In this engaging session, we embark on a transformative journey, equipping educators with the tools and knowledge to instill a growth mindset in themselves and their students, enriching the educational experience, and nurturing future generations of resilient, adaptable, and lifelong learners.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will self-assess and evaluate students' mindsets, while discussing resources to foster resilience, embracing challenges, and nurturing a lifelong love for learning in any classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Luciana Girgulsky

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Take a tour through the mammalian heart and trace the path of a blood cell on its journey to oxygenation. Participants take blood pressure readings. Then dissect a preserved sheep heart to model blood flow and connect BP to heart anatomy. Don’t skip a beat - it’s going to be hands-on fun!

SPEAKERS:
Patti Kopkau

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Assume the role of a crime scene investigator to solve a realistic crime scenario. Students use fingerprint, hair analysis, tire track impressions, blood typing, forensic entomology, and a police log review to identify a primary suspect from a pool of 6 alleged perpetrators.

SPEAKERS:
Laurie Nixon, Ryan Hainey

By 2050, 9.7 billion humans may be living on Earth. If current trends continue, food production will need to increase 60-100%. In this storyline, students design solutions to feed this growing population while building space spacing food production systems (ie-hydroponics, vertical garden).

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about a new storyline that engages students in designing and evaluating solutions for how to solve the issue of feeding the world’s growing human population based on scientific knowledge, student-generated sources of evidence, prioritized criteria, and tradeoff considerations.

SPEAKERS:
Shane Cullian

Climate goals like the Paris Agreement are only possible if we transition to a more sustainable protein supply. Alternative protein science offers real-world applications and tangible links between lessons in biology, chemistry, engineering, and more, with climate solutions and career opportunities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Incorporating alternative protein science into existing course material offers a means for educators to link science and technology with students’ values-driven interests. Attendees will learn how to achieve this through instruction and experiential learning opportunities.

SPEAKERS:
Nathan Ahlgrim

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

With the transition to 3-dimensional learning, is there still a place for dissections in the classroom? The answer is yes! As you dissect a frog, we will demonstrate how to integrate the 3 dimensions of learning while highlighting adaptations and the relationship between structure and function.

SPEAKERS:
Patti Kopkau

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Assume the role of a crime scene investigator to solve a realistic crime scenario. Students use fingerprint, hair analysis, tire track impressions, blood typing, forensic entomology, and a police log review to identify a primary suspect from a pool of 6 alleged perpetrators.

SPEAKERS:
Laurie Nixon, Ryan Hainey

Engage in conversations for how to use the three dimensions of the NGSS and the NRC Framework, storylines, driving questions, formative and summative assessments, and hands-on activities to learn science and engineering skills while making sense of one of our most basic needs – FOOD.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will engage in a morsel of a storyline on producing the perfect apple. In this storyline, students notice and wonder about different varieties of apples and are challenged to explain why it took 30 years for the Honeycrisp apple to be available to consumers.

SPEAKERS:
Shane Cullian

Participants should bring a computer to learn about and explore the soil data platform from Natural Resources Conservation Service, Web Soil Survey. Participants will learn how to acquire local data of interest and be provided with a teacher guide and multiple lessons that include soil data.

TAKEAWAYS:
Incorporating real, scientific data about soils is easy with Web Soil Survey and AGI’s new Educator Guide. Including local soil data in instruction will make science content more relevant to students as they learn about topics such as soil health, erosion, flooding, infrastructure, and more.

SPEAKERS:
Lindsay Mossa, Sequoyah McGee, Ed Robeck, Lauren Brase

The purpose of the JROTC STEM Leadership Academy (first began in 2015 in Mobile, AL) is to engage a unique population of high school students, 9th and 10th grade JROTC cadets, in STEM content, skills and fields of study needed by business and industry today.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to incorporate STEM lessons into after school and summer programs while building an interest in area industries and workforce development.

SPEAKERS:
Chastity Touchstone, Ashley Daigle

Discover BioTrek, a free project-based learning program that introduces your students to regenerative science through advanced technologies, entrepreneurship and career pathways in the biofabrication industry. Learn how to bring this dynamic inquiry-driven experience to your classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees gain insight into cutting-edge tissue engineering concepts and free NGSS-aligned curriculum. Learn how ARMI is shaping the industry and empowering the future workforce of biofabrication through BioTrek, a program that exposes students to exciting careers via transdisciplinary learning.

SPEAKERS:
Alanis Vicente, Gabrielle Mourousas

STEM has the most impact when it’s place-based, real-world, and hands-on. We’ll connect Career and Technical Education with project-based learning as students take innovation from the International Space Station and bring it down to Earth to solve problems in their own communities.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session will provide a roadmap for project-based learning using science and engineering processes to enhance communities while building student STEM identities and exploring potential career pathways. Participants will try a sample activity and receive planning tools to develop their own.

SPEAKERS:
Sandra Roberts

Horses allow infinite applied learning experiences in equine education but owning them is challenging. Learn about the challenges schools are facing and strategies to overcome those challenges.

TAKEAWAYS:
Financial, liability, and curricular obstacles prevent schools from using horses for applied learning in modern agricultural education at community colleges. Strategic partnerships and robust procedures can help institutions justify owning horses.

SPEAKERS:
Timothy Slater, Lindsey Freeman

This session is a cross-curricular project between forensic science and AP physics. These teachers have worked together to solve the age old question – when do we need that in real life? Hello, real world application! Here the session merges multi-level learners and teaches them to apply physics.

TAKEAWAYS:
1.) Cross-curricular projects help strengthen student engagement and increases learning, 2.) The activity will be shared with participants for immediate use and implementation in the classroom upon their return from NSTA 3.) Developing ideas with other content areas keeps the original content “fresh.”

SPEAKERS:
Tessah Zepeda, Misty Heredia

Are you teaching a high school Anatomy and Physiology course? Do you want to prepare your students for their college A&P course? This session is for you! Learn about the standards and common assessment practices collegiate instructors use. This session will focus on lab instruction and more.

TAKEAWAYS:
You will learn how to prepare your students for their collegiate A&P experience.

SPEAKERS:
Sophia Garcia

How can we combine soft skills with science? Learn how to incorporate 21st century career and post-secondary options into your science content lessons!

TAKEAWAYS:
Discover more ways to expose your students to the REAL WORLD relevance of science after graduation.

SPEAKERS:
Aliyah Johnson

DoD STEM resources offer a variety of pathways to explore, design, and reimagine STEM in grades K-12. Albert Einstein Fellows will showcase a variety of DoD platforms for educators, parents, students, and community members to build a strong foothold for student success.

TAKEAWAYS:
DoD STEM resources can be used to connect students with STEM mentors, providing students with guidance and support as they explore their interests in STEM, and develop the skills they need to succeed in STEM careers. DoD initiatives strive to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion.

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Thompson, Pamela Joslyn

A high school curriculum that supports and encourages bee knowledge so teachers “Bringing Effective and Engaging Science Teaching into the Generation Z (Beestingz) Classroom using Apiculture.” teachers from 4 states have worked with the DOA and Dordt University to create free curriculum.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be exposed to the beta version of a Beekeeping curriculum that is engaging Generation Z with hands-on interactive lessons written by teachers that support student investigation, interaction, problem-solving, and design engineering concepts around real-world pollinators.

SPEAKERS:
Rise Jongeling

There are numerous career opportunities within the geosciences and many others that are geoscience-related. The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) will share resources, including a new Career Explorer, that show students how geoscience-related careers can address the world’s greatest challenges.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will understand the importance of discussing careers in ways that address current student concerns and priorities, especially with respect to challenges and opportunities in their communities. They will be introduced to strategies and resources to bring these discussions into schools.

SPEAKERS:
Sequoyah McGee, Lauren Brase, Ed Robeck, Lindsay Mossa

Using NEED (National Energy Education Development) Project resources and tools for engaging STEM lessons that engage and energize students during school day and after school instruction. Presenter is a public school educator with two decades of classroom and after school experience using NEED.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to use the NEED website to find resources to meet their individual teaching needs. Engaging lessons that are well-tested with students will be highlighted and shared in hopes that educators walk away with more useful tools that can be used to excite students about STEM.

SPEAKERS:
Audrey Hughes