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

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

Grab your coffee and pull up a seat. This is your chance to connect live with the Class CrunchLabs team and other educators who are building the future of science class. Ask questions, share wins, swap stories, and get real-time tips from the people designing the units and using them with students. Whether you are just getting started or deep into your first mission, this is a space for honest conversation, curiosity, and community. No slides. No pressure. Just real talk with your Class CrunchLabs crew.

TAKEAWAYS:
Bring your questions, feedback, and curiosity. This is your space to connect live with the Class CrunchLabs team, swap ideas with other educators, and get support from real humans.

SPEAKERS:
DeAnna Lee Rivers, Arash Jamshidi, Tommy Clayton, Rebecca Garelli, Jesse Semeyn, Megan Kuehl, Spencer Martin, Tara Graham

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

Experience how leveraging complex culturally relevant societal challenges as phenomena in 3D teaching and learning supports student motivation and engagement and develops student agency within and beyond the classroom! The Framework for K-12 Science Education and NGSS call for learning grounded in real world phenomena and problems to ensure that science learning is relevant to all students. The AIL instructional model succeeds the 5Es and utilizes complex and culturally relevant societal challenges to anchor multiple cycles of inquiry and sensemaking, culminating with student explanations/design solutions. AIL employs science education research emphasizing coherence from students’ perspective. In this session, participants will 1) consider their own ideas about teaching complex societal challenges, 2) experience 3D learning, and 3) consider the science concepts of a societal challenge (antibiotic resistance, heart disease, food sustainability, anthropogenic changes to biodiversity)

TAKEAWAYS:
The research-based BSCS Anchored Inquiry Learning instructional model succeeds the 5Es and leverages complex societal issues as anchoring phenomena/problems, culminating tasks, and performance assessments in 3D units of instruction to motivate students and develop agency in addressing these issues.

SPEAKERS:
Cynthia Gay

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

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Michael Rodgers, Randall Landsberg

This poster will share information from an NSF-funded teacher professional development program focused on "Two Eyed Seeing"-- the braiding together of Western and Indigenous science in a place-based curriculum focused on exploring marine habitats. In the Ocean Tech unit, students learn how First Nations harvested dentallium shells, which were used as currency, from 60 feet beneath the ocean surface. They also learn how local tribes are engineering clam gardens to restore local habitat health and nourish communities. Engineering and technology are integrated through students designing and building a remote-operated vehicle (ROV) that they can use to answer questions about their local marine environments and engage in stewardship projects based on what they learn. We will showcase real examples of Western and Indigenous scientists collaborating, and how ROVs are being used in scientific work.

TAKEAWAYS:
Poster visitors will learn how in-service and pre-service teachers adapted and implemented the Ocean Tech unit to incorporate students' own culture and funds of knowledge while introducing them to ways Western and Indigenous scientists are working together to address environmental problems.

SPEAKERS:
Debi Hanuscin

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

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

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

The relatively new emphasis on engineering across educational settings and standards, has early childhood educators working to understand how to best engage young children in engineering experiences that develop children’s interest and skills and prepares children for future engineering learning. To do this, early childhood educators need to be aware of the foundational knowledge and skills needed for our young learners to engage in age-appropriate engineering experiences and to learn systematic ways for developing children’s engineering knowledge and skills throughout their preK and early elementary years. This session will present a continuum for Early Childhood Engineering, describing appropriate engineering experiences for preschool through the primary grades and explaining how each set of experiences prepares children for the next. And, of course, we will do some engineering!

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will understand what engineering is and appreciate the need for and benefits of engineering experiences in early childhood education, while learning meaningful classroom strategies for implementing engineering with young children.

SPEAKERS:
William Straits

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

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

Contact forces might be all around us, but the juicy nuggets in this unit help them make sense. This session helps you uncover key features in Carnival of Collisions that make it easier to plan, teach, and guide students through puzzling ideas like balanced and unbalanced forces, motion, and collisions. We will walk through the built-in teacher tools, prompts, and routines that support deep thinking and epic classroom moments. Whether students are knocking down bowing pins or smashing watermelons, you will leave with ready-to-use moves that help the learning stick.

TAKEAWAYS:
Discover classroom-ready tools in Carnival of Collisions that help students explore contact forces and investigate what really happens when objects crash, bounce, or come to a sudden stop.

SPEAKERS:
Tommy Clayton, Arash Jamshidi, Spencer Martin

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

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

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

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

How do we balance innovation, private rights, and civic responsibility? This session connects America’s founding principles to modern challenges in science and engineering. Using primary sources and considering modern challenges, you will explore activities and civil discourse practices that help students analyze whether discoveries should be shared for the public good or protected as private property. Gain strategies to guide students in designing inventions that address civic needs and in proposing how innovations should be shared. With alignment to engineering and civics standards, and integration of literacy and technology, the session offers an engaging way to connect the 250th anniversary of America’s founding, or U.S. history more broadly, to science and engineering classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn strategies to guide students in examining the balance between scientific innovation, private rights, and the public good in U.S. history and today. This integrates engineering, civics, and civil discourse as students design solutions to civic needs.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Lane

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

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

Engineering in K-5 classrooms creates rich, authentic opportunities for students to communicate and make meaning. In this hands-on workshop, you will experience an engineering design challenge that optimizes opportunities for language learning and sensemaking. You will discover how engineering can surface students' assets and connect to their community and lived experiences - and how it naturally encourages all students to communicate. We will share tools to support multilingual students that include and go beyond scaffolding. You will then apply these insights to your own work and context by modifying and adapting your existing curriculum materials, or creating your own activities, to amplify opportunities for sensemaking in engineering. This session builds on work done in collaboration with teachers in the San Diego Unified School District as a part of the Elevating Engineering with Multilingual Learners (EEMLs) research project.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to amplify language learning opportunities for all students through engineering! You will leave the workshop with practical tools and strategies to take back to your classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Tanya Warren, Nico Janik

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

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

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

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

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

TryEngineering is a collection of resources developed by the members of IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional association, committed to inspiring the next generation of engineers and technologists. During this session, you will learn how to introduce elementary students to the engineering design process with fun challenges and low cost materials. We will complete an engineering design challenge during this session and share resources to help you bring engineering to your classroom. Engineering habits of mind are important for all children to learn, as they foster creativity, resiliency and problem solving. As a public charity, all of TryEngineering’s resources are free to everyone. Come to the session and learn more!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how beneficial engineering design challenges can be for students, and how easy it is to implement them with TryEngineering resources, available at no cost at tryengineering.org.

SPEAKERS:
Debra Gulick

Are you looking for an assessment that fosters collaboration, combats cheating, and connects content to the physical world? Discover the power of group exams. This workshop shares practical strategies for implementing physics group exams at all levels, from College-Prep to AP. We will cover the pedagogical research and personal classroom experiences, focusing on how these exams encourage students to apply their knowledge to solve tangible problems that align with the NGSS. Participants will engage in a sample group exam to experience the challenge and excitement firsthand. Participants will also gain strategies in using AI to efficiently design complex, three-dimensional tasks.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will gain a framework for creating authentic group assessments that challenge students to apply scientific principles to solve real-world problems in a high-stakes, low-stress environment.

