Participants will learn strategies and receive numerous resources that increase students’ scientific literacy. The hands-on approach has participants engaged in the activities, games, and more.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will: 1. learn new strategies for incorporating scientific literacy into their lessons; and 2. receive numerous activities, templates, games, and other resources to help with doing this. These resources can be used “as is” or modified to allow for differentiation based on the needs of the learners. Strategies and resources will include ones effective with ELL and EC students.

SPEAKERS:
Iris Mudd (Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools: Winston Salem, NC)

From A Silent Spring, The Limits to Growth and Population Bomb of the 1960s and 70s to today’s planetary boundary science, overshoot, and creating a safe and just space for humanity, some would say that “the science is in” and that it is pretty gloomy. Additionally, now in the frenetic information age, humans are overwhelmingly aware of the multitude of crises we face as a species. Our collective mental health is tanking. Knowing our predicament is one thing, but knowing what to do about it is another. Education may be one of our most powerful tools. However, delivery, content, and reach are impaired by multiple factors including politics, economics, religion, and the numerous influences affecting everyone’s social construction of knowledge. This presentation will share examples from the fields of environmental, conservation, and humane education and then focus on the potential promise of comprehensive education for ecological justice.

About the Speaker
Sarah M. Bexell is clinical associate professor with the Graduate School of Social Work and Director of Humane Education with the Institute for Human-Animal Connection, both at the University of Denver, Colorado. Sarah is also a faculty member teaching Animal Protection for the Institute for Humane Education at Antioch University New England and senior advisor to the Education Department of the Chengdu Research Base for Giant Pandas, China. She teaches and does research in the areas of ecological justice, humane education, and animal protection.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Bexell (University of Denver: Denver, CO)

“You’re good at math; be an engineer.” Isn’t there more to it? Who is an engineer? Engineering helps society by solving problems. Let’s explore “why.”

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn that engineering is more than math + science and take away classroom activities addressing engineering identity, ethics, and society (not your typical engineering activities).

SPEAKERS:
Ken Reid (University of Indianapolis: Indianapolis, IN)

Join us to learn what sensemaking is and how to use research-based resources to engage students in making sense of the world around them. Leave with a collection of resources to move your professional learning forward no matter where you are on the sensemaking continuum.

TAKEAWAYS:
Develop an understanding of what sensemaking is and how it can help build classrooms where students are able to make sense of the world around them. Leaders walk away with a consensus-building exercise for their team.

SPEAKERS:
Tricia Shelton (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Elizabeth Allan (University of Central Oklahoma: Edmond, OK)

The Half-Earth Project team-based Mapping Design Challenge engages students in authentic teamwork to use digital mapping to design their own biodiversity conservation choices.

TAKEAWAYS:
Digital mapping motivated by exploring charismatic species draws diverse students into the multidisciplinary science of conservation decision-making where species, human impacts, and stakeholders have to be considered.

SPEAKERS:
Dennis Liu (E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation: Durham, NC)

In this session, the co-editors of the recent NSTA Press book, Crosscutting Concepts: Strengthening Science and Engineering Learning, will take a deep dive into how crosscutting concepts can be more explicitly leveraged to strengthen science instruction. Presenters will illustrate how two instructional units—one elementary and one secondary—have developed CCCs as lenses on phenomena in order to better connect with students’ everyday experiences and to enhance students’ ability to meaningfully integrate SEPs, DCIs, and CCCs to make sense of authentic phenomena and problems.

TAKEAWAYS:
CCCs are: 1) lenses on phenomena and problems; 2) critical to sensemaking about phenomena and problems; and 3) most useful when meaningfully integrated with SEPs and DCIs.

SPEAKERS:
Jeff Nordine (The University of Iowa: Iowa City, IA), Okhee Lee (New York University: New York, NY)

Learn about the novel approach taken by Illinois to include teacher voice in developing a statewide three-dimensional science assessment.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about the process of developing a state-wide assessment written by local educators.

