comprise the young child’s everyday world. She will discuss the importance of nurturing a child’s natural curiosity and will offer strategies to help children develop their observation and thinking skills. She will emphasize the importance of engaging young children in manipulation of objects and materials so they can recognize the effects of their actions. She will offer strategies to help children develop their science vocabulary. She will model how instruction that starts with children’s questions and provides rich opportunities for exploration and investigation is the most engaging way to introduce and teach science concepts to young children. Handouts.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn strategies and engaging exploration ideas, to create sense-making opportunities for young children, and to inspire children’s sustained curiosities. Activities will be easy and inexpensive to replicate and will help launch a trajectory of learning for young children.

SPEAKERS:
Donna Knoell

One of the greatest challenges facing teachers as they adopt a science notebooking practice is assessment. Should notebooks be graded? What might formative and summative assessment look like in a science notebook? How can teachers balance providing meaningful, constructive feedback with the large volume of notebook entries? Building on Jessica Fries-Gaither’s NSTA Press publication, Science Notebooks in Student-Centered Classrooms, this workshop allows participants to explore, reflect, and discuss research about assessment and feedback as well as experience assessment and grading techniques from both a teacher and student perspective. This session will demonstrate how these techniques can increase student authentic use of the science and engineering practices, increase students’ independent use of practices, and ultimately, support student growth.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave the session with assessment techniques that increase student authentic use of the science and engineering practices, increase students’ independent use of practices, and ultimately, support student growth.

SPEAKERS:
Kristen Moorhead, Jessica Fries-Gaither

Integrating a scanning electron microscope (SEM) into a high school classroom provides a unique and engaging way to bring STEM learning to life. Since acquiring an SEM in 2013, we have developed a specialized course that builds technical skills, fosters scientific thinking, and promotes student-driven inquiry. Students begin with hands-on training in microscope operation and imaging, then progress to sample analysis and independent investigation. The course blends theory with practice while supporting NGSS through authentic applications, including experimental design, troubleshooting, and analysis of structure-function relationships. This session will highlight our implementation process, share student work, and provide an overview of a curriculum that makes advanced scientific tools accessible and meaningful for high school learners.

TAKEAWAYS:
A scanning electron microscope can be successfully integrated into a high school classroom to provide authentic, hands-on STEM experiences that build technical skills, deepen scientific thinking, and make advanced science accessible to students.

SPEAKERS:
Gena Dalan, Krista Wilks

This presentation introduces a dynamic resource designed to bridge the gap between classroom learning and professional STEM applications. The STEM Career Repository offers an extensive collection of 2–3 minute videos featuring diverse professionals who share insights into their daily work and career paths. By providing students with relatable role models and clear examples of success, this tool helps demystify the vast landscape of STEM opportunities. Attendees will learn how to leverage the repository's keyword search functionality to align career exploration with specific curriculum topics. The session also highlights supplemental resources, including STEM Career Highlights, which facilitate direct integration into middle and high school lessons. Whether you are looking to enhance college and career readiness or inspire students through representation, this repository provides the practical materials needed to bring professional science into the classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Access a searchable database of 2–3 minute videos from STEM professionals to link curriculum to real-world careers. Use "STEM Career Highlights" handouts to support student exploration and boost representation, helping every student find a relatable path to success in science and technology.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Nern

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

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Steven Smith

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

I prepare future secondary science teachers in a state that did not adopt the Next Generation Science Standards, but I have teacher candidates who come from states that have adopted NGSS and may plan to return to teach in states where NGSS is used. In this session, I plan to address how I mix both NGSS and state learning standards to develop fluency in the three dimensions of NGSS while preparing teacher candidates to teach in a state that has different learning standards. Discussion following my presentation will center around strategies and tips to prepare future science teachers to navigate a variety of learning standards in order to teach secondary-level students effectively.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees of this session will walk away with ideas on how to prepare future science teachers who can be flexible in their teaching and can provide a quality education along the three dimensions of NGSS even when NGSS is not directly adopted.

SPEAKERS:
Michael Bindis

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Hannah Starr

Your students eat every day. Do they know the science behind it? Corn alone touches genetics, energy transformation, solution chemistry, carbon cycling, and more, making it one of the richest phenomenon-based anchors available to MS/HS science teachers. In this session, presenters from NASELI (Nebraska Agriculture and Science Education Leadership Institute) show how putting teachers in the field with producers and industry partners transforms how they connect agriculture to 3D science instruction. Follow a single storyline: the sun powers everything, and corn is the converter. See how this thread connects biology, chemistry, physics, and earth science, and how NASELI teachers localized existing ag-science lessons to their standards and community. Learn the transferable process for doing the same in your own region. Whether you teach in a rural community or an urban school where students have never seen a cornfield, agriculture is a phenomenon your students already have a stake in.