SPEAKERS:
Justin Fournier

Sponsoring Company: Elenco Electronics, LLC

This session introduces educators to Snap Circuits as a hands-on way to teach foundational electronics concepts. Designed for classroom and STEM center environments, this session emphasizes short, guided builds that lead to quick wins and high engagement. Educators will learn how to introduce concepts like power, current flow, inputs, and outputs through play-based exploration and structured challenges that foster curiosity and problem-solving.

Learn how local industry can provide pathways to sustainable careers for students through a novel project-based learning Science & CTE course. Gain development insights and resources to empower students with skills for the growing clean energy sector and beyond. See Sprocket for the OER curriculum.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will gain tools to implement this curriculum in their own contexts, as well as an understanding of the development process, enabling them to expand the work into other topics and promote an educational movement that integrates sustainability and career readiness with academic content.

SPEAKERS:
Adrian Baez-Alicea

Discover how teachers, students, and scientists can team up to address local biodiversity challenges through NGSS storylines—sparking student voice, community action, and powerful learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Collaboration drives student agency and community solutions to real-world biodiversity issues.

SPEAKERS:
Susan Gomez Zwiep, Jill Grace

This session immerses educators in the process of designing an interdisciplinary, project-based unit that uses the phenomenon of climate change to drive sense making and real-world application. Teachers will experience strategies that connect science, social studies, and engineering as students explore the causes and impacts of global warming, examine the historical roots of industrialization, and confront issues of environmental equity affecting marginalized communities. Participants will learn how to scaffold inquiry, integrate NGSS-aligned practices, and use student-driven projects, from 3D-printed sustainable city models to DIY hydroponic kits and climate PSAs, to deepen learning. The session models real classroom examples of step-by-step strategies, rubrics, and classroom-ready tools that empower teachers to transform complex global challenges into authentic, local learning experiences.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn to design interdisciplinary, NGSS-aligned projects where students investigate climate change, explore environmental justice, and engineer sustainable community solutions through hands-on design and activism.

SPEAKERS:
Glenroy Foster, Nicole Marcellin

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

This hands-on workshop introduces Teach Engineering, a free digital library of 1,900+ classroom-tested, peer-reviewed, standards-aligned K-12 STEM lessons and activities. Participants will act as students and tackle a real-world design challenge in a hands-on activity from the Teach Engineering collection, where they design adaptive features for animals to thrive in specific environments. Through this phenomena-based and three-dimensional learning experience, educators will see how sensemaking and design thinking can be seamlessly integrated into instruction, using science and engineering practices to drive inquiry, modeling, and problem-solving. The session emphasizes interdisciplinary learning by showing how engineering design enriches science instruction, making STEM more relevant, engaging, and accessible for students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use Teach Engineering's free resources to integrate phenomena, sensemaking, and design thinking into STEM instruction, equipping students with deeper understanding and problem-solving skills.

SPEAKERS:
Ellen Sukovich

Sponsoring Company: InventiBotz

Attendees will get to try assembling our robots; learning about electronics, robotics, and coding. After putting together the robot, play robot soccer or design a dance!

SPEAKERS:
Larry Boyer

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 elementary school classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Jesse Steiner, Christina Davis

Participants will explore a fourth grade design thinking project that uses Makey Makey boards and Scratch to introduce students to controller design through hands on making and iteration. Students begin by sketching and comparing multiple controller ideas before building, focusing on ergonomics, reliability, and usability rather than rushing into electronics. Cardboard prototyping is used to test and refine designs before adding circuitry, helping students understand the value of planning and revision. As the project progresses, students extend their learning by improving controllers for specific games, adding additional inputs, or designing assistive controllers for those with accessibility needs. The session will highlight classroom strategies for scaffolding engineering concepts, managing open ended projects, and supporting creativity while maintaining clear design constraints. Attendees will leave with practical structures, reflection tools, and extension ideas.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to structure an elementary engineering project that emphasizes iteration, user centered design, and accessibility while using Makey Makey and Scratch to connect physical design with the user experience.

SPEAKERS:
Collin Doruff

Engineering Mission: Safe Landing for Beavers brings history, science, and engineering together in a joyful, hands-on design challenge inspired by the real 1948 Beaver Drop in McCall, Idaho. Students become engineers as they investigate beaver adaptations, habitats, and human–wildlife connections before designing and testing parachutes to safely “relocate” their beaver payloads. Using simple classroom materials, learners apply the Engineering Design Process to plan, build, test, and improve their designs while collecting data and reflecting on results. This playful yet purposeful challenge builds perseverance, collaboration, and problem-solving skills while helping students see how engineering can be used to care for animals and the environment. Participants will leave with ready-to-use lesson ideas, student handouts, and classroom tips to bring this unforgettable STEM experience to life.

TAKEAWAYS:
Students discover how engineering can solve real-world environmental problems as they design, test, and improve parachutes to safely land beavers—building problem-solving, teamwork, and perseverance while learning that STEM can help protect animals and ecosystems.

SPEAKERS:
Jennifer Williams

Explore common science concepts while playing with materials!  We will provide a variety of materials to use to explore balance, gravity, center of mass, and area (among others) for PreK through upper elementary and their teachers.

TAKEAWAYS:
Play is a serious tool children use to construct their scientific understanding. Several research sources will be provided.

SPEAKERS:
Anne Lowry

Join the USC Joint Educational Project (JEP) STEM team to explore creative ways to make hands-on science learning accessible for all students. We’ll share examples of our K–5 lesson plans, lab lists, and digital teaching tools created for classroom and at-home use. Learn how we transformed our in-person activities into engaging videos and online resources on our YouTube channel to support teachers and volunteers in connecting science to everyday life. Attendees will leave with ideas and examples they can adapt for their own programs or classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will see how USC JEP STEM creates and shares hands-on and digital science lessons to support equitable K–5 STEM learning.

SPEAKERS:
Dr. Dieuwertje Kast

This session will demonstrate a hands-on lesson with extensions that focuses on using science and engineering practices for designing devices to convert energy. Participants will construct and test batteries using various solutions and metals to solve energy storage problems for NGSS Standards (HS-PS3-3, and HS-PS3-4), in addition to enhancing their understanding of electricity, circuit building and chemical reactions in practical application. The Engineering design process will be integrated to make this activity a must in real-world application!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn strategies for teaching students to design and optimize devices that convert energy forms—emphasizing chemical potential energy—and to develop evidence-based solutions to real-world and societal energy challenges, considering criteria, constraints, and impacts.

