2021 Los Angeles Area Conference

December 9-11, 2021

All sessions added to My Agenda prior to this notice have been exported to the mobile app and will be visible in your account when the app launches. Any sessions added now, will also have to be added in the app.
Grade Level


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Strands







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Pathway/Course

FILTERS APPLIED:6 - 8, Hands-On Workshop, Sharing Authentic Assessment Strategies, Environmental Science

 

Rooms and times subject to change.
9 results
Save up to 50 sessions in your agenda.

STEM Teaching Tools: Resources for Justice-Centered Science Instruction

Thursday, December 9 • 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Los Angeles Convention Center - 514


STRAND: Developing More Inclusive Classrooms

Show Details

Choose which of these free resources for equitable science instruction are most relevant to your work. Then read, discuss, and plan!

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Science learning is culturally rooted, and strong instruction should take an asset-based approach to young peoples’ ways of thinking and knowing; 2. Developing more inclusive classrooms is a constant process. There are always steps educators can take to support equity, no matter where they are in their journey; and 3. These resources offer tangible next steps educators can take toward equity in their classroom, from identifying meaningful anchor phenomena (stemteachingtools.org/brief/42) to teaching biology in more gender-inclusive ways (stemteachingtools.org/brief/76) to fostering more student talk (stemteachingtools.org/brief/35).

SPEAKERS:
Deb Morrison (University of Washington), Abby Rhinehart (University of Washington: Seattle, WA)

Phenomenon-Based, Literacy-Rich Learning Using Digitized Museum Objects

Thursday, December 9 • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Los Angeles Convention Center - 408B


STRAND: Literacy/Science Connections in the Classroom

Show Details

Engage with Research Quest, free, online, NGSS-focused, phenomenon-based investigations using authentic museum objects and research to build students' literacy, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication skills.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will: 1. experience an exemplar set of free resources that successfully integrate NGSS and ELA standards to provide students with meaningful, self-directed learning; 2. recognize that providing students with opportunities to research phenomenon-based problems professional scientists devote their careers to using the collections and data they build new knowledge from can empower students to better understand the enterprise of science, the natural world, and the natural history of our world—while building their literacy and critical-thinking skills; and 3. understand that creating opportunities to make critical thinking visible is an essential scaffold necessary to support student efficacy with problem finding and problem solving.

SPEAKERS:
Madlyn Larson (Natural History Museum of Utah: Salt Lake City, UT)

NESTA Presents: Addressing the NGSS Through Topographic Maps and Profiles

Thursday, December 9 • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Los Angeles Convention Center - 404


Show Details

Make the conceptual leap from 2D to 3D and make teaching topography, topographic maps, and topographic profiles a concrete, engaging hands-on learning experience.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Modeling is a key process within the NGSS, participants will walk away with multiple engaging hands-on activities that will allow their students to model and visualize 2D topographic maps and profiles as 3D representations; 2. Using topography that is unique to the community (Mt. Saint Helens for example), participants will be able to understand the environmental and topographic impacts of geological processes; and 3. Making the abstract concrete using simple and inexpensive materials makes the learning accessible and impactful to more diverse learners.

SPEAKERS:
Richard Jones (University of Hawaii-West Oahu: Kaploei, HI)

NMLSTA-Sponsored Session: The Great Water Design Challenge

Friday, December 10 • 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Los Angeles Convention Center - 408B



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
Algal Blooms and Algae Resources.docx
Flooding and Severe Weather Resources.docx
General Topics and Resources.docx
IMSA Developed Research Questions.docx
IMSA Team Schedule.docx
Individual School Schedule Letter.docx
Marine Debris Resources.docx
Plant and Animal Invasive Species Resources.docx
Problem Statement List.docx
School Team SME Sessions.docx
Student Generated Questions for SME.docx
The Great Water Design Challenge LA.pdf
Vector Borne Diseases Resources.docx

Show Details

Problem solving? Creativity? Collaboration? Design Challenge? Join in a mini design challenge and develop your own challenge tailored for your class before you leave.

TAKEAWAYS:
Design sprints: 1. support innovation by solving a problem in a quick and creative manner; 2. engage students in 21st-century skills; and 3. incorporate many of the Next Generation Science Standards Science and Engineering Practices.