SPEAKERS:
Kristin Rademaker (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Harvey Henson (Southern Illinois University Carbondale: Carbondale, IL), ANGELA BOX (Southern Illinois University Carbondale: CARTERVILLE, IL)

Ideas and concrete strategies for building collaborative, generative partnerships with community groups, nonprofits, preK–12 schools, museums, and community colleges in order to transform the STEM ecosystem and preservice teachers' futures will be shared.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will: 1. hear from different partners about the generative ways we have collaborated to increase diversity in our STEM teacher preparation program; 2. engage in discussion and planning next steps for reaching out to a potential collaborative partner; and 3. learn about the ways in which preservice STEM Noyce Scholars have strengthened their STEM Identity and have been prepared to design culturally sustaining curricula and classrooms that integrate sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Sydney Worthen-Jenkins (Sacred Heart University: Fairfield, CT), Nicole Hebert (Sacred Heart University: Fairfield, CT), Bonnie Maur (Sacred Heart University: Fairfield, CT), Kristin Rainville (Sacred Heart University: Fairfield, CT)

The presenters share a collaborative initiative focused on increasing preservice science teachers' level of global competence and global science teaching efficacy.

TAKEAWAYS:
The attendees will take away ideas for adjusting science teacher preparation programs in a manner that prepares preservice teachers to foster students' sensemaking at a global level.

SPEAKERS:
Gayle Buck (Indiana University Bloomington: Bloomington, IN), Valarie Akerson (Indiana University Bloomington: Bloomington, IN), Vesna Dimitrieska (Coordinator, Global Education Initiatives: Bloomington, IN)

Misconceptions are both worrisome and problematic to STEM educators because students continue to build knowledge on their current understanding, negatively impacting their learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this session, participants will be provided with a framework to deconstruct, reconstruct, and construct (D.R.C. Model) the teaching and learning experience in the STEM classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Emily Jackson-Osagie (Southern University and A&M College: Baton Rouge, LA), Catherine Alexander (Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University: Baton Rouge, LA)

Although group projects have been shown to increase learning and cooperation, bullying can sneak into student peer evaluations. Examples and alternatives to ghosting presented.

TAKEAWAYS:
Science classrooms are a great place for group projects to enhance learning, but students may unwittingly be ghosted from their group, ultimately making them seem like they are not a team player. We as teachers must be diligent against bullying/ghosting.

SPEAKERS:
Diane Huelskamp (Wright State University-Lake Campus: Celina, OH)

Resources and strategies to support P–12 and postsecondary students in STEM classrooms who have invisible illnesses/ health-impairment disabilities will be shared.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will get an overview of resources and strategies that address the need for safe and equitable learning environments for P–12 and postsecondary students with invisible disabilities/ health-impairment illnesses in STEM classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Nancy Grim-Hunter (Chicago State University: Chicago, IL)

Learn about strategies and tools to guide preservice teachers to understand how to provide meaningful experiences for ALL students, including those with special needs.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to support their preservice teachers as they learn how to meet the individual needs of students.

SPEAKERS:
Lisa Brooks (University of Central Florida: Orlando, FL)

Enjoy conversation about our research lesson collaboration with the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center EYES (Educators and Youth Enjoy Science) teacher research experience.

TAKEAWAYS:
Authentic teacher research experiences can catalyze students' career interest, authentic classroom inquiry, curriculum development, and relevant professional learning.

SPEAKERS:
Steven Rogg (Coherent Learning Design: Lindenhurst, IL), Pamela Wagner (George Westinghouse College Prep: Chicago, IL)

Sponsoring Company: STEMscopes by Accelerate Learning

Are you looking for an engaging and innovative way to get your students to understand not only the meaning of a word, but how it fits into the bigger picture? Put on your thinking cap and join us as we use vocabulary to take students on a learning adventure! Experience ways to zoom in and zoom out of science content using a variety of differentiated strategies and structures. Take these ideas straight back to your classroom for immediate use. Great for intervention!

TAKEAWAYS:
Explore intervention strategies to help struggling students in STEM.