SPEAKERS:
Britt Rohde, Jacey Hart, April Thompson

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Randall Landsberg

Be a bioengineer! Preview a free middle school curriculum module that merges engineering design with life science standards. Students learn about sensory and motor systems through multimedia and kinesthetic activities, and complete a scaffolded challenge to design, test, and improve prosthetic hand models made from common inexpensive materials. The unit was co-designed by 17 teachers from across the U.S. and the Genetic Science Learning Center, and is easily accessible from the center’s Teach.Genetics website.

TAKEAWAYS:
How to access and use a free 3-5 day curriculum module that integrates NGSS middle school standards in life science and engineering design, enabling students to describe how the nervous system responds to stimuli through motor and sensory neurons and design a solution to a bioengineering problem.

SPEAKERS:
Jen Taylor

Sponsoring Company: TCI

Join us for an interactive session where you’ll dive into the engineering design process and explore hands-on challenges inspired by TCI’s science programs. Learn how to bring real-world problem solving into your classroom through practical, engaging activities. You’ll leave with ready-to-use examples and strategies to help your students think like engineers and collaborate on meaningful solutions.

SPEAKERS:
Brian Ladd

Sponsoring Company: IEEE TryEngineering

TryEngineering is a collection of resources developed by the members of IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional association, committed to inspiring the next generation of engineers and technologists. During this session, you will learn how to introduce elementary students to the engineering design process with fun challenges and low cost materials. We will complete an engineering design challenge during this session and share resources to help you bring engineering to your classroom. Engineering habits of mind are important for all children to learn, as they foster creativity, resiliency and problem solving. As a public charity, all of TryEngineering’s resources are free to everyone. Come to the session and learn more!

SPEAKERS:
Debra Gulick

Are your students busy building and designing, but not quite connecting their projects to core scientific concepts? Engineering design is more than hands-on fun; it’s a powerful tool for linking abstract learning to real-world applications. When students work with physical materials, they test ideas, discover new solutions, and deepen their grasp of scientific principles. In this interactive session, you’ll take part in an engineering design challenge that spotlights how different materials shape students’ learning experiences. Discover practical strategies to help your students make sense of science through hands-on designing, problem-solving, and real classroom connections.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will engage in an activity that emphasizes the importance of selecting the right materials to facilitate sensemaking, leaving with ideas on how to incorporate this approach into their own engineering design instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Briana Trager

This interactive workshop will equip teachers with strategies to integrate how scientific discovery fuels engineering innovation and vice-versa. Participants will engage in an engineering task that is aligned to the V-model of system engineering. We will then unpack that task by diving into how to design and assess engineering tasks in the classroom. By fostering a classroom culture that celebrates both inquiry and application, we can empower the next generation of innovators.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will walk away with the tools to take any student project and turn it into an engineering task that is easy to assess. This method is so simple any project can be turned into an engineering project.

SPEAKERS:
Leah Ward, Becky McKinney

This poster session highlights climate change lessons and units developed by teachers who participated in a year-long professional development and research experience funded by an NSF grant. The work responds to California Assembly Bill AB 285, which mandates that educators include content on the causes, effects, and strategies for mitigating and adapting to climate change, with implementation required no later than the 2024–25 school year.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will take away classroom-tested ideas for teaching climate change in the areas of water justice, sustainable energy, and waste upcycling.

SPEAKERS:
Bobbi Hansen

Inspired by How to Train Your Dragon and developed through the AEOP-RESET 2025 program, this lesson engages students in asking, “Could a dragon really fly? How big would its wings need to be?” Using film clips, discussion, and the Engineering Design Process, students apply dimensional analysis and the square-cube law to compare real animal flight data with Toothless’ fictional design. Through guided investigations, scaling calculations, and creative blueprinting, students explore math, science, and engineering in a high-engagement, literacy-integrated challenge. The culminating project tasks students with designing a scientifically realistic, flight-capable dragon while documenting their work in an Engineering Design Journal. This session highlights how fantasy and STEM integration can deepen engagement, equity, and critical thinking for diverse learners.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to integrate fantasy literature with STEM by using dimensional analysis and the Engineering Design Process to engage students in exploring flight, scaling laws, and creative problem-solving through a “Design Your Dragon” challenge.

SPEAKERS:
Kim Alvin De Lara

This Lesson Showcase poster features the Xplorlabs Engineering Design Challenge on lithium-ion battery enclosures. Acting as safety engineers, middle and high school students test materials, develop prototypes, and evaluate how well their enclosures balance thermal protection: too much trapped heat risks runaway, too little risks burns. The lesson mirrors real safety science, referencing safety standards such as UL 2272. The poster highlights the before, during, and after stages: before, students build a foundation in battery science and thermal runaway concepts; during, they apply the engineering design process with data-collection tools and NGSS-aligned practices; after, they compare results, refine designs, and connect their work to safety standards and engineering careers through identity development and the joy of learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Students act as safety engineers to design and test battery enclosures that manage thermal energy and prevent thermal runaway. Educators gain classroom-ready resources, NGSS connections, and strategies to bring authentic engineering design into science learning.

SPEAKERS:
Daniel Sternberg

How do you make science exciting and relevant to your elementary students? This session aims to help participants learn to create authentic, standards-aligned, and engaging problem-based lessons that relate to students’ lives. Goals of problem-based learning include increasing student engagement through the use of authentic problems that relate to students’ lives, increasing students’ experiences with scientific practices through hands-on investigations, and increasing students’ critical thinking skills as they problem-solve and sense-make in collaborative small groups. This session will include examples of lessons and student-created products from lessons implemented in 1st through 5th grade classrooms. Participants will learn how to plan for standards-aligned problem-based lessons and how to support students through the process of problem-solving and sense-making to create their own solutions. Prepare to be amazed at how students learn to take ownership of their learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to create authentic problem-based lessons aligned to their science standards that are fun and engaging and promote student ownership of learning.

SPEAKERS:
Cindy Young, Dawn Avolt

Take your students on a design adventure by building a miniature city out of paper. Using only simple materials—paper, tape, and scissors—you’ll learn a “paper engineering alphabet” of shapes and connections that quickly turn flat sheets into buildings, bridges, and streets. This presentation blends creativity with STEM concepts, while encouraging reuse of everyday supplies like printer paper, magazine pages, and cereal box cardboard. Learn to cut, fold, and construct your own cityscape and bring easy, low-cost design projects back to your classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
That engaging STEM activities can be done with simple supplies.

SPEAKERS:
Godwyn Morris

This poster will share information about the engineering design-process in which we taught from the lens of a practicum-based professional development program in which we implemented the Ocean Tech unit from Explore the Salish Sea, a place-based curriculum that braids together Western and Indigenous Science to engage students in investigating local marine habitats. Through this unit, students learned about ways that our Indigenous neighbors interact with engineering, as well as learning about how engineering and technology can be used to answer questions about their local marine environments. Students designed and built remotely-operated vehicles (ROVs) and explored the different ways they could alter their designs to continue improvement. We will discuss our takeaways and experiences from implementing this culturally responsive elementary science teaching.

