2021 Portland Area Conference

October 28-30, 2021

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Pathway/Course

FILTERS APPLIED:6 - 8, Hands-On Workshop, Life Science

 

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

Online Investigations: Using Digitized Specimens for Engaged Science Learning

Thursday, October 28 • 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Oregon Convention Center - D139/140


STRAND: Innovating the Future of Education: Technology and Science Education

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EPIC Bioscience are free online investigations for NGSS middle school life science. Students collect and analyze data from digitized museum specimens to develop evidence-based arguments.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Online science investigations can be evaluated by assessing key features to engage students in real-world issues, motivate accurate data collection, and facilitate critical thinking and reflection; 2. Digitized museum specimens can be used to increase student engagement during data collection and support their understanding of data patterns; and 3. Using online data collection can enhance opportunities for authentic science investigations by reducing barriers related to specimen access.

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

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

Thursday, October 28 • 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM

Oregon Convention Center - D139/140


STRAND: Literacy/Science Connections in the Classroom

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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 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)

NSTA Press Session: Argument-Driven Inquiry as a Way to Bring 3-D Instruction to Your Classroom

Thursday, October 28 • 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM

Oregon Convention Center - G131/132


Show Details

Argument-Driven Inquiry is an instructional model that gives students an opportunity to learn how to use the DCIs, CCs, and SEPs to explain natural phenomena. It creates a learning environment where students are able to talk, read, and write in the service of sensemaking.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. How to use this instructional model, or way of teaching, to give students an opportunity to learn how to use the DCIs, CCs, and SEPs to make sense of natural phenomena; 2. How to give students an opportunity to use their own ideas and ways of communicating to talk, read, and write in the service of sensemaking; and 3. How to give students more opportunities to decide what counts as valid and acceptable and develop new criteria for what counts evidence in science.

SPEAKERS:
Victor Sampson (The University of Texas at Austin: Austin, TX)

Using Authentic Data to Make Meaningful Connections

Thursday, October 28 • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Oregon Convention Center - A106



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
Slide Deck
Slide deck in PowerPoint format for the Authentic Data Session

STRAND: Successful Collaborations Between Informal and Formal Educators

Show Details

Join museum educators and classroom teachers to learn how data collection and analysis can help students make meaningful connections with content and with each other.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn: 1. how to create a unit of study around authentic data collection and analysis; 2. data collection and analysis can connect teachers (or students) who can't connect in person; and 3. about tools for data collection and analysis.

SPEAKERS:
Shannon Baldioli (Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum: Washington, DC), Kate Kogge (AFOSR: No City, No State), Michelle Rahn (Will Rogers Junior High School: Claremore, OK)

Build Local Connection and Global Perspective with eBird Citizen Science (Bring Your Own Device!)

Friday, October 29 • 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Oregon Convention Center - E142/143


Show Details

Connect to nature, explore biodiversity data, and build science practices with eBird citizen science. Use free apps to discover birds and beyond, wherever you are.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be able to: 1. use the Merlin Bird ID app to identify birds and create a list of the most 10 common birds in their area, and to use the eBird citizen science app to submit a checklist of birds; 2. define citizen science and describe how it can help students develop data literacy, deepen understanding of biodiversity, uncover real-world patterns and trends, and support conservation efforts; and 3. name and access at least three freely available resources (such as apps, online interactives, videos, lesson plans, data visualizations, and projects) that are suitable to use in their classroom to diverse learners in citizen science.

SPEAKERS:
Jennifer Fee (The Cornell Lab of Ornithology: Ithaca, NY)

Science At Home: Bridging the Gap

Friday, October 29 • 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM

Oregon Convention Center - D137/138


STRAND: Integrating Multiple Learning Experiences and Connecting to Move Forward

Show Details

Looking for ways to connect what students learn at school with their home learning environment? This session will provide participants with many overarching hands-on science lessons that integrate the science and engineering practices and can easily be completed at home or school. Materials are cheap and easily accessible for parents/teachers.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Overarching science concepts at each grade band; 2. Connecting hands-on science activities to at-home learning; and 3. Creating an at-home lessons template.

SPEAKERS:
Curtis Varnell (Guy Fenter Education Service Cooperative: Branch, AR)

Cells in Context

Saturday, October 30 • 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM

Oregon Convention Center - D136



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
Free Cell and Pathogen Unit
This unit offers an in-depth exploration of specialized cell types and how pathogens disrupt them. Includes models that build on one another and supporting multimedia materials.

Show Details

Join me for this FREE 3-D unit featuring progressive modeling supported by multimedia tools. A realistic and dynamic exploration of cells, cell systems, and disruption by pathogens. Visit https://teach.genetics.utah.edu/content/cells/ for more information.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Where to access a new, free, NGSS-friendly middle school unit on cell structure and function, cell systems. and pathogens; 2. How to integrate realistic multimedia and paper-based modeling exercises to depict the dynamic inner workings of cells and tissues; and 3. Experience with cell models that can be carried through to cell systems and infection by pathogens.

SPEAKERS:
Molly Malone (The University of Utah: Salt Lake City, UT)

DIG Field School: Paleontologists and Teachers Working and Learning Together

Saturday, October 30 • 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Oregon Convention Center - D137/138



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
DIG NSTA.pdf

STRAND: Successful Collaborations Between Informal and Formal Educators

Show Details

Teachers partner with University of Washington paleontologists during four days of the summer field season in central Montana to dig fossils that add to our understanding of the extinction of the dinosaurs.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Learn how you and your students can participate in ongoing research about the extinction of the dinosaurs through the University of Washington and Burke Museum DIG Field school; 2. Learn to identify 66 million-year-old species from microfossils; and 3. Receive access to 10 Lessons on Earth History and Fossils, all connected to NGSS standards.

SPEAKERS:
Mark Watrin (WSTA: Olympia, WA)

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