Learn how to leverage community resources and infuse criticality into your science curriculum. Presenters will engage attendees in standards-focused activities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to: 1. embed justice-oriented practices into their classroom teaching; and 2. create transformative curricula and innovative professional learning experiences to develop highly effective science teachers and teacher leaders.

SPEAKERS:
Laura Pena (Georgia State University: Atlanta, GA), Natalie King (Georgia State University: Atlanta, GA), Christine Thomas (Georgia State University: Atlanta, GA), Desmond Lee (Georgia State University: Atlanta, GA), Vanessa Grady (Rex Mill Middle School: Rex, GA), Nicholas Collins (Langston Hughes High School: Fairburn, GA)

Introduce students to ways we use energy—exploring thermal energy transfer, electricity, lighting, and more! Learn great investigation activities for both the home and school!

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Learn how to use energy management tools to measure energy use in the school and at home; 2. Describe efficiency and conservation, and categorize an energy-saving measure as either efficiency or conservation; and 3. Teach students how to measure and calculate which devices use more electricity than others and which cost more than others.

SPEAKERS:
Tyler Cvitkovic (The NEED Project: Manassas, VA)

Explore the similarities and differences in age-appropriate engineering practices and design parameters for preK–2 children through discussion, hands-on activities, and classroom videos.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Engineering is a form of problem solving that is appropriate and engaging for young learners; 2. Engineering challenges for young learners should be goal-oriented, open-ended, and relevant; and 3. The process of engineering should include manipulating materials and making decisions based on their properties.

SPEAKERS:
Amanda Glover (Museum of Science, Boston: Boston, MA)

Experience Braincandy—a free, web-based platform designed to stimulate evidence-based argumentation. Braincandy supports a safe, anonymous space to argue positions, engage in consensus, and critique ideas.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will: 1. learn how to implement Braincandy in their classrooms; 2. learn how the anonymity creates a low-risk environment to foster student argumentation; and 3. understand the effective use of digital tools to support learning.

SPEAKERS:
April Holton (Arizona State University: Tempe, AZ), Bryan Henderson (ASU Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College: Phoenix, AZ)

Explore how human activities have affected marine ecosystems, including the Gulf Coast, since the Industrial Revolution. Engage in hands-on simulations, interactive stories, and demonstrations.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will: 1. learn ways to incorporate hands-on activities related to marine ecosystems around the NGSS Middle School topic of Human Impacts; 2. acquire ideas and techniques for helping students deepen their understanding of the connections between population trends, land use, natural resource use, and environmental impacts through simulations, interactive stories, and labs; and 3. be able to identify how the presented hands-on activities meet the NGSS Disciplinary Core Ideas, Crosscutting Concepts, and Science and Engineering Practices; and how the activities can be used to reach all kinds of learners.

SPEAKERS:
Donna Torres (INFINITY Science Center: Pearlington, MS)

Leverage how people learn from data to teach data skills alongside content with these beginning strategies to build students literacy in science, math, and technology.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. A framework for thinking about how people learn from data and what are the steps along the progression from being a novice to expert user of data to do science, math, and use technology; 2. Strategies and resources to use in our teaching in any unit to better set students up for success as they build their mastery of data skills to become more data and science literate; and 3. a suite of tips and tricks to integrate into our current curricula across different disciplines that enhance how students work with data to learn their science and math content as well as critical evaluate claims in the world.

SPEAKERS:
Kristin Hunter-Thomson (Dataspire Education & Evaluation, LLC: No City, No State)

Keeping the Earth big and blue requires getting students out into the schoolyard. Discover how to put in gardens or an outdoor classroom and how to support the learning through crosscutting concepts with journals and children’s literature.

TAKEAWAYS:
1.Teachers will experience through photographs, stories, and activities how to engage all students in connecting sustaining Earth to the local schoolyard and their backyards; 2. Teachers gather resources for lessons, units, and a wide selction of chidlren's literature, going home equipped to address crosscutting concepts effectively; and 3. Hands-on activities and anecdotes of the presenter's expereinces will give teachers inspiration to help children find connections to nature at home and at school.

SPEAKERS:
Steve Rich (Science Author/Consultant: Atlanta, GA)

Explore an authentic problem-based learning lesson that covers land pollution, water pollution or air pollution. This lesson promotes engineering design, problem-solving, scientific inquiry, and literacy. This lesson highlights a 3-D learning experience.

TAKEAWAYS:
The attendees will learn: 1. What is Project and Problem-Based Learning? 2. How human actions around the world are influencing our natural resources? 3. How to use everyday, low budget supplies to model solutions for various forms of pollution?

SPEAKERS:
Ashley Lyle (Sherwood Middle Academic Magnet School: Baton Rouge, LA), Alison Baker (Sherwood Middle Academic Magnet School: Baton Rouge, LA), Brittany Hinyard (Sherwood Middle Academic Magnet School: Baton Rouge, LA)