TAKEAWAYS:
People who visit our poster will learn about the way that we implemented the engineering design process. Through conversation with the presenters, visitors will gain insight into their personal experience interacting with this design process and curriculum.

SPEAKERS:
Corin Yates, Grace Blanning, Kelsey Gonzalez Serna, Kat Shoemaker

This session demonstrates how the use of the ‘Culturally Relevant Engineering Design Framework’ (CRED) can support rural elementary teachers in designing NGSS-aligned engineering lessons connected to extreme weather patterns in their local context. The CRED framework adapts the traditional engineering design process to include culturally specific questions and considerations. We draw on case examples from 3-5th grade lessons to illustrate how teachers engaged students in identifying community-relevant problems and generating solutions. Attendees in this session will work in groups to 1) review the CRED rubric and consider opportunities for assessing student engagement, 2) brainstorm opportunities to assess students’ skills, performances and understandings during each stage of the CRED design framework, and 3)gain practical strategies for applying the CRED rubric to classroom practice and for assessing student learning throughout the engineering design process.

TAKEAWAYS:
Discover how the CRED Framework helps rural teachers design NGSS-aligned lessons rooted in local contexts. Attendees can use the CRED rubric to assess student engagement, skills, and understanding across all stages of the engineering design process.

SPEAKERS:
Julie Robinson, Nicole Valine, Ashley Iveland

Teach Engineering is a free digital library that democratizes access to engineering education. With over 1,900 classroom-tested, standards-aligned lessons and activities, it employs engineering design and design thinking to make engineering, science, and math come alive through hands-on, open-ended learning. Resources are peer-reviewed, ready-to-use, and aligned to NGSS, Common Core, ITEEA, and state standards, supporting educators in creating dynamic STEM experiences. Teach Engineering puts the “E” in STEM, helping teachers transform science and math instruction into real-world problem-solving opportunities, with professional development, instructional videos, and tools to enhance student curiosity, sensemaking, and engagement.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will discover Teach Engineering as a free, comprehensive collection of high-quality STEM resources—classroom-tested, peer-reviewed, and ready to use—to bring engineering and science to life through hands-on learning and sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Ellen Sukovich

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

Discover the transformative power of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) to elevate STEM learning in your classroom! This session highlights hands-on projects that enhance engagement while building students’ communication, collaboration, problem-solving, spatial reasoning, and critical thinking skills. By integrating UAS career exploration and real-world applications, educators can create meaningful experiences that connect classroom learning to the world around them. Participants will explore diverse drone applications, from environmental science and agriculture to emergency response and infrastructure inspection, showcasing how UAS technology can be used across multiple fields. Students will gain not only technical proficiency but also essential skills for future STEM careers. Join us to explore innovative strategies for incorporating UAS into your curriculum and inspire students to envision themselves in exciting careers in aviation, engineering, and beyond.

TAKEAWAYS:
Explore drone-based STEM projects and leave with ready-to-use lessons, resources, and strategies for your classroom. Gain tools to engage students in problem-solving, teamwork, and career-connected learning in aviation and STEM fields.

SPEAKERS:
Jesse Steiner, Christina Davis

How can engineering experiences help students see themselves as capable STEM thinkers? In this interactive session, explore what STEM identity is and how students' multiple identities shape their sense of belonging in STEM spaces. You'll unpack the research around interest, confidence, and recognition, and experience strategies that use the Science and Engineering Practices to strengthen identity development. Leave with concrete moves you can use to help every student feel, "I am a STEM person and I belong here!"

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn practical, research-backed strategies that use engineering to help all students build a strong STEM identity.

SPEAKERS:
Emily Mathews, Jessica Holman

Attendees will engage in a middle school science lesson that connects the engineering design process to potential energy by using rubber bands and popsicle sticks to construct slingshots. Aligned with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) MS-PS3-2: Potential Energy and MS-ETS1-4: Redesigning and Retesting, attendees will design, test, and redesign slingshots while collecting data on launch distance and the effectiveness of their design. Before the lesson, we will complete pre-lab questions to recall prior knowledge of potential energy and engineering design. During the lesson, attendees will apply this understanding to create and test their models. After the lesson, attendees will reflect through post-lab questions, peer review using an NGSS-aligned rubric, and design revisions based on peer feedback. Attendees will receive student worksheets, rubrics, and data collection templates to support their own classroom implementation of hands-on, NGSS aligned practices.

TAKEAWAYS:
Engage in a middle school science lesson that explores potential energy through an NGSS aligned engineering design challenge of building slingshots. Gain ready-to-use digital materials that guide hands-on learning in designing, testing, analyzing data, reflecting, and redesigning slingshots.

SPEAKERS:
Margarita Jimenez-Silva, Caitlyn Ishaq

The purpose of this session is to illustrate how game design can be used to provide a scaffold for differentiation in computer science projects. Participants will see how having students build games like tic-tac-toe or a night at the casino can provide multiple different levels of challenge for students. These games can create authentic opportunities for collaboration between students and peer-led coaching. The simplicity of these games and their innate fun factor will draw students in and provide a clear feedback loop that helps students understand how close they are to completion and foster higher motivation for completion. This session seeks to help attendees foster student success for students at various levels while also providing students with rigor and challenge at all levels.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use game design as a way to provide differentiation in computer science projects.

SPEAKERS:
Maurice Telesford

Combine urban planning concepts with hands on engineering techniques to create a city using simple materials. Visit this session to see examples of how to implement this project with a class, after school or museum program.

TAKEAWAYS:
To learn to make in depth STEM projects with simple materials

SPEAKERS:
Godwyn Morris

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 classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Jesse Steiner, Christina Davis

Help students see the link between textiles in their lives and science and engineering, through hands-on experience, language development, and a virtual lab visit! We will investigate textiles and sample an open source video for classroom use. In addition, we will share language-rich card games, linked to the video content. This session connects classroom learning to outside research and answers the question, “How does this lesson connect to the real world?” These resources were developed through a research collaboration among the Colleges of Education & Engineering at URI and the School of Engineering at UCONN through an Office of Naval Research grant addressing STEM workforce development needs. The resources expose elementary students to careers in STEM fields, and offer an invitation for future work in STEM. We will address opportunities for localized learning and connecting with industry partners, including maritime careers. Leave with materials to implement the next day!

TAKEAWAYS:
Through exploring open source resources, you will see the impact of textile engineering on our daily lives and how to translate this into your classroom. Leave with a deeper understanding of how to link engineering and future STEM careers to existing early childhood lessons.

