2021 Portland Area Conference

October 28-30, 2021

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

Using Children's Literature to Build Science Literacy In Young Scientists

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

Oregon Convention Center - D136


Show Details

Do you want to learn how to integrate children’s literature into your elementary science block? This workshop will walk you through some children’s books that not only engage students and help build literacy skills but also provide a foundation for NGSS-focused STEM-related projects.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will: 1. gain an understanding of developing science literacy in their young students through literature; 2. walk away with resources (ideas and activities) to strengthen literacy and science skills; and 3. use children's literature as a way to enhance STEM learning in their classrooms through hands-on activities.

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Pearcy (Jefferson Elementary School: Spokane, WA), Jayna Ashlock (Logan Elementary School: Spokane, WA), Kendra Robinson-Harding (Jefferson Elementary School: Spokane, WA)

Developing Engaged, Future-Ready Science Learners:  Using Innovative Technology Tools to Develop Essential Skills and Concepts

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

Oregon Convention Center - A106


Show Details

Attendees will actively engage with innovative, technology-rich tools, learning strategies to teach data collection and analysis, engineering design processes, coding, and robotics, and engaging ways to apply coding to make devices “work,” adding rigor and complexity as learners gain skills and understanding.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to: 1. design accessible, equitable, hands-on learning experiences, in which ALL students actively participate and engage with innovative technology tools, helping students learn essential science concepts, engineering processes, and learn how to collaborate with peers to increase understanding; 2. teach authentic data collection and analysis, so that students can learn how to explore and test variables and measure and analyze their effects; and 3. use programmable technology tools and devices as effective teaching tools, helping students learn how to input code to achieve a desirable outcome, and how to analyze, diagnose, and correct the code when the device doesn’t perform as intended.

SPEAKERS:
Donna Knoell (self: Shawnee Mission, KS)

Ungrading as a Meaningful Path to Science Learning

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

Oregon Convention Center - E141



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
Ungrading Tool Kit Google Drive Folder

STRAND: Supporting the Social and Emotional Needs of Students Post-COVID-19

Show Details

Learn how ungrading works in a science classroom as feedback and reflection replace points to increase student autonomy and connection to learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Connect deep 3-D learning with the tenets of ungrading to see how they work together; 2. Explore concrete ways of tracking student progress and feedback while devaluing points and centering learning; and 3. Leave with access to resources that support ungrading in STEM classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Johanna Brown (Washington State OSPI)

Connecting NGSS to Student Interests and the Science That Surrounds Us in Real Life

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

Oregon Convention Center - E144


Show Details

Learn how to create engaging lessons, connecting to student interests and to the science and natural phenomena that surround us. Pick up strategies to engage K–6 students in explorations, helping them recognize and understand real-world science, while creating a lifelong love of science. Handouts!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn: 1. innovative strategies to help children identify, explore, and understand a variety of interesting, real-life science that surrounds them in their everyday world; 2. how to design lessons that emphasize exploration, and give students the opportunity to test variables and analyze their effects; and 3. effective questioning strategies to engage students and increase the depth of student thinking, also helping to make student thinking visible; and to help teachers use effective questioning strategies to help students clarify and articulate their understanding of essential science phenomena and concepts.

SPEAKERS:
Donna Knoell (self: Shawnee Mission, KS)

Equity in Science Teaching and Learning: Our State’s Shared Process

Thursday, October 28 • 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Oregon Convention Center - A107-109


Show Details

How can we elevate equity and justice in our work in science education, personally and in community? Learn about Oregon’s efforts in this critical process.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will: 1. learn about the Oregon Equity in Science Teaching and Learning Symposium; 2. experience (briefly) several components of the symposium; and 3. contribute to our collective understanding of this critical work.

SPEAKERS:
Jennifer Mayo (Portland Public Schools: Portland, OR), Jamie Rumage (Oregon Dept. of Education: Salem, OR), Noelle Gorbett (Portland Public Schools)

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)

PERFECT FOOD Integrated Science Unit

Thursday, October 28 • 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM

Oregon Convention Center - E141



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
Perfect Food Feast Slide Presentation
Presentation summary, a few lessons, a template for your own project, resources
Perfect Food Feast Slide Presentation
Summary of presentation, lesson plans, template to get you started, other resources.
Photosynthesis - Respiration Cool Activity
An engaging and educational human model activity.

STRAND: Integrating Multiple Learning Experiences and Connecting to Move Forward

Show Details

PERFECT FOOD will instruct teachers how to bundle their diverse science standards and present them in an authentic, empowering, and engaging unit.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will: 1. be shown how the complex food system gives their individual students the power to positively impact the world; 2. participate in unit activities and actively brainstorm how they can integrate their required standards into an authentic Perfect Food unit; and 3. take home templates and activities to initiate the process of developing their own Perfect Food unit.

