NSTA Engage: Spring21 - Sessions

Engagement Strategies and Resources for Remote and Face-to-Face Instruction

Participants explore strategies and resources for engaging students during face-to-face and virtual instruction. Equity, differentiation, and nonlinguistic representations of instruction and learning will be targeted.

Takeaways: Attendees will: 1. learn research-based strategies that increase student engagement so that all students are involved in the learning process; 2. learn new ways to increase the confidence of learners who may be reluctant to engage in classroom activities and discussions; and 3. obtain numerous activities, templates, games, resources, etc. they can use with their students. These can be used “as is” or modified to include other content based on the needs of the attendees.

Speakers

Level Up Students' Analysis Skills with NASA Earth Science Data

My NASA Data will model interactive resources for students learning in-person and via virtual environments that feature short activities, lessons, and access to NASA data.

Takeaways: Participants will: 1. walk away with access to NASA resources for their Earth science classrooms that can be linked directly to their learning management systems; 2. learn of interactive strategies for using these resources with students in a variety of learning environments; and 3. learn of an Earth science data visualization tool that enables students/educators to access and visualize NASA data for a particular region or time period.

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Virtual Field Labs: Student-Generated Data Explorations of Investigable Questions Led by Climate Scientists

Based on three-dimensional learning and field-tested in high school classes, Virtual Field Labs can be used synchronously, asynchronously, or in hybrid classrooms.

Takeaways: 1. Hands-on virtual tool for teaching climate change concepts; 2. Student-generated data activities led by climate change scientists; and 3. Generate, graph, and analyze data on the way to making claims supported by evidence related to the investigation.

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NASA GLOBE Cloud Resources for Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning

NASA GLOBE Cloud resources provide a variety of ways for diverse learners to engage in the science process in their local community through citizen science.

Takeaways: 1. NASA GLOBE Cloud resources are free and flexible and allow diverse learners to engage with content in many ways; 2. A NASA scientist will discuss why citizen science observations are important to NASA; and 3. Learners can actively participate in citizen science in their own community.

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Teaching Evolution in the Virtual World

We are teaching students in class, at home, and in quarantine. TIES offers FREE evolution units packed with activities. Check them out at www.tieseducation.org.

Takeaways: 1. You can teach evolution virtually, but effectively; 2. There are free online activities that can replace our more traditional active learning lessons; and 3. This session can give your students high-quality evolution instruction all in one free, downloadable unit with student response sheets, rubrics, answer keys, and assessments.

Speakers

NASA GLOBE Cloud Resources for Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning

NASA GLOBE Cloud resources provide a variety of ways for diverse learners to engage in the science process in their local community through citizen science.

Takeaways: 1. NASA GLOBE Cloud resources are free and flexible and allow diverse learners to engage with content in many ways; 2. A NASA scientist will discuss why citizen science observations are important to NASA; and 3. Learners can actively participate in citizen science in their own community.

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What Do Plants Do in the Dark? Using an NSTA Daily Do to Engage Students in Minds-On Learning

Labs should be as much about sensemaking as hands-on skills. Learn to use online data to engage students in minds-on biology labs in or out the classroom.

Takeaways: 1. Engaging students in sensemaking during lab investigations fosters more meaningful learning than simply manipulating physical lab materials; 2. By shifting the focus from collecting data to making sense of data, teachers can still engage students in aspects of the investigation practice while prioritizing the development of science ideas; and 3. Taking advantage of online data sets can reduce barriers faced by students learning remotely or in schools with limited laboratory equipment.

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Hands On to Online and Back Again, Better than Ever—Lessons Learned

Explore the lessons learned during the rapid adaption of our Type 2 Diabetes Curriculum into a format suitable for distance learning.

Takeaways: 1. Examples of how lessons were adapted from hands on to digital; 2. Strategies for creating engaging lessons that work both online and in-class; and 3. Access and information to full Type 2 Diabetes Curriculum adapted for in-class, hybrid, or online learning.

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Investigation DarkSky: A Virtual Escape Room–Type Activity

Participate in an energy delivery–themed virtual escape room activity. Solve puzzles and pursue clues to discover the origin of a cascading blackout.