SPEAKERS:
Rachele Limberakis, Charlene Tuttle

Today's STEM careers require more than technical knowledge; they rely on durable skills like problem solving, teamwork, communication, and resilience. This session shows how engineering tasks and the Science and Engineering Practices naturally strengthen those skills while giving students a window into real-world STEM work. Explore strategies that help students see the relevance of engineering to their lives, aspirations, and future opportunities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Use engineering and the SEPs to build students' durable skills and connect learning to real workforce expectations.

SPEAKERS:
Brianna Reilly Oliveira, Jessica Holman

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Glenroy Foster, Nicole Marcellin

Get ready to channel your inner builder. In this session, you will learn how to teach the hands-on classroom challenges created by the CrunchLabs toy engineers, the same crew behind some of Mark Rober’s most memorable builds. These challenges are more than just fun. They power deeper science understanding and give students the chance to design, test, and think like engineers. We will walk through how to launch a challenge, organize your space, support student testing, and help learners reflect on what they discovered. You will leave with practical strategies to keep the mess under control, the ideas flowing, and the energy high.

TAKEAWAYS:
Get practical strategies for setting up and running CrunchLabs classroom challenges. These hands-on experiences build student confidence, creativity, and sensemaking skills.

SPEAKERS:
Tommy Clayton, Arash Jamshidi, Spencer Martin

Teach Engineering is a free, online collection of K–12 curricular STEM resources focused on integrating engineering into science learning. The collection includes more than 1,900 original lessons and activities created by educators, classroom-tested nationwide, and aligned with NGSS, Common Core, State Standards, and ITEEA. These resources use engineering to connect science and math through inquiry-based, real-world activities relevant to today’s youth. Freely available at TeachEngineering.org, the collection also features instructional “how-to” videos and professional development tools for teachers. In this session, we will present the Teach Engineering digital collection, highlight its unique features, and demonstrate how educators can easily integrate these resources into their classrooms to spark student engagement and deepen STEM learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will discover Teach Engineering as a free, comprehensive collection of high-quality STEM resources—classroom-tested, peer-reviewed, and ready to use—to bring engineering and science to life through hands-on learning and sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Ellen Sukovich

There is a wealth of STEM instructional materials online, but how do teachers determine which they should explore and implement in their classrooms? This session will provide research-based criteria that support teachers in becoming critical consumers of STEM instructional materials. It will also provide participants with opportunities to consider the overlaps between meaningful STEM learning opportunities supported by High-Quality STEM Instructional Materials and the work done in STEM careers. By carefully selecting and implementing STEM resources, teachers can better equip students with the awareness, skills, and confidence needed for future STEM career success.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to use research-based criteria to identify (as a critical consumer), and implement High-Quality STEM instructional materials.

SPEAKERS:
Jessica Holman

This 60-minute hands-on workshop dives into how our team uses underwater robotics as a gateway to teach core naval science, engineering, and technical trades to middle school students. Using the SeaPerch platform, students explore principles of buoyancy, propulsion, and circuitry while building teamwork and problem-solving skills. The session will demonstrate how these activities can be implemented across different learning environments—classrooms, after-school programs, and summer camps—and how near-peer mentors and dedicated staff support sustained engagement. Participants will also learn strategies for partnering with local industry and academic institutions to align these experiences with real-world career pathways and regional workforce needs. By integrating hands-on design and naval technology concepts, this approach connects curiosity-driven learning with tangible STEM skills.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to implement hands-on underwater robotics projects that connect middle school learners to naval science, core trades, and career pathways through adaptable, partnership-based models.

SPEAKERS:
Kevin Logue, Zeynep Akdemir-Beveridge

Inspire your students to think like scientists and engineers with this hands-on STEM design challenge! Participants will explore flight through a creative twist on straw rockets—building, testing, and refining straw planes while investigating four key variables that affect flight performance. Through experimentation, participants will make predictions, analyze data, and apply research-based strategies to improve their designs. This interactive session demonstrates how to teach measurement and data collection skills across grade levels, from basic measurement in early elementary to significant figures in high school. The session culminates in an engineering challenge to design the ultimate straw plane for distance and precision. As a bonus, participants will engage in a reverse-engineering activity to evaluate and improve existing designs. Leave with ready-to-use resources and fresh ideas to elevate STEM learning in your classroom!

TAKEAWAYS:
Gain hands-on strategies to teach measurement, data collection, and analysis through engineering design. Discover simple ways to tailor lessons for any grade level and leave with resources ready to use in your STEM classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Jesse Steiner, Christina Davis

Build a 3D paper arch with a keystone and conduct a hands-on experiment demonstrating Newton’s 3rd Law. Explore independent and dependent variables, investigate forces in bridges, and learn how to teach these concepts clearly to middle school students. Leave with a ready-to-use model and activity to bring into your classroom next week. This session blends creativity, engineering, and physics in a simple yet powerful way to help students visualize abstract concepts through concrete experience.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn to build a 3D paper arch with a keystone, conduct a hands-on experiment demonstrating Newton’s 3rd Law, identify variables, explore forces in bridges, and leave with a ready-to-use classroom activity for middle school students.

SPEAKERS:
Nancy Balter

This session explores an 11-day Global Intensive Experience (GIE): Exploring STEM Education in Germany, to investigate and experience firsthand the use of renewable energy sources in Germany - one of the most energy efficient countries in the world. Our journey takes us to three cities (Heidelberg, Freiberg, Frankfurt) and one rural village (Freiamt). Along the way, we visit schools, museums, homes, farms, businesses, forests, and district centers - all with a strong focus on renewable energy, including solar, biofuel, wind, and hydro installations. Students’ final assignment is a Passion Project inspired by their experiences in one of these unique places. In this session, we share learning resources and students' projects. We describe ways they transferred their lived experiences back to their STEM career contexts, including elementary and secondary education, special education, engineering, museum learning, and more.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn about and receive materials related to helping undergraduate students from diverse colleges learn about energy transition science and engineering. They will also learn strategies for supporting students to translate their experiences to career-related passion projects.

SPEAKERS:
Michelle Jordan

Almost everything we buy comes wrapped or packed in plastic. Globally, we produce about 57 million metric tons of plastic pollution each year. Plastics fragment into microplastics (pieces smaller than 5 mm), which have now been detected in Arctic ice, the Mariana Trench, and even our blood. Larger pieces of plastic also accumulate in massive ocean gyres, such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is bigger than the states of Texas and California combined. What if your students could tackle the plastic pollution problem in class? This session presents a classroom-ready and expandable research project that enables middle and high school students to engineer nanocellulose composite films as an alternative to packaging plastics. Using simple materials like cellulose nanofiber (CNF - orderless, non-toxic, and chemically benign), mason jars, and biodegradable additives, students design and test their own films for water permeability and other properties.

TAKEAWAYS:
Students can authentically engage in cutting-edge sustainability research, build eco-friendly composites, collect real data, and connect science learning to one of the world’s most urgent problems: plastic pollution.

