Without out a doubt the recent pandemic has demonstrated that, the efforts in the science classroom towards scientific literacy are more relevant than ever. In this session participants will learn simple effective visual literacy tools and strategies that make learning science visible to all students, supporting diversity and reinforcing scientific literacy skills that help students make sense of the world. The strategies and tools used in this presentation will highlight the need to incorporate visual literacy as current brain research shows that around 60% of information we process every day comes in visual form. Sometimes chunking content to smaller learning bites can lower the understanding of concepts and ideas, especially if these concepts are abstract in nature; learning how to maximize the use of visuals both student and teacher made supports deeper understanding not just on a particular concept but of how they are connected making sense of the world. These strategies support cultural competency as they support learner diversity while working on scientific literacy skills such as use of evidence/data, pose questions, find answers. By having a common visual as point of reference along with strategy and tools not only closes the gap on background knowledge and makes accessible to all students but also helps student and teachers have meaningful discourse highlighting students strengths to solve real world problems.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this session participants will learn simple effective visual literacy tools and strategies that make learning science visible to all students, supporting diversity and reinforcing scientific literacy skills that help students make sense of the world.

SPEAKERS:
Marjorie Miles Dozier (Polk County Public Schools: Bartow, FL)

Science literacy is essential to be informed and engaged citizens in the 21st century. Data are what we use to do science. Thus, reading and making sense of real-world data are fundamental skills to being scientifically literate and a fun way to engage learners with science. However, how do we incorporate data into K-8 science without feeling overburdened with yet another thing to teach? By integrating it into what we are already doing! Join us to explore the connections between data, science, and literacy. We will experience research-based strategies and freely available resources for integrating phenomenon-based and local data into our science instruction to promote science literacy. We will participate in activities ourselves and reflect on approaches for how to bring these into our classrooms. The goal is to increase our data toolkit of strategies and resources to increase science literacy and relevance for students. Participants will leave more empowered to integrate data into their science content in purposeful ways to better helps students do and communicate science. Working with and learning from data fosters critical thinking skills, lifelong interests in science, and facilitates learners’ literacy skills. Let’s set our students up for success now and in the future!

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will identify how data literacy is a critical aspect of science literacy in the 21st century and how to leverage existing strategies to authentically integrate data into K-8 science instruction to teach their science content and increase literacy simultaneously.

SPEAKERS:
Kristin Hunter-Thomson (Dataspire Education & Evaluation, LLC: No City, No State)

Online investigations with digitized specimens offer broad opportunities for teachers to engage their students in authentic scientific research. EPIC Bioscience investigations are free, online, NGSS-aligned research investigations that guide students to participate in science practices: asking a question, collecting data, analyzing and interpreting findings, and communicating to others. Investigations use specimens from natural history collections in entomology, vertebrate zoology, mycology, and botany to provide fully-supported, online investigations centered on real phenomena and aligned to NGSS MSLS2-1 through NGSS MSLS2-4. These investigations offer key opportunities to enhance scientific literacy through effective sensemaking with student-collected data on compelling specimens. This session focuses on two key goals to help teachers support sensemaking during phenomena-based student investigations: (1) Identifying and remediating common student errors and confusion during data collection and analysis. (2) Practicing effective instructional strategies focused on enhancing students’ scientific reasoning and data interpretation. This session will involve hands-on experiences with student activities, as well as interactive discussion of classroom examples and evidence.

TAKEAWAYS:
Identify common student errors and sources of confusion during data collection, analysis, and interpretation and deploy strategies designed to enhance student sensemaking from data.

SPEAKERS:
Kirsten Butcher (The University of Utah: Salt Lake City, UT), Madlyn Larson (Natural History Museum of Utah: Salt Lake City, UT)

How are you engaging all students in critical skills to ensure they are ready for the future of work? What does the classroom feel, sound, and look like when students are making sense of their world and solving real-world problems? Join the alumni from the 2021 Northrop Grumman Foundation Teachers Academy as they share the ways they have transformed their schools/classrooms to align with the reality of work as experienced alongside engineers, technologists, and scientists.

TAKEAWAYS:
Strategies to integrate workforce skills aligned with the vision of the K–12 Framework.

SPEAKERS:
Rachel Kenning (Spring Creek Middle School: Providence, UT), Anthony Carter (Middle River Middle School: Middle River, MD), Yevgeny Pevzner (Kearns Junior High School: Salt Lake City, UT), Leilani O'Dell (Roscomare Road Elementary School: No City, No State)

The forthcoming OpenSciEd High School chemistry course combines physical science and Earth and space science NGSS performance expectations as a way to engage students in developing understandings around energy and matter. Learn about the focus of the five units that make up this course and their associated performance expectation bundles to see how the three dimensions are used as a way to authentically engage students in making sense of both physical science and earth and space science related phenomena and design solutions. In the session, we will highlight how anchoring phenomena of the first unit, typically associated with earth and space science, helps students make sense of the particulate nature of matter, energy transfers in earth systems, feedback loops, and human interactions with their environment. An in-depth examination of the performance expectation bundles for the following four units will help illustrate the learning progressions students will follow to develop progressively more complex models of the particle nature of matter, its properties, and its interactions using the lenses of all crosscutting concepts, in particular, patterns, energy and matter, structure and function, and stability and change.

TAKEAWAYS:
Incorporation of earth and space science NGSS performance expectations within a chemistry curriculum supports student engagement in and sensemaking of chemistry concepts around properties and interactions of matter and energy.

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Vick (Northwestern University), Dan Voss (Northwestern University: Evanston, IL), Michael Novak (Northwestern University: Evanston, IL), Tara McGill (Northwestern University: Evanston, IL)

Hexagonal Thinking ensures the learning environment features a high degree of student engagement by providing a framework for academic discussion where all students participate. Participants will collaborate with colleagues to experience Hexagonal Thinking using science and math content vocabulary and visuals that will then be used to synthesize information into a piece of critical writing.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn a strategy for making thinking, learning and content connections visible in the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Michelle Yates (Aledo ISD: Aledo, TX), Miranda Rosenhoover (Aledo ISD: Aledo, TX)

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)

Water: It’s constantly in use all around us, but did you know that you can recycle water just like paper or plastic? Droughts and water scarcity are becoming an increasingly common phenomenon, and it is estimated that nearly 6 billion people will suffer from clean water scarcity by 2050. Yet, every year, Americans throw 11 trillion gallons of reusable water, also known as grey water, down the drain. In this series of lessons, students will learn about where their water comes from, the human water cycle, the three types of water and the connection between droughts and climate change. These lessons will also tie into the broader themes of sustainability and climate science and incorporate hands-on STEM activities and career connections. The lessons are primarily for elementary students but can be adapted for older audiences. They will be free for all teachers to use in their classrooms and are developed by Shreya Ramachandran, founder of The Grey Water Project in concert with educators. Join us for the presentation to learn more about grey water, why teaching about grey water and water conservation is important and how you can bring this to your classroom!

TAKEAWAYS:
Session participants will learn about grey water reuse and water recycling and how they can be effective drought solutions.

SPEAKERS:
Shreya Ramachandran (Stanford University: Stanford, CA)

Using real-world phenomena asks students to puzzle out answers to problems that occur in their day-to-day lives. It encourages students to enter into sensemaking using their own prior knowledge and tools. One of the best tools to make sense of a phenomenon is math. Learn from CCSS Math and NGSS specialists about using mathematical thinking to promote scientific literacy. This session includes a focus on student agency, sensemaking, and supporting connections between the STEM classroom and real-world phenomena. The presenters will map CCSS Mathematics and NGSS connections while providing strategies for increasing agency and sensemaking in the classroom. Questions we will consider include: How do we support all students in becoming mathematical thinkers? How do we promote agency by providing students with authentic, engaging opportunities to collect, analyze, and interpret real-world data? How can phenomena and questioning techniques support mathematical thinking?  Come explore new possibilities of what high-quality sensemaking with math can look like for all learners.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will take away strategies to integrate mathematical thinking into student sensemaking about scientific phenomena.

SPEAKERS:
Emily Mathews (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Alanna Mertens (DePaul University STEM Center: Chicago, IL)

We can examine natural phenomena and address wicked problems using the scientific process. The smallpox virus emerged approximately 10,000 years ago, and the virus's global spread devastated civilizations. Thanks to the scientific thinking of a Buddhist nun, a milkmaid, and Edward Jenner, smallpox was declared eradicated in 1979 by the World Health Organization. To support the understanding of the nature of science in the NGSS (Appendix H), session participants will engage in activities that demonstrate how science is used to answer questions about the natural world through a process that is consistent, observational, natural, predictable, tentative, and testable. Additionally, participants will examine various media sources to learn how to identify scientific misinformation and the tactics used to make misinformation appear credible. The National Center for Science Education supports science teachers through free professional development and curriculum to recognize and address science misconceptions using the three dimensions of the NGSS. Resources: https://ncse.ngo/supporting-teachers/classroom-resources

TAKEAWAYS:
This session introduces participants to a basic understanding of the scientific process, how our knowledge of the natural world evolves with new evidence, and that science cannot answer questions that do not pertain to natural processes. Attendees will take a deep dive into an NGSS storyline sequence developed to help students understand that science is an ongoing process that must be supported by multiple lines of evidence to be accepted by the scientific community.

SPEAKERS:
Lin Andrews (National Center for Science Education: Oakland, CA), DeeDee Wright (Colorado State