SPEAKERS:
Liz Martinez (Curriculum/Professional Development/Assessment: Escondido, CA)

Voices of Hope: Climate Science Unit

Friday, December 10 • 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM

Los Angeles Convention Center - 502B



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
Voices of Hope: Climate Science Unit
Graphic Organizer "A Warming earth"

STRAND: Literacy/Science Connections in the Classroom

Show Details

Climate Science can be a difficult topic, however focusing on hope and action allows students to see they can make a difference. Come see how!

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Gain strategies to support all students, but especially English Learners (using OCDE, Orange County Department of Education, Project GLAD® strategies); 2. Learn the content and the relevant issues that are impacting climate change; and 3. How to focus on the importance of maintaining hope. We do this by showing students how their actions will make a difference.

SPEAKERS:
Kate Lindholm (North Central Educational Service District: Wenatchee, WA)

What Do I Do with This? Making Sense of Your Assessment Data

Friday, December 10 • 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Los Angeles Convention Center - 505



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
Session Resource Document Form
Form to access the Resource Document and slide deck from the session.

Show Details

We are awash in assessment data, but often it’s overwhelming to make sense of it. Join us to learn tips and strategies for wrangling data.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Explore new ways to organize data collection and raw data to aid in exploring the data for stories after it is collected; 2. Acquire skills in tying questions, data types, and data visualizations to enhance your ability to make sense of the assessment data; and 3. Identify next steps to better utilize and leverage your assessment data to help you measure students’ success and know what steps to consider next.

SPEAKERS:
Kristin Hunter-Thomson (Dataspire Education & Evaluation, LLC)

CSSS-Sponsored Session: What Is Computational Thinking and Why It's Not Just a Buzzword

Friday, December 10 • 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM

Los Angeles Convention Center - 506


Show Details

Participants will learn about the key pedagogical model of computational thinking (CT) and see how it can be incorporated into lessons by teachers at all grade levels.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Conceptual thinking; 2. Coastal erosion phenomenon; and 3. Take a complex problem, deconstruct it, and use data to reason a testable answer.

SPEAKERS:
Jamie Mixon (Louisiana Dept. of Education: Baton Rouge, LA), Tana Luther (Louisiana Dept. of Education: Baton Rouge, LA), Molly Talbot (Louisiana Dept. of Education: Baton Rouge, LA), Michelle Lewis (Louisiana Dept. of Education: Baton Rouge, LA)

NMLSTA-Sponsored Session: Oil Spills and Dust Bowls

Friday, December 10 • 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM

Los Angeles Convention Center - 501



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
Dust Bowl Event Cards.docx
Dust Bowls and Oil Spills Activity.docx
Oil Spills and Dust Bowls Images.docx
Oil Spills and Dust Bowls.pdf

Show Details

The Dust Bowl and oil spills and disasters. What do they have in common? Engage in hands-on activities that investigate the interaction of Earth’s four spheres.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Scientists from various disciplines work together to solve problems; 2. Earth’s atmosphere, biosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere are constantly interacting with one another; and 3. Human interaction with Earth’s systems may be detrimental with long-term effects.

SPEAKERS:
Liz Martinez (Curriculum/Professional Development/Assessment: Escondido, CA)

Science—It's LIT!

Saturday, December 11 • 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Los Angeles Convention Center - 506



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
Lab RERUN
*Not my original document. Use for wrap up and clarifying lab/hands-on activities
SPACE Writing.pdf
*Not my original document. Prompts for writing in the science classroom. Use for daily activities, lab activities, etc.

Show Details

Discover best practices for incorporating ELA and technology—they're easy to implement in your classroom! Grab your device and let's talk all things science…it's LIT fam!

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Examples of activities and assignments will be shared that can be incorporated in a variety of classroom science activities; 2. Attendees will create a foldable that can be used for a variety of topics and see how it was used in the classroom; and 3. Attendees will participate in a digital activity that can be manipulated to fit their content.

SPEAKERS:
Andrea Starks (Houston Middle School: Germantown, TN)

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