SPEAKERS:
Jacque Garcia (STEMscopes by Accelerate Learning: Houston, TX)

Identifying problems, and complaining about them, is a talent many might claim. Identifying a problem and creating a solution is much less common but remains a core scientific principle needed to help students change the world. Finding a solution, however, is not enough; there must be an implementation plan as well. Scientific literacy teaches students to pinpoint and explore problems, but they must also take civic action--beginning in their own backyards. This session will introduce primary source-based inquiry learning tools by PBS NewsHour Classroom and Indiana University’s Center on Representative Government to help teachers meet this need. The workshop will consist of two NGSS-aligned activities on the connection between the environment and civic action.

TAKEAWAYS:
How to engage students in identifying environmental phenomena in their own backyards and how to take action to address it.

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Osborn (Indiana University Bloomington: Bloomington, IN), Victoria Pasquantonio (PBS NewsHour: Arlington, VA)

Join the members of NSTA as they share how to create a classroom culture that supports equitable participation, and learn how to implement these best practices within your own classroom. A roundtable discussion will follow.

TAKEAWAYS:
Sharing of ideas on creating a classroom culture that supports equitable participation

SPEAKERS:
Kate Soriano (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Kristin Rademaker (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Holly Hereau (NSTA: Arlington, VA)

Teacher describes installation of two solar arrays, and how students use the arrays to investigate alternative energy and effect of array angle on electricity production.

TAKEAWAYS:
Solar arrays allow students to interact with a real world technology changing sunlight into usable electricity. Two solar arrays that tilt independently allow students to evaluate data from a controlled experiment. Solar energy is part of response our society needs to respond to the challenge of global warming and our need for energy.

SPEAKERS:
Bruce Rose (Greenbrier East High School: Lewisburg, WV)

In this self-directed session, you will be able to: Interact with educators in face-to-face poster presentations; Watch short video submissions from educators around the world; and Participate in hands-on/minds-on, takeaway learning experiences.

TAKEAWAYS:
Science education occurs everywhere on this planet. We can get ideas and best practices from collegues around the world.

SPEAKERS:
Alison Betz Seymour (Science Teacher: Winchester, 0)

Student understanding of how science and STEM ideas and concepts are applied within their chosen career pathway is a critical component of many Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, but for a variety of reasons these connections are often overlooked. Some states even provide CTE courses and Career Pathway standards that seem to go against the three-dimensional and student-centered learning grain. Yet, to truly meet the vision of the K-12 Framework, students in CTE and Vocational Education pathways should also be provided opportunities to engage in three-dimensional sensemaking in the context of their CTE course. In this session, we explore explicit connections between three-dimensional science learning and Agricultural, Food and Natural Resources as just one example of how three-dimensional student learning and sensemaking can be incorporated into CTE. We then explore how similar strategies can be utilized in other pathways with the goal of bridging the gap between science learning and practical application for students in CTE.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn strategies for integrating scientific sensemaking into CTE courses to support their students' mastery of the scientific concepts they will apply in those fields.

SPEAKERS:
Bridina Lemmer (Illinois Science Teaching Association: Jacksonville, IL), Chris Embry Mohr (Olympia High School: Stanford, IL)

Join us as we share our experience in developing and piloting our Women in STEM Mentorship Program (WSMP), a year-long mentorship program that pairs high school juniors and seniors who identify as female with female college STEM faculty to build relationships and positively impact the social development and academic achievement of participating young women as they consider pursuing a STEM field at College of DuPage. In this presentation, we will be discussing the creation, implementation, and piloting of a mentorship program focused on attracting high school students, who identify as female, to the STEM fields. Eight high school juniors and seniors participated in the Women in STEM Mentorship Program. Mentees were paired with STEM faculty who teach at a community college. In addition to this, we will be discussing our findings and the changes that we will be making to future cohorts. We hope to hear directly from some of our mentees and mentors, who will share their experience. Finally, we will share what we believe makes our program different from other STEM mentorship programs and provide examples of how we created the program that you can take with you should you wish to start your own.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how community college STEM faculty can work to support potential incoming underrepresented students through a mentorship and networking program. We hope to have mentors and mentees available to share their experience.

