Explore an innovative, skills-based approach to Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) career discovery with CareerXplorer, a free tool from LabXchange. In this session, participants will experience how integrative tools can connect learners to a wide range of real-world STEMM opportunities through skill development. With interactive activities, participants will explore STEMM careers and discover how to empower students to connect their classroom learning with real-world career skills and chart their own futures in STEMM. Leave the workshop with practical strategies and lesson plan ideas for integrating these free digital career-connected resources into your own learning spaces and educational standards.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will gain practical tools and strategies to empower students to explore diverse STEMM careers through skills-based learning with CareerXplorer by LabXchange.

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Sjoblom

Take your students on the newest addition to the Crash Science in the Classroom website - an immersive 3D 360° virtual field trip inside the IIHS’s crash-testing facility—normally closed to the public. Designed with scaffolded content, the tour promotes equitable classroom practices by offering multimodal instructional strategies by blending 360° navigation with award-winning videos, guiding questions, exciting demos, English/Spanish captions, and hands-on activities to help include all students in self-paced learning. The tour brings experts on relevant and timely topics (i.e., car crashes, crash dummies, teen driving issues, crash avoidance technologies) into classrooms to integrate multi-disciplinary core ideas with science and engineering practices. This high-interest, place-based experience shows how science, engineering, and technology shape society (NGSS Crosscutting Concept) by driving real-world vehicle safety innovations while equipping students with life-saving knowledge.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants learn how to utilize a placed-based, interactive virtual tour paired with inquiry-based activities to foster students’ engagement and 3D learning by integrating STEM concepts and real-world data with vehicle crashworthiness, crash avoidance technologies, and teen driver safety.

SPEAKERS:
Pini Kalnite, Griff Jones

Sponsoring Company: Switch Classroom

Prepare your students for success on the AP Enviro exam with expert tips for tackling multiple-choice and free-response questions. Learn strategies to enhance critical thinking and test-taking skills, helping your students achieve their best scores.

SPEAKERS:
Jillian Swets

Discover how to transform everyday recyclables into a dynamic, learning-rich project. This session provides a practical blueprint for creating an engaging force and motion science lab centered around building a balloon-powered car. We'll guide you through the materials needed and the step-by-step setup, teaching you how to use this fun activity to illustrate key physics principles, including Newton's Laws of Motion, friction, and aerodynamics. Participants will gain the skills to lead a hands-on, inquiry-based lesson that fosters creativity, problem-solving, and an understanding of engineering concepts. Leave with a ready-to-implement lesson plan that turns a simple craft into a powerful STEM exploration.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn to implement a full force and motion lesson plan by using a hands-on balloon car project with recycled materials, effectively teaching key physics principles like Newton's Laws, force, and friction in an engaging, inquiry-based lab setting.

SPEAKERS:
Daniell Cossey

How can we inspire young learners to see themselves as future innovators, problem-solvers, and leaders in STEM? This session explores how computer science and STEM can be meaningfully integrated into elementary classrooms in ways that are both engaging and accessible. In our district’s Imagineer Studio, teachers help students build problem-solving, algorithmic thinking, and logical reasoning skills while fostering a classroom culture that emphasizes creativity, collaboration, and innovation. Through hands-on STEM experiences and career-focused investigations, students begin to recognize clear connections between their classroom learning and real-world STEM careers. Participants will gain practical strategies and classroom-tested approaches that make STEM and computer science exciting, relevant, and aspirational, while equipping young learners to envision their own futures in STEM fields.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave this session with practical strategies to make STEM and computer science engaging, relevant, and tied to real-world careers, helping students develop skills and envision future opportunities in STEM fields.

SPEAKERS:
Sharon Wiggins, Christopher Bowen

Did you know that there are nearly 300,000 STEM professionals at the DoW? And did you know that those DoW STEM professionals, along with partner organizations, are leveraged to provide unique STEM learning experiences for students and educators? Participants will have the opportunity to explore STEM resources and opportunities offered by the Department of War. From hands-on learning activities to paid internships and college scholarships, learn how DoW STEM can help you power the next generation of innovators.

TAKEAWAYS:
Discover how the Department of Defense’s extensive STEM workforce and programs, ranging from hands-on activities to internships and scholarships, can provide powerful learning opportunities that inspire and prepare the next generation of innovators.

SPEAKERS:
Dr. Marquis Mason, Kristen McInerney

How can science departments expand offerings in ways that both engage students and strengthen enrollment? This session shares the step-by-step process of designing, launching, and refining a high school food science elective. Participants will learn how the course was structured to balance rigor with accessibility and connect chemistry, biology, and sustainability to real-world issues. The session will highlight strategies for curriculum design, lab experiences, assessments, and partnerships that made the course successful. Data on enrollment growth and student engagement will be shared, along with practical tools attendees can adapt to their own schools.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with a roadmap and practical tools for developing a food science elective that engages students, boosts enrollment, and connects science learning to careers, sustainability, and everyday life.

SPEAKERS:
Yana Zubarev, Christopher Taylor

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Puppies are born to Molly the Labradoodle, and students must use genetics to solve the paternity mystery. Use Punnett squares and DNA gel electrophoresis to track the inheritance of a single trait across the litter. Then decide who’s the daddy: Zeus the Poodle or Otto the Labradoodle?

SPEAKERS:
Allison Nishitani, PhD

Career Lab 360 reimagines traditional career exploration by immersing students in hands-on, real-world tasks that mirror the responsibilities and problem-solving skills used across a wide range of professions. This session highlights how the Career Lab model transforms passive career awareness into active, skill-driven engagement through a series of interactive stations. Each station is designed to showcase a different career pathway, allowing students to rotate through experiences that connect classroom learning to authentic workforce applications. Participants will learn how this approach strengthens student understanding of career possibilities, builds foundational skills, and fosters a future-ready mindset. By partnering with community organizations and industry professionals, Career Lab 360 creates meaningful bridges between schools and the world of work, inspiring students to envision their future careers with clarity and confidence.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be able to design and implement hands-on, experiential career stations in partnership with community and industry organizations that replicate real-world tasks and foster students’ problem-solving skills, career awareness, and future-ready mindsets.

SPEAKERS:
Kimberly Patti, Beverly Stambaugh

Sponsoring Company: RAYN Growing Systems

Hydroponics gives students a living laboratory where science, literacy, and agriculture come alive. In this hands-on workshop, educators will explore NGSS-aligned investigations using a cheap plastic cup experiment to teach plant growth, environmental science, CTE, and STEM. Participants will experience a phenomena-based lab that models real agricultural research—how pH affects plant development—using simple and cheap materials that work in any school setting. We will demonstrate student-friendly data collection strategies, cross-curricular literacy connections, and ways to integrate STEM and sustainability. Educators will leave with ready-to-use lessons, assessment rubrics, and digital student data tables that build scientific thinking and support National Agricultural Literacy Outcomes. Whether teaching PreK–5, middle school, or high school, attendees will learn how to transform food systems learning into powerful experiential education while helping students explore career pathways

SPEAKERS:
Bryce Corning

Step into the shoes of your students and experience the power of puzzles firsthand! In this interactive session, participants will begin with a mini escape room challenge—working together to unlock a mystery box using science clues and critical thinking. Then, we’ll break down how to design and implement your own classroom escape experiences to deepen engagement, collaboration, and content mastery. From low-prep paper puzzles to more immersive breakouts, you’ll leave with practical strategies, templates, and inspiration to make any middle or high school science lesson feel like an adventure.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn strategies for using escape rooms and puzzles to transform science learning—boosting engagement, collaboration, and critical thinking while making your classroom an unforgettable experience.

SPEAKERS:
Lisa Yi, Kim Bathker

Sponsoring Company: TCI

Learn to promote interest and engagement while helping students achieve specific learning objectives with games. Join us as you learn simple and valuable ways to gamify your lessons. We will be sharing a few creative game ideas for building relationships and reviewing and learning content.

SPEAKERS:
Katherine Hall

Sponsoring Company: MiniOne Systems

Experience the power of cross-disciplinary learning! In this hands-on workshop, teachers will use micropipettes to serve as powerful tools for reinforcing measurement accuracy, proportional reasoning, and data analysis—all while producing stunning visual art. Teachers will practice valuable transferable lab skills and discover an approachable entry point for STEM learners of all levels. Leave with classroom-ready ideas that blend art, math, and scientific precision in meaningful ways.

SPEAKERS:
Erika Fong

[10 min] Participants will be provided with and introduced to our phenomena-based planning tool for content instruction that is both meaningful to students and shows how science disciplines work together. [40 min] Participants will use our tool to develop unit plans that they can take back to the classroom. First, they will: 1) identify phenomena and interdisciplinary connections for an upcoming lesson/unit; and 2) identify anchoring questions. Second, they will outline a plan for a unit. Participants will work in groups by their needs based on content and teaching context. Facilitators will circulate to each group and use timed check-ins during the workshop as a way to monitor progress, address whole group questions and offer feedback and support. [10 min] In groups, participants will share their outline for an phenomena based, interdisciplinary lesson, exchange feedback and respond to questions. To conclude, participants will map out their next steps to prepare for implementation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with a phenomena-based planning tool and a draft of an interdisciplinary unit plan that promotes engaging, experience-driven learning aligned with NGSS, OpenSciEd and other curricula.

SPEAKERS:
Anthony Stetzenmeyer, Takumi Sato, PhD

Selecting and implementing instructional materials is a key part of implementing the vision of the NRC Framework. This session will explore the current state of culturally responsive STEM curriculum in the country as well as lessons learned from the field to increase the use of materials that empower all students. Breakout discussions will allow participants to explore opportunities to overcome common challenges to implementing culturally-response curriculum in an effort to community source and solve these challenges. Session discussion will focus on integrating instructional practices that promote equity and support culturally responsive instruction across materials that embody the vision of the Framework. By strategizing about how to implement curriculum and instruction that realize culturally responsive practices, instructional leaders will be equipped to support teachers in fostering deeper connections with diverse learners, empowering their STEM thinking and identity.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn the importance of culturally responsive teaching and the role it plays in STEM education through identifying key components that make curriculum culturally responsive and considering lessons learned for making sustainable, scaled changes in curricula and teaching practices.

SPEAKERS:
Jennifer Childress Self, Joi Merritt, Shannon Wachowski

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Science

Discover how STCMS brings NGSS to life through purposeful design and hands-on learning. See authentic student work, brief classroom clips, and clear evidence of 3D sensemaking. Participants will perform sample tasks and learn how STCMS supports diverse learners and strengthens NGSS instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Holly Baldwin, Heather Toothaker

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

Join NSTA Early Childhood-Elementary & BSB Committees as they explore how these award-winning books support STEM learning. Educators will engage in interactive activities, leaving with a head full of ideas on how these books enhance science & engineering practices (SEPs) in the classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants view and discuss the ten years of Best STEM Book winners and ways to incorporate them into their classrooms to teach the SEPs.

SPEAKERS:
J Carrie Launius, Anne Lowry, Simone Nance, Jennifer Williams

Sponsoring Company: Discovery Education

Grab your goggles and dive into the Discovery Education Phenomena Science Playground. Explore hands-on experiments and walk away with classroom-ready resources, fresh ideas, and practical tools to bring science to life. Step into the Discovery Education Phenomena Science Playground—a hands-on experience designed to spark curiosity and connect classrooms to real-world science. Participants rotate through interactive stations featuring engaging activities and classroom-ready resources. Through a phenomena-driven approach, educators explore tools and content co-created with industry partners that support inquiry-based learning and student engagement. Whether the goal is to enhance hands-on instruction, integrate STEM, or bring more relevance into the classroom, this session offers both inspiration and practical takeaways.

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Hampton, Justin Karkow

Sponsoring Company: Stile Education

Bring your Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs) to life with captivating, interactive simulations! Dive into a dynamic toolkit filled with powerful, curriculum-aligned digital resources. You'll leave fully equipped with (free!) access to a huge collection of engaging simulations that vividly illustrate science concepts and get students engaging meaningfully with the science and engineering practices, making lessons memorable and meaningful.

SPEAKERS:
Clayton Forest

All students have the right to develop a deep understanding of how the world works in ways that support their personal goals and the interests of their community. Science education can help build a more just and equitable world. Come explore how instruction can support science learning that is consequential to your students, their communities, and the broader world.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn about and apply two equity project frameworks for science education to support professional learning and implementation projects. They will learn how open education resources (http://stemteachingtools.org/) can help them develop equitable approaches to science teaching.

SPEAKERS:
Kelsie Fowler, Philip Bell

Discover incredible opportunities in STEM education with a range of NSTA-administered K-12 opportunities that engage through innovative programming and recognize achievement with amazing awards. We’ll explore programs and awards that are sure to ignite a passion for discovery and innovation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Empower your teaching with dynamic STEM programs and awards administered by NSTA as you learn about innovative opportunities to boost engagement and enthusiasm for K-12 students and teachers.