SPEAKERS:
Tracy Vassiliev

In the Feeding the Future project, students explored how hydroponics and vertical farming can help address one of the world’s pressing problems: feeding a growing population with limited farmland. Working with real-world hydroponics engineers, students learn about different systems and design solutions, and build a small-scale vertical hydroponic system of their choice that supports plants using minimal horizontal space. They create a self-watering system that delivers nutrients, water, and light directly to the plants without the need for soil. They test their designs by growing plants in their systems under the same conditions. Students write a design report and present designs, along with plant growth data. Using the data, students come to a consensus on the best solution to scale up in our greenhouse. This process guides MS students through the engineering design process, developing engineering skills such as brainstorming, designing, building, testing, and refining solutions.

TAKEAWAYS:
The Feeding the Future project enables students to address global food challenges by designing and testing vertical hydroponic systems, while developing real-world engineering skills such as problem-solving, teamwork, and data-driven decision-making.

SPEAKERS:
Anna Mello

Launching Inquiry through Rocketry is a hands-on professional learning session that immerses educators in the power of authentic inquiry-based teaching and learning. Through a dynamic rocketry activity, participants experience a STEM lesson from the learner’s perspective – posing questions, investigating ideas, and reflecting on their discoveries. The session highlights strategies to spark student curiosity, foster deep questioning, and support collaborative problem-solving. Educators leave with practical tools to cultivate a classroom culture of exploration, critical thinking, and deeper engagement.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of how to design inquiry-based, student-centered learning experiences, transforming content into opportunities for exploration, and classrooms into spaces where questioning drives engagement and meaning.

SPEAKERS:
Jessica Kesler, Eric Moore

How can we bring engineering design into K–2 classrooms in ways that are developmentally appropriate and engaging? This session shares hands-on, low-prep design challenges—like building bridges, testing shelters, or creating water filters—that help young learners explore problem solving. Participants will learn strategies to scaffold the design process, reduce frustration, and make challenges accessible for all children. Leave with ready-to-use activities, tips for differentiation, and ideas to nurture little engineers’ creativity and persistence.

TAKEAWAYS:
By the end of the session, participants will: Understand how to structure age-appropriate engineering design challenges for K–2. Gain scaffolding strategies to make engineering accessible for all learners. Leave with concrete activities and takeaways.

SPEAKERS:
Noelle Carter

The Elevating Engineering with Multilingual Learners (EEMLs) PL model integrates both NGSS-aligned disciplinary content and pedagogical practices– NGSS-aligned science AND supporting multilingual learners (MLs). This session will share strategies for teachers to get to know their students and engage in rigorous reflection with an eye towards how to support MLs in science and engineering. Specifically, we will share the documents and resources that teachers in EEMLs used to track and reflect on their MLs progress over the year. We will share protocols that teachers used during plan-teach-reflect cycles during the school year, where they collaboratively worked on implementing engineering lessons that support English Language development. These documents were a part of teachers’ culminating portfolio of teaching and final presentations (which will also be shared) that highlighted their own and their students’ growth over time in both engineering and English Language development.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how EEMLs PL helped teachers implement engineering with intentional supports for multilingual learners (MLs). Attendees will leave with tools they can use to better support their MLs and reflect on their students’ growth over time in science, engineering, and English Language development.

SPEAKERS:
Nico Janik, Ashley Iveland

This presentation will focus on a practice-based experience for undergraduate elementary teacher candidates with no engineering background, to develop engineering content knowledge for teaching. Applying an inquiry-based approach in physical science, designing a lime-ade lesson, teacher candidates practice science and engineering practices with emphasis in engineering and the EDP. The presentation includes the experience design and data analysis of teacher candidates’ artifacts, reflections, and school faculty’s feedback. Analysis of the data indicates that these field-based experiences helped TCs’ better understand engineering practices such as SEP #3 and the importance of engaging students in an iterative design process. This study aims to provide specific examples and insights from TCs’ experiences, for teacher educators interested in teaching rigorous and culturally responsive engineering lessons in K-8 schools.

TAKEAWAYS:
One main takeway will be the use of metacognitive strategies to assess a lesson based on NGSS science and engineering practices with emphasis in engineering and the engineering design process to develop out-of-field teacher candidates' content knowledge for teaching engineering.

SPEAKERS:
Ana Margarita Rivero Arias

Balance is a phenomenon that permeates our lives every day. Children take on the challenge of balance as they walk, play, and ride bikes and scooters, and are curious about how to put objects into balance. High quality STEM experiences capitalize on children’s prior experiences and their interest in the world and how it works. In this highly interactive hands-on session, we will engage in teacher play with familiar materials children can use to independently tinker with balance within the contexts of: 1) body balance, 2) balancing objects, 3) balancing to achieve stability, 4) using balance to compare, and 5) engineering kinetic balance. We will discuss how PK-2 children can engage in STEM every day in their classrooms, and how over 400 teachers in Iowa are implementing balance experiences with their students using these materials.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will experience ways to develop their students' conceptual understanding of balance and nurture science and engineering practices by providing space and materials for children to tinker with the phenomenon of balance.

SPEAKERS:
Beth Dykstra VanMeeteren

Join us for an engaging introduction to a new digital platform designed to bring safety science into undergraduate chemistry and engineering education. Developed by the Institute of Research Experiences and Education at UL Research Institutes, this innovative resource helps students explore real-world applications of safety science through case studies. Tailored for integration into existing coursework, the platform supports instructors in fostering critical thinking around consumer safety, risk analysis, and responsible product development practices. Attendees will gain insight into the platform’s features, pedagogical alignment, and opportunities for classroom implementation. Discover how this tool empowers the next generation of scientists to prioritize safety in their academic and professional pursuits.

TAKEAWAYS:
Undergraduate chemistry, physical science, and engineering instructors will be introduced to a new digital platform that seamlessly integrates safety science into coursework, equipping students with essential knowledge and skills to prioritize safety in scientific practice and consumer product use.

SPEAKERS:
Bethany King Wilkes, UrLeaka Newsome

Grab your coffee and pull up a seat. This is your chance to connect live with the Class CrunchLabs team and other educators who are building the future of science class. Ask questions, share wins, swap stories, and get real-time tips from the people designing the units and using them with students. Whether you are just getting started or deep into your first mission, this is a space for honest conversation, curiosity, and community. No slides. No pressure. Just real talk with your Class CrunchLabs crew.

TAKEAWAYS:
Bring your questions, feedback, and curiosity. This is your space to connect live with the Class CrunchLabs team, swap ideas with other educators, and get support from real humans.

SPEAKERS:
Rebecca Garelli, DeAnna Lee Rivers, Arash Jamshidi, Jesse Semeyn, Tommy Clayton

Students redesign playground equipment to make it more inclusive. In this 15-day STEM unit, teams research, blueprint, build 3D models, create a brand, and produce a short commercial showing how their design helps more people play. Ready-to-use, hands-on, and real-world focused.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will explore a ready-to-teach STEM unit where students design inclusive playground equipment. Walk away with a pacing guide, 15 lesson slide decks, digital student docs, and exemplars—everything needed to launch this hands-on, real-world project.