SPEAKERS:
Daniel Jamsa (Silverton Middle School: Silverton, OR)

Promoting STEM Careers Using Serious Games While Raising Expectations for Students with Disabilities

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

Oregon Convention Center - D137/138


Show Details

Introducing Dream2B, an innovative, integrated curriculum designed to bolster math performance and interest in STEM /information communication technology (ICT) careers.

Note: Laptop/mobile device and head phones/ear pods are necessary to fully engage in this workshop.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Accessible and supportive learning environments are needed to bolster STEM performance and address unique learning abilities; 2. Collaborative challenges embedded in universally designed virtual worlds have the potential to bolster both conceptual knowledge and engagement in relevant STEM workforce skills (aligns with NGSS https://www.nextgenscience.org/pe/3-5-ets1-2-engineering-design); and 3. A proactive curriculum designed with the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework addresses diversity in the student population and act as tools teachers can use to ground instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Michelle Patterson (University of Central Florida: Orlando, FL), Rohana Swihart (University of Central Florida: Orlando, FL)

Correlation, Causation, and Island Biogeography

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

Oregon Convention Center - E146



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
Correlation, Causation, & Island Biogeography Resources
Shared Google Drive folder containing documents that support this instructional module.

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

Show Details

We will use Google Forms and Google Sheets to propose and evaluate hypotheses based on research conducted in Wisconsin's Apostle Islands. Bring your laptop!

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Choosing appropriate independent variables is an important science practice; 2. Patterns of data points indicate the strength of correlation between dependent and independent variables; and 3. Strong correlations indicate a greater likelihood that an independent variable has an important influence on a dependent variable.

SPEAKERS:
Charles Collis (Clayton High School: Clayton, MO)

Modeling Stellar Evolution Using NASA Images, Data, and STEM Analysis Tools

Friday, October 29 • 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM

Oregon Convention Center - E147/148


Show Details

Model stellar evolution processes using NASA images, plotting H-R diagram transitions, and determining the chemistry and physics of supernovas using NASA STEM image analysis tools.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Knowledge of the process of how stars form and change over time ending in catastrophic events, providing conditions for the formation of planets; 2. Students will understand that all knowledge of celestial events is determined by analyzing the light from these events and provide possibilities—not definitive answers—as the data can be interpreted differently; and 3. Image analysis software tools allow scientists to gain detailed information of stellar physical and chemical processes and constantly refine our evolving models of stellar evolution.

SPEAKERS:
Donna Young (NASA/NSO/UoL Program Manager: Laughlin, NV)

Experience Kinematics: Using Data to Understand Motion

Friday, October 29 • 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM

Oregon Convention Center - E146


STRAND: Sharing Authentic Assessment Strategies

Show Details

Learn what representations and data your students can use to bridge phenomena and mathematics, and how to assess kinematics understanding, as opposed to rote algebra skills.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Using authentic data from real, open-access journal articles to model motion; 2. Students using multiple representations to shift back and forth from pictures, graphs, and math; and 3. Assessing students' understanding through their performance using real data.

SPEAKERS:
Christopher Moore (University of Nebraska Omaha: Omaha, NE)

Three Ways to Make Your STEM PBL a Main Course

Friday, October 29 • 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM

Oregon Convention Center - B117/118/119


Show Details

Sponsoring Company: Pitsco Education

The framework of our STEM PBL units includes a meaningful STEM challenge, authentic inquiry, student choice, applied development, and public engagement.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Elements of a STEM PBL unit; 2. Ways to incorporate hands-on STEM learning into an open-ended STEM PBL unit; and 3. Leave with the right tools and confidence to integrate a STEM PBL unit into your learning environment.

SPEAKERS:
Molly Underwood (Pitsco Education: Pittsburg, KS), Mohit Abraham (Pitsco Education: Pittsburg, KS)

Using Picture Books Can Promote Literacies with Text to…Connections

Friday, October 29 • 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM

Oregon Convention Center - A106


STRAND: Literacy/Science Connections in the Classroom

Show Details

Literacy has used “Text to…”connections  to help students make authentic connections. Strategies/examples of expanded “text to…” connections for science and math are modeled.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will: 1. explore how to expand a common literacy strategy of “text to” connections when using picture books in the elementary science classroom; 2. engage in investigations that model the use of “text to” connections that help students connect their own authentic experiences and help them understand and make sense; and 3. consider how the criteria for the selection of books, identification of phenomena, and selection of investigations can be a powerful experience for students.

SPEAKERS:
Christine Anne Royce (Shippensburg University: Shippensburg, PA)

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