SPEAKERS:
Sara Spaniol (College of DuPage: Glen Ellyn, IL)

We are living in an Age of Misinformation. Developing the capabilities to evaluate scientific information is a key goal of scientific literacy. Moreover, “obtaining, evaluating and communicating information” is a core practice of NGSS. The NGSS standards, however, were developed a decade ago before misinformation became so pervasive and were not developed to address this threat. Much of this misinformation is scientific. Therefore, this session will present a set of ideas and materials about how to address this challenge. These have emerged from a report developed at Stanford University drawing on the expertise of an international group of science educators, scientists and psychologists entitled “Science Education in an Age of Misinformation”. In this session, we will present the main arguments and recommendations of the report. Using a set of practical, web-based classroom examples, participants will work in small groups to trial and discuss the suggested teaching approaches and materials we have developed. Opportunities will be provided for feedback, questions and discussion in a final plenary. What we will present will empower teachers of science with ways they can support their students to avoid being misled by the purveyors of misinformation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn what are the challenges posed by misinformation and what they can do to help science education address this challenge using practical examples of exercises and ionnovative teaching materials.

SPEAKERS:
Daniel Pimentel (Stanford University: Stanford, CA)

It takes time and intentionality to build a community of learners who trust each other, respect differing perspectives, share ideas freely, and seek feedback from their peers. This session explores a variety of strategies that can be easily implemented to build this culture and community from day one. Strategies that foster this type of connection, collaboration, and camaraderie will be discussed using examples and tips to implement in the classroom, starting with some fresh ideas for getting to know students and helping them get to know their classmates. Many of these ideas combine strategies we already know and add a collaborative and inclusive spin to them. Allowing for multiple types of student interaction is important to ensure all voices are heard and valued, not just the loud and proud. Including time for students to process independently, in small groups, and in the large group is important to developing an inclusive community. A variety of strategies will be shared to support these levels of interaction in the classroom, making student thinking visible in individual, small group, and whole group displays.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers can elevate their practices to include all students and develop a classroom culture that invites student interaction, increases student engagement, and fosters equitable experiences on a daily basis.

SPEAKERS:
Beth Pesnell (Kansas State University: Manhattan, KS)

Sponsoring Company: Pivot Interactives

As veteran biology teachers, we know how challenging it is to create an active learning environment using phenomena & science practices on your own. Pivot Interactives makes active learning throughout the learning cycle easy with a dynamic platform that invites students to explore scientific phenomena freely. Teaching biology while actively & frequently engaging students meaningfully doesn’t have to be just a dream. Come learn about the newest ways Pivot interactives helps you overcome the challenges you face as a biology teacher, so you can create the biology class you’ve always envisioned. Hear from fellow biology teachers about how they transformed their classroom with active learning, scaffolding, personalized feedback, phenomena-based assessments, increased use of science practices, and increased access to phenomena.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this session, biology educators will see the newest ways Pivot Interactives gives them effective, streamlined tools to engage biology students with phenomena & science practices through active learning.

SPEAKERS:
Eric Friberg (Pivot Interactives: Minneapolis, MN), Peter Bohacek (Pivot Interactives: Minneapolis, MN)

Culturally relevant pedagogy embodies a professional, political, cultural, ethnical, and ideological disposition that supersedes mundane teaching acts; it is centered in fundamental beliefs about teaching, learning, students, their families, and their communities, and an unyielding commitment to see student success become less rhetoric and more of a reality. This session will aid in building awareness and sensitivity to the culture-based genius that students bring to the classroom using science inquiry strategies. Emphasis will be placed on a model for the inclusion of culturally relevant content that accommodates student backgrounds and methods of learning. In this session, we will exhibit how to identify the key characteristics of culturally responsive lessons. Attendees will acquire lesson design methods that employ cultural competence and effective communication. Attendees will use collaborate boards during the presentation to respond and interact. Activities to exhibit how students identify with what they know in the classroom will be utilized to help educators make connections and apply this information when planning lessons.

