2021 Portland Area Conference

October 28-30, 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


Topics

















Strands







Session Type




Pathway/Course

FILTERS APPLIED:9 - 12, Presentation, Innovating the Future of Education Technology and Science Education, Biology

 

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

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)

The Flipped Lab: An Affordable and Inclusive Approach for Expanding Student Engagement and Persistence

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

Oregon Convention Center - A105


Show Details

We share inclusive approaches to science and engineering “flipped labs” that enabled hundreds of high school students to connect STEM with home and families.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Design guidelines for affordable and accessible STEM design activities that can expand from classroom to home and allow students to engage in inquiry and engineering exploration; 2. Example case studies, from high schools with diverse demographics, of integrated science and engineering “flipped lab” design projects that bridged the classroom to home; and 3. Suggestions for improving flipped labs into full 3-D learning experiences.

SPEAKERS:
Mihir Ravel (Visiting Scholar: Portland, OR), Stephen Scannell (Gresham High School: Gresham, OR), Dan Robinette (Clackamas High School: Clackamas, OR), Cary Sneider (Portland State University: Portland, OR)

Evolution—How Strong Is the Evidence?

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

Oregon Convention Center - E144



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
Evolution Powerpoint Slides
Evolution-at-20.pdf

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

Show Details

Despite its central role in the Biology curriculum, evolution remains a topic of contention. We will examine evolutionary science today and the evidence behind it.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Participants will see examples of how the evolutionary narrative can be incorporated into topics as diverse as ecology, physiology, taxonomy, and cell biology [HS-LS1-2] ; 2. The evidence usually marshaled in support of evolution is often confined to passive descriptions of the fossil record and well-worn examples of natural selection. We will examine ways that students can use the availability of genomic data to pinpoint the marks of evolutionary change in DNA sequences and patterns of gene organization [HS-LS3-2, HS-LS3-5]; and 3. Finally, we will explore and discuss approaches to overcoming student and community resistance to the teaching of evolution by emphasizing the core biological events behind the process and the central role they play in the living world [HS-LS4-6].

SPEAKERS:
Kenneth Miller (Brown University: Providence, RI)

Building Argumentation Skills in Evolution

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

Oregon Convention Center - A103/104



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
Free Evolution Unit
Evolution: DNA and the Unity of Life is an eight-week, comprehensive curriculum unit that sharply illuminates the underlying role of genetics in evolution by maintaining a conceptual connection to DNA and heredity throughout.

Show Details

Join me as I share an example of how to incrementally build skill in argumentation from evidence as part of a freely available curriculum unit on Evolution. For more information on Teach.Genetics, please visit https://teach.genetics.utah.edu/content/evolution/.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Learn about a successful, classroom-tested approach to building skill in argumentation through a series of lessons interwoven in a high school evolution unit; 2. Consider ways to apply an incremental approach to argumentation in any unit; and 3. Learn where to access free multimedia and paper-based genetics, evolution, and argumentation materials.

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

Are These Materials Designed for NGSS? EdReports Expansion to High School Reviews

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

Oregon Convention Center - E146



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
NSTA Fall 2021 Regional HS.pptx

Show Details

EdReports is expanding into high school instructional materials reviews. Learn about the High School Learning and Listening Tour, provide feedback on our current thinking, and hear about opportunities to become a reviewer.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Build an understanding of the challenges educators face in finding quality materials and how EdReports aims to address those challenges; 2. Learn about the expansion into High School science and develop an understanding of the findings from our High School Learning and Listening tour, characteristics of alignment to the NGSS and usability, and discuss smart adoption processes; and 3. Hear about opportunities to engage as an EdReports reviewer in upcoming reviews, which includes NGSS training, an extended learning community, and a paid stipend.

SPEAKERS:
Sam Shaw (EdReports.org)

Beyond Mitosis: Utilizing Cancer Case Studies to Explore Cell Growth and Health Inequities

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

Oregon Convention Center - D133/134



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
Frontiers Intro NSTA Portland 2021 Slides

Show Details

Discover cancer-based lesson plans and teaching resources that engage students and support opportunities for student voice and discourse.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Cancer disrupts the controls on mitosis and differentiation that normally produce and maintain complex organisms; 2. Cancer affects all population groups in the U.S. but certain groups may bear a disproportionate burden of cancer compared with other groups; and 3. Technology can be used to develop cures and treatments for different cancers.

SPEAKERS:
Hannah Crowder (Sacred Heart Schools, Atherton: Atherton, CA), Regina Wu (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center: Seattle, WA), Maggie Lewis (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center: Seattle, WA)

Pathways to Engagement

Saturday, October 30 • 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Oregon Convention Center - D136



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
Anchor routines NSTA.pdf
Goals_and_Moves.pdf
Handout-Classroom-Norms-from-OSE-OpenSciEd-2.pdf
Pathways to Engagement Resources.docx

STRAND: Developing More Inclusive Classrooms

Show Details

Learn practical strategies to build a more inclusive class culture in this NGSS-aligned session. Find out how to leverage student experience to promote learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Three-dimensional and phenomena-based teaching routines build classroom equity and inclusion; 2. Developing clear norms together is key to helping students find their voice; and 3. Productive student talk requires planning, but student and teacher tools are available.

SPEAKERS:
Steven Babcock (Louisiana State University Laboratory School: Baton Rouge, LA)

Designing a COVID Currculum: Lessons in Science (and Science Denial) from a Pandemic

Saturday, October 30 • 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.)
Covid-Handout.pdf
Covid-slides-1.pptx
Covid-slides-2.pptx

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

Show Details

We will explore a COVID-19–based curriculum that provides a direct and compelling way to focus student attention on the most basic processes in biology.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Participants will examine specific curriculum plans using the COVID-19 virus to illustrate basic principles of cell biology, including biological membrane structure, mRNA function, transcription, translation, replication, and immune response [HS-LS1-1, HS-LS-3-1 2); 2. The emergence of COVID-19 variants will be explored as a case study in natural selection, evolution, and phylogenetic analysis [HS-LS3-2, HS-LS4-3, HS-LS4-4]; 3. The public reaction to pandemic pubic health countermeasures and vaccination will be examined as a case study in scientific literacy and science denial [HS-LS2-8]; and 4. Participants will discuss ways to use their classrooms to promote student understand of the science behind these public health measures.

SPEAKERS:
Kenneth Miller (Brown University: Providence, RI)

Creating Social Activists Through Culturally Relevant Science Lessons

Saturday, October 30 • 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Oregon Convention Center - E145


STRAND: Sharing Authentic Assessment Strategies

Show Details

Participants will learn how to create a culturally relevant science lesson using an Earth science unit on conflict minerals in electronic devices as an example.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will: 1. learn how to identify concepts that readily lend themselves to connecting and engaging students in culturally relevant content; 2. brainstorm science content that can lead to social activism; and 3. learn how to connect the NGSS crosscutting concepts and science and engineering practices.

SPEAKERS:
Lesley Urasky (Saratoga Middle/High School: Saratoga, WY)

Back to Top