SPEAKERS:
Lindsey Brown, Michael Regnier

Attendees will learn results from a study that assesses students’ K-12 STEM backgrounds, student learning, and confidence development. The study surveys students in a new U.S. Department of Labor grant funded experiential apprenticeship program in construction management. The program was recently launched by a major university as an alternative to post-secondary programs which are often inaccessible to underserved groups due to costs and competitive admissions. Attendees will be introduced to the intensive 8-week program that integrates the fundamentals of architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) with hands-on, real-world activities to provide the foundational knowledge for construction management careers in the AEC industry and comply with industry educational and apprenticeship accreditation standards. Attendees will learn how the program scaffolds student engagement by involving industry leaders in teaching, field trips, career fairs, student interviews and internships.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will discover how an innovative 8-week hands-on multidiscipline real-world training and internship program enhances STEM learning, confidence and readiness for construction management careers for the underserved in the AEC industry.

SPEAKERS:
John Montalvo

Our project developed problem-based learning sequences (LSs)—short units of instruction—for each middle school grade level (6–8) that were customized for the local urban area. Teachers participated in PL that covered topics like local biodiversity, the NGSS, and community-centered science learning for students, and then taught their LS. During the 7th grade LS, students learned about the biodiversity in their community and on their school campus that culminated in a project where students were given agency to design a plan that would increase biodiversity on their campus. Students surveyed their campus and potential areas for improvement. Students expressed care and consideration for the school community, biodiversity on campus, and other constraints they needed to work within when creating their plans, including: 1) Noting existing species in determining how to create a more balanced campus ecosystem, and 2) not planting mushrooms to avoid health risks to younger students on campus.

TAKEAWAYS:
At the session, attendees will learn about the problem-based LSs, PL that teachers received, and specific classroom examples of how students engaged in sensemaking to solve problems in their school or community. Place-based teaching strategies to encourage student agency will also be highlighted.

SPEAKERS:
Ashley Iveland, Sara Salisbury, Katy Nilsen

This session presents how an online teacher professional learning (PL) program is addressing the unique needs of rural educators in grades 3–5 by creating opportunities to connect with peers, engage in intentional STEM tasks tied to local communities, and leverage community assets. The PL supports teachers in understanding the instructional shifts called for by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The program includes an intensive online summer institute followed by five types of “modest supports” designed to sustain the implementation of the NGSS: synchronous professional learning community sessions, structured materials such as NGSS lessons and a resource library, dedicated project-sharing spaces, and project newsletters. We will share program features and teacher perspectives, offering insights into sustaining PL outcomes that support the unique needs of rural teachers. Attendees will leave with “modest supports” that they can implement in their own communities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how online professional learning with modest supports that can help rural teachers implement and sustain NGSS instruction. Attendees will gain practical ideas for designing supports that build teacher capacity and foster professional community.

SPEAKERS:
Ryan Summers, Ashley Iveland

“Humans over hardware.” This motto of the special forces emphasizes the importance of team members over technology/tools in determining mission success. This session will highlight how the same principle applies to learning and growth in science classrooms. While content knowledge is essential and educational technology/tools continue to evolve, “soft skills” such as communication, adaptability, and group problem-solving remain equally impactful on student understanding and engagement. Perfect for teachers looking to strengthen the connection of content with the social-emotional aspects of their learning environment, this session will have participants analyze the necessary “soft skills” of today’s dynamic learners, apply these concepts to their level of instruction/classroom, and leave equipped with ready-to-use activities and tools to intentionally develop a classroom culture where comprehension, application and teamwork thrive.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session will provide educators with strategies and tools for student development of the vital “soft skills” needed in today’s classrooms. Participants will strengthen student engagement while also reinforcing the interpersonal and problem-solving skills needed to thrive beyond the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Adam Lawrence

STEM teaching can be both inspiring and overwhelming, with constant planning and accountability leaving little emotional space for educators. This session reframes student autonomy as a pathway to teacher well-being. When students take greater ownership of inquiry, research, and design, teachers shift from directing every step to facilitating meaningful learning. The result: students are more engaged, and teachers reclaim time, energy, and joy. Grounded in NGSS Science and Engineering Practices and equity-centered pedagogy, this session will highlight classroom-tested strategies such as jigsaw research, student-led engineering design, and reflection logs that make autonomy sustainable. Participants will analyze student work, explore practical tools, and identify ways to incorporate autonomy without sacrificing rigor. Attendees will leave with ready-to-use strategies that both empower students and reduce teacher stress, helping educators rediscover balance, enthusiasm, and well-being.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how fostering student autonomy in STEM classrooms reduces teacher stress and workload. By shifting responsibility to students through inquiry, design, and collaboration, educators can reclaim time, protect well-being, and sustain joy in teaching.

SPEAKERS:
Tatianna Munro

Grab your coffee and pull up a seat. This is your chance to connect live with the Class CrunchLabs team and other educators who are building the future of science class. Ask questions, share wins, swap stories, and get real-time tips from the people designing the units and using them with students. Whether you are just getting started or deep into your first mission, this is a space for honest conversation, curiosity, and community. No slides. No pressure. Just real talk with your Class CrunchLabs crew.

TAKEAWAYS:
Bring your questions, feedback, and curiosity. This is your space to connect live with the Class CrunchLabs team, swap ideas with other educators, and get support from real humans.

SPEAKERS:
Rebecca Garelli, Arash Jamshidi, Tommy Clayton, Jesse Semeyn

What sets engineering apart from typical science inquiry? The answer: materials! In engineering, students are provided opportunities to explore, manipulate, and challenge their scientific knowledge through their engagement with physical materials. This hands-on experience connects abstract scientific knowledge to real-world applications, making learning meaningful and tangible for young learners. This session presents research conducted with upper elementary students, revealing how encountering and overcoming material-driven obstacles can spark scientific sensemaking. This work aims to change the way we think about tensions and failures in the design process by reframing these moments as essential opportunities for sensemaking. When students engage with materials through engineering design, they are transforming their learning from simply knowing to understanding.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with insights into how materials play a role in bridging engineering design and scientific sensemaking to inform instruction and design of engineering instruction in the elementary classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Briana Trager

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Carlotta Berry

Preparing the next generation of STEM innovators begins with the educators who shape early student engagement. The Undersea Naval Innovation through Teacher Education (UNITE) integrates emerging naval technologies into K–8 classrooms through pre-service teacher education. UNITE targets elementary education majors, increasing future educator awareness of STEM careers with naval applications. The program includes professional development that exposes elementary education majors to hands-on naval science and technology classroom instruction, veteran educators, and naval research. Anchored by a partnership between the University of Connecticut and the University of Rhode Island’s Guiding Education in Math and Science Network (GEMS-Net), this initiative empowers pre-service teachers to integrate engineering and undersea science concepts into elementary and middle school classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will gain insight into how this approach balances the technical depth of naval research with the pedagogical needs of pre-service teachers. Presenters will highlight lessons learned in program design, hands-on classroom visits, and teacher leadership development.

SPEAKERS:
Charlene Tuttle, Elizabeth DeLoreto, Rachele Limberakis

Attendees will learn how this road pavement STEM-project-based learning unit will provide students with the opportunity to integrate the STEM disciplines. Attendees will learn how to scaffold student engagement by inviting civil engineers to connect real-world examples of good and bad roads in their community, have students simulate pavement compaction testing, and journaling and showcasing their projects. Students will evaluate the various road components, criteria and constraints and be able to design solutions to real-world engineering problems which are closely connected to the goals of NGSS HS-ETS1-3. This session will cover each step starting with the design brief, historical background, socio-economic importance, materials and resources, research, design, building prototype, testing, collecting and analyzing data, iterative redesign, and examples of how to differentiate such as a cost-benefit analysis option and accommodations such as providing access to Immersive Reader.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will explore ways to improve road conditions by substituting common kitchen materials to simulate the design and construction of road pavements.

SPEAKERS:
Andrew Kipp, John Montalvo

Channel that unforgettable 6-7 energy into a STEM Night that's low prep, high energy, and all fun! This dynamic session inspires, empowers, and equips educators with simple ideas to create enriching and engaging STEM experiences for students, families, and community members alike. Discover trending ideas and hands-on activities that make science come alive beyond the classroom walls, while exploring strategies to build excitement, collaboration, and confidence among all participants.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will engage in hands-on demonstrations, share creative tips that work, and leave ready to host a STEM-tastic event that channels the 6-7 energy, making science fun for everyone!

SPEAKERS:
Sara Tolman

Put on your Student Cap! Learn about real life work happening to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Then, design and build a device that will move and collect trash to be carried out of the ocean. After playing student, discuss how using real world examples when it comes to engineering a design solution. Including how to use current environmental threats to inspire the Engineering Design Process and create a solution to a real world problem. Also discuss the extension of using programing and technology in addition to the design.

TAKEAWAYS:
A lesson plan geared towards middle school students about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and how scientists are cleaning the oceans. Participants will also have confidence to take an idea and turn it into an Engineering Design Lesson.

SPEAKERS:
Amanda Petty

In this workshop, we will explore free lessons and activities created by Blue Origin's non-profit Club for the Future. Through a series of hands on activities, attendees will practice how to engage students in the lessons. By the end of the session, attendees will walk away with various free lessons, activities, and resources to explore careers in space!

TAKEAWAYS:
Through hands-on practice during the workshop, attendees will gain practical skills in facilitating engaging and interactive STEAM activities, designed to spark student interest in space-related careers.

SPEAKERS:
Kristen Yip

Get ready to channel your inner builder. In this session, you will learn how to teach the hands-on classroom challenges created by the CrunchLabs toy engineers, the same crew behind some of Mark Rober’s most memorable builds. These challenges are more than just fun. They power deeper science understanding and give students the chance to design, test, and think like engineers. We will walk through how to launch a challenge, organize your space, support student testing, and help learners reflect on what they discovered. You will leave with practical strategies to keep the mess under control, the ideas flowing, and the energy high.

TAKEAWAYS:
Get practical strategies for setting up and running CrunchLabs classroom challenges. These hands-on experiences build student confidence, creativity, and sensemaking skills.

SPEAKERS:
Arash Jamshidi

Learn how to turn real-world problems into powerful science phenomena that drive sensemaking and engineering design. In this interactive session led by UC San Diego’s Jacobs School of Engineering, participants will experience the Problem Solving Framework - a structured approach that helps students define problems, apply science ideas, and design effective solutions. Participants will engage in a physics learning segment that teaches them an industry-proven problem solving strategy that they will combine with their science knowledge to collaboratively identify and solve a real-world problem. Through this learning segment participants will learn how the Framework supports scientific sensemaking and integrates engineering principles into any science course.

TAKEAWAYS:
Leave equipped to integrate real-world problem solving into your science teaching using UC San Diego’s Problem Solving Framework. You will also learn how to access UC San Diego's Problem Solve Like An Expert library of pre-written problem solving and science learning segments.

SPEAKERS:
Alec Barron

Participants will gain insight into the interplay of three-dimensional learning and assessment by diving into a 7th grade learning sequence anchored in the phenomenon of a global biodiversity hotspot. Participants will engage with key instructional and assessment moments to learn how students study the challenges species face and use engineering design to enact a solution that protects and enhances biodiversity in their community.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will discuss and make sense of how the use of three-dimensional formative assessments can strengthen instruction and student sensemaking in science.

SPEAKERS:
Laura Griffith, Stacey Vigallon, Andrea Frias

Participants will take part in a simple beam lab using weights to determine the deflection of the beam material. Groups will have different beams and varying results will help support understanding of the graphs created. The results will then be graphed as a load-deflection curve and shared. Stress is the amount loaded onto the beam (analogous to load). Strain (similar to deflection) is the amount of deformation that occurs. The resulting curve and slope (Young’s Modulus) give information about the stiffness and elasticity of the material. Different beam results will clearly demonstrate the meaning of Young’s Modulus and interpretation of stress-strain curves. Challenges of stress-strain curve understanding (both variables are dependent, for instance) will be discussed and clarified. How to use stress-strain curves with a bridge project extension will be shared.

TAKEAWAYS:
A hands-on beam lab produces graphs critical to understanding properties for engineering. With focus on making, interpreting, & teaching the graphs. Real-world uses & applications of stress-strain curves in engineering will be shared and help to illustrate the importance of this type of graph.

SPEAKERS:
Briana Richardson, Scott Spohler

The focus is on hands-on and visible building materials, but some ideas can be applied to the microscopic and used to illuminate concepts about things like crystal structures and bonding. Presenters – a chemistry and a physics teacher – provide lots of information for scaffolding the activities to fit different levels of learners. Students will have to take careful measurements and use those measurements in calculations with real-world applications. They will communicate their findings and defend their choices based on lab results. The specific activities include: cement pucks and beams and various additives; foam beams; clay tiles; simple metal alloys; and hex cell composites. Using these relatively cheap materials and just a few pieces of equipment, students make choices for design challenges and begin to see all the factors necessary to good design. They will also more easily make connections between abstract concepts from the classroom and what those vocabulary words really mean.

TAKEAWAYS:
Explore STEM with cement, metal, and clay. Apply math concepts and lots of real-world examples. Engage students in learning and solving problems. They love destructive testing! There are ideas provided for all levels of the physical sciences, from basic concepts to more advanced calculations.

SPEAKERS:
Briana Richardson

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

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

SPEAKERS:
Carlotta Berry