TAKEAWAYS:
Building awareness and sensitivity to the culture-based genius that students bring to the classroom using science inquiry strategies. Emphasis will be placed on a model for the inclusion of culturally relevant content that accommodates student backgrounds and methods of learning.

SPEAKERS:
Kelly Haynes (Baker High School: Baker, LA), Jennifer Norwood (Instructional Support Specialist), Tara Hollins (Exceptional Student Services Educator: Zachary, LA)

Marshall Escamilla, one of the co-hosts of the freely-available Tumble Science Podcast for Kids, will share some of the basics of creating a podcast with your class. Classroom podcasts are a great way for students to share their learning with the broader community, and can be used both as assessment and communication tools--and it's a lot easier to do than you'd think. Beginning with a brief description of what features make Tumble free and accessible, Marshall will walk educators through all the thing they'll need to consider when creating a podcast. We'll start by asking questions like: -Who is the intended audience for this podcast? -What is the overall topic for it? -How many episodes do we want to create, and how often do we want to release them? Then we'll move on to some of the technical elements. What are the requirements for creating a podcast studio in your classroom? What equipment do you need to buy? What software do students need to have access to? how do you ensure that students can have access to what they need in order to be successful? Finally, we will discuss some of the basic skills teachers will need to ensure student success: knowledge of best audio recording practices, and how to use a few easily-accessible software tools to make students' work sound its best.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees at this ession will learn the very basics of how to create a classroom podcast from a professional podcaster.

SPEAKERS:
Marshall Escamilla (Tumble Media Production: Greenfield, MA)

This presentation will use a mixture of hands-on activities and discussion questions to engage participants in the themes from research about how science teachers stay effective during challenging times For example, through our research, we have found science teachers often have a strong desire to help their students become better people and create an equitable classroom. They describe that they have goals for their students such as being critical thinkers, problem-solvers, creative, and collaborative. Our session will work to have the participants generate the types of attributes they want in their own students. We will then demonstrate two teaching scenarios: one based on best practices in science education and the other being a teacher-centered approach. We will have participants then analyze the teaching scenarios using the goals they have to determine which has more culturally responsive teaching practices. We will also engage students in a hands-on activity using a gravity well that connects to MS-PS2-4. We will use the activity to discuss culturally responsive teaching practices in science teaching including scaffolding, effective questioning, a method to analyze teaching, and using experiences and phenomena to help students deeply engage in all three dimensions of the NGSS.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about inclusive teaching strategies that help science teachers stay effective.

SPEAKERS:
Jesse Wilcox (University of Northern Iowa: Cedar Falls, IA)

The use of natural phenomena and driving questions to motivate student learning are key in the NGSS. With so many different science phenomena being posted for use in the classroom it can be difficult to determine what makes a good phenomenon and if that phenomena would be appropriate in all educational settings. The focus of this hands-on workshop is to give science teachers the tools needed to find, evaluate and use phenomena and driving questions for Performance Expectations that are consistent with the culture of their classroom. We will first explore and evaluate different phenomena used to teach the NGSS from various sources (websites, kits, science texts). Then we will apply cognitive learning theory and practices to those same phenomena and evaluate them considering different classroom cultures. Finally, participants will choose and discourse about alternative phenomena which might be used given different classroom cultures. The ultimate goal is to help science teachers evaluate and choose phenomena and create driving questions which can drive excellent science pedagogy in THEIR classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Science phenomena and driving questions need to be tailored to the real-world of students in YOUR classroom

SPEAKERS:
Rob Keys (Cornerstone University: Grand Rapids, MI)

Students find science difficult or non-stimulating particularly when teachers do not consider cognitive, physiological, and socio-emotional disparities in students. Research has shown that engaging the appropriate parts of the brain helps students make a long-lasting, personalized connection to scientific concepts and practices. Studies show that discipline and learning problems in our classrooms may be associated with a lack of student engagement. Engaged students are less likely to be disruptive and are more likely to retain information longer. The focus of this presentation is to equip teachers with the pedagogical skills and strategies needed to drive student engagement and achievement by recognizing and addressing physiological, cognitive, and socio-emotional disparities in students based on an understanding of how a learner’s brain works. Participating teachers will explore the impact of emotions, storytelling, culturally relevant and hands-on learning on the forebrain and consequently on student engagement and comprehension. Teachers will learn to correctly harness the learning power of the forebrain, particularly, those of the hippocampus and amygdala, by appropriately employing suitable learning strategies. These will enhance student engagement, improve learning outcomes and increase academic achievement in the sciences.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn to correctly harness the learning power of the forebrain, particularly, those of the hippocampus and amygdala, by appropriately employing suitable learning strategies