SPEAKERS:
Kathryn Lasky, Sue Whitsett, Brian Kutsch

Undergraduates in teacher preparation programs often take a capstone class before student teaching. While these courses vary by institution, capstones provide students with a culminating experience. These classes are important as they help students deepen their content knowledge, connect science content to teaching practices & standards, and develop their identity as educators. Yet, these classes also run the risk of being repetitive and not meeting the current demands of the teaching profession. As we plan future capstone classes for 7-12 grade pre-service science teachers, we seek input from both new and experienced teachers as well as other college faculty. This roundtable discussion will explore a) beneficial experiences from capstone classes and b) topics that educators believe that pre-service teachers need in capstone classes. Data will be collected from participants, and a summary of results will be shared. Future course syllabi will also be made available.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will assess various capstone frameworks, discuss the knowledge and skills needed to be successful science educators, and contribute feedback to ensure future capstone courses support 7-12 grade pre-service science teacher development. Roundtable results will be aggregated and shared.

SPEAKERS:
Carrie Sharitt

NAMs—including organs on a chip, 3D cell cultures, and computational models—are rapidly advancing scientific research and testing while reducing reliance on animal experimentation. These breakthroughs promise not only more relevant, human-based results, but also foreshadow the tools and technology that today’s students may encounter in higher education and future STEM careers. This roundtable will bring together experts in experimental methods, classroom teaching, and humane education, to discuss how NAMs are reshaping science and how K-12 educators can begin preparing students now. Participants are invited to consider how familiarity with NAMs may promote science literacy, college preparation and career-readiness, and discuss how these technologies could filter into classroom science practice. The session is intended for secondary teachers, curriculum developers, STEM coordinators, and any educators who are interested in humane, innovative teaching.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of NAMs, exploring potential connections to disciplinary core ideas and cross-cutting concepts, as well as practices to equip students with the competencies needed to thrive in a science landscape that is moving beyond animal use.

SPEAKERS:
Regina Terlau-Benford

Curious about what it takes to become a Shell Science Teaching Award or Shell Urban Award winner? Join this dynamic panel of past and current recipients of the Shell Science Teaching Award and the Shell Urban Science Educators Development Award, along with award panelists, as they share their journeys, classroom innovations, and tips for crafting a strong application. Learn how these prestigious awards recognize and support outstanding science educators—especially those making an impact in under-resourced schools and urban communities. Attendees will hear candid stories, ask questions directly to winners and reviewers, and walk away with resources, encouragement, and inspiration. Bonus: Attend for a chance to win exciting door prizes that support your classroom and professional journey!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will gain insider knowledge and confidence to apply for the Shell Awards and grow as leaders in science education.

SPEAKERS:
Amanda Upton

Developing a future-focus for science education with emphasis of music and arts. Bridging out for cross-curriculum among various disciplines, however, focus upon STEM education. Utilizing the ODE State Science Standards, along with state standards from various content, as well as the connections to the Next Generation Science Standards. My proposal is for the audience of 6-12 general science educators. Educators from outside of the 6-12 parameter are always welcome to attend the proposed session. The information provided for the proposed session presentation is to help all STEM educators with the integration of music and arts into the STEM education and curriculum (STEAM). Empower and equip educators thinking outside of the bun to utilize music with the STEM curricula. Teachers will learn how to improve their critical thinking to achieve the talented and gifted students who may not be advanced in science, but advanced in arts and music.

TAKEAWAYS:
Empower and equip educators thinking outside of the bun to utilize music with the STEM curricula. There are digital programs the educators can utilize without costs to improve the connections of arts and music with STEM. Teachers will learn how to improve their critical thinking to STEAM TAG kids.

SPEAKERS:
John Davis III

Bridging the gap between informal science educators and classroom teachers requires a shared language that fosters collaboration, advocacy, and meaningful learning experiences. This session explores strategies for aligning communication and goals across educational settings, equipping teachers and school leaders with the tools to champion informal science opportunities as integral to student success. Participants will engage in practical frameworks for building partnerships, amplifying impact, and advancing advocacy for science learning beyond the classroom. Together, we will reframe informal science not as enrichment, but as essential to developing curiosity, critical thinking, and lifelong learners.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with practical strategies and shared language tools to strengthen partnerships between teachers and informal science educators, positioning informal learning as essential to student success.

SPEAKERS:
Hannah Eisla, Dr. Dieuwertje Kast

Urban school districts are uniquely positioned at the intersection of innovation and inequity. This roundtable invites educators, leaders, and community stakeholders to discuss strategies that increase access, engagement, and achievement in STEM for historically underserved students. Together, participants will examine real-world challenges such as resource gaps, culturally relevant pedagogy, and teacher retention, while sharing solutions like community partnerships, after-school STEM initiatives, and project-based learning. The session will serve as a collaborative space to exchange best practices and inspire actionable steps toward equity in STEM education.

TAKEAWAYS:
Equity in STEM education requires more than good intentions—it takes intentional strategies, culturally relevant teaching, and sustainable partnerships that ensure urban students see themselves as scientists, engineers, and innovators.

SPEAKERS:
Tamia Murphy

How can teachers bring real-world multidisciplinary science into their classrooms? This roundtable features teacher fellows from the Xplorlabs Educator Fellowship, a yearlong program by UL Research Institutes. Fellows learn from scientists and peers to co-develop free, standards-aligned lessons on pressing challenges such as fire safety, batteries, and sustainability. Starting from the same set of science ideas and phenomena, fellows adapt these resources in very different ways to reflect their students’ cultures, prior ideas, and learning goals. Together, their stories highlight the creativity of teachers and the power of diverse perspectives in sensemaking. In this moderated discussion, fellows will share how the experience influenced their practice, engaged students in authentic science, and expanded their professional networks. Attendees will also learn more about the fellowship itself and how to access free classroom-ready resources.

TAKEAWAYS:
Hear directly from Xplorlabs Educator Fellows about collaborating with researchers, co-developing free STEM lessons, and engaging students with authentic science. Learn more about the fellowship and explore free resources for bringing safety science into classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Megan O'Keeffe, Samantha Eddis, Danielle Shaw-Jones, Dominique Thomas, Daniel Sternberg

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek, Inc.

Modern biotechnology has ushered in a new era of scientific discovery, with powerful techniques like genetic engineering and recombinant DNA technology transforming research and medicine. These innovations have enabled scientists to manipulate DNA sequences directly, dramatically reducing the time needed to study and improve organisms. Among the most groundbreaking advancements of the past decade is the development of the CRISPR-Cas9 system—a precise, cost-effective, and efficient gene-editing tool that is revolutionizing the field of biotechnology and transforming human health in real time. In this hands-on workshop, we’ll explore CRISPR-Cas gene editing with fast, hands-on experiments modeling cures for genetic diseases like Sickle Cell Anemia and Cystic Fibrosis. We’ll discuss options for performing authentic CRISPR experiments in your classroom. Bring this revolutionary science to your classroom today!

SPEAKERS:
Maria Dayton

Sponsoring Company: PASCO Scientific

Where does electrical energy come from? How does the energy transferred from a battery to a coil produce a magnetic field? We will investigate these questions using a dissectable generator, exploring how different variables affect the output voltage using sensor data. We'll also do investigate the reverse process to see how energy from an electrical source can be transferred to a magnetic field to do work. This engaging lesson is a great enhancement to physical science, physics, and OpenSciEd curriculum.

SPEAKERS:
Jonathan Hanna

Sponsoring Company: Thames & Kosmos

Make STEM learning fun with Thames & Kosmos! Teachers will experience a hands-on 5-E lesson from Structural Engineering: Bridges and Skyscrapers, one of the Thames & Kosmos kits that includes a complete standards-based curriculum. Experience the material from the student's perspective as you build a structure and compete against your fellow teachers. You will also get a sneak peek at some of our other kits, which include high-quality curricula: Robotics Workshop with Micro:Bit, Renewable Energy Lab, Roller Coaster Engineering, and Happy Atoms. These kits include scope & sequence, teacher guides and student workbooks, plus scaffolding to support literacy and knowledge-building — all free to access on our website. Calling all physics, chemistry, coding, and engineering teachers! This workshop is great for anyone who teaches STEM at the upper elementary, middle school, or high school level.

SPEAKERS:
Hannah Mintz, Edmund McGuire

Sponsoring Company: LEGO Education

How can you get middle school students to collaborate, communicate, and think critically and creatively about science? Join Compton USD and LEGO Education to learn how hands-on, collaborative science lessons equip students with 21st century skills while deepening their understanding and interest in science. Experience an interactive, inquiry-based lesson, and walk away with hands-on materials, sample lessons, and practical strategies to build transferable skills and ignite student’s curiosity and success in science.

SPEAKERS:
Amelia Crespo, Amber Holloway

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Explore interactive, narrative-driven digital labs that can be used independently or alongside hands-on biotech activities. This session highlights classroom use cases that engage students with genetics laboratory topics, including sickle cell disease, the central dogma, and others.

SPEAKERS:
Katy Martin

Sponsoring Company: Stile Education

Turn struggling readers into confident scientists! Discover simple, high-impact literacy strategies that help students tackle tough science texts, master vocabulary, and make meaning of complex ideas. See how a few tweaks can transform reading time into real science learning—and send your students’ confidence soaring.

SPEAKERS:
Erika James

Sponsoring Company: Pitsco Education

Ignite student curiosity with Take Flight: Drone Missions for Student Engagement- an exciting and relevant session that brings STEM learning to life through real-world drone applications. Explore how students can design, build, and pilot drones while tackling mission-based challenges that reinforce concepts in engineering and problem-solving. Participants will discover strategies for integrating drones into various learning environments, engaging learners of all levels, and fostering collaboration, critical thinking, and career-ready skills. Get ready to elevate engagement and see STEM from a whole new perspective!

SPEAKERS:
Oscar Rios

Sponsoring Company: TCI

Elevate your students’ science thinking with CER Writing! This interactive workshop will equip educators with practical strategies for guiding students in constructing Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning. Learn how to scaffold the CER process, integrate it seamlessly into science lessons, and support students at all ability levels in developing strong scientific explanations. Participants will analyze student work, share best practices, and take away ready-to-use resources that foster critical thinking and effective science communication in the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Brian Ladd

Sponsoring Company: Switch Classroom

Get ready for a session that’s bright, squishy, and full of “aha!” moments! Using colorful Play-Doh, LEDs, and batteries, participants will explore Switch Classroom’s Intro to Electricity lesson and bring foundational circuit concepts to life. You’ll investigate conductivity, resistance, open and closed circuits, and series versus parallel designs through playful, hands-on exploration. Designed for elementary through high school classrooms, this adaptable lab makes abstract electrical concepts tangible while supporting NGSS science and engineering practices. Optional extensions allow the challenge to be simplified for younger learners or expanded for grades 9–12. Leave with free Switch Classroom resources, classroom-ready strategies, and the confidence to spark curiosity—and light up learning—in any classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Jillian Swets

I have found students’ fear of science, scientific concepts, and deeper understanding lingers, even in preservice undergrads. Many found science as unrelatable and something to get through. Students tended to not understand the “big picture” and concept connection to personal interests/ activities. I use alternative writing assignments to elevate HOTS levels while supporting cross-curricular understanding. I created a rubric that was general in the sense of product development but precise in the understanding conveyed. The rubric guides students to widen their understanding and incorporate individualism. Although full rubric completion takes students to an average, C letter grade, it provides multiple avenues for personal interests with the ability to exemplify superior work for them, physically linking sensemaking between science ideas and student ideas. The culminating products have been more unimaginably diverse and deeply engaging for their peers, the instructor, and themselves.

TAKEAWAYS:
My AWA (alternative writing assignment) rubric will be explained and shared, showing how concepts can be created, taught, and presented by students.

SPEAKERS:
Michael Bechtel

This interactive poster explores the fascinating world of native bumble bees and discover how creativity can inspire conservation! Visitors will learn to recognize local bumble bee species by their distinctive color patterns, behaviors, and preferred native plants. Participants will design and build “bee bracelets” that mimic real species—like the White-shouldered Bumble Bee or the Golden-belted Bumble Bee—while learning how these color combinations help bees communicate, defend, and thrive in their environments.    Educators and citizen scientists will receive free identification guides, plant lists, and data-collection resources to help them engage in citizen science projects such as Bumble Bee Watch and iNaturalist. The booth invites teachers of all grade levels to connect art, science, and stewardship—leaving with a tangible reminder of local biodiversity and a call to action to go outdoors, observe, and share their bee discoveries to support pollinator research and conservation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to identify native bumble bees by color pattern and behavior, connect these traits to pollination ecology, and engage students or visitors in creative, hands-on activities that inspire participation in citizen science and local pollinator conservation.

SPEAKERS:
Claire Lannoye-Hall

NSTA has several resources to support STEM teaching, two tools that were impactful for my teaching practice through the Scaling Up For STEM Cohort were the STEM Lesson Evaluation Tool and STEM Implementation Plan Tool. Together these two tools allowed me to consider more integrated approaches to career awareness in my middle school STEAM classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use the STEM Lesson Evaluation Tool and STEM Implementation Plan Tool to design more integrated, career-connected STEM learning experiences in their classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Olivia Bello

Students partnered with the University of Central Florida to grow red mangroves from propagules in a campus nursery, later contributing to real-world shoreline stabilization efforts. The project immersed learners in three-dimensional (3D) learning through inquiry-driven investigations that emphasized sensemaking, problem solving, and key concepts such as ecosystems, plant structures, and reproduction. By integrating conservation, restoration, and data collection, students developed a deeper understanding of environmental stewardship while applying Disciplinary Core Ideas, Crosscutting Concepts, and Science and Engineering Practices.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to design and facilitate authentic, inquiry-driven STEM experiences that engage students in real-world environmental problem solving through three-dimensional learning and community partnerships.

SPEAKERS:
Mary Lynn Hess

Our collaborative team of teachers and researchers share a culminating engineering task from a 3-week integrated STEM unit. As the unit uncovers disproportionate negative outcomes from the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically for linguistic minorities, the engineering task challenges students to develop a solution to the lack of timely health information in languages other than English. First, we describe the task: Students analyze and interpret data about linguistic diversity in neighborhoods (quantitative) as well as data on the affordances and limitations of artificial intelligence versus human translation (qualitative). Then, we demonstrate how based on the data, students argue for how and with whom to pilot the design of a multilingual health emergency alert system for a future health crisis. Finally, we describe how to evaluate the engineering design task using a rubric.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn our conceptual approach to developing an integrated engineering task that uses real-world data in the context of a future societal challenge (i.e., planning a response to a future health crisis using data from the COVID-19 pandemic).

SPEAKERS:
Stephen Kos, Alison Haas, Abigail Schwenger

The work of geoscientists is essential for protecting the environment, responding to natural hazards, and using resources responsibly – making geoscience careers vital and rewarding. To help students make these connections, the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) has developed free online resources that link student interests with global challenges and career pathways. A new Sustainability Interactive introduces real-world scenarios tied to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and encourages students to reflect on what matters most to them. When paired with AGI’s Career Explorer, which highlights geoscience-related careers, this resource provides teachers with engaging ways to help students explore how their interests align with sustainability issues and discover how geoscience can contribute to solutions. Educator resources, including lesson plans designed to help teachers integrate these applications into the classroom, will also be shared.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about and can explore AGI’s free online applications that connect student interests with global sustainability challenges and geoscience careers.

SPEAKERS:
Lauren Brase, Lindsay Mossa

This poster highlights a scaffolded, interdisciplinary lesson where 7th grade students explored how humans, whales, and dolphins communicate over long distances, comparing sensory organs and experimenting with Morse code and hieroglyphics. Students were able to explore the different levels of sensemaking through this lesson implementation and demonstrate their understanding by participating in a lab experiment. The lesson integrated science, math, ELA, and social studies, emphasizing the importance of hearing in communication and the value of sensemaking strategies for deeper understanding.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to design and implement interdisciplinary, sensemaking-driven lessons that engage students in exploring real-world communication phenomena through hands-on, cross-disciplinary experiences.

SPEAKERS:
Brianna Scoleri

Step into the spotlight with this interactive poster session featuring the current Grand Prize Winners of the Shell Science Lab Regional Challenge! Connect one-on-one with these outstanding science educators as they share their journey—from transforming under-resourced labs into hubs of innovation, to winning one of science education’s most prestigious awards. Learn firsthand how they’ve elevated student learning, built strong safety practices, and used the Challenge as a platform for professional growth and leadership. Whether you’re curious about applying or simply looking for inspiration to energize your own classroom or lab space, this is your chance to ask questions, gather tips, and walk away empowered by educators who’ve done it.

TAKEAWAYS:
Personal conversations with Grand Prize Winners will inspire attendees with practical ideas and confidence to transform their own science classrooms and consider applying for the Shell Science Lab Regional Challenge.

SPEAKERS:
Amanda Upton

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 transdisciplinary experience links human biology, geography, and economics through student exploration. Students use an interactive website to produce maps by comparing health-related and non-medical factors in their region. After reflecting on observed patterns, students turn to two maps of state ZIP codes with the lowest and highest median incomes. In groups balanced for individual strengths, they compare/contrast features of the two regions based on non-medical factors they explored in the opening activity. Students then enter data for a “patient” into a professional disease risk prediction calculator that incorporates ZIP codes. By varying the ZIP code, they compare output to see how predicted risk changes with "place." Finally, they develop a map visualization that explains how non-medical factors related to place act on health. The activity reflects Framework elements that include obtaining/evaluating/communicating information and identifying patterns and cause and effect.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this transdisciplinary activity, students observe phenomena, draw out patterns they detect, and then test the real-world health outcomes of these patterns for people based on where they live, arriving at a deep understanding of the role of place in human health.

SPEAKERS:
Emily Willingham

This poster highlights the Water Replenishment District’s free education programs designed to inspire students, teachers, and community members to become water-wise leaders. Through hands-on learning and discovery, participants explore: Water Careers – Introducing students to diverse opportunities in science, engineering, and environmental stewardship. Albert Robles Center Field Trips – Immersive experiences where students see water purification and sustainability in action. Eco Gardener Workshops – Community classes that teach sustainable landscaping and water conservation practices at home. Together, these programs connect classrooms and communities to the importance of protecting our most precious resource—water—while opening pathways to future careers and sustainable living.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will discover free WRD programs that bring real-world water science to life—field trips, Eco Gardener workshops, and career exploration—equipping students with hands-on learning and pathways to sustainability.

SPEAKERS:
Monica Sijder

In today’s classroom, adding STEM and 3D printing can transform learning by giving students hands-on experiences that bring their ideas to life. Along the way, they build critical thinking and problem-solving skills while practicing collaboration, creativity, and innovation. These tools provide real-world applications of learning and prepare students with the skills needed for future careers. By engaging in design and creation, students also develop adaptability and resilience, using technology as a bridge to master the essential skills of the 21st century. . Come ready learn practical strategies, see student-driven projects, and gain resources to bring hands-on, problem based creative learning into your classroom. Learn how to integrate this into all subject areas to bring STEM to life.

TAKEAWAYS:
Whether you're new to 3D printing or want to expand its use, this session will provide ideas, resources, and confidence to integrate 3D technology into your classroom. Learn how to use free software to bring science and engineering concepts to life, engaging students in real world projects.

SPEAKERS:
Scott Woodard, Nicole Hucks, Alicia Yewcic

St. Jude partners with 24 MSCS elementary schools annually, split into fall and spring cohorts of 12 schools each. Clubs run for 10 weeks, meeting once a week for one hour, Monday–Thursday, led by St. Jude College Interns. The curriculum includes two 5-week modules: first, a case study of Stacey, a 12-year-old girl diagnosed with osteosarcoma, exploring her symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and recovery. Students learn key concepts in medicine and biology while developing empathy. The second module is an engineering challenge where students design and build a prosthetic hand capable of picking up a ping pong ball and placing it in a cup. This hands-on activity fosters creativity, teamwork, and problem-solving, connecting science to real-world innovation.

TAKEAWAYS:
The St. Jude Afterschool STEMM Club empowers elementary students with hands-on learning in medicine and engineering, combining empathy-driven case studies and creative design challenges to inspire future innovators.

SPEAKERS:
Krisderlawn Motley, Hailey Wolfe, Anika Britton

Undergraduate chemistry is often a gateway course with high enrollment but low success rates. Underrepresented minority students are disproportionately impacted, reducing diversity in STEM. One way to address this is by integrating social-psychological interventions, like Growth Mindset (GM) and Effective Learning Strategies (ELS) into the curriculum. This study discusses results from three semesters (Fall 2024–Fall 2025) in general chemistry courses at one institution. Students were randomly assigned to one of four groups (control, GM, ELS, GM+ELS) and completed different modular activities. Findings show students are reflecting more on their study habits and shifting how they handle challenges and failure in chemistry. This poster highlights both quantitative and qualitative outcomes, emphasizing the pedagogical design of the modules and their adaptability to other science classrooms, including high school and undergraduate sciences courses beyond chemistry.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will learn practical ways to integrate GM and ELS modules into science courses to better support diverse learners and improve persistence in STEM.

SPEAKERS:
Li Ye, Emily Pak

Hands-on science activities can present engagement challenges for some students, and teachers often lack training or resources to meet all learners' unique needs. The GLOBE Weather Pathways project developed and tested an approach to help middle school educators adapt a weather unit to support all students and explore STEM career pathways. The project included: 1) building a learning community of STEM educators, content and special education specialists, and professionals working in STEM; 2) professional learning on the NGSS-aligned, phenomena-driven GLOBE Weather curriculum; and 3) workshop time to adapt lessons for accessibility. This presentation will share project outcomes, including strategies educators used to adapt lessons, best practices for implementing universal design for learning (UDL) principles, and insights for building a professional learning community that supports inclusive science instruction.

TAKEAWAYS:
Discover how middle school educators adapted a weather curriculum to support all learners using universal design for learning (UDL) principles, and hear about strategies and best practices for building professional learning communities to support diverse student needs.

SPEAKERS:
Kirsten Johnson Nesbitt, Melissa Rummel

Looking to elevate student achievement through immersive learning? Discover how to harness the universal appeal of flight by captivating students with lessons and engaging activities rooted in biology standards while exploring exciting and fast-growing aviation career fields!

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn strategies to construct activities resulting in greater interest and mastery of biology for students in grades K-12. Explore distinct professional practices that expand biology standards into unforgettable learning experiences associated with human life, animals, plantlife, and so much more!

SPEAKERS:
Jesse Steiner, Christina Davis

Discover the fun and fundamentals of STEM with this hands-on workshop on building balloon cars from recycled materials. This session is designed to inspire creativity and innovation using everyday items like plastic bottles, cardboard, and bottle caps. Participants will learn key engineering principles, including Newton's laws of motion, aerodynamics, and friction, through an engaging, project-based activity. This is more than just a craft project; it's a practical lesson in sustainable design and problem-solving. We will cover the entire design process, from brainstorming and material selection to construction and testing. You'll leave with a fully functional, self-propelled balloon car and a new perspective on upcycling. This workshop is perfect for educators, students, and anyone interested in making science accessible and exciting. Join us to transform trash into a thrilling race car!

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to set up an engaging, hands-on lesson using simple recycled materials like plastic bottles and cardboard to teach core engineering and physics principles, foster creative problem-solving, and highlight the benefits of sustainable design in a fun, educational activity.

SPEAKERS:
Daniell Cossey

Join us for our Earthquake Tower Share-a-Thon, where student engineering teams present their earthquake-resistant structures and share what they’ve learned about seismic waves, plate boundaries, and earthquake-proof design. This event highlights the creativity, problem-solving, and scientific thinking of our student engineers as they rise to the challenge of building and testing their towers on the Shake Rattle and Roll Earthquake Board.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will gain a ready-to-use, hands-on engineering project that integrates seamlessly with earth science concepts. This activity equips students with authentic opportunities to apply vocabulary, practice critical thinking, and develop design skills while making meaningful, real-world connection

SPEAKERS:
Diane Ripollone

Transform your classroom into a hub of engineering innovation using everyday items! This interactive session will equip 3rd-8th grade science teachers with practical strategies and engaging activities for integrating STEM engineering challenges using readily available household items without breaking the bank. Participants will dive into hands-on activities that demonstrate how common household materials can spark critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity. Learn practical strategies to make engineering accessible, exciting, and highly effective, proving that impactful STEM learning is within reach for all. Join us to ignite curiosity and cultivate the next generation of innovators with resources you already have!

TAKEAWAYS:
Discover how to turn everyday household items into engaging STEM engineering challenges, equipping students with problem-solving, creativity, and critical thinking skills while making hands-on, accessible STEM learning fun and effective.

SPEAKERS:
Shannon McWhorter, Allyson Sauter

This workshop will provide participants with strategies to use the ELIPSS feedback rubrics to assess a variety of skills within their courses and provide feedback that leads to student mastery. Student engagement with the science and engineering practices is necessary to help them meet the NGSS expectations. However, research has shown that it is not enough to provide assignments that cause students to USE particular skills; assessment of these skills is critical for student skill development. The Enhancing Learning by Improving Process Skills in STEM (ELIPSS) is an NSF-funded project that developed resources that aid instructors in aligning their intended outcomes, tasks, and assessments to address science practices and durable skills.

TAKEAWAYS:
-Overview of the ELIPSS rubrics and strategies for using rubric components in combination to assess targeted skills and science practices -Strategies for including skills in traditional content-based rubrics -Practice combining rubric categories to develop customized rubrics for your assignments

SPEAKERS:
Renee Cole, Juliette Lantz

Various methods of using candy for mechanical testing will be introduced: • using chocolate for hardness testing; • mini candy bars with different fillings for a 3-point test; • soft candies for strength testing and to demonstrate a material under tension. By changing the testing parameters, the results of the test may also change (speed of the force applied, temperature of the candy, etc). These results will be compared with real-world testing samples and applications. Some amateur failure analysis of photos will be done and compared to the testing samples. Various uses of failure analysis and career opportunities will be shared. Students enjoy puzzles they can try to solve, things they can break, and things they might be able to eat. These lessons are always a hit as they combine all three, giving kids a chance to learn something fun that can then be immediately applied to solve a problem.

TAKEAWAYS:
Everyday words with technical definitions – hardness, strength, toughness, tension – make learning about mechanical properties confusing. Expensive testing equipment isn’t available, but candy is. Different candy is used for mechanical testing, with quantitative and qualitative results.

SPEAKERS:
Briana Richardson, Scott Spohler

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

Attendees will use data collection technologies such as software, probeware, and calculators to collect, graph, and analyze data. Attendees will then use veritcal whiteboarding to discuss and share the data collected through gallery walks. Topics will include, density, velocity and acceleration, temperature, solubility and conductivity, and force.

TAKEAWAYS:
Ideas and inspiration on how to get a more student centered data collection and analysis discussion with students with authentic data that is collected by the students.

SPEAKERS:
Chris Coker

Explore the rich diversity of butterflies through data-driven conservation! In this hands-on workshop, participants will act as student scientists using real-world datasets—expert range maps, citizen science observations, and historical records—to identify priority areas for butterfly protection at the state level. Using California as a model, attendees will analyze species richness and habitat suitability data to locate biodiversity hotspots, then design localized action plans that maximize butterfly diversity through host plant selection and habitat design. The session models NGSS-aligned practices in analyzing and interpreting data, using models, and designing solutions to real-world challenges. Participants will receive adaptable lesson materials and digital resources to localize the activity anywhere in the country—empowering students to use and collect authentic data to protect butterflies in their community.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use real butterfly biodiversity data to identify conservation priorities, analyze habitat potential, and guide students in designing localized, data-driven actions that protect diverse pollinators—moving beyond individual species to broader ecosystem awareness.

SPEAKERS:
Claire Lannoye-Hall

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Track the inheritance of the sickle cell allele in a family using gel electrophoresis. Available as a hands-on lab or virtual simulation, this activity teaches Mendelian genetics, inheritance patterns, and the molecular basis of sickle cell disease, including an extension on CRISPR gene editing.

SPEAKERS:
Katy Martin

How can we make room for art in our science classrooms? Join us as we share our experiences infusing art into science lessons. Learn how art can turn science into engaging, creative experiences that support sense-making, foster critical thinking, encourage personal expression, spark curiosity, and more!

TAKEAWAYS:
In this session, attendees will explore practical strategies for infusing art and design into science instruction, helping students master scientific concepts while staying engaged. Together, we’ll reimagine science classrooms as spaces where creativity and curiosity go hand in hand.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Kim, Yishan Lee

This session focuses on a research-based Career Connected Learning (CCL) Framework and durable skills to assist leaders in decision making around learning pathways. Driven by DoW priorities, the CCL Framework supports students, educators and industry partners to align learning and workforce opportunities. We will share the CCL Framework iterative process and explore potential use cases for maximum impact. Come prepared to engage, learn and share your expertise to take CCL to the next level.

TAKEAWAYS:
Explore a research-based Career Connected Learning (CCL)Framework and durable skills to design effective career pathways, align learning with workforce needs, and apply practical strategies to strengthen CCL opportunities.

SPEAKERS:
Marc Siciliano

As classrooms continue to retool for the Next Generation Science Standards, many teachers are finding that they and their students are uncomfortable with the sustained uncertainty that is central to phenomenon-and-problem-driven instruction. However, uncertainty is an important and valuable aspect of sensemaking, as students draw on their prior knowledge and grapple with new information to figure out and explain complex scientific ideas. In this session, attendees will workshop a series of hands-on activities that require students to sit with unanswered questions for multiple lessons. Participants will practice new strategies for mitigating students’ anxieties with not knowing the answer, and share their own experiences managing students' different levels of comfort with uncertainty in their classrooms. Attendees will walk away with a new set of elementary lessons and strategies they can put into practice right away.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participate in a series of hands-on phenomenon-based lessons, and practice new strategies for encouraging K-5 students to embrace uncertainty as an exciting opportunity, rather than a potential risk. Receive print copies of high-quality instructional materials to bring back to your students.

SPEAKERS:
Rachel Patton, Dr. Emily Harrison

This workshop invites secondary science and STEM teachers to explore strategy guides for enacting Language and Racial Equity Practices (LaREP) to support linguistically and racially diverse students’ sense of belonging, academic success, and STEM identity development. Participants will (1) explore the LaREP framework, (2) review strategy guides that translate LaREP into actionable classroom practices with instructional designs and student work examples, (3) experience two model activities—one focused on language equity and another on racial equity—and (4) discuss with participant teachers their feedback and comments on the LaREP’s potential and challenges. Participants will gain access to all resources via our project website, including the full LaREP Strategy Guide Package: one overview guide, three Language Equity Strategy Guides (e.g., Connecting Science and Everyday Words), and four Racial Equity Strategy Guides (e.g., Disrupting Structure, Funds of Knowledge and Raciolinguistics).

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will bring with them the practical strategies, lesson examples, and insights for enacting Language and Racial Equity Practices in secondary STEM classrooms to strengthen linguistically and racially diverse students’ sense of belonging, academic success, and STEM identity.

SPEAKERS:
Won Jung Kim

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Science

Rockets zoom and race cars zip through hands-on activities that engage your middle and high school students. Apply creative problem-solving skills and engineering practices to chemistry and physical science challenges. Experience how Carolina makes it easy to incorporate STEM into your classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Patti Kopkau

The 6th-8th grade students at AuTrain-Onota Public School, are in their fourth year building and wiring underwater remote operated vehicles (ROVs). The students have worked with local conservation districts on a fish habitat project, as well as won trophies at ROV competitions. This past school year, the teacher, Amy Pihlainen-Gabler, contacted the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, (WHOI), regarding their use of ROVs. WHOI scientists, including a senior scientist on the Titanic wreckage expedition, have spoken to the students several times about the real-world applications of these ROVs. Mrs. Pihlainen-Gabler traveled to Woods Hole in Massachusetts this past March and will discuss her trip to WHOI and how the scientists welcomed her on tours and provided materials and information to further inspire her students. She will also discuss future plans for the program with Kall Morris Inc. and the Lake Superior SCUBA harbor clean up effort.

TAKEAWAYS:
The most important thing as a teacher is to show students the real-world applications of what they are learning. The "why do I care/need to learn this?"

SPEAKERS:
Amy Pihlainen-Gabler

How can teachers design assessments that capture what students know, can do, and can explain across diverse high school science courses? This interactive session explores three-dimensional (3D) assessment strategies for Chemistry, IB Sports Science, and Forensic Science. Participants will examine freely available OER tasks, rubrics, and student work examples aligned to the NRC Framework, NGSS, and state standards. Through collaboration, teachers will adapt tasks for their own classrooms, taking into account issues of equity, accessibility, and disciplinary relevance.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with ready-to-use, open-access 3D assessment tools and strategies to evaluate student sensemaking in Chemistry, IB Sports Science, and Forensic Science while addressing equity and instructional alignment.

SPEAKERS:
Ramon Reeves, Shannon Harris, Tracy Joyner, Dana Peeples

This session explores how the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) can serve as a powerful foundation for helping students connect phenomena-driven learning to high-skill, high-wage, in-demand careers. This session will offer practical insights into the current postsecondary and workforce landscape and demonstrate how career-connected learning can increase student engagement by making science more relevant and purposeful.

TAKEAWAYS:
Using state science standards as a foundation for career connected learning helps students see science as purposeful and relevant by directly linking science content and application to in-demand career pathways boosting both engagement and motivation.

SPEAKERS:
Kristin Rademaker

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

Sponsoring Company: Switch Classroom

Fuel your curiosity—and your teaching toolkit—with this dynamic exploration of how our world powers itself. Participants will dive into two of Switch Classroom’s most popular energy activities. Start with Energy Resource Stations, comparing coal, wind, solar, natural gas, and more through short videos, hands-on evidence sorting, and lively discussion of benefits, limitations, and trade-offs. Then shift into Energy Transformations, tracing how energy changes from chemical to thermal, mechanical, and electromagnetic as you build explanations, use models, and make real-world connections. Leave with free Switch Classroom lessons and classroom-ready strategies for grades 4–12.

SPEAKERS:
Jillian Swets

Sponsoring Company: LEGO Education

Looking for ways to make science accessible for every student? Join Dr. Lisa Wright (Compton USD) and Sr. Learning Designer, Stacia Jackson (LEGO Education) to explore how hands-on, collaborative learning can engage diverse learners and transform outcomes in K–8 science. During this session, experience an interactive science lesson and learn strategies from real classrooms. Walk away with hands-on materials, sample lessons, and practical strategies to support diverse learners and bring inclusive science instruction to life in your classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Stacia Jackson, Lisa Wright Ed.D

Sponsoring Company: Publisher Spotlight

Let’s be real: the word “research” doesn’t exactly make most students' hearts race with excitement. But when research becomes an act of curiosity, discovery, and storytelling—suddenly, it’s irresistible. As an award-winning STEM author and illustrator for kids, I’ve spent years turning tricky science topics into page-turners. (Yes, even farts and garbage.) And in the past year, I’ve taken that process into classrooms—guiding students to not only love research…but write about it, too. This interactive workshop is the grown-up version of those popular school sessions, built for educators who want to help their students investigate like scientists and communicate like authors. You’ll learn how to help kids ask curious questions, spot stronger sources, and—here’s the “cheat code”—write nonfiction using narrative structure and their unique author’s voice. When students start to see how STEM topics show up in their everyday lives, everything clicks.

SPEAKERS:
Bethany Barton

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

Join us for an exciting and hands-on workshop designed specifically for educators! In collaboration with Estes Rockets and Blue Origin’s Club for the Future, this session will provide you with the tools and knowledge to inspire your students through the power of rocketry and space exploration. Learn how you can implement this New Glenn inspired lesson into your classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Enhance your understanding of rocket science and space exploration and equip yourself with practical, engaging lesson plans and activities.

SPEAKERS:
Bela Power, Kristen Yip

"When developing skills in-game and an understanding of science concepts are one and the same - digital games can make learning dynamic, fun and accessible." Join Smithsonian Science Education Center’s Digital Team as we dive deeper into bringing scientific phenomena to life using game-based learning. In this discussion, we will be covering topics such as how our team uses storytelling and narratives to help contextualize complex scientific concepts, how games make certain scientific phenomena accessible, how games can be designed for all users, and how they can help support students with different learning styles. We are excited to share our skills, free learning resources, and enthusiasm with you all, so please join us in expanding learning through games.

TAKEAWAYS:
Digital Games are suited for and should be designed for play-based learning Storytelling and narratives help contextualize complex science concepts Games and sims can give access to scientific phenomena that can be too far away, too big, too small, or too inaccessible for any other reason

SPEAKERS:
Brian Mandell

Use demos to talk about resources and environmental sustainability, with copper as a specific example and a focus on the impact of resource acquisition and resources to highlight the depth and complexity of these issues. Participants will observe a copper vein set up they could use in class. This single replacement reaction has some interesting steps and the chemistry that occurs will be discussed. Then the decomposition of malachite will be discussed along with extracting copper by smelting and an analysis of energy used. These reactions give an opportunity to discuss chemistry, geology and environmental science. The idea of the “rock footprint” and how much raw material is needed will be explored. The Berkeley Pit (in Butte) will be one reference point. Resources provided will help students understand the challenges faced when balancing competing interests. The timeline and impact of mining in various areas will be discussed.

TAKEAWAYS:
Environmental impacts of mining from raw material acquisition to processing energy to site clean-up, with an emphasis on the chemistry and sustainability of current practices. Leave with several labs, a classroom activity to highlight the physical impacts of mining, and enthusiasm for recycling.

SPEAKERS:
Briana Richardson

Teaching is hard! Educators work long hours, do not get paid the most lucrative salaries, and can easily get bogged down by all the difficulties that come with the career. This session will discuss professional development opportunities for both formal and informal educators to reignite their passion for education and bring real-world experience back to their students. In addition, experiences discussed provide educators with opportunities to collaborate with scientists, educators, artists, and cultural leaders from around the world to develop engaging content for the classroom and broader community. Specific professional development discussed includes Fund for Teachers, National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship, Ecology Project International Teacher Fellowship, Earthwatch Project Kindle, Bimini Biological Field Station Educator Fellowship, Ocean Exploration Trust Science Communication Fellowship, and Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Fellowship.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will take away insights and application suggestions on professional development opportunities from past fellowship participants. Participants will also gain knowledge on how to utilize those experiences to increase student engagement and global competencies within their community.

SPEAKERS:
Rebecca Maynard, Matthew Holden

In a world where algorithms compete for our students’ attention, teachers can reclaim the brain’s oldest—and most potent—learning technology: story. Neuroscience shows that when we hear a story, not a list of facts, our brains fire in synchrony—engaging emotion, motion, and imagination. In this session, teachers become narrative architects, designing lessons around the “And–But–Therefore” (ABT) framework to build curiosity, tension, and resolution. Through pop-culture examples, short demos, and brain-based insights, participants will see how storytelling transforms abstract STEM ideas into memorable, emotionally resonant learning. Attendees will leave ready to analyze any lesson for its narrative flow, reframe it with ABT, and harness the same storytelling circuitry that makes students binge their favorite shows—to make them binge your class instead.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers can become narrative architects—using story structure, neuroscience, and the ABT framework to design lessons that capture attention, spark curiosity, and make STEM ideas stick in an age of constant distraction.

SPEAKERS:
Matt Brady

Discover how the Next Gem Innovators program is transforming STEM education across the Dayton Region through a powerful collaboration with the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA). This session will introduce the structure, impact, and opportunities within the program—designed for educators who are ready to lead real-world, innovation-driven learning both in and outside of the classroom. Participants will engage in a collaborative discussion around current challenges in bringing innovation into the classroom and explore how programs like NGI can empower educators to lead change. The session will conclude with a hands-on activity rooted in one of NGI’s core STEM principles—industry integration, pedagogical innovation, or leadership development—giving attendees a taste of the NGI experience.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with a model for empowering educators to lead innovation-driven, real-world STEM learning through strategic partnerships, strong pedagogy, and leadership development—along with practical strategies they can adapt within their own schools and regions.

SPEAKERS:
Jessica Short, Colleen Biers

The new Not Your Average Crash Test Dummy math/crash science lesson set is part of the IIHS’s free Crash Science in the Classroom program. These lessons explore the science behind crash test dummy development and crash test design while also teaching about statistical measures of central tendency and the concept of percentile. Using videos from the Deep Dive with Dummies series and ready to use activity sheets, students learn about the essential role of crash test dummies as scientific research instruments while also exploring how researchers use dummies to improve vehicle safety and reduce the risk of injury and death. They also analyze real-world crash test dummy data and collect and analyze their own similar data to determine mean, median, and mode and learn how to calculate percentiles in a data set. This interdisciplinary real-world example of how crash test dummy research is conducted illustrates the essential role of statistical analysis in data-driven research.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to use the free Deep Dive with Dummies video series and accompanying science and math/statistics lessons to learn about crash test dummies and how they are used in crash tests while also conducting statistical analyses of real-world data related to crash test dummies.

SPEAKERS:
Pini Kalnite, Griff Jones, Linda Jones

The Next Generation Science Standards describe a vision of scientific literacy that emphasizes informed and participatory citizenship on issues related to science in society. Many elementary teachers, however, avoid debatable socioscientific issues such as whether we need zoos, the value of a national space program, or whether certain sports are too dangerous for children because of concerns about arguments in their classrooms and fear of broaching moral/ethical issues. During this interactive session, participants will be introduced to the theoretical framework behind the Socioscientific Issues (SSI) approach. They will then collaboratively engage in an activity from the NSTA Press book, It’s Still Debatable, during which they will model negotiation of a debatable issue while analyzing the lesson’s use of SSI, NGSS three-dimensional science learning, alignment with interdisciplinary standards, and multiple means of assessment for all learners.

TAKEAWAYS:
During this interactive workshop, participants will learn an array of strategies for using debatable societal issues related to science to develop their elementary students’ scientific literacy while modeling interdisciplinary, inclusive, three-dimensional science teaching and learning.

SPEAKERS:
Sami Kahn

Discover how we've transformed our classrooms into innovation labs where sustainability meets technology with Invention Engine from the makers of Edison robots! The modular system's 15 connectable bits and programmable sensors (LEDs, motors, sound, temperature, etc.) easily attach to recyclable cardboard, making #STEMontheCheap accessible to all students. Experience how upper elementary and middle school students contribute to the Internet of Things by designing cardboard inventions controlled by the programmable hub that responds to real-world data. We've successfully aligned these invention projects with science and math standards, teaching concepts from forces and motion to sound, light, rotation, angles, and more through hands-on coding and construction. Teachers will leave with practical strategies for weaving invention-based projects into their curriculum—projects that spark engagement, build computational thinking, and empower every learner to bring innovative ideas to life.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore how invention-based learning with programmable sensors and simple materials can connect to science and math standards while empowering students to invent, problem-solve, and engage in creative STEM learning.

SPEAKERS:
Sara Torres, DaNel Hogan

Explore the possibilities of combining Science, Poetry, and Art as each is an act of discovery; all require keen observational skills, new perspectives, and thrive on productive communication. Understanding more about the Earth we share is a lifelong learning experience, a chance to broaden students’ horizons. Join award-winning Author/Poet Joan Bransfield Graham, a former teacher, traveler, and avid photographer, whose newest book is AWESOME EARTH:  Concrete Poems Celebrate Caves, Canyons, and Other Fascinating Landforms, for a world tour of landforms, poetry writing tips, ideas for student activities, and projects. What better way to examine the amazing landforms on our Earth than with shape itself--concrete poetry. Brevity, shape, and rhyme provide helpful clues for students acquiring English. Learn how to make shape poems, “mask” poems, and employ other “voices,” and writing techniques you can use next week, and every day, with your students! Handout will be available. K-5.

TAKEAWAYS:
Combine Science, Poetry, and Art to learn about some of our awesome landforms. Using Joan’s Five Favorite Poetry Tips, a variety of “voices,” and shape itself, you’ll learn how to help your students write their own poems to better understand our Earth’s “unfolding story” and their own stories.

SPEAKERS:
Joan Graham

Are you wanting to learn some fun and engaging physics activities in-line with the NGSS Standards? This session will give you a lesson to bring back to school and use or share with your colleagues. In our session we will be looking at balanced and unbalanced forces, calculating speed and motion graphs.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will experience physics fun for 6-8 Science as they apply to the NGSS MS-PS3-1 standards. We will use hot wheels to collect data to calculate speed and create motion graphs using hands-on technology.

SPEAKERS:
Becky Walker, Amy Rush

The presenter situates Hip Hop pedagogy in children’s literature as a tool for helping students discover their STEM identity. Hip-hop pedagogy and identity-centered teaching practices bridge students' cultural knowledge with mathematics. This interactive workshop will demonstrate how educators can utilize identity-centered teaching as one pathway to accessing high-quality STEM instruction and one approach that empowers students to envision themselves as future STEM leaders. Attendees will gain insights into instructional strategies and activities that support the development of student agency in STEM.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to apply a cultural identity framework in conjunction with hip-hop pedagogy to design culturally relevant STEM tasks that enhance student agency and foster inclusive environments in STEM classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Sherita Flake

Students bring amazing intellectual resources to make sense of science phenomena based on their personal and community experiences—including languages, perspectives, gestures, as well as knowledge, interests, and values. Come learn how to notice and leverage those intellectual gifts in your teaching! By analyzing a series of awesome learning situations, this session asks participants to work with others to ‘learn to see’ students’ diverse sense-making resources—and connect these pedagogical strategies to their own classroom practice. Come join us for this fun, interactive session!

TAKEAWAYS:
Culturally responsive education supports student sensemaking and learning in science. Inclusive science strategies help teachers learn to see and leverage students’ diverse sense-making resources. These methods help us create and adapt curriculum that is equitable and centered on justice.

SPEAKERS:
Philip Bell

Sponsoring Company: Stile Education

Banish “I don’t know” from your classroom! In this energetic, hands-on workshop, you’ll learn a set of practical strategies to ensure every student feels confident to contribute. From low-stakes response structures to evidence-based questioning techniques, you’ll discover how to create a culture of accountability, equity, and joy in participation. You’ll leave with a ready-to-use playbook of strategies that drive engagement and keep all learners actively involved.

SPEAKERS:
Clayton Forest

Discover how STEM goes beyond traditional math and science. This interactive session helps teachers find hidden STEM jobs, and plan learning pathways for students of all grades, from early exposure to high school specialization. Educators will leave with a wide range of tools they need to help every student believe that they can succeed in STEM.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will uncover a wide range of STEM-connected careers, begin to map learning pathways from elementary to high school, and leave with ready-to-use tools assisting teachers in helping students see themselves as capable problem-solvers with real-world futures in STEM..

SPEAKERS:
Kia Thomas, Randy Kolset

This workshop introduces an innovative online platform coupled with in-class activities to engage students in STEMM. Each module is anchored in a real-world case study woven into a story where students assume the role of scientists or clinicians, making decisions using authentic data from pediatric research. The modules build scientific literacy and problem-solving by utilizing inquiry-based modules, classroom discussion and manipulatives. Students are guided through diagnostic reasoning, data analysis, and treatment exploration leading to a deeper understanding of research. The interactive workshop will demonstrate how narrative-driven learning makes complex biomedical concepts accessible while highlighting emerging areas such as genomics, gene therapy, and data science. Participants explore strategies for integrating the platform into science curricula to inspire curiosity, connect the classroom to current research, and promote career pathways in health and biomedical sciences.

TAKEAWAYS:
This workshop highlights an online platform that uses narrative-driven learning modules about pediatric cases to teach life science concepts. Teachers will learn practical ways to integrate the modules into their courses to inspire curiosity and health science career interest.

SPEAKERS:
Amanda Etherington, Summer Jasper, Kyle Bichsel

Experience the joy of inclusive science learning! This interactive session begins with a brief review of NGSS instructional shifts and its three dimensions: Disciplinary Core Ideas, Science & Engineering Practices, and Crosscutting Concepts. Engage in a collaborative "Notice and Wonder" exercise, followed by a two-part pen dissection using the "Parts, Purposes, and Complexities" routine. Participants will explore Strategic Shifts from the Exploratorium’s Institute for Inquiry—Discourse, Equity, and 3D Learning—through a hands-on Making Thinking Visible activity from Harvard’s Project Zero. This session emphasizes modeling, reflection, and strategies to support multilingual learners and students with disabilities. Walk away with practical tools to make science accessible, meaningful, and fun for every student.

TAKEAWAYS:
Empower every learner through inclusive, NGSS-aligned engineering instruction that advances students’ cognitive, emotional, and social growth.

SPEAKERS:
Bella Githere, Delgel Pabalan

Participants will learn how using children's literature in science instruction can help students get interested in science topics, gain needed context about phenomenon, and share prior knowledge. We will share how interactive read alouds can generate student collaboration and facilitate discussions.

TAKEAWAYS:
We want participants to take away a list of recent children's literature about science topics and how to use these books in their science teaching and learning. Techniques will be shared and lesson plans tied to NGSS will be handed out.

SPEAKERS:
Alexandra Chester, Jordan Kobielus, Jim McDonald

Sponsoring Company: The Energy Coalition

Inspire students to lead energy actions and the transition to clean energy! This hands-on workshop is designed to bring renewable energy to life in the classroom. The session will equip educators with practical knowledge and resources to engage students in energy-related concepts, including renewable resources, while fostering energy literacy and sustainability awareness. During the session, participants will accomplish the following: - Understand the country’s energy system, energy resilience, and the different types of energy sources. - Build a model wind turbine and test the energy output with digital multimeters. - Reflect on and discuss their own learning, and consider how they could implement the activity in their own classrooms using the provided resources.

SPEAKERS:
Bianca Avina

Citizen science provides students with an authentic entry point into real-world scientific inquiry by allowing them to collect, analyze, and contribute meaningful data to ongoing research projects. By engaging with established citizen science platforms, students develop critical observation skills, identify patterns, and generate their own investigative questions. This natural progression—from participating in community-based data collection to designing independent research—empowers students to think like scientists, build confidence, and explore topics that genuinely spark their curiosity. Through hands-on experiences, collaboration with broader scientific networks, and opportunities for reflection, citizen science becomes a powerful launching pad for student-driven research and deeper scientific understanding.

TAKEAWAYS:
Citizen science turns classrooms into real research spaces, empowering students to use authentic data as a launchpad for meaningful, self-driven scientific investigations.

SPEAKERS:
Jonathan Bailey

Join the Ocean Exploration Trust & the National Center for Education and the Economy to learn about a new collaboration bringing Project Based Learning to classrooms, connecting the excitement of discovery with the largest living system on Earth - the ocean! Dive into how you and your classroom can get involved in paid, field-testing opportunities of these new Depths of Discovery materials. Learn more about programs that link the Exploration Vessel Nautilus with classrooms through interactive programs, scientific data sharing, and live streaming from never-before-seen corners of the planet.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will learn about opportunities to bring the salty 70% of the planet to their learners through deep-ocean exploration and STEM role models through live interactive programs and project based learning in the Depths of Discovery curricular project.

SPEAKERS:
Megan Cook

For formal or informal educators working with all ages and audiences! Get FREE access to ready-to-use, NGSS-aligned activities to build meaningful connections to ocean ecosystems through real-world science. Species ID video games, mock coral collections with remotely-operated vehicles, deep-sea mission board games, scavenger hunts, coloring pages, animated shorts, live connections with scientists at sea, and engaging videos. Learn about colorful corals, fascinating creatures, human impacts, seafloor mapping, underwater robots, and more through work happening right now to restore deep-sea coral communities injured by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. These resources serve diverse audiences including classroom teachers, informal educators, families, communities, and adults looking for careers in marine science. See demonstrations of interactive educational materials and highlights from livestream broadcasts to easily implement these free activities and resources for all ages.

TAKEAWAYS:
Free resources to connect all ages with deep-sea habitats, human impacts, tech, and careers using real-world science and interactive activities. Bring out-of-reach ecosystems to a range of learners through livestreams with scientists at sea, videos of unseen places, skill-building games, and more.

SPEAKERS:
Sasha Francis

From historical photographs, to scientific notebooks, to sketches of early inventions, the Library of Congress has millions of free digitized primary sources online, many of which are related to STEM curriculum and standards. Visit our table to explore some of these sources and chat with us about how you can engage your students through hands-on, inquiry-based primary source analysis. Analyzing primary sources can be particularly useful for building critical thinking skills, while helping students reflect on how scientists and engineers think, practice, and apply scientific principles in the real world; how scientific ideas evolve over time; and how science and engineering are related to society. Primary sources can serve as phenomena to launch units, offer opportunities for exploring real-world data, illuminate the history nature of science, and more. We look forward to learning about your work with students and discussing what resources and strategies might be beneficial to you!

TAKEAWAYS:
Come learn how to access millions of free digitized primary sources – photos, manuscripts, maps, multimedia, and more – to facilitate hands-on activities that build critical thinking, while providing insights into the nature of science, STEM practices, and the relationship between STEM and society.

SPEAKERS:
Lora Taylor, Michael Lowry, Michael Apfeldorf

This presentation will introduce educators to classroom ready resources that connect STEM concepts to real world ocean mapping technology and visualization tools to highlight the process of mapping the ocean and the extent that the seafloor has been mapped.

TAKEAWAYS:
Visualization tools that they can load in their classrooms to investigate the worlds seafloor.

SPEAKERS:
Tara Hicks Johnson

Jump into a quick, competitive metric system challenge that boosts mass, length, and volume estimation skills in minutes.

TAKEAWAYS:
Walk away with a team-based game that helps students make sense of SI units using everyday objects.

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Benham

Elevate your science teaching with LabXchange, a free online STEMM platform housed at Harvard University! Come to explore free, interactive lab simulations for middle school science on topics such as photosynthesis, cellular respiration, and using a light microscope. See how these inquiry-based simulations help students predict, analyze, and reflect, giving them real-time hints and feedback. Stop by to learn how to use the LabXchange platform and meet the LabXchange team to better understand how you can bring these resources to your classroom, school, or learning space!

TAKEAWAYS:
Discover how LabXchange’s free interactive lab simulations can make science learning accessible and engaging to enhance your middle school classroom experience, no matter your budget, time, or experience.

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Sjoblom

This engaging project allows students to design and build their own circuit game.

TAKEAWAYS:
This engaging project allows students to design and build their own game. Students will use a folder, brass fasteners, insulated wires, a battery, and a mini light bulb to create a closed circuit gameboard. Teachers will learn how to create the board and to help students research potential topics.

SPEAKERS:
Rebecca Kurson

This hands-on project has helped to capture students of all abilities and easily allows for differentiation. Students build miniature golf holes on a cardboard base and then play through everyone's projects as a whole class mini golf course. This project enables hands-on building with readily available materials and can be used to assess students' understanding of modeling and scaling, energy transfer, engineering, calculating averages, and more.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will have the opportunity to view examples of student-created work and will be provided with access to a Google Drive folder containing starter materials to help them adapt this project to their individual students.

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Murray

This session will demonstrate how middle and high school students can use science models and interactive activities from NOAA Ocean Exploration lessons to visualize and explain complex ocean processes such as hydrothermal vent formation, deep-sea food webs, and seafloor mapping techniques. Participants will engage with modeling strategies that align with NGSS practices, helping students develop scientific reasoning by predicting, testing, and revising hypotheses. By modeling real-world ocean phenomena, students strengthen their understanding of systems thinking, scale, and cause-and-effect relationships—mirroring the work of professional ocean scientists. Attendees will leave with ready-to-implement activities that deepen student curiosity about Earth’s least explored environments.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will dive into simple, hands-on modeling strategies demonstrated in NOAA Ocean Exploration lessons that help students visualize and explain complex deep-ocean processes while strengthening scientific reasoning and NGSS-aligned practices.

SPEAKERS:
Suraida Nanez-James

Air Camp is a hands-on educational adventure in aviation and aeronautics for students in grades 4-12 and K-12 STEM educators. Aiming to connect, inspire, and provide STEM learning opportunities while offering teachers professional development, valuable resources, classroom materials, and much more.

TAKEAWAYS:
Access to teacher resources and professional development opportunities designed to integrate aviation-focused STEM lessons and real-world applications into the middle school classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Jesse Steiner, Christina Davis

Explore how food can make science tangible and engaging! This Share-a-thon presentation will showcase Pilot Light’s integrated food education approach, and our newly revised PK-12 Food Education Standards. Participants can see examples of lesson implementation from real middle school classrooms across the country, and access hundreds of free practical tools and resources from our online Food Education Center to bring food-centered science learning into their classrooms. Designed for informal, interactive engagement, attendees are encouraged to ask questions, share ideas, and take away replicable strategies to make science learning relevant, student-centered, and experiential. Leave with sample lessons and resources to take back to your classroom!

TAKEAWAYS:
Practical, hands-on examples connecting food education to NGSS-aligned, student-centered science concepts, along with ideas for cross-curricular connections to overcome barriers like time, access, or resources.

SPEAKERS:
Megan Gottlieb

Over the last few years, I have created worksheets and supporting documents to help my students create successful Science fair/Science Expo projects. A lot of this is based on information I learned attending and later while facilitating Professional Development sessions with Urban Advantage NYC. During this session, I will share my worksheets, which carefully scaffold the elements of a great Science fair project, making a successful project attainable by the average middle schooler. I will talk about my own experience leading students through topic selection all the way to a final product. I will also share some ideas about hosting a successful science fair.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will walk away with editable worksheets, rubrics, and pacing calendars that they can use to help them plan successful long term student led science fair projects.

SPEAKERS:
Jasmina Nikolov, Rachelle Travis

In Weather Adds Up to Climate, participants will learn how they can engage their learners in an authentic NASA weather observation activity that can be implemented by entering weather data online, using a paper data collection sheet, or by creating a weather bar graph using Lego blocks. In the My NASA Data Interactive Weather Observation activity learners describe and report daily changes in weather as they learn how weather patterns over a long period of time are used to describe the climate of a location. As part of their monthly weather observations, learners will be able to see patterns of weather associated with the different seasons of the year.

TAKEAWAYS:
During the Weather Adds Up to Climate activity, participants will learn how their learners can track weather over time and create a bar chart to track their monthly data. Using this monthly data, learners can develop an understanding of how weather patterns over time can be used to describe climate.

SPEAKERS:
Tina Harte - Ballinger

Sponsoring Company: Anatomy in Clay

In this workshop, attendees will build replicas of human anatomy using clay and a specially designed skeletal model in a classroom setting. Educators will learn how to implement a unique curriculum system which helps students create a kinesthetic map of the human anatomy. They will acquire the knowledge to engage science students with immediate, hands-on learning using a proven method that is nationally recognized to increase student retention and test scores.

SPEAKERS:
Christine Simonsen

Capture your students’ imagination with a journey into the world of bats! From blood-loving vampires to tiny bumblebee bats and giant flying foxes, this unit explores the science behind these misunderstood creatures while answering the question, “Why should we save bats?” Students dive into science, engineering, math, and literacy activities, learning about bats’ structure, function, and role as keystone species. The session highlights how to use trade books to teach science and literary standards. The culminating activity—a Save the Bats Breakout—immerses teachers in an escape-room style challenge that applies ELA standards, Greek/Latin stems, science, and math. Along the way, students uncover how misconceptions create prejudice and how knowledge empowers them to advocate for positive change. Fly away with a unit full of unforgettable, hands-on learning!

TAKEAWAYS:
This integrated STEAM/Literary unit immerses learners in the fascinating world of bats to explore science, math, engineering, and literacy. Discover how bats function as keystone species, bust myths, and learn how to use argumentation to advocate for this misunderstood creature.

SPEAKERS:
Wendy Wing

Come hear about how our NSF-funded informal science education project inspired bilingual (English/Spanish) 5th–6th grade Latinas and their parents through hands-on rocketry and culturally responsive science learning. This 7-week program, grounded in Family Problem-Based Learning and Community Cultural Wealth, fostered curiosity, confidence, and family engagement in science. Presenters will share key curriculum elements and artifacts from three successful iterations, highlighting strategies that bridge home and school learning. Attendees will participate in two interactive activities. In the first activity, we will design personalized NASA mission patches while exploring their symbolism and history. In the second activity, we will model an activity that celebrates contributions of Latino/a scientists and engineers by designing a social media post. Come ready to create, collaborate, and take home practical ideas to launch inclusive family science experiences in your own community.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how culturally responsive, family-centered rocketry experiences can ignite young Latinas’ curiosity and strengthen science identity through hands-on, bilingual engagement for both students and parents.

SPEAKERS:
Caitlyn Ishaq, Peter Rillero, Margarita Jimenez-Silva

Join us for boppin' lessons that address NGSS K-2 (force & motion, biomimicry, pollination). We integrate computational thinking, literacy, robots, science, and sense-making! We show how we adapted for students' cultural, and linguistic (Apache, Navajo, Spanish) backgrounds.

TAKEAWAYS:
The attendees will learn to analyze and implement interdisciplinary K-2 STEM teaching and learning using 3D NGSS standards, sense-making, aligned assessment and also integrates the language, culture, and place of a community in ways that position young students as leaders for their communities.

SPEAKERS:
Sophie Forbes, Mesina Kee, Deena Gould, Megan Smith

Data-rich instruction is central to modern science learning—but for many schools, integrating larger datasets and data tools into lessons remains challenging. This session supports science educators, instructional coaches, and district leaders who are helping teachers build data fluency within existing curricula. Drawing on insights from projects funded by NSF and NASA, we'll uncover common roadblocks to bringing real data into classrooms and explore practical tools, datasets, and instructional strategies that promote equity-centered data access. Participants will examine professional learning approaches, scaffolds, and leadership moves that make data experiences meaningful, sustainable, and aligned with evolving STEM goals. Walk away ready to use data as a bridge for authentic collaboration across disciplines—building shared ownership of student learning and strengthening a culture of inquiry across classrooms and systems.

TAKEAWAYS:
Leaders will leave with a framework and strategies to support teachers in weaving authentic data use into science instruction—building coherence, confidence, and capacity for data-rich teaching across grade levels.

SPEAKERS:
Sara Salisbury, Karen Lionberger

This workshop will provide participants with strategies, practice, and feedback in writing skill-rich questions and assignments. Skills such as teamwork, critical thinking, and problem solving are important outcomes for STEM courses, but these skills are not always explicitly developed during class time. Research has shown that it is not enough to provide assignments that cause students to USE particular skills; questions and tasks must reveal use of these skills in student written work or group interactions. The ELIPSS project feedback-focused rubrics will be used to support efforts in constructing tasks that support student development of skills. Enhancing Learning by Improving Process Skills in STEM (ELIPSS) is an award winning, NSF-funded project that focuses on the development and assessment of durable skills and the NGSS science and engineering practices.

TAKEAWAYS:
-Evaluate questions for their ability to produce evidence of skills and support their development -Practice strategies for constructing questions in assignments that develop skills such as teamwork and critical thinking -Identify ELIPSS rubrics that support the assessment of these skills

SPEAKERS:
Renee Cole, Juliette Lantz

Sponsoring Company: Switch Classroom

Get ready to roll up your sleeves and let the breeze inspire your inner engineer! In this lively, hands-on session, teachers will explore Switch Classroom’s Intro to Wind lesson and see how engaging renewable energy instruction can be. You’ll investigate how wind becomes power, then design, build, and test a mini windmill using everyday recycled materials like cardboard, paper, and plastic bottles. Adaptable from upper elementary through high school, this engineering challenge brings real-world problem solving into any classroom. Participants will engage in NGSS-aligned practices by developing prototypes, testing and refining designs, analyzing performance data, and explaining how kinetic energy transforms into mechanical and electrical energy (MS-PS3-5, MS-ETS1-1–4, HS-ETS1-2). Leave with free Switch Classroom resources, a classroom-ready design challenge, and wind-powered inspiration to energize your students.

SPEAKERS:
Jillian Swets

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

Data collection and robotics are accessible, engaging learning experiences, offering ALL students opportunities to explore, engage in hands-on learning, and experience success, using technology-rich devices, while learning essential science processes and concepts. Testing variables, analyzing their effects, and watching a device ‘work’ are positive learning experiences. Attendees will actively engage with a wide range of technology-rich devices and learn how to implement engineering design processes and robotics concepts, providing accessible portals of learning for ALL K-6 students, including ELL’s and special needs learners, as students develop computational and critical thinking skills and become successful, innovative problem solvers. Attendees will learn how to add complexity and rigor to tasks, as students gain skills and understanding. Practical strategies and applications will be explored, maximizing opportunities for equitable, accessible learning for ALL students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to design accessible learning experiences using innovative devices, helping students learn essential science concepts, data collection and analysis, engineering design processes, and robotics, and how to add rigor and complexity as learners gain skills and understanding.

SPEAKERS:
Donna Knoell

Complete a fun, distracted driving hands-on activity and discover award-winning videos and more inquiry-based activities from IIHS’s free Crash Science in the Classroom program. This lesson integrates timely, real-world phenomena — e.g., car crashes, crash-avoidance technologies, and other teen driving issues—so students can see science, engineering, and technology’s influence on society (a NGSS Crosscutting Concept). The scaffolded lesson and website design ensures accessibility and promotes equitable classroom practices through multimodal strategies: high-interest videos, guiding questions, formative assessments, exciting demos, English/Spanish captions, and virtual 3D 360° tours. This lesson offers teachers a high-interest, high-impact way to integrate core STEM concepts and practices, crash science research, and real-world relevance into their classrooms while equipping students with knowledge that could save lives.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants measure their reaction time and complete a distracted driving simulation using a series of 4 activities simulating the 4 major types of driving distractions. Participants will also learn how to access lesson plans, assessments, teacher tips videos, student lab sheets and answer keys.

SPEAKERS:
Pini Kalnite, Griff Jones

Addressing climate change can be challenging. Students are given tools for evaluating information then provided a series of myths about climate change. Using reputable data, they dispel the myths with accurate information and use multiple explanations to understand common misconceptions.

TAKEAWAYS:
Students are provided with a checklist to determine if information is accurate on a fictional web page. Through small group discussions, students share their perceptions of accurate data and what it means, then challenged to decide if this information is valid in helping to understand climate change.

SPEAKERS:
Laura Tucker

Sponsoring Company: MiniOne Systems

Learn how to spark curiosity and develop scientific thinking using molecular biology techniques adapted for middle school students. This session highlights a collaborative pilot program designed to build confidence, support hands-on learning, and connect biotech to issues students care about. Take away practical strategies and classroom-ready activities that encourage teamwork, perseverance, and authentic exploration.

SPEAKERS:
Erika Fong

Learn about a sustainable school district model that supports teachers and students in weaving geosciences into every science discipline—from CTE to AP courses. Through professional learning (intensive summer institute and ongoing coaching) and collaborations with community science partners, teachers gain tools to co-design data-rich locally relevant mini-units. Students engage in field trips and work with real, contextualized data to build data skills and see the relevance of geosciences in their own lives. Evaluation shows teachers grow in confidence using authentic data and linking science to local contexts, while students strengthen their science identity, value geosciences more, and build confidence with data literacy. This session will feature program leaders, student reflections, and teachers sharing co-designed units, classroom outcomes, and strategies for effective partnerships.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn about a model that helps teachers integrate geosciences across disciplines using authentic data, community science partners, and co-designed curriculum. Teachers gain confidence supporting data skills, while students build science identity and connect geosciences to local and global issues.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Pedemonte

Students often wonder how the science they learn in class connects to life beyond school. This session tackles that question by showcasing practical strategies for bridging core science instruction with Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways and career applications. Participants will explore how phenomena-driven, three-dimensional science learning naturally aligns with the skills and knowledge used in engineering, health sciences, technology fields, agriculture, and more.

TAKEAWAYS:
Through examples, discussion, and ready-to-use ideas, attendees will discover how to help students see the relevance of scientific thinking in authentic career contexts.

SPEAKERS:
Kristin Rademaker

Down to Earth is a free program with six design challenge missions using International Space Station (ISS) research to inspire middle schoolers to address real-world environmental challenges. Each mission includes hands-on investigations, engineering design challenges, background information, worksheets, and implementation materials. This session showcases two new missions focused on food science in space. Cosmic Crops explores how NASA's hydroponic systems grow fresh food in microgravity and how these technologies combat food insecurity on Earth. Orbital Eats explores how scientists develop safe, nutritious meals for extreme environments, with applications for food access challenges on Earth. Attendees experience sample activities and design challenges while learning implementation strategies for diverse settings. Activities align with NGSS standards, UN Sustainable Development Goals, and Career and Technical Education pathways. Walk away with ready-to-use resources.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will gain hands-on experience with activities that use ISS food science to engage students in solving local food security challenges, plus free lesson plans, assessment tools, and implementation strategies for connecting space agriculture technology to community-based action.

SPEAKERS:
Sandra Roberts

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

Many educators, families, and communities understand that STEM learning can lead to rewarding careers that support strong, stable futures. The question then becomes: how do we let our students know that everyone has a place in STEM? And, if everyone has a place in STEM, how do we expose all students to meaningful STEM opportunities? Together, schools and communities can create intentional pathways to make STEM opportunities available to all students. In this session, we will explore some of these strategies with a particular focus on how schools can partner with families and communities to infuse STEM into in- and out-of-school learning experiences and tap into the local STEM assets that can be found in every community if we look for them! We will also explore how to build multiple pathways into STEM that allow for students to engage from kindergarten into postsecondary pursuits into STEM careers, as well as how schools, families, and communities can embed career connections int

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how schools, families, and communities can work together to create meaningful STEM pathways, helping every student see themselves in STEM and access engaging, real-world opportunities from early childhood through postsecondary careers.

SPEAKERS:
Rebecca Stanley, Kristen McInerney

All metals share common properties and students can usually recite these fairly easily, but how deep is that understanding? How can those properties be manipulated? Participants will observe melting a tin-based alloy and explore a binary phase diagram, learning how these are used for heat-treating and alloy determinations. Steel is the second most common building material in the world. Two cheap examples of steel will be compared, one high-carbon, one low-carbon. A classroom activity is shared that allows students to learn about heat-treating and how it can affect the properties of the steel. Copper wire will undergo work-hardening and its properties will be compared to those of the steel samples. Each activity has real-world relevance, as well as deep chemistry connections. Crystal structures, grain boundaries and atomic dislocations, and alloy types will be explained and related to the practical engineering results of these atomic-level structural changes.

TAKEAWAYS:
Explore how students can change a metal’s properties through alloying, heat-treating, and/or cold-working. Classroom activities that will enhance chemistry understanding of atomic structure and real world engineering relevance. Introduce & deepen understanding of binary phase diagrams.

SPEAKERS:
Briana Richardson

This session will highlight activities that we have done K-5 to weave science lessons with math and ELA standards to make sure all subjects get the time they deserve. They also use real world experiences to make the ideas tangible and relatable for students. The presentations will include background information of how we narrowed down the standards taught, and how we developed the lessons. THen participants will get to try out some of the activities and walk away with lesson plans and worksheets .

TAKEAWAYS:
Science lessons easily incorporates ELA and Math standards, so why not write your lessons this way? Making science an interdisciplinary study allows students to use their lessons in a new and meaningful way, and allows teachers to hit all their standards in a reasonable amount of time!

SPEAKERS:
Samantha Levine

Sponsoring Company: Vernier Science Education

Is there a reason to wear sneakers in gym class or a white shirt on a sunny day? The data say yes! Help middle school students explore real-world science with Vernier sensors that measure temperature, light, color, force & acceleration. Walk away with 3D, sensor-based experiments for your toolkit.

SPEAKERS:
Tom Smith

If the idea of integrating computational thinking (CT) feels overwhelming, this workshop is for you! Together, we’ll demystify CT and explore strategies to bring it to life in your classroom. Through hands-on activities—both plugged and unplugged—and practical examples, you’ll discover how CT can spark problem-solving and creativity across subjects, not just computer science.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will walk away with a clearer understanding of what computational thinking entails and practical strategies to make this 21st-century skill accessible to all students.

SPEAKERS:
Bo Yu, Yishan Lee

Sponsoring Company: Science Communication Lab

Step away from the daily rush and rediscover the joy of looking closely. Join fellow K–12 educators for an immersive professional development workshop centered on one of science’s most fundamental practices: observation. This interactive event features OBSERVER—our new documentary that follows scientists, artists, and other curious minds as they explore and interpret the world around them. In this workshop, you’ll dive into creative, hands-on activities inspired by the film. Using simple everyday tools, you’ll practice the same observational strategies you can bring back to your students—encouraging deeper thinking, inquiry, and curiosity in your classroom. Whether you teach elementary, middle or high school science, this workshop is designed to spark new ideas, build community, and reignite your love for discovery.

SPEAKERS:
Susan Bartol, Ariel Raymond, Brittany Beck, Shannon Behrman

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Science

Participants will make and use alginate beads containing algae and alginate beads containing yeast. They will learn how the beads can be used to model the processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration.

SPEAKERS:
Crystal Risko

How can a toy chicken spark wonder, ignite curiosity, and anchor deep scientific sensemaking? In this interactive hands-on workshop, participants will experience how every day objects can be transformed into powerful phenomena that hook students in authentic STEM explorations. Aligned with NGSS and guided by the 5E instructional model, we will facilitate an inquiry sequence beginning with a toy chicken that chirps when a circuit is completed. Next, participants will engage in guided exploration, questioning, and sensemaking to uncover which materials conduct electricity, compare similar phenomena, and build conceptual understanding of circuits. The learning cycle concludes with an integrated STEM challenge that connects the science concepts to the children’s book, Lion Lights by Richard Turere, applies computer science through micro:bits and coding, and explores engineering design to solve real world problems using knowledge of electrical circuits.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore how everyday phenomena can spark curiosity and support sensemaking using the 5E model. Through hands-on science, literacy, computer science, and engineering activities, attendees gain ready-to-use strategies, resources, and assessments for classroom integration.

SPEAKERS:
Jennifer Ponder, Amanda Cramer

This interactive workshop supports teachers of grades 3–5 in designing interdisciplinary science experiences related to earthquakes for a variety of learners. Participants explore NGSS 4-PS4-1 by modeling P- and S-seismic waves with a long spring, then analyze seismograms from a recent earthquake to see how waves travel at different speeds and affect matter differently. Building on this, students investigate the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System as one way to reduce the impacts of earthquakes. Then, to address 4-ESS3-2, they investigate their own preparedness ideas so they can compare multiple solutions to keep themselves and their communities safer. The workshop also provides strategies for integrating reading, storytelling, health, and other science standards like 5-ESS2-1 by modeling tsunamis to illustrate interactions among Earth’s spheres. Educators will leave equipped to bring authentic, place-based interdisciplinary, place-based science learning to their students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn to guide students in participatory science by modeling seismic waves, analyzing real earthquake data, exploring ShakeAlert and other preparedness solutions, and connecting science with reading, health, and Earth systems standards through interdisciplinary, place-based learning.

SPEAKERS:
Katrina Arras

In this session, participants will be introduced to practices used in visualizing data. Presenters Sara Moren and Rachel Langley collaboratively teach middle school math and science. This year, they worked together to enhance their students' understanding of why and how data is used in making decisions. Using puzzle cubes to teach students about data collection, data organization, and using proportional reasoning to make predictions, the presenters will share what they did, what worked, and what ideas they have for further development of these lessons.

TAKEAWAYS:
Using puzzle cubes, participants will engage in a hands-on activity that can be used in both middle school math and science classrooms to help students learn how to visualize data.

SPEAKERS:
Rachel Langley, Sara Moren

This session will give participants a Birdseye view of how to use PhET SIMS in their science and math classroom to enhance conceptualization of concepts. We will go from just using worksheets with PhET to using PhET to have whole class discussion, create clicker questions and engage students in explorations.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with a better understanding of how to implement PHet into their classroom using various strategies.

SPEAKERS:
Cecelia Gillam

Sponsoring Company: Stile Education

Discover over 20 powerful strategies guaranteed to transform student collaboration, connection, and comprehension in the science classroom! Participate in lively, hands-on activities designed to immediately boost classroom interaction and deepen learning. Take home your own set of Stile Enhancing Engagement Toolkit cards, complete with QR code links to videos showing each strategy in action in real science classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Erika James

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

What happens when art becomes a lens for exploring science and intelligence? In this hands-on workshop, participants will investigate how nature, technology, and humanity intertwine to shape our future. Attendees will engage in participatory science by observing natural and technological artifacts, sketching and recording patterns, and comparing their perceptions with an AI’s interpretation of the same objects. These layered perspectives will be transformed into collaborative “intelligence tiles” and assembled into a collective mural. Along the way, facilitators will model how storytelling, place-based exploration, and cross-curricular art-making can deepen student engagement and enhance sensemaking. Participants will leave with a replicable process for classroom use: observe, analyze, translate across mediums, and create. This session highlights how art-infused science learning can connect students to timely conversations about intelligence, technology, and humanity.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to blend observation, participatory science, AI, and art-making into a replicable process that helps students explore the interplay of natural, human, and digital intelligence through hands-on, interdisciplinary learning.

SPEAKERS:
Lisa Robinson, Katie Musick, Jesse Wren

In this hands-on 120-minute workshop, participants will engage in the design and implementation of data-enabled POGIL (Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning) modules using a no-code to low-code tool, such as CODAP (Common Online Data Analysis Platform), that lowers the barrier to data analysis. These modules are interdisciplinary, culturally relevant and foster natural collaboration around real-world, high social-impact challenges that intersect with science, specifically geosciences, food and water systems, environmental science and health disparities; this aligns well with the conference strand #Trending in Data Science Education. Participants of this workshop will be trained in POGIL and CODAP and will be provided with instruction materials to enable them to deliver data-centric content. Expected outcomes in students include: increased engagement, data analytic skill development and empowerment through action. This workshop material was created through NSF grant #2304100.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will receive training in both the pedagogical approach of POGIL and the technical application of CODAP. This will prepare them to help their students develop the knowledge and skills necessary to work with and learn from data.

SPEAKERS:
Earvin Balderama, Marc Boumedine, Ravanasamudram Uma

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Tired of textbook diagrams showing DNA to RNA to protein? Bring the central dogma to life with a hands-on experiment to visualize transcription and translation using low-cost tools. Or engage in a virtual activity to explore real gene expression data, with no lab needed.

SPEAKERS:
Katy Martin

Sponsoring Company: Discovery Education

Clothing waste is a growing challenge, but it also creates powerful opportunities for learning. In this session, inspired by The Wear Longer Project created in partnership with Levi’s, participants will explore how everyday clothing items are made, used, repaired, and reused—and what those choices mean for sustainability. Using a simple button-sewing activity as a model, the session highlights how hands-on making builds problem-solving skills and design thinking. This approachable skill sparks meaningful conversations about fibers, tension, stress points, and the environmental impact of repairing versus discarding clothing. Participants will also see how this activity can be adapted for classrooms, makerspaces, clubs, and community programs. You’ll leave with practical ideas and ready-to-use strategies to help students build confidence, think creatively, and ask better questions about materials, durability, and sustainability in their everyday lives.

SPEAKERS:
Carrie Willis, Caitlin Arakawa

Discover Vernier Connections® for grades 3–12—a digital platform designed for the NGSS that blends hands-on investigations with lessons, activities & assessments. See how it helps districts deliver equitable STEM learning at scale with actionable data insights and time-saving tools like autograding.

Interested in building a successful science fair for your classroom or school? Want to host a science fair that inspires students, engages families, and strengthens your schools science program with hands on learning and discovery? This session offers a practical roadmap for organizing a science fair at your school- whether you are starting from scratch or revitalizing an existing program. You'll walk away with judging rubics, timelines, templates and communication strategies that have been tested and proven. We'll explore ways to promote equity and access, foster student ownership of projects and align with NGSS and Ohio state standards, and science and engineering practices. Ideal for teachers, STEM coordinators and administrators.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn the essential components and timeline of planning a science fair, gain access to ready to use templates, rubrics, parent/student communications, explore strategies to ensure inclusivity and student engagement and understand how to align science fairs with standards.

SPEAKERS:
Kimberly Pittman, Christina Jandrokovic

How can we break down barriers between classrooms and empower students as agents of change in their communities? This session showcases a replicable partnership between UCI, AUHSD, and IUSD that is #trendinginscienceeducation. Eleven teachers across 7 disciplines and 6 schools participated in professional learning to co-design and enact climate justice units. Using a co-developed, transdisciplinary framework, teachers collaborated across content areas and moved beyond sensemaking to help students develop critical agency, care for human and more-than-human communities, and take informed action. Units investigating local food waste and the community impacts of genetically modified foods demonstrate our core finding: when students tackle authentic problems, they develop profound civic agency. Attendees will learn best practice to build similar partnerships and foster compassion and community action in their own classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Explore a university-district partnership where educators from multiple content areas craft transdisciplinary climate justice units. This model merges diverse knowledge systems, empowering students as change agents to foster civic agency through local issue engagement.

SPEAKERS:
Jessica Yett, Hosun Kang, Becky Friedland

Discover how the 2025 and 2026 Best STEM Books were selected and explore practical ways to bring them into your classroom. This session will highlight the award criteria, selection process, and the unique power of STEM-rich literature to spark curiosity and critical thinking. Attendees will gain strategies for connecting books to the science and engineering practices (SEPs), along with concrete examples of classroom projects and activities inspired by specific titles from the recent award lists. Whether you are new to STEM literature or already use it in your teaching, you will leave with fresh ideas and ready to use projects that link literacy and STEM learning in meaningful ways

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to integrate the 2025 and 2026 Best STEM Books into their classrooms by connecting them to science and engineering practices and adapting sample projects that make STEM learning meaningful, engaging, and literacy-rich.

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Parks, Simone Nance, Katie Morrison, J Carrie Launius, Jennifer Williams

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 interactive session presents a research-based Career Connected Learning (CCL) Framework and design elements to assist leaders in decision making around career-connected learning experiences and pathways. The session bridges national research, in- and out-of-school learning, and workforce demands driven by DoW priorities. We will detail the CCL Framework design process, share practical vignettes of successful CCL programs in action, and provide a roadmap for how to leverage the CCL Framework in your community.

TAKEAWAYS:
Explore a research-based Career Connected Learning Framework that helps leaders design effective career pathways, align learning with workforce needs, and apply practical strategies to strengthen CCL opportunities in their communities.

SPEAKERS:
John Lee, Marc Siciliano

Sponsoring Company: PASCO Scientific

How are the bodies of cars designed to make collisions safer? What materials best reduce the peak forces in a collision? In this workshop, we will design crash cushions and crumple zones, and test them using live sensor data. We will use the sensor data to explore the relationship between momentum and peak force. This engaging lesson is a great enhancement to middle school physical science, physics, and OpenSciEd curriculum.

SPEAKERS:
Jonathan Hanna

This workshop tackles the challenge of preparing students for future career success by adopting a backward design approach. We will demonstrate how early, intentional exposure to career fields—starting in the elementary grades—can mitigate the narrowing of student choices that typically begins in middle school. Participants will learn how to select and design Project- or Problem-Based Learning (PBL) units that align with real-world phenomena and connect to the core competencies outlined in the state's pathways. Key strategies will include mapping existing science standards to relevant career clusters and developing AI-supported systems to support student success.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave equipped to use backward design and equitable project-based learning to intentionally align K–5 STEM instruction with future career pathways, ensuring daily classroom experiences connect real-world phenomena to long-term student awareness and success.

SPEAKERS:
Annette Larson

Build meaningful connections to hard-to-reach ocean ecosystems through real-world science! Learn about colorful corals, fascinating creatures, human impacts, seafloor mapping, underwater robots, and more through work happening right now to restore deep-sea coral communities injured by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Ready-to-use, NGSS-aligned activities include mock coral collections with remotely-operated vehicles, species ID video games, deep-sea mission board games, scavenger hunts, coloring pages, animated shorts, live connections with scientists at sea, and engaging videos. These resources serve diverse audiences including classroom teachers, informal educators, families, communities, and adults looking for careers in marine science. After hands-on demonstrations of interactive educational materials and a viewing of highlights from livestream broadcasts, participants will leave the session with a full understanding of how to use these free activities and resources for all ages.

TAKEAWAYS:
Connect all ages with deep-sea habitats, human impacts, tech, and careers using real-world science, play-based activities, and storytelling. Bring out-of-reach ecosystems to a range of learners through livestreams with scientists at sea, real footage of unseen places, skill-building games, and more.

SPEAKERS:
Sasha Francis

Discover how 3D printer pens can spark creativity and enhance STEM learning in your classroom. In this interactive workshop, participants will explore strategies for integrating 3D design into science and engineering lessons while experimenting with 3D printer pens. Each attendee will receive classroom ready educational resources. Facilitated by Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellows, the session highlights practical classroom ideas and innovative approaches to engage students in design thinking, engineering practices, and scientific exploration. Leave inspired, equipped, and ready to bring three-dimensional learning to life for your students. Free digital resources will be featured.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will become familiar with the operation of 3d printer pens and their utility in creating immersive hands-on activities that highlight applied materials concepts in science, engineering and mathematics.

SPEAKERS:
Natalie Woods, Phillip Cook

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

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Donna Knoell

Experience how LabXchange’s interactive lab simulations can elevate middle school teaching and learning. In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn how to navigate the LabXchange platform, exploring a variety of virtual lab simulations such as photosynthesis, osmosis, cellular respiration, and using a light microscope. LabXchange simulations encompass the scientific method—from predictions and protocol, to analysis and reflection—all while providing real-time hints and feedback for students. Discover how inquiry-based virtual labs can foster a deeper understanding of science topics, strengthen curiosity, and develop critical skills in a no-cost, safe online environment. Participants will leave with ready-to-use educator resources and new strategies for facilitating science learning in both in-person and virtual settings. Note: Participants should bring a device with Wi-Fi capabilities to actively participate.

TAKEAWAYS:
Discover how LabXchange’s free interactive lab simulations can make science learning accessible and engaging to enhance your middle school classroom experience, no matter your budget, time, or experience.

SPEAKERS:
Paul Schwein, Angela Campbell

Sponsoring Company: STEMfinity

Esports is far more than just gaming. The esports ecosystem comprises over 100 careers, spanning design and marketing, development, network infrastructure, event planning, medical sciences, and entrepreneurship. Participants will learn how to leverage their current classes and coursework to equip students with the career-ready skills esports encompasses, including the hard skills necessary to enter the ecosystem workforce and the soft skills needed for employment anywhere. We'll also touch on how esports creates community and a sense of belonging for underrepresented and marginalized students, builds efficacy, brings funding back into the district, increases grades and overall student well-being, and decreases behavioral issues and suspension rates. We'll top it off by exploring networking for partnerships and internships, and by navigating the esports competition space.

SPEAKERS:
Julie Mavrogeorge

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Add a hands-on lab to your Ecology and Evolution units. Join an expedition to Madagascar to decide if an extinct lemur species has been rediscovered! Test DNA with gel electrophoresis, build phylogenetic trees, and analyze authentic field data from the Duke Lemur Center.

SPEAKERS:
Allison Nishitani, PhD

In this workshop, participants will engage in an immersive, hands-on investigation of thermal energy changes in chemical reactions through the lens of model rocketry. Using the “Feel the Heat” lesson plan from Estes Education, educators will explore how to design and test hot packs for a Moon mission, observe exothermic and endothermic reactions, and connect those experiences to the dramatic heat changes exhibited by model rocket engines during launch. The lesson supports multiple pedagogical priorities: inquiry, student agency (designing, testing, modifying), NGSS-aligned assessment, and cross-disciplinary integration (science + writing/art through creative assessments). Attendees will leave with practical strategies, materials, student assessments, and classroom-tested ideas for integrating this STEM lesson in ways that meet NGSS and other national/state standards.

TAKEAWAYS:
Discover a ready-to-use lesson that blends STEM, energy, and real-world science through rocketry. Gain strategies, assessments, and confidence to engage students in NGSS-aligned investigations of thermal energy and chemical reactions.

SPEAKERS:
Bela Power