Join this session to explore how my former students with special education experiences are using GenAI to dismantle barriers and expand learning opportunities in their daily lives. Drawing on case studies from my research and Engeström’s concept of expansive learning, I will highlight how collaborative engagement with GenAI fosters agency, supports expansive learning, and opens new possibilities. Examining why youth use GenAI also helps identify changes and innovations needed in learning environments. I will share moments when a participant’s use of ChatGPT raised questions about potential misuse and prompted reflection on how I designed the study. Join to explore the power of co-design with GenAI for expansive learning and accessibility, and gain practical strategies for engaging students as active, ethical participants in shaping their learning environments.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore the power of discussing and collaborating with youth on GenAI use, using these conversations to inform improvements, foster ethical decision-making, and create more inclusive, responsive learning environments.

SPEAKERS:
Gina Tesoriero

Artificial intelligence is rapidly entering science classrooms, yet many educators are unsure how to begin using it in purposeful and responsible ways. In this introductory session, participants will explore what AI is, what it is not, and how it can support NGSS sensemaking without replacing student thinking. Through live demonstrations and simple classroom examples, educators will learn how AI can help students ask better questions, strengthen reasoning, and engage more deeply with phenomena. The session highlights ethical use of AI as a partner in science learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will understand how to use AI as a tool for sensemaking that strengthens student questioning and reasoning while supporting phenomenon-based science learning routines.

SPEAKERS:
Chris Lazzaro, Velma Itamura

STEM teachers are under constant pressure to balance innovation in the classroom with heavy workloads. This session bridges AI in Education and Teacher Well-Being in STEM by highlighting practical, time-saving uses of artificial intelligence that directly support teaching and learning. Participants will explore freely available AI tools and clever strategies for applying them to everyday tasks such as generating lab rubrics, scaffolding assignments, and personalizing feedback. By streamlining routine work, these approaches free time for meaningful instruction and student engagement, with the added benefit of reducing stress and restoring balance for educators. The session emphasizes responsible and equitable use, ensuring AI integration supports all learners without adding complexity to the teacher’s role. Attendees will leave with a set of vetted tools, ready-to-use examples, and a personal action plan to strengthen STEM teaching while making professional life more manageable.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how freely available AI tools can lighten the STEM teacher workload while boosting student equity and engagement. Participants will leave with strategies that enhance student learning while helping STEM teachers focus on high-impact instruction and reclaim energy for what matters most.

SPEAKERS:
Chris Link, PhD

Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the education landscape, with new tools and features transforming what’s possible for science teachers. This session will explore both the how and the when of using AI intentionally in everyday teaching practice. Participants will learn strategies for writing effective prompts, selecting the right tools for different tasks, and creating classroom-ready materials during the session. They will also consider how to decide when AI can serve as a powerful support for teachers and when more traditional methods remain the most effective. Throughout the session educators will consider AI as a teacher-directed tool that enhances instruction through teacher-expertise. Participants should bring a laptop or device capable of connecting to AI platforms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to select appropriate AI tools for both instructional and non-instructional tasks, practice writing effective prompts, and create a classroom-ready resource. They will also develop a personal framework for deciding when and how AI can support teachers.

SPEAKERS:
Ariela Ikezawa

Every lab comes with risk, and when there is a significant injury, the average settlement in the US exceeds $ 4 million. However, with the right tools, teachers can make every activity safer, smarter, and more engaging. In this interactive session, explore how VERA AI, a teacher-centered safety system, supports lesson planning, lab prep, and classroom management through real-time risk analysis and safer material substitutions. Using real K–12 scenarios, participants will experience how AI “safety wrappers” transform everyday lab routines into proactive safety checks that build student awareness and confidence. Learn how to integrate these AI tools to save time, strengthen compliance, and foster a shared culture of safety in science and makerspace learning. Walk away with free access to VERA AI and ready-to-use strategies for your next lab day.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn how to utilize free VERA AI tools to proactively identify lab risks, make safer substitutions, and save planning time—enabling them to focus more on meaningful, hands-on learning and feel confident teaching students in a safe learning environment.

SPEAKERS:
Edward Cohen

ARM is a project-based internship focused on the construction and programming of autonomous robotic arms. ARM merges AI with physical robots using Python and an accessible hardware platform. Modules included: Introduction to Robotics, Python Fundamentals & Applications (e.g. Tic-Tac-Toe), Arm Construction, Object Detection, and Autonomous Arm Programming. All components: parts, 3D printing files, construction instructions, programming activities, and lecture slides are available online and can be used as a whole or piecemeal for clubs and classrooms. ARM participants include high school students, college students, and a high school teacher. Pre and Post evaluations found that the immersive internship experience improved important indicators of retention and success such as Sense of Belonging in Computing. TTIC is a philanthropically endowed research institute & university focused on AI and theory. NGSS Alignment: HS-ETS1-1 & HS-ETS1-2; CCC 2,4,& 6; Practices 1,2,3,4 & 6.

TAKEAWAYS:
Robots + AI = Student Engagement. Please steal our ideas. They work!

SPEAKERS:
Michael Rodgers, Randall Landsberg

This poster highlights how generative AI can support educators in developing high-quality instructional units using the Understanding by Design (UbD) framework. UbD emphasizes beginning with the end in mind—identifying desired results, determining acceptable evidence, and then planning learning experiences. Generative AI tools offer powerful support at each stage, from brainstorming enduring understandings and essential questions, to drafting performance assessments, to creating differentiated instructional activities. The poster presents a step-by-step example of how AI was used to co-develop a science unit aligned with NGSS standards, demonstrating the “before, during, and after” stages of the design process. Supportive visuals illustrate the UbD framework alongside AI outputs, showing both the opportunities and teacher decision points where professional judgment remains essential. Attendees will gain practical resources, including prompts for effective AI use, examples of UbD-aligne

TAKEAWAYS:
Promotes Reflective Practice – Using AI encourages teachers to critically evaluate and refine outputs, deepening their own understanding of UbD principles.

SPEAKERS:
Katrina Roseler

The Inquiry-Based STEM Game Development via Generative AI tool functions as an expert pedagogical system to address the complexity of rigorous, cross-disciplinary STEM curriculum design. Teachers input learning objectives, STEM knowledge units, and select an inquiry model (e.g., 6E, PBL). The GenAI analyzes the underlying STEM literacies, automatically generates dynamic, authentic problem scenarios for the game's plot, and integrates multimedia. The tool ensures high pedagogical fidelity, guiding students to perceive STEM concepts, attempt problem resolution, and understand the socio-cultural impact of science. Crucially, the system uses dynamic generation to alter gameplay upon each launch, maintaining student engagement and curiosity. A robust backend logs detailed learning outcomes, providing teachers with granular data for both formative and summative assessment, thereby elevating the quality and reach of inquiry-based STEM education.

TAKEAWAYS:
GenAI-driven game development enhances inquiry-based STEM by generating dynamic, cross-disciplinary scenarios. Teachers gain a tool for high pedagogical fidelity and granular assessment data, significantly boosting student engagement.

SPEAKERS:
Chi-Ruei Tsai

Artificial intelligence is reshaping science education, which includes bringing new possibilities to labs by changing the way students gather and analyze experimental data. In this immersive workshop, participants step into the role of students, using their smartphones to gather real-world data from simple hands-on experiments. Together, we will explore how AI-powered tools can make complex analysis accessible, deepen conceptual understanding, and spark student curiosity across STEM disciplines. The session highlights strategies to integrate AI into labs in ways that enhance—not replace—critical thinking, while giving teachers classroom-ready examples they can adapt immediately. Whether you teach physics, life sciences, or any STEM related course, this workshop offers a glimpse of the future of inquiry-based science learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will expand their understanding and increase their confidence working with AI tools to support student learning. This will include concrete examples that teachers can use in their own classrooms to help students recognize the power of AI in their learning journey.

SPEAKERS:
Helene McLaughlin, David Rakestraw

How can we empower students to explore, understand, and protect ecosystems? This interactive session highlights how 5th grade students combined hands-on fieldwork with AI tools such as image recognition, sound classification, and digital modeling, to investigate habitats, track species, and model environmental changes. The case study features Florida’s Everglades, coral reefs, and red tide–impacted waters, but the strategies and activities can be applied anywhere. Participants will experience a hands-on design sprint, ideate AI-powered solutions, prototype projects, and share insights. Educators will leave with adaptable classroom-ready projects, make-and-take activities, and strategies for integrating AI, digital inquiry, and design thinking to inspire environmental stewardship.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with a replicable framework for student-led conservation projects, practical strategies for integrating AI and design thinking, and adaptable classroom activities that combine fieldwork, digital inquiry, and hands-on environmental problem-solving.

SPEAKERS:
Vicki Spitalnick, Traci Phillips

Learn how OpenSciEd’s new middle school units are intentionally designed to expand access to computer science by integrating it directly into science instruction. This session will introduce an instructional model that addresses longstanding equity gaps in computer science education by embedding programming, computational thinking, and engineering design into phenomenon-based science investigations. Explore how this approach not only deepens science understanding but also inspires students, especially those historically underrepresented in STEM, to pursue advanced computer science courses and careers. We will also explore how computer science serves as the foundation for understanding emerging technologies like generative AI, helping students make sense of the innovations shaping their world. Participants will additionally learn about the career exploration opportunities woven into the units that help students make meaningful connections to their futures in STEM fields.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will see how integrating computer science into middle school science builds equitable access to computer science while preparing students with the foundational skills to understand and engage with AI and other emerging technologies.

SPEAKERS:
Tiffany Neill

Artificial intelligence is rapidly entering science classrooms, and education leaders play a key role in shaping how it strengthens student sensemaking. This session explores how AI can help students ask stronger questions, reason with evidence, and engage more deeply with phenomena. Leaders will learn how to communicate a clear, purposeful vision for AI use, one that promotes thoughtful integration and supports high-quality science investigations. The session also highlights ways to partner with parents to build understanding and shared confidence in AI’s role in learning. Participants will leave with tools to assess readiness, articulate guiding principles, and position AI as a productive thinking partner in phenomenon-based science instruction.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to guide AI use to deepen science sensemaking, promote purposeful rather than restrictive practices, and engage parents as partners in supporting students’ phenomenon-based investigations.

SPEAKERS:
Chris Lazzaro, Velma Itamura

As AI tools become more accessible to students, science educators face the challenge of guiding responsible and meaningful use. This session will explore how to create classroom AI guidelines that protect academic integrity while enhancing inquiry, lab investigations, and scientific writing. Participants will engage in collaborative activities to evaluate case studies, identify risks and opportunities, and design guidelines tailored to their own teaching contexts. Educators will leave prepared to introduce AI responsibly, ensuring it supports—not replaces—student learning in science.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to design classroom-ready AI guidelines that ensure responsible, ethical, and effective use of AI in science learning.

SPEAKERS:
Stefany Palomba

Come explore how immersive project-based learning can be paired with AI to deepen science learning and engagement! Put on your student hat as we guide you through the first steps of creating a virtual field trip to showcase your science sense-making. Then, practice using our new AI Feedback Tool - designed to align to the project’s content requirements and used to provide students formative or summative feedback. Experience first-hand how design-thinking helps students develop their ability to obtain, evaluate, and effectively communicate information. We’ll share lesson plans, examples of student work related to ecosystems and biodiversity (LS4.D and LS2.A), and access to our AI Feedback Tool. No fancy tech or tech expertise needed—just bring your curiosity and a laptop. You’ll leave with a virtual field trip of your own creation, experience using AI for the classroom, and free resources to help students connect science content with the world around them.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to guide students in creating virtual field trips and use AI-powered feedback to support rapid iteration, helping students refine their work, deepen science understanding, and connect learning to real-world phenomena.

SPEAKERS:
Rachel Wolf, Kyla Cook

This session will introduce and compare various open generative chatbots, as well as several that are explicitly geared towards supporting educators. We will discuss ways these can help teachers plan cohesive lessons and assessments that promote critical thinking and student-centered instruction, empowering learners and the community. We will also address pitfalls and challenges when using AI that can impact students' STEM voices, identities, and concepts.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session will equip teachers to thoughtfully integrate generative AI chatbots into science teaching in ways that strengthen critical thinking and community-centered learning, while recognizing and mitigating the challenges AI may introduce to students’ STEM identities and understandings.

SPEAKERS:
Christa Jackson

How can we prepare students for a world where STEM careers are being reshaped daily by artificial intelligence and emerging technologies? This interactive session explores practical strategies to build “future-ready” STEM classrooms that integrate AI literacy, project-based learning, and 21st-century skills. Drawing on classroom-tested examples from middle and high school programs, participants will see how AI tools can deepen learning, how project-based experiences connect students to authentic challenges, and how career-focused skills such as collaboration and problem-solving can be intentionally embedded in STEM lessons. Attendees will engage in a guided design activity where they map out a future-ready unit that balances standards, innovation, and student agency. By the end of the session, educators will walk away with concrete strategies and a planning template that can be applied immediately in their own classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to create future-ready STEM lessons that blend AI literacy, project-based learning, and career skills so students build the knowledge and habits needed to thrive in a rapidly changing world.

SPEAKERS:
Ashish Vadalia

As AI becomes a routine part of science learning, educators across roles are looking for ways to lead its purposeful and productive use. This leadership session provides practical guidance for communicating about AI in ways that inspire curiosity, strengthen science sensemaking, and support phenomenon-based investigations. Participants will explore clear, consistent language and implementation strategies that empower teachers, engage families, and encourage thoughtful experimentation with AI as a reasoning partner. The session highlights supportive structures and approaches that help diverse learners and build educator confidence. Attendees will leave with insights and strategies they can adapt to guide AI-enabled science learning in their own classrooms, departments, schools, or districts.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to communicate and implement AI in ways that inspire curiosity, strengthen sensemaking, and reshape classroom culture through purposeful routines, while partnering with parents and the community.

SPEAKERS:
Chris Lazzaro, Velma Itamura

Come discover how free, NSF-funded tools for data exploration and AI from The Concord Consortium can enhance your NGSS teaching, with a special emphasis on the Science and Engineering Practices. Take away free tips and resources that you can use immediately to bring NGSS to life in your classroom! This hands-on session will demonstrate how teachers can enhance existing lessons using free, open source software for data exploration and science investigation developed by The Concord Consortium over a decade of NSF funding. With a particular emphasis on use of the Science and Engineering Practices, examples and hands-on interaction will engage participants in exploring data, integrating AI tools, and using models and simulations for powerful NGSS-aligned teaching and learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session will demonstrate a wide variety of materials using free software and platforms developed by The Concord Consortium over a decade of NSF funding. Participants will explore research-based models and simulations, data exploration tools, and AI-powered learning environments.

SPEAKERS:
Chad Dorsey

Scientific modeling is central to NGSS, yet teachers often struggle to provide timely feedback on student-created models. This interactive workshop introduces ScienceSketch, a free, AI-powered tool developed by NC State and WestEd that supports real-time feedback on hand-drawn science models. Participants will explore how the tool evaluates student models against NGSS-aligned rubrics, delivers targeted feedback, and promotes revisions that deepen learning. Through hands-on experience, participants will create models, receive AI feedback, and compare their evaluations with student work and the system’s analysis. The session also invites educators to contribute insights on usability, classroom integration, and future enhancements. Attendees will leave with practical strategies for incorporating AI-supported modeling by ScienceSketch into elementary science instruction to boost student engagement and conceptual understanding.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how AI-powered tools like ScienceSketch can provide real-time, individualized feedback on elementary school student-drawn science models—making scientific modeling more practical, engaging, and instructionally powerful in NGSS-aligned classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Wong, Mingyu Feng

This session, designed for teachers, curriculum leaders, science fair coordinators, and STEM administrators, explores the practical and ethical integration of artificial intelligence in science education. Participants will discover how AI is transforming classroom instruction, science fair, curriculum design, and student engagement through real-world case studies and hands-on resources. The session highlights building AI literacy for educators, developing responsible and inclusive implementation guidelines, and reimagining science pedagogy and science fair with AI-powered tools. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies and an “AI-ready” toolkit to ensure all students benefit from innovative, ethical, and engaging science learning in the age of artificial intelligence.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will gain practical frameworks and tools to design and implement effective classroom or district AI policies, including clear guidance for science fairs.​

SPEAKERS:
Kurtz Miller

AI is here to stay. Students and educators are increasingly interacting with AI tools, yet too many lack a clear sense of what those tools can, and shouldn’t do. Districts and schools need systemic sense-making, not one-off fixes. Curriculum, teacher professional learning, leadership planning, and community engagement must be aligned so that AI supports learning without introducing bias. Equity and ethics aren’t optional add-ons, they’re central. Students must learn to interrogate fairness, data use, and real-world impact. To act at scale, districts need regionally relevant guidance, strategic roadmaps, and trusted partners who translate research into practical policy, procurement, and classroom-ready practices that help leaders, teachers, and students decide when to use AI and when restraint is wiser. Join us in this interactive session to learn more about an emerging network of K-12 systems taking this on! You will hear real examples and learn about a framework for thinking more dee

TAKEAWAYS:
Session participants will learn about what colleagues in other districts and schools are doing as they utilize a systems-level approach, in addition to learning about a framework for planning for AI literacy for all students.

SPEAKERS:
Vanessa Lujan

Are you trying to move beyond computer science and AI as add-ons? How can emerging technologies meaningfully advance science and STEM education without compromising quality instruction? This session explores OpenSciEd’s new middle school science and computer science integrated units, designed to align with state and district STEM priorities while enhancing students’ scientific sensemaking. Participants will examine how computer science is embedded seamlessly within phenomena-based science instruction to strengthen coherence, rigor, and real-world relevance. The session will also showcase implementation supports and planning guidance for schools and districts considering adoption. In addition, attendees will receive updates on a new effort to integrate AI literacy and use into OpenSciEd Biology units in ways that amplify, rather than replace, student thinking. Participants will have opportunities to provide feedback to inform ongoing development and implementation efforts.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will understand how computer science and AI can be integrated into high-quality science instructional materials in ways that strengthen scientific sensemaking, align with STEM priorities, and support thoughtful implementation at the school, district, and state levels.

SPEAKERS:
Tiffany Neill, Andy Weatherhead

In this workshop you will experience our innovative unit: Self Driving Cars. Incorporate AI, computer science, and a compelling social issue into science and STEM classrooms. During the workshop you will participate in hands-on unit activities as well as review this freely available curriculum.

TAKEAWAYS:
You will leave ready to implement our high quality unit with your students engaging student interest and using powerful storylining teaching routines. You will also have authentic student assessments to accompany the unit.

SPEAKERS:
Greg Benedis-Grab

This session explores discussion prompts that invite youth to co-design more ethical and equitable GenAI policies and practices with their teachers or school leaders. I share research with former students from my special education classroom, whose discussions highlight how they use GenAI, set boundaries, and engage in reflective practices. Their engagement with these prompts reveals and strengthens their capacity as ethical decision-makers, challenging the notion that young adults with disabilities are passive users of potentially harmful technologies. Join to explore strategies for initiating conversations that support developing policies and practices in partnership with your students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will see examples of how neurodiverse youth navigate GenAI use, set boundaries, and make ethical choices, demonstrating the value of engaging students in shaping equitable and responsible AI practices.

SPEAKERS:
Gina Tesoriero

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping how scientists and engineers ask questions, analyze data, and solve problems. To prepare students for this future, teachers must develop AI literacy—understanding how to integrate AI tools ethically, inclusively, and meaningfully into instruction. This interactive workshop builds teacher confidence and competence in using AI by demonstrating how to enhance NGSS-aligned, three-dimensional learning. Participants will explore AI tools to support key Science and Engineering Practices. Throughout the workshop, we will include equity and inclusion strategies (UDL, scaffolding, multiple representation, student voice and choice) for English Learners and students with disabilities. Educators will explore student work samples that integrate AI and then participate in the design of a short, NGSS-aligned lesson.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will develop AI Literacy by exploring classroom applications and supports to make science learning accessible for all students, including English Learners and students with disabilities.

SPEAKERS:
Ortavia Manning-Dixon, Leilani O'Dell

As AI becomes more accessible, many traditional science assignments no longer reveal what students truly understand. This session helps educators move from policing AI use to designing tasks that encourage reasoning, reflection, and deeper engagement with phenomena. Participants will analyze why certain activities are vulnerable to AI shortcutting and learn practical strategies for redesigning them into AI-resilient tasks that surface student thinking. Through live demonstrations and sample routines, attendees will explore approaches that require students to critique, revise, justify, and apply ideas during phenomenon based investigations. The session include a framework to identify non-AI resilient tasks and reivse them into tasks that promote purposeful, sensemaking focused AI use.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will learn strategies for transforming traditional assignments into AI-resilient tasks that reveal student reasoning and strengthen sensemaking during phenomenon based investigations.

SPEAKERS:
Chris Lazzaro, Velma Itamura

With the quickly expanding interest in and integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into education, we believe it is vital to explore fundamental questions about when, how, and even if it should be used in education. Initiatives and products focused on educational applications of AI are outpacing the discussion of responsible and ethical approaches to doing so. This concerns us. The session will offer principled and evidence-based analysis of the implications of AI for teaching, lesson planning, tracking and supporting student progress, assessment, and educational monitoring. Together, we will learn about AI and how to think with and against its use in education in specific ways. Productive approaches for framing the use of AI with students will be shared. We invite you to join us for this important and urgent discussion of AI in education.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about uses of AI in science education along with ways to think about ethical dimensions and the evidence base for specific pedagogical uses. We will explore possibilities, tensions, trade-offs, uncertainties, and strategies of resistance in this quickly shifting landscape.

SPEAKERS:
Deb Morrison, Philip Bell

The Molecule Maker Lab Institute (MMLI) is combining revolutionizing chemistry education by replacing the “structure-first” approach with a dynamic, AI-driven "function-first" model. Today, most students struggle to master chemistry and few pursue it beyond high school. MMLI changes that. Using block-based chemistry and AI-powered molecular synthesis, students learn to solve real-world problems with molecules rather than memorize disconnected facts. With hands-on activities—like exploring the color spectrum, AI-chemical interactions, and organic photovoltaic cells—students experience chemistry as creativity, not rote learning. MMLI democratizes access to molecular literacy, giving every student the tools to imagine, design, and create molecules for drug discovery, energy capture, and more. This session will share curriculum examples, pilot data from high schools, and strategies for empowering the next generation of molecular innovators.

TAKEAWAYS:
To equip high school students with “molecular literacy" by combining block-based chemistry, AI, and "function-first" thinking, transforming chemistry from structural memorization into creative problem-solving for real-world challenges.

SPEAKERS:
Andrea Wolf

As artificial intelligence (AI) tools become embedded in educational practice, science teacher preparation must move beyond surface-level awareness toward intentional and critical engagement. This session introduces strategies for teaching preservice science teachers how to use prompt engineering to generate effective, discipline-specific outputs; how to examine the ethical implications of AI in teaching and learning; and how to apply advanced AI techniques that extend beyond simple text generation. Emphasis will be placed on designing assignments that purposefully incorporate AI to deepen content knowledge, foster reflective practice, and develop critical AI literacy. Participants will explore examples of assignments, discuss best practices, and consider how to prepare future science teachers to navigate both the opportunities and challenges of AI in education.

TAKEAWAYS:
Purposefully engaging preservice teachers with AI as a critical thought partner, while embedding advanced strategies into assignments, cultivates the skills and critical literacy necessary for them to integrate AI responsibly and effectively in their future science classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Crystal Cook, Wesam Salem, Logan Caldwell

Are you overwhelmed by lesson planning, grading, and trying to meet every student’s needs? You're not alone—and AI may be the support system you didn’t know you needed. In this hands-on workshop, discover how artificial intelligence tools can lighten your workload, enhance student engagement, and help you reclaim your time and energy. Learn how educators are using AI to automate routine tasks, personalize instruction, and reduce burnout—all without sacrificing rigor or creativity. Explore real classroom examples, test-drive AI tools like ChatGPT, Eduaide, Curipod, and Brisk Teaching to walk away with a ready-to-use toolkit and an actionable plan tailored to your classroom or school. Whether you're AI-curious or already experimenting, this session will equip you with practical strategies to teach smarter—not harder. Let AI take care of the busywork so you can focus on what matters most: inspiring the next generation of scientists.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with a clear, personalized plan for using AI tools to reduce their daily workload—freeing up time and energy to focus on impactful teaching rather than administrative tasks.

SPEAKERS:
Kelly Mulligan

This presentation empowers science educators to integrate Artificial Intelligence for authentic inquiry in their classrooms. It demonstrates how various AI tools—including template-driven (e.g., MagicSchool.ai, Curipod), open-ended (e.g., ChatGPT, Google Gemini), and hybrid options (e.g., Notebook LM, Brisk Teaching)—can be utilized to align with and enhance Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs). Attendees will explore tailored prompts for both teachers and students, designed to maximize AI's potential in areas like generating testable questions, developing models, planning investigations, analyzing data, and constructing explanations. Practical strategies will be shared to help teachers apply AI tools to their lesson planning, and make complex science concepts more accessible and engaging for all learners

TAKEAWAYS:
This session is fundamentally a "how-to" guide for science educators, offering practical, actionable strategies and demonstrations for integrating diverse AI tools into their classrooms. It moves beyond theoretical concepts to provide concrete examples and tools that attendees can immediately apply.

SPEAKERS:
Leslie Suters, Jennifer Meadows, Kelly Moore, Andrea Henrie

AI can deepen science sensemaking when it is woven into a classroom culture that values curiosity, reflection, and evidence-based reasoning. This session introduces practical, tool-agnostic thinking structures that help students clarify ideas, test explanations, and reflect on their reasoning during phenomenon-based investigations. Participants will explore routines that position AI as a questioning partner, one that surfaces gaps in logic, offers alternative explanations, and supports revision of emerging ideas. Through live demonstrations, educators will see how these structures transform classroom norms by encouraging students to engage more purposefully with evidence, compare ideas, and make their thinking visible.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn AI-supported routines that strengthen student reasoning and help learners make their thinking visible during phenomenon based science investigations.

SPEAKERS:
Chris Lazzaro, Velma Itamura

While generative AI such as ChatGPT has become pervasive, it is not often critically examined in the classroom. Explore three student activities that use AI to investigate the biases, flaws, and ethics of AI. Employ counterfactual/what if thinking and prompt engineering (e.g., images generated from “old man in a church” vs “Asian old man in a church”) to reveal biases in large language models (LLMs). Learn how to critically analyze patterns in videos to assess if they have been produced by AI. Delve into voice cloning technology, and then debate its pros (e.g., preserving the voice of someone with ALS) and cons (e.g., misinformation). NGSS Alignment: HS-ETS1-2 & 3; CCC 1, 2, & 4; Practices 1, 3, 4, 6, & 8.

TAKEAWAYS:
AI is not perfect, and these activities will help your students to think critically about generative AI.

SPEAKERS:
Randall Landsberg

Join us to explore how AI can help you complete a variety of tasks in prepwork. We will examine various AI tools and their ability to brainstorm ideas, plan lessons, create slideshows, write practice problems, and generate images. For the first thirty (30) minutes, participants will be given a foundation in AI and examples of prepwork tasks they can complete. For the second half of this session, we will break into groups and evaluate these AI tools in terms of how effectively they can complete prepwork. Participants must have a device that can access the internet to participate in this session.

TAKEAWAYS:
Artificial intelligence can assist teachers in a variety of prepwork tasks, including: brainstorming ideas, planning lessons, creating slideshows, writing practice problems, and generating images.

SPEAKERS:
Stephen Krajeski

This workshop introduces teachers to ways AI tools can be integrated to support both teachers’ OpenSciEd instructional planning and students’ practices of science and Engineering Practices (SEPs) through hands-on activities and Generative AI (GenAI) tools. - Responsible and ethical use of GenAI: Emphasize that teachers make smart choices about when to use GenAI. The use of GenAI should enhance the quality and efficiency of teaching but cause no harm to interactions within classrooms. - Support teachers’ SEPs planning in an OpenSciEd unit: Introduce prompt engineering strategies for the preparation and implementation of an OpenSciEd unit. Engage teachers in creating and sharing their prompts for a sample OpenSciEd unit. - Integrate and support students’ use of AI for SEPs: Introduce GenAgents by the National GENIUS Center for supporting SEPs. Try one of the GenAgents as students and discuss how an AI-assisted SEPs activity can be integrated into the sample OpenSciEd unit.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will leave the workshop empowered with practical strategies to responsibly integrate Generative AI into OpenSciEd units—enhancing their planning of SEPs and facilitating meaningful, student-centered AI-supported learning experiences.

SPEAKERS:
Ai-Chu Ding, Lehong Shi, Arne Bewersdorff

Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the educational landscape. While AI can feel like a burden to traditional teaching, it offers powerful opportunities when harnessed well. Teachers face the dual challenge of using AI to enhance their practice while simultaneously preparing students to use AI responsibly and effectively. This session explores both sides of the equation. Drawing from classroom experience and current national guidelines, participants will examine the benefits and pitfalls of AI in education. Attendees will gain practical AI strategies for lesson planning, standards alignment, and identifying misconceptions, plus tools that ease teaching burdens and equip students with AI literacy and ethical use strategies. The session will include classroom examples, forward-looking policy insights, and collaborative brainstorming, leaving attendees with ready-to-implement strategies that position AI as both a teaching partner and a student learning tool.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will discover how AI can move beyond burden by streamlining teacher tasks like lesson planning, grading, and standards alignment, while also providing strategies to prepare students for responsible, ethical, and practical AI use.

SPEAKERS:
Kenji Nomura

The role of information in our society has been changing over the past few decades, and the development of AI is accelerating these shifts even more rapidly. Now, more than ever, it is critical that all students can think and learn in ways that are meaningful and relevant to the world in which they will live and work. This session will explore the skills that are most relevant to students in the 21st century and how teachers can design science classrooms that promote deep, rigorous thinking for all learners. Participants will examine practical tools to assess and increase both the rigor and relevance of learning experiences, ensuring equitable access to high-level thinking and engagement for every student.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with practical strategies to design and modify science learning that is both rigorous and relevant, supporting all students in developing the high-level thinking and problem-solving skills that are essential for success in today’s rapidly evolving world.

SPEAKERS:
Aaron Schwartz

Planning an investigation involves selecting variables, designing procedures, and ensuring fair tests, which can be challenging for many students. In this session, participants will explore how AI can support planning and carrying out investigations by helping students identify variables, consider controls, analyze procedural flaws, and revise plans during phenomenon-based investigations. Through hands on demonstrations, educators will examine examples of AI generated procedures that vary in quality and learn routines that prompt students to critique, justify, and refine investigation plans. The session emphasizes how AI can strengthen reasoning without replacing the work of designing thoughtful investigations.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how AI can support students in identifying variables, evaluating procedures, and designing fair tests, strengthening reasoning during phenomenon-based investigations while making their reasoning visible.

SPEAKERS:
Chris Lazzaro, Velma Itamura

This poster highlights a strategy for integrating generative AI tools into teacher preparation programs to strengthen candidates’ reflective practice. Teacher candidates use AI to evaluate their own professional reflections from a math and science teaching conference, aligning with standards such as inTASC Standards, AAQEP, MCEE, and ISTE. The lesson provides candidates with structured opportunities to analyze AI feedback, consider personal strengths and biases, and set actionable goals for growth. Attendees will gain strategies to implement AI-supported reflection in their own classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Practical strategies for integrating AI into teacher preparation.

SPEAKERS:
Katrina Roseler

This poster shares findings from a systematic review of secondary writing interventions in math and science. We describe how technology is used to support writing in secondary math and science, specifically examining the use of digital tools, AI, and multimodal supports that are part of interventions. Attendees will gain insight into how technology can be used to leverage learning when using writing in math and science.

TAKEAWAYS:
secondary math and science, examining the use of digital tools, AI, and multimodal supports.

SPEAKERS:
Tessa Arsenault, Kathleen Conley

Can your students outsmart artificial intelligence? In this hands-on workshop, participants will explore an engaging classroom activity where students train an AI image-recognition model to identify four major tissue types: epithelial, connective, muscle, and nervous. After training, students test the model with unknown samples and compare its accuracy to their own. Along the way, participants will discover how this activity strengthens student understanding of tissue structure and function while also introducing critical conversations about the role of AI in science, data quality, and human vs. machine learning. Attendees will leave with ready-to-use materials, strategies for integrating AI tools like Google Teachable Machine into NGSS-aligned instruction, and ideas for extending the activity into other science disciplines and grade levels.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with a ready-to-use, NGSS-aligned classroom activity that demonstrates how to integrate AI tools into science instruction—engaging students in comparing human and machine learning while building content knowledge and transferable skills that extend across disciplines and grad

SPEAKERS:
Katelyn Christensen

AI generated explanations can appear polished yet contain scientific inaccuracies, missing evidence, or embedded bias. In this session, participants will learn how to turn these flaws into powerful opportunities for science sensemaking. Educators will explore routines that guide students to critique AI generated explanations, identify errors, compare ideas with evidence, and revise thinking during phenomenon based investigations. Through live demonstrations, attendees will analyze examples of biased or incomplete AI reasoning and practice using frameworks that make student thinking visible.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to critique and revise AI outputs to deepen student reasoning and support sensemaking in phenomenon-based investigations.

SPEAKERS:
Chris Lazzaro, Velma Itamura

As AI tools become more accessible in classrooms, educators face a challenge: how to use them to enhance teaching without disrupting the sensemaking that drives authentic learning. This session explores how teachers can leverage AI for efficiency, creativity, and feedback while keeping student thinking central. Participants will examine examples and strategies for using AI in planning, instruction, and assessment that position it as a partner—not a replacement—for human reasoning. Leave with practical tools to support student inquiry and ownership of ideas in an AI-rich world.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to make intentional choices about when and how to use AI—employing it to improve clarity, efficiency, or thinking—while avoiding uses that undermine authentic connections and student sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Delaney

The Inquiry-Based STEM Game Development via Generative AI tool functions as an expert pedagogical system to address the complexity of rigorous, cross-disciplinary STEM curriculum design. Teachers input learning objectives, STEM knowledge units, and select an inquiry model (e.g., 6E, PBL). The GenAI analyzes the underlying STEM literacies, automatically generates dynamic, authentic problem scenarios for the game's plot, and integrates multimedia. The tool ensures high pedagogical fidelity, guiding students to perceive STEM concepts, attempt problem resolution, and understand the socio-cultural impact of science. Crucially, the system uses dynamic generation to alter gameplay upon each launch, maintaining student engagement and curiosity. A robust backend logs detailed learning outcomes, providing teachers with granular data for both formative and summative assessment, thereby elevating the quality and reach of inquiry-based STEM education.

TAKEAWAYS:
GenAI-driven game development enhances inquiry-based STEM by generating dynamic, cross-disciplinary scenarios. Teachers gain a tool for high pedagogical fidelity and granular assessment data, significantly boosting student engagement.

SPEAKERS:
Chi-Ruei Tsai

As digital tools and AI rapidly transform STEM education, multilingual learners face unique challenges that go beyond language barriers – Digital Culture Shock. In this session, participants will explore how the intersection of technology, artificial intelligence, and language learning impacts STEM classrooms. We will examine the stages of digital culture shock and highlight practical approaches for turning digital shifts into opportunities for engagement and innovation. Attendees will gain strategies to integrate AI and digital tools intentionally to scaffold academic language, build STEM literacy, and empower multilingual learners to thrive in today’s STEM classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Multilingual learners face digital culture shock in STEM with new technologies, AI tools, and language demands. Participants will explore strategies to support STEM access, language development and empowerment to thrive in digital classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Maria Cieslak

This presentation will showcase three web-based educational simulations that demonstrate how AI can rapidly transform complex scientific concepts into interactive learning experiences. Using AI, these tools were created to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application. The PCR & Gel Electrophoresis simulation allows students to virtually perform laboratory techniques often inaccessible due to equipment costs. The Lac Operon simulation provides hands-on exploration of gene regulation mechanisms that are typically only taught through static diagrams. The Psychology Chatbot enables clinical interview practice with realistic patient interactions impossible in traditional classroom settings. AI streamlined the creation of those simulations and help connect scientific principles to real-world applications.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will see how AI can rapidly create interactive simulations that help students get hands-on learning experiences in science.

SPEAKERS:
Louis Bru

Interpreting data is central to science sensemaking, yet students often struggle to describe patterns, identify anomalies, or connect evidence to explanations. In this session, participants will explore how AI can support data analysis by helping students interpret data, compare datasets, generate multiple possible explanations, and revise interpretations during phenomenon-based investigations. Through hands on demonstrations, educators will examine examples of AI generated analyses that vary in accuracy and learn routines that require students to critique, justify, and improve analytical reasoning. Participants will leave with tangible ways to strengthen student science reasoning skills.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will explore how AI can support data interpretation by helping students critique AI reasoning and refine explanations tied to real world phenomena.

SPEAKERS:
Chris Lazzaro, Velma Itamura

Experience “AI in Action” as you learn how artificial intelligence can transform science teaching and learning. This interactive session aligns with NGSS and the Framework for K–12 Science Education, showing how AI supports sense making, differentiation, and equity in real classrooms. Educators will explore AI tools that streamline lesson planning, generate inclusive activities for multilingual learners and students with disabilities, and design formative and summative assessments aligned to standards. Hands-on demonstrations will highlight culturally relevant examples, ensuring the experiences, backgrounds, and interests of all learners are incorporated. Teachers will save grading time through AI-assisted rubrics and feedback tools. Participants will analyze classroom artifacts, apply sample prompts, and leave with ready-to-use templates that make AI a trusted instructional partner, helping teachers reclaim time while still engaging every learner in meaningful science.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to harness AI to streamline planning, grading, and differentiation, creating NGSS-aligned, equitable, and engaging science experiences that save time, elevate rigor, and empower every learner to thrive in the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Glenroy Foster, Nicole Marcellin

AI is reshaping what it means to learn and create. This session introduces Human-AI Teaming, a bold approach to learning where students don’t just use AI, they collaborate and think with it. Discover how AI as partner and provocateur can expand agency, equity, and the future of learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Gain a visionary understanding of Human-AI Teaming as a framework for the future of learning. See how AI can expand inquiry, creativity, and belonging in classrooms. Leave inspired with a complete Teaming Tool-Kit and practical entry points for teaching about and with AI in your classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Greg Benedis-Grab

Differentiating instruction in science can feel overwhelming—but AI can serve as a thought partner to help educators design engaging, student-centered experiences. In this interactive session, participants will explore practical ways AI can support lesson planning, scaffolding, and content creation for diverse learners. Through live demonstrations and collaborative activities, attendees will see how AI tools can generate differentiated lab tasks, reading passages, and assessments while preserving rigor and scientific accuracy. Educators will leave with strategies to harness AI for equity, engagement, and deeper learning in their classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use AI as a thought partner to design differentiated, engaging science instruction that meets the needs of diverse learners.

SPEAKERS:
Stefany Palomba

Ready to supercharge your science instruction? This session demystifies AI, offering a practical toolkit designed not to replace you, but to free you. Discover how to instantly draft NGSS-aligned learning experiences and differentiate resources for all learners in your classroom. We’ll demo how you can generate stunning presentations from a simple outline, turn long lab videos into short, dynamic review clips, and create custom study guides directly from your source materials. The true power of AI isn't just automation; it's the restoration of your time for human connection. By offloading these routine tasks, you reclaim invaluable hours. We will explore concrete strategies to reinvest that time into what truly matters: providing more one-on-one feedback, facilitating deeper hands-on inquiry, and building relationships that foster a genuine curiosity technology never can. Walk away with a curated list of tools and concrete strategies you can implement immediately to transform your teac

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn to implement AI tools to automate planning and create dynamic content, freeing up valuable time to focus on what truly matters: fostering student curiosity, facilitating hands-on inquiry, and building stronger connections in the science classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Nunez

Constructing explanations and scientific arguments requires students to think like scientists, testing ideas against evidence, uncovering misconceptions, and refining reasoning. This session explores how AI can support those habits of mind by helping students evaluate the strength of their claims, identify gaps in logic, and compare alternative explanations during phenomenon-based investigations. Participants will analyze AI-generated explanations to determine where scientific principles are upheld or misapplied, and practice routines that guide students to question, critique, and revise AI outputs rather than accept them at face value. The session emphasizes how AI can be used to strengthen science processing skills, promote deeper sensemaking, and help learners understand how scientific knowledge is built.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn strategies to guide students in critiquing AI-generated explanations so they build scientific arguments grounded in evidence, logic, and sensemaking, while deepening understanding of how scientific explanations are constructed.

SPEAKERS:
Chris Lazzaro, Velma Itamura

Discover how to seamlessly integrate literacy skills in data science and artificial intelligence into your science curriculum using LabXchange, Harvard’s free digital learning platform. This workshop introduces participants to interactive modules and engaging activities that build essential data skills through real-world scientific contexts. Explore how LabXchange supports student inquiry, visualization, and analysis, while demystifying data concepts relevant to science. Learn strategies to foster students’ critical thinking and ethical reasoning around data and AI—all without requiring coding experience. Participants will gain access to adaptable resources and leave prepared to empower diverse learners for the data-driven future of science. Note: Participants should bring a device with Wi-Fi capabilities to actively participate.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to use LabXchange’s free resources to integrate data and AI literacy into your science teaching, equipping students with essential skills for understanding and exploring real-world scientific data.

SPEAKERS:
Paul Schwein, Angela Campbell

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

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

SPEAKERS:
John Loehr

Science teacher preparation programs have the opportunity to enhance three-dimensional teaching and learning through forms of Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the university and middle/secondary science-level instruction. This session examines seven types of AI tools applicable to science education. Faculty, in-service teachers, and preservice teachers will experience a deeper level conceptual shift in understanding AI through the range and limitations of the following tools: personalized learning, adaptive learning, intelligent tutoring systems, automated grading and assessment, generative AI, language learning, assistive technology, data, and learning analytics, and virtual reality and augmented reality. Session activities support the following outcomes: Develop proficiency in aligning a specific AI tool with a science and engineering practice, and a crosscutting concept to support mastery of a disciplinary core idea. Practice integration of AI to promote equity in STEM for ALL.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will receive the AI Integration Model (AI-IM) tool for guidance to monitor the progress of NGSS three-dimensional or standards-based instruction and student learning. Preservice teachers will increase their ability to assess the effects of AI on students' shifts in scientific reasoning.

SPEAKERS:
Kimberly Staples, Kate Hoffner, Michael Bindis

AI stands for Artificial Intelligence, but could it also stand for Assisting and Innovating? This presentation will explore how educators can use Chat GPT, Magic School, School AI and other forms of AI to enhance our lessons, speed up the planning process, and introduce students to new ideas and technology. We will also discuss how to create boundaries in the classroom so that students and teachers use AI appropriately and safely.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will leave with at least 3 new ideas for how to use AI, 1 lesson plan created by AI and a protocol for guiding students to use AI appropriately in the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Juliana Brassfield

Scientific models help students explain phenomena, yet many learners struggle to revise or compare models in meaningful ways. In this session, participants will explore how AI can generate draft models or representations that students can refine, critique, and compare during phenomenon based investigations. Through hands on demonstrations, educators will analyze examples of AI produced models that vary in accuracy or completeness and use structured routines to help students identify misconceptions, improve explanations, and justify revisions with evidence. Attendees will leave with example routines that strengthen student critical thinking through the purposeful use of AI.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will learn routines that use AI models for critique and revision, helping students surface misconceptions and strengthen explanations.

SPEAKERS:
Chris Lazzaro, Velma Itamura

Wondering how to integrate AI into STEM classrooms without sacrificing inquiry? This session introduces CLUE (Collaborative Learning User Environment), a free platform that uses AI to support, not shortcut, deep reasoning and collaboration. Attendees will experience how CLUE’s multimodal AI strategies scaffold open-ended inquiry, foster metacognitive reflection, and enhance NGSS Crosscutting Practices. Real classroom examples from ecology, earth science, math modeling, programming, and biology will show how open, NSF-funded curricula can be paired with AI to promote broader, contextual thinking. Teachers will leave with concrete strategies for weaving AI into any STEM class, tools to engage students in reflecting on and critiquing AI, and resources to try CLUE immediately in their own classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will walk away with a clear understanding of how AI can enhance—not undermine—inquiry learning, classroom-ready strategies and examples of AI use in STEM, and access to free tools and curricula they can adopt right away.

SPEAKERS:
Leslie Bondaryk

So far, most (legitimate) use of AI in schooling seems to focus on chat bots serving as personal tutors, to differentiate instruction. But what about using AI to help differentiate curriculum? Can AI help to generate ambitious science curricula tailored to each student? With AI and the Internet, can students explore their interests with others beyond the walls of their classrooms and the boundaries of existing content? In this session, we will imagine how educators and students might use technology for tailoring curricula so that every student can love learning, find their passion, explore career paths, and start to take ownership of their learning. Whether you have tried this or wonder how this might work, come to this session for ideas and strategies.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to take steps towards differentiating curricula with AI and the Internet no matter what their curricular situation—whether they have a scripted curriculum and standards-based testing or not.

SPEAKERS:
Nicholas Balisciano

Attendees will explore a pilot study on the impact of immersive, simulation-based instruction on cultural competency development among first-year construction science students at a major university. Attendees will be introduced to the steps in the initial research, development and testing of the AI-driven avatar model which was conducted in the summer of 2025 and implemented in Fall 2025. Attendees will learn how the model scaffolds student engagement with interactive role-play with a culturally representative avatar. The avatar simulates real-world communication and management scenarios in domestic and international projects with diverse multicultural workforce environments that focus on safety, productivity, and inclusiveness in the architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) industry. Attendees will explore how the pre- and post-assessment research data, that includes a control group, revealed measurable improvements in students’ cultural awareness and interpersonal skills.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will discover how engaging in an AI-driven avatar simulation can elevate construction science education by enhancing students’ communication and cultural skills to prepare them for leadership in diverse multicultural projects in the AEC industry through experiential learning.

SPEAKERS:
John Montalvo

Asking strong scientific questions is central to sensemaking, yet many students struggle to move beyond surface level ideas. In this session, participants will explore how AI can support questioning that leads to deeper engagement with phenomena and clearer pathways for phenomenon-based investigations. Through hands on demonstrations, educators will learn routines that use AI to generate, refine, and evaluate questions, as well as produce flawed examples that students can critique to reveal their reasoning. The session emphasizes practices that strengthen student thinking by avoiding AI shortcutting. Attendees will leave with adaptable questioning templates and classroom ready strategies.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how AI supported routines can help students generate, refine, and critique scientific questions that lead to stronger reasoning and deeper engagement with phenomenon-based investigations.

SPEAKERS:
Chris Lazzaro, Velma Itamura

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping the educational landscape—streamlining workflows, personalizing learning, and supporting student engagement. Yet, along with its benefits come complex questions of data privacy, ethical use, and responsible integration. This session equips educators with the knowledge and tools to responsibly navigate AI in their teaching practice. Participants will explore how AI systems are designed and improved, the importance and value of data privacy agreements, and highlight practical strategies for leveraging AI to reduce classroom workloads. Finally, the session will prepare educators to guide students in responsible AI use, encouraging critical thinking, academic integrity, and ethical awareness. By balancing innovation with responsibility, educators can harness AI’s potential while safeguarding privacy and modeling ethical digital citizenship.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will identify how AI can be used to craft engaging, differentiated lessons and how to guide students through ethical and effective use of AI in learning.

SPEAKERS:
Tanya MacMartin, Ed.D.

This study examined the effectiveness of Carousel Brainstorming, Artificial Intelligence powered instruction, and conventional teaching in enhancing Biology achievement and fostering 21st century skills among secondary school students. Carousel Brainstorming promotes peer interaction, teamwork, and reflective thinking through station based cooperative learning, while AI powered instruction personalizes learning with adaptive technologies, immediate feedback, and individualized pathways. A quasi-experimental design involved ninety students divided into three groups, with pretest and posttest data collected using a validated Biology Achievement Test. Results indicated that both Carousel Brainstorming and AI powered instruction significantly outperformed conventional teaching, with AI producing the highest scores. The findings suggest that integrating cooperative strategies with AI tools can improve academic performance while developing collaboration, communication, and critical thinking.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how Carousel Brainstorming and AI powered instruction enhance Biology learning and foster 21st century skills, and how integrating these strategies can improve both student achievement and critical competencies for STEM success.

SPEAKERS:
Oluwatoyin Koshoffa

Multimodal AI tools can analyze images, graphs, diagrams, and datasets, giving students new entry points into science sensemaking. In this session, participants will explore how multimodal AI can help students describe phenomena, interpret data patterns, compare representations, and refine explanations during phenomenon-based investigations. Through hands on demonstrations, educators will examine strengths and limitations of multimodal outputs and learn routines that prompt students to critique, revise, and build on AI generated interpretations.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how multimodal AI can support science sensemaking by helping students interpret images, data, and diagrams and by prompting deeper reasoning during phenomenon-based investigations.

SPEAKERS:
Chris Lazzaro, Velma Itamura

Abstract: Join Dr. Carlotta A. Berry, professor, engineering, researcher, advocate, NoireSTEMinist®, and children’s book author, for the launch of her latest children’s picture book, The STEM Kids Make a Robot published by NSTA kids. This engaging book follows a diverse team of fourth graders as they design a recycling robot to solve a problem in their elementary school cafeteria. Along the way, the students model teamwork through the cooperative learning cycle (forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning) and the engineering design process, from identifying a need, research, brainstorming a solution, prototyping, testing, evaluating results, all the way to deployment and presentation. She will also share her robotics children’s book series, There’s a Robot! for baby through 4th grade, and Robot Explorations for 1st – 5th grade at DrCarlottaABerry.com/childrensbooks. This event will celebrate the power of imagination, collaboration, and problem-solving to change the face of

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will: • Understand the steps of the engineering design process as demonstrated in The STEM Kids Make a Robot. • Recognize the importance of teamwork and the cooperative learning cycle in solving complex problems. • Connect the book’s diverse characters and storylines to real-world is

SPEAKERS:
Carlotta Berry

Writing laboratory reports is a powerful way to assess student understanding and scientific communication skills. However, grading these reports is often time-consuming for both students and teachers, which limits the amount and quality of feedback that can be provided. Even with rubrics, the many required elements of a lab report can make consistent evaluation a challenge.  While AI (artificial intelligence) platforms offer new ways to support assessment, most fall short when analyzing graphical data. In this workshop, I will share how I have integrated AI to provide efficient, standards-based grading and actionable feedback in my honors physics and AP chemistry classes to evaluate lab reports against state standards and custom rubric criteria. Participants will see how an open inquiry lab using a graphical analysis application can be used to teach key concepts, measure student learning, and be used with certain AI programs to streamline grading—all while enhancing the feedback students receive.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will learn how to use an AI-powered learning management system to efficiently grade lab reports against state standards and custom rubric items. This includes saving time, improving consistency, and delivering more meaningful feedback to students.

SPEAKERS:
Randy Booth

Large Language Models (LLMs) hold promise for supporting physics learning, but their tendency to hallucinate and the cost of open-ended queries limit scalability. We present an approach that scaffolds student input into structured formats that both constrain the AI and deepen engagement. Our approach combines a semantic diagram editor, where students build vector-based representations of forces, motion, and fields with required tagging, with an equation editor that outputs structured math aligned with the diagram. Unlike image uploads, these diagrams are converted directly into a text-based, machine-readable format, eliminating the need for costly image processing. The paired inputs create a precise description of student reasoning that can be processed reliably by the AI, reducing hallucinations and lowering cost. For students, tagging and structuring diagrams makes thinking explicit and reinforces representational fluency.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will see how guiding students to create tagged diagrams and structured equations leads to clearer thinking, more accurate AI support, lower costs, and better feedback for teaching and learning in physics.

SPEAKERS:
Christopher Moore

Artificial Intelligence is no longer the future, it’s part of our students’ world today. Yet most elementary and middle school students, and educators, know little about how AI actually works or how to think critically about it. In this session, participants will explore how the experience in a university machine learning lab evolved into a free curriculum designed to teach students about AI through hands-on, cross-disciplinary lessons. Using tools like Scratch and Teachable Machine, students engage in coding, probability, data analysis, ethical inquiry, and the engineering design process to develop an understanding on how AI learns and makes decisions. Attendees will leave with ready-to-use lesson examples, classroom-tested strategies, and a deeper understanding of how to help students see themselves as informed creators, not just consumers, of technology.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with a practical framework and free classroom resources to help students understand how AI works, explore its ethical implications, and connect it to core STEM and math concepts through inquiry-based learning.

SPEAKERS:
Dawn Robertson, Caitlin Smith

As AI tools rapidly enter science classrooms, educators are placed in a unique situation: learn to adapt quickly to this exponentially evolving technology and consider its cybersecurity risks. This session focuses on the latter, highlighting the cybersecurity challenges associated with adopting AI in K-12 science education. Participants will explore real-world scenarios of data privacy, bias, and security threats, and discuss how to build student and teacher awareness of these risks. Attendees will leave with strategies and resources to promote responsible, safe, and equitable AI use in science teaching.

TAKEAWAYS:
Begin the development of an action plan for balancing the benefits of AI utilization with responsible and safe classroom practices.

SPEAKERS:
Anthony Stawiery

Participants will explore classroom-ready tools such as Google NotebookLM, Google Quick Draw, Khan Academy Khanmingo and the NGSS Phenomenon Generator in ChatGPT, among others. These tools can be used to spark inquiry, generate new phenomena, or add engaging twists to lessons teachers already know and love. The focus will be on easy integration: how to “spice up” what you already teach without needing to overhaul your curriculum. Teachers will also gain strategies for modeling responsible and ethical use of AI, helping students learn not just how to use AI, but how to use it wisely. They will also gain a clear vision for how AI can help students explore science and engineering concepts more deeply while preparing them for the future. Join us to see how AI in action can energize your classroom and empower your students to think, create, and explore like never before. This session can be used for any grade level or experience level.

TAKEAWAYS:
By the end of the session, teachers will walk away with ready-to-use ideas for incorporating AI into their STEM lessons, along with the confidence to step into the “unknown” of AI using practical and supportive strategies.

SPEAKERS:
Scott Woodard, Nicole Hucks, Alicia Yewcic

The Inquiry-Based STEM Game Development via Generative AI tool functions as an expert pedagogical system to address the complexity of rigorous, cross-disciplinary STEM curriculum design. Teachers input learning objectives, STEM knowledge units, and select an inquiry model (e.g., 6E, PBL). The GenAI analyzes the underlying STEM literacies, automatically generates dynamic, authentic problem scenarios for the game's plot, and integrates multimedia. The tool ensures high pedagogical fidelity, guiding students to perceive STEM concepts, attempt problem resolution, and understand the socio-cultural impact of science. Crucially, the system uses dynamic generation to alter gameplay upon each launch, maintaining student engagement and curiosity. A robust backend logs detailed learning outcomes, providing teachers with granular data for both formative and summative assessment, thereby elevating the quality and reach of inquiry-based STEM education.

TAKEAWAYS:
GenAI-driven game development enhances inquiry-based STEM by generating dynamic, cross-disciplinary scenarios. Teachers gain a tool for high pedagogical fidelity and granular assessment data, significantly boosting student engagement.

SPEAKERS:
Chi-Ruei Tsai

This interactive workshop invites science educators to explore how artificial intelligence can enhance teaching, learning, and inquiry in the classroom. Participants will engage in hands-on activities using AI tools for data analysis, modeling, and simulation, while also critically considering ethical and practical implications. The session will highlight classroom-ready applications that support student investigation, personalize learning, and extend scientific practices. Educators will leave with practical strategies, curated resources, and ideas for integrating AI into lessons aligned with NGSS, equipping them to prepare students for a future where AI and science are deeply interconnected.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with practical strategies and ready-to-use AI tools that enhance student inquiry, support NGSS-aligned practices, and prepare learners to critically and creatively engage with science in an AI-driven world.

SPEAKERS:
Tammie Schrader

AI can enhance learning or undermine critical thinking - the difference is implementation. Explore this paradox through STEM scenarios. Learn when to encourage, restrict, or scaffold AI use while building critical AI literacy. Move beyond binary thinking to actionable strategies.

TAKEAWAYS:
Walk away with a decision framework for AI use, ready-to-use guidelines for students, strategies to teach critical AI literacy, and confidence to navigate the complexities. You'll have practical answers to your toughest AI questions and an action plan for Monday morning.

SPEAKERS:
Priscilla Lumbreras, Lisa Blank

Step into a classroom where students don’t just learn—they lead. This session explores Agency-Based Learning, a shift from compliance to curiosity that empowers learners as thinkers, creators, and partners. Through hands-on activities, you’ll co-create lessons, experience inquiry-driven EduProtocols, and explore tools like Snorkl and Learning Genie that amplify feedback and student voice. Discover how to move from “clicking” to critical thinking while aligning with the Portrait of a Graduate and building lifelong learning skills.

TAKEAWAYS:
Walk away with practical strategies to shift from teacher-led to student-driven learning, using inquiry, co-creation, and tools like EduProtocols, Snorkl, and Learning Genie to amplify student voice, agency, and authentic critical thinking.

SPEAKERS:
Christina Miramontes

Join us to explore how to use AI to assist in brainstorming NGSS-aligned phenomena that enhance 3D instruction and assessment and connect to students’ interests and identities. These tools come from the 5D assessment project, a collaboration between inquiryHub and BSCS Science Learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Bring a focal Performance Expectation (PE) and a clear goal for learning and assessment. Leave with a refined list of potential aligned phenomena that elicit Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs), Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs), and Crosscutting Concepts (CCCs), while also connecting to students'

SPEAKERS:
Greg Benedis-Grab

Experiential learning such as field trips, lab investigations, and community partner visits sparks curiosity but often lacks strong connections to rigorous, standards based science. This interactive session demonstrates how artificial intelligence can serve as a thought partner for teachers, transforming these experiences into inquiry rich investigations anchored in NGSS and Tennessee standards. Participants will practice using AI to design pre learning prompts, on site data collection tasks, and post learning reflections. While examples highlight middle school Physical Science including forces, motion, energy, and waves, the framework adapts across K–12 and extends to Life and Earth Science as well. Educators will leave with adaptable AI prompts, ready to use frameworks, and strategies that ensure every experiential learning opportunity advances student mastery of science standards.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will practice using AI to design pre, during, and post learning tasks that transform experiential learning into rigorous, standards based science investigations that deepen student understanding.

SPEAKERS:
Jeannie Whitlock

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming society and education at an unprecedented pace. As educators introduce AI concepts into their classrooms, it becomes increasingly vital for students to possess robust critical thinking skills and a solid understanding of the theory of knowledge. This interactive session explores why critical thinking must serve as the foundational skill set for any effective AI education program. Participants will engage with real-world examples and classroom-ready strategies, demonstrating how critical thinking and epistemology enable students to thoughtfully interact with AI technologies, evaluate ethical considerations, and discern biases.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with a clear understanding of why critical thinking and epistemological frameworks are essential precursors to meaningful AI education.

SPEAKERS:
Helene McLaughlin

This interactive workshop will guide participants in designing a custom GPT chatbot to support innovative science teaching and learning. Using generative AI tools, participants will learn how to craft clear instructions that enable the chatbot to generate culturally relevant, standards-aligned activities for multicultural learners. Drawing on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Ambitious Science Teaching, the session emphasizes how AI can be leveraged to sustain equity and efficiency in science education. Participants will experiment with developing a framework, creating prompts, test outputs, and refining their chatbot designs to ensure lessons highlight desired outcomes. In collaboration, participants will leave with practical strategies for integrating AI responsibly into their teaching while maintaining their role as the expert in the classroom. This session offers an approach to blending technology and pedagogy in ways that support all learners and doers in science.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this workshop, participants will build a custom chatbot to generate standards-based, locally relevant, and multicultural learning activities. Further, participants will explore how AI customization can lead to higher accuracy and efficiency when designing science lessons.

SPEAKERS:
Leena McLean, Joy Barnes-Johnson, Demetrice Smith-Mutegi, Sharon Delesbore

Join Dr. Carlotta A. Berry, professor, engineering, researcher, advocate, NoireSTEMinist®, and children’s book author, for the launch of her latest children’s picture book, The STEM Kids Make a Robot published by NSTA kids. This engaging book follows a diverse team of fourth graders as they design a recycling robot to solve a problem in their elementary school cafeteria. Along the way, the students model teamwork through the cooperative learning cycle (forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning) and the engineering design process, from identifying a need, research, brainstorming a solution, prototyping, testing, evaluating results, all the way to deployment and presentation. She will also share her robotics children’s book series, There’s a Robot! for baby through 4th grade, and Robot Explorations for 1st – 5th grade at DrCarlottaABerry.com/childrensbooks. This event will celebrate the power of imagination, collaboration, and problem-solving to change the face of STEM. Dr.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will: • Understand the steps of the engineering design process as demonstrated in The STEM Kids Make a Robot. • Recognize the importance of teamwork and the cooperative learning cycle in solving complex problems. • Connect the book’s diverse characters and storylines to real-world issues of representation

SPEAKERS:
Carlotta Berry