Sponsoring Company: STEMscopes by Accelerate Learning

Students get engaged with practical and inquiry-based engineering experiences by using the DIVE-in method. This program was developed in partnership with the New York Hall of Science. Transform your classroom into an authentic makerspace with the DIVE process. Learn how to facilitate and use the design process through consensus.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to create a stomp-rocket using the engineering design process.

SPEAKERS:
Leslie Spaeny (STEMscopes by Accelerate Learning: Houston, TX)

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek

Respiratory viruses like influenza or COVID can lead to worldwide pandemics. We’ll discuss how diseases spread and perform experiments to explore how disease testing works.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will explore pathology of common diseases, including clinical testing and epidemiology of pathogens.

SPEAKERS:
Brian Ell (Edvotek Inc.: Washington, DC), Danielle Snowflack (Edvotek Inc.: Washington, DC)

To effectively engage audience members, I will balance their readiness to learn, cognitive load, and stimulating activities. Using real-world examples, I will demonstrate the power of STEM in elementary classrooms to grow all learners and provide necessary 21st-century skills. Often STEM is an enrichment offered to high-achiever but struggling learners have even more to gain from STEM including confidence and leadership. I will focus on practical application, but valuable references and data will be included to support my practices. I will begin the session with a survey to identify the needs and perceptions of participants regarding STEM integration. Based on input, I will share research-based strategies, classroom integration examples, or dispel misconceptions. I will include an interactive STEM activity using index cards and paper clips to provide a STEM lesson model and demonstrate the ease of integrating STEM with simple, classroom supplies. Participants will leave the session with a better understanding of the benefits of STEM in K-5 classrooms and feel more comfortable integrating STEM into their own classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will understand the value of STEM integration beyond the four letters of the acronym, including the benefits of productive struggle of high achievers and how the grit of struggling learners are paramount in the success of STEM challenges.

SPEAKERS:
Erika Neuman (University of Texas at San Antonio: San Antonio, TX)

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek

Want to learn today’s top biotechnology techniques? Join us for a hands-on exploration of PCR and electrophoresis in one hour using the EdvoCyclerJr and the EDGE!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will explore the science behind the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and learn strategies for performing PCR in short class periods.

SPEAKERS:
Brian Ell (Edvotek Inc.: Washington, DC), Danielle Snowflack (Edvotek Inc.: Washington, DC)

Sponsoring Company: Anatomy in Clay

In this workshop, attendees will build replicas of human anatomy using clay and a specially designed skeletal model in a classroom setting. Educators will learn how to implement a unique curriculum system which helps students create a kinesthetic map of the human anatomy. They will acquire the knowledge to engage science students with immediate, hands-on learning using a proven method that is nationally recognized to increase student retention and test scores. This workshop will emphasize directional terms, planes, cavities and landmarks on the skeletal model and then build several skeletal muscles. Emphasis will be placed on building the rotator cuff showing their origin and insertion, their movement and discuss exercises to strengthen these muscles.

TAKEAWAYS:
They will acquire the knowledge to engage science students with immediate, hands-on learning using a proven method that is nationally recognized to increase student retention and test scores.

SPEAKERS:
Christine Simonsen (Billings Career Center: Billings, MT)

Sponsoring Company: PASCO scientific

Bridging the gap between science and coding can be challenging without the proper support. In this workshop, you'll learn how to use block-based coding as part of your existing physical and life science activities by integrating it into students' data collection process. Learn how you can help students develop computational thinking skills alongside science literacy without reinventing your curriculum.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to incorporate block-based coding into your current physical and life science activities.

SPEAKERS:
Barbara Pugliese (PASCO Scientific: Roseville, CA), Jonathan Hanna (PASCO Scientific: Roseville, CA)

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek

Forensic science combines disciplines to determine “whodunit.” In this workshop, learn how to merge hands-on biotechnology experiments with literacy exercises to create an immersive lesson.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will perform hands-on biotechnology experiments that will allow them to discuss the implications of genetic fingerprinting and blood testing of forensic samples in class.

SPEAKERS:
Brian Ell (Edvotek Inc.: Washington, DC), Danielle Snowflack (Edvotek Inc.: Washington, DC)

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek

Explore the science of candy colors! In this hands-on workshop, we’ll use electrophoresis and chromatography to separate mixtures of molecules based on their physical properties.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will explore the physical properties of molecules using chromatography and electrophoresis.

SPEAKERS:
Brian Ell (Edvotek Inc.: Washington, DC), Danielle Snowflack (Edvotek Inc.: Washington, DC)

Sponsoring Company: Beyond Labz

Workshop Summary: Beyond Labz is a set of sophisticated and realistic virtual laboratories that have been used by millions of students over the past 20 years. Subjects covered by the virtual labs include general chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, physical science, and biology. We have recently updated the virtual labs so they are browser-based with a number of new features including tracking student lab books and the student journey through the lab. With over 20 years of experience and feedback from students and teachers worldwide, we have learned much about how to enhance and augment classroom and laboratory instruction using the virtual labs. In this presentation we will provide a brief update on the new features in Beyond Labz, and we will provide onboarding instructions and describe how to use the virtual laboratories in various curriculum settings and use cases, and we will show the labs can be used to enhance inquiry-based instruction. We will also describe some of the recent research we have performed using these and other simulation products we have created.

TAKEAWAYS:
Beyond Labz simplifies and reduces the cost and expertise needed to provide crucial laboratory experiences and practice for Secondary and Higher Ed students. Attendees will learn how the labs are used for pre and post lab experiences, credit recovery and lab make-up, student engagement in class, and meeting NGSS standards. Basic onboarding and startup instructions will be provided for drop-in solutions, and instructions for using some of the more sophisticated features will also be described.

SPEAKERS:
Brian Woodfield (Brigham Young University: Provo, UT)

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek

Explore the relationship between genotype and phenotype using your sense of taste and biotechnology! Examine variations in your bitter taste receptor with PCR and electrophoresis.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will explore the link between genotype and phenotype using PCR and a PTC tasting assay.

SPEAKERS:
Brian Ell (Edvotek Inc.: Washington, DC), Danielle Snowflack (Edvotek Inc.: Washington, DC)

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek

HIV is a sneaky virus. Once inside the body, it suppresses the immune system. Learn about testing, tracing, and treatment using a simulated diagnostic ELISA!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will explore medical testing for common diseases, including how they work and what they mean.

SPEAKERS:
Danielle Snowflack (Edvotek Inc.: Washington, DC), Brian Ell (Edvotek Inc.: Washington, DC)

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

This “real” classroom autopsy revitalizes your mammalian structure and function lesson to three-dimensional instruction and addresses standards. Participants dissect a Carolina’s Perfect Solution® pig by modeling the protocols of a professional forensic pathologist.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants dissect a Carolina’s Perfect Solution® pig by modeling the protocols of a professional forensic pathologist.

SPEAKERS:
Patti Kopkau (Carolina Biological Supply Co.: Hale, MI)

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek

Creating colorful transformed bacteria is an unforgettable way to teach the central dogma of molecular biology. Learn how to use transformed bacteria to create bio-art!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn about bacterial transformation and the ways that the technique explores the relationship between genotype and phenotype.

SPEAKERS:
Danielle Snowflack (Edvotek Inc.: Washington, DC), Brian Ell (Edvotek Inc.: Washington, DC)