SPEAKERS:
Chidi Duru (Prince George's County Public Schools: Upper Marlboro, MD)

Sponsoring Company: Pivot Interactives

As veteran chemistry teachers, we know how challenging it is to create an active learning environment using phenomena & science practices on your own. Pivot Interactives makes active learning throughout the learning cycle easy with a dynamic platform that invites students to explore scientific phenomena freely. Teaching chemistry while actively & frequently engaging students meaningfully doesn’t have to be just a dream. Come learn about the newest ways Pivot interactives helps you overcome the challenges you face as a chemistry teacher, so you can create the chemistry class you’ve always envisioned. Hear from fellow chemistry teachers about how they transformed their classroom with active learning, scaffolding, personalized feedback, phenomena-based assessments, increased use of science practices, and increased access to phenomena.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this session, chemistry educators will see the newest ways Pivot Interactives gives them effective, streamlined tools to engage chemistry students with phenomena & science practices through active learning.

SPEAKERS:
Peter Bohacek (Pivot Interactives: Minneapolis, MN)

Unfortunately, the Las Vegas slogan “What Happens Here Stays Here” applies all too well to science classrooms. Science learning that takes place in the classroom often stays in the classroom and fails to transform students’ perceiving and experiencing of the world. This gap between school learning and everyday experience is one of the key barriers to developing active scientific literacy. This workshop on the Teaching for Transformative Experiences in Science (TTES) model will help teachers address this problem by enacting transformative teaching. The TTES model is a research-based pedagogy for fostering transformative experiences; that is, experiences in which students use science content to enrich and expand their everyday lives. The workshop will train teachers in the application of three core design principles: (a) artistic selection and crafting of content, (b) experiential apprenticeship, and (c) doing and undergoing. The workshop will be conducted by one of the pioneers and lead researchers of transformative experience theory. It will include authentic classroom vignettes illustrating the design principles in action, application templates and guidelines, and exercises that will help participants master the design principles. The workshop is appropriate for science educators at all levels as the design principles are adaptable to all ages.

TAKEAWAYS:
Workshop participants will receive hands-on training in research-based strategies effective at fostering transformative experiences; that is, experiences in which students use their in-school learning to enrich and expand their everyday, out-of-school lives.

SPEAKERS:
Kevin Pugh (University of Northern Colorado: Greeley, CO)

This workshop highlights one way to incorporate science history on a routine basis in the science classroom. Participants will receive a brief overview of the neuroscience research that explains why storytelling is emerging as one of the most effective educational tools for students of all ages. They will also explore how telling stories from science history promotes understanding of science practices, supports strong student science identities, and leads to discussion about the human nature of science and the underlying ethical and cultural implications. The presenter will share about the development of People to Ponder, a series of science profiles that can be used throughout a school year. This is not one specific set of scientists but rather a strategy to consistently include science history in instruction. Participants will experience through a student lens what a typical People to Ponder lesson might involve. Once they’ve experienced the strategy, participants will have a chance to reflect on and discuss how they might structure something similar in their classrooms. Participants will be provided with resources and instructional scaffolds that can assist them in their planning. They will leave with at least one activity or lesson planned for implementation in their classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Explore a strategy for sharing science biographies that promotes student engagement and understanding of science topics while creating an inclusive and culturally responsive teaching environment.

SPEAKERS:
Anna Babarinde (Sonoma County Office of Education: Santa Rosa, CA)

Sponsoring Company: Pivot Interactives

As veteran teachers, we know how challenging it is to create an active learning environment using phenomena & science practices on your own. Pivot Interactives makes active learning throughout the learning cycle easy with a dynamic platform that invites students to explore scientific phenomena freely. Teaching environmental science & earth science while actively & frequently engaging students meaningfully doesn’t have to be just a dream. Come learn about the newest ways Pivot interactives helps you overcome the challenges you face as an environmental science or earth science teacher, so you can create the classroom you’ve always envisioned. Hear from fellow teachers about how they transformed their classroom with active learning, scaffolding, personalized feedback, phenomena-based assessments, increased use of science practices, and increased access to phenomena.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this session, environmental science & earth science educators will see the newest ways Pivot Interactives gives them effective, streamlined tools to engage students with phenomena & science practices through active learning.

SPEAKERS:
Eric Friberg (Pivot Interactives: Minneapolis, MN)

Strategies from a teacher educator that foster sensemaking and three-dimensional learning with preservice elementary teachers using immersive content experiences highlighting instructional methods and metacognition.

TAKEAWAYS:
When preservice teachers/teachers are given the opportunity to experience and analyze sensemaking in the context of grade-level learning experiences, they are better prepared to foster sensemaking in their classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Beth Pesnell (Kansas State University: Manhattan, KS)

Unpacking the 3-D NGSS while at the same time making science instruction engaging to students is a challenge faced by science teachers across the nation. With skillful use of phenomena-based instruction, science teachers engage students by converting what the teacher planned to teach into what the students want to learn. Culturally relevant, intellectually accessible and thought-provoking phenomena enable students to make engaging connections between the required curricula content and real-life scenarios and applications. Rather than recalling discrete facts, students apply new information and use transferable problem-solving skills to explain a natural or man-made phenomenon. Phenomenon-based science encourages students to ask questions, discover connections, and design models to make sense of what they observe. This session provides participating teachers opportunities to experience lessons in the same manner as students will. They examine a phenomenon and then ask questions, collaborate with partners and design models, and discuss digital tools that can be used to engage students in phenomenon-based learning. Teachers learn how to use questioning techniques and academic dialogue to spike discontent in the students' understanding of the phenomena, thereby, driving students to use science practices to further explore their curiosities

TAKEAWAYS:
Help teachers to develop and deploy thought-provoking phenomena that will promote student engagement, comprehension, and achievement in the sciences by transforming what the teacher planned to teach into what the students are eager to learn.

SPEAKERS:
Chidi Duru (Prince George's County Public Schools: Upper Marlboro, MD)

Despite Nikesha Davis growing up in a family of educators, STEM still seemed like a foreign language, until the right teacher came along. Join Davis, aerospace engineer and NASA’s GSFC Propulsion Chief, as she discusses changing the narrative of STEM in a student’s everyday life, and the benefits that science in use, and language in use play not only in the classroom, but at NASA, and in life in general. Her goal is to inspire students, parents, families, and educators on the engineering around us, as we prepare our students to change the world.

About the Speaker
Ms. Nikesha Davis is an Aerospace Engineer at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, Maryland. She has worked in NASA’s Mission Engineering and Systems Analysis (MESA) Division for the past twelve years. Nikesha is the Branch Head of the Propulsion Branch at GSFC. Here she manages liquid and chemical propulsion system design, analysis, and fabrication efforts. This work includes larger spacecrafts and satellites, down to CubeSats and SmallSats, in addition to research in the propulsion arena. In addition to these duties, Nikesha is continuing efforts as the Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GN&C) Product Development Lead for the Plankton, Aerosol, Could, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission. A remote sensing, $805 million mission which launches in December 2023. In this capacity, Nikesha is responsible for coordinating efforts to deliver the Attitude Control System, Flight Dynamics System, and GN&C Hardware for the PACE project.

Ms. Davis enjoys volunteering in the community, through NASA and other programs, and is very passionate about spreading the word about STEM fields and broadening the understanding of what engineers do. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Spelman College, and a bachelor’s and master’s in aerospace engineering, and systems engineering respectively from the University of Alabama Huntsville.

SPEAKERS:
Nikesha Davis (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center: Greenbelt, MD)