Takeaways: 1. The U.S. power grid is the system of producers and consumers of electricity. It includes power generators, switches that control the flow of electricity, substations, miles of power lines, and millions of transformers; 2. Nearly all electricity is used the moment it is generated. The power grid is continually evolving as we integrate alternative power resources and invent technologies; and 3. This challenging process allows us to deliver energy to homes and businesses in cleaner, more efficient ways and makes the system more resilient to disruption.

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Presenter Materials for this Session:

Engagement Strategies and Resources for Remote and Face-to-Face Instruction

Participants explore strategies and resources for engaging students during face-to-face and virtual instruction. Equity, differentiation, and nonlinguistic representations of instruction and learning will be targeted.

Takeaways: Attendees will: 1. learn research-based strategies that increase student engagement so that all students are involved in the learning process; 2. learn new ways to increase the confidence of learners who may be reluctant to engage in classroom activities and discussions; and 3. obtain numerous activities, templates, games, resources, etc. they can use with their students. These can be used “as is” or modified to include other content based on the needs of the attendees.

Speakers

COVID Teaching Strategies That Are Keepers!

NSTA High School Committee members will discuss the strategies that they will bring forward from COVID teaching.

Takeaways: 1. Teaching for student engagement; 2. Distance, hybrid, in-person techniques; and 3. Time for questions and discussion between the presenters and particpants.

Speakers

Presenter Materials for this Session:

Virtual Field Labs: Student-Generated Data Explorations of Investigable Questions Led by Climate Scientists

Based on three-dimensional learning and field-tested in high school classes, Virtual Field Labs can be used synchronously, asynchronously, or in hybrid classrooms.

Takeaways: 1. Hands-on virtual tool for teaching climate change concepts; 2. Student-generated data activities led by climate change scientists; and 3. Generate, graph, and analyze data on the way to making claims supported by evidence related to the investigation.

Speakers

Level Up Students' Analysis Skills with NASA Earth Science Data

My NASA Data will model interactive resources for students learning in-person and via virtual environments that feature short activities, lessons, and access to NASA data.

Takeaways: Participants will: 1. walk away with access to NASA resources for their Earth science classrooms that can be linked directly to their learning management systems; 2. learn of interactive strategies for using these resources with students in a variety of learning environments; and 3. learn of an Earth science data visualization tool that enables students/educators to access and visualize NASA data for a particular region or time period.

Speakers

Presenter Materials for this Session:

Multiple Ways to Virtually Engage Students in Science Labs

There are many ways to virtually engage students in science labs. This presentation will share methods as well as offering advice on how to do it.

Takeaways: 1. All labs can still be done, but with adaptations; 2. Students can be actively engaged in lab even while not in school; and 3. Students can still learn the skills and knowledge from lab virtually.

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The Journey Back: Leveraging Data Tools and EdTech in the Post-COVID Classroom

Engage in a lesson from NOAA’s Data in the Classroom to explore some effective engagement and assessment tools and technologies for the post-COVID classroom.

Takeaways: 1. Keep experimenting with EdTech inside and outside of your classrooms; 2. Utilize EdTech for assessment and engagement of all learners in the classroom; and 3. Access scientific data from NOAA to help students evaluate claims, construct arguments, and better understand the world around them.

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Using Online Tools to Engage Students in Asking Questions About Phenomena

Learn to use free Google tools to support your students in analyzing phenomena and asking good scientific questions that drive learning in the classroom or remotely.

Takeaways: 1. Students' observations of and questions about phenomena should drive their learning; 2. You can use free online tools from Google to engage students in analyzing and developing questions about phenomena whether you are teaching face-to-face or remotely; and 3. We can use these same tools to scaffold students' ability to revise and improve their questions to be more productive.

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Summer STEM Institute Goes Virtual: Creating an Engaging STEM Learning Program

We will share the strategies and activities that made our first virtual STEM institute an engaging and educational experience for diverse upper elementary and middle level youth.

Takeaways: Participants will: 1. identify best practices for engaging youth in informal STEM experiences, including an end-of-summer celebration; 2. learn how we delivered programming in STEM with multiple grade-level bands; and 3. gain a list of valuable resources we used to teach scientific concepts, including how we created and distributed kits.

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