TAKEAWAYS:
Every student eats, making agriculture a universally accessible phenomenon for any science classroom. Learn the NASELI framework for matching local ag contexts to your standards and walk away with tools to localize lessons in a way that feels relevant to your own students and community.

SPEAKERS:
Jodi Bahr, Jennifer Jones

This workshop builds data literacy for science instruction through mathematical modeling with data. In this session, co-facilitated by the NSTA Professional Learning Team and Tuva, participants will work in a student role, using data to make sense of phenomena as they explore how distributions describe variability using dot plots, box plots, and histograms, and when to use mean, median, or mode. They will also model relationships between variables using scatterplots, lines of best fit, and concepts such as correlation, association, and linear vs. nonlinear patterns. Participants will reflect on how these skills can be incorporated into their own classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will strengthen their understanding of distributions, variability, and relationships through mathematical modeling and will consider how to bring these ideas into their own classrooms to support student sensemaking with authentic science data.

SPEAKERS:
Jocelyn Foran, Brianna Reilly Oliveira

Differentiation in middle school science is often reduced to modifying assignments or adding extra work for advanced learners. However, effective NGSS instruction requires designing experiences that increase depth, complexity, and authentic scientific thinking for all students. In this interactive workshop, participants will explore how to transform existing lessons into “low floor, high ceiling” tasks that support three-dimensional learning. Attendees will engage in a model science activity, analyze how it can be adjusted to extend advanced learners, and apply practical strategies such as tiered questioning, open-ended investigations, and scientific argumentation. Participants will leave with ready-to-use tools, templates, and lesson redesign strategies that can be immediately implemented in their classrooms without increasing workload.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to redesign NGSS-aligned science tasks using “low floor, high ceiling” strategies to increase depth, extend advanced learners, and support all students—without adding extra work or creating separate lessons.

SPEAKERS:
Michele Shultz

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

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

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

OpenSciEd and other HQIM offer a strong model for phenomena-based, NGSS-aligned instruction, but meaningful 3D learning - integrating Science and Engineering Practices, Disciplinary Core Ideas, and Crosscutting Concepts—requires intentional design in any curriculum. In this session, participants will explore how strategic adaptations to materials can deepen engagement in all three dimensions while maintaining curricular integrity. Drawing from my 6th-grade classroom, I will share customizable tools and routines that support student-driven sensemaking and equitable participation. Key areas include investigation materials that promote data analysis and evidence-based reasoning; interactive science texts that integrate literacy with sensemaking; formative assessments aligned to 3D outcomes; discourse structures that support collaboration and reasoning; and review tools that help students connect ideas and build coherent understanding.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with adaptable strategies and ready-to-use tools to design for 3D learning in any curriculum, empowering students to think, talk, and act like scientists.

SPEAKERS:
Jed Graboys

Do your students struggle to construct explanations and engage in argument from evidence using data? During this session, co-facilitated by Tuva and the NSTA Professional Learning Team, participants will analyze datasets to explore how explanations and arguments can be scaffolded with the CER structure. Data is central to the process of constructing a claim and selecting the strongest evidence. Participants will surface common student challenges, and identify instructional moves and prompts that strengthen claims, evidence selection, and reasoning in science instruction.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn strategies to help students construct explanations and argue from evidence using data to support clearer claims, stronger evidence selection, and more effective reasoning in NGSS-aligned science sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Jocelyn Foran, Brianna Reilly Oliveira

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

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Steven Smith

OpenSciEd instructional materials embed formative assessment opportunities through strategic assessment callouts designed to capture student thinking during key moments of sensemaking. However, teachers often need practical systems to consistently use this information to inform instruction across classrooms. In this session, two middle school educators share how one PLC has developed a sustainable process for leveraging OpenSciEd assessment callouts to create common formative assessments, such as targeted exit slips aligned to lesson goals. Rather than adding additional assessments, the team identified meaningful moments within the existing curriculum to gather evidence of student thinking tied to science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts. These formative assessments are brought into PLC meetings, where teachers collaboratively analyze patterns in student responses, focusing on misconceptions and partial understandings rather than correctness

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with a practical process for turning OpenSciEd assessment callouts into meaningful formative assessments, along with strategies for using student data and PLC conversations to identify misconceptions and plan targeted, responsive reteaching that supports student sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Kelly Bonifield, Tanya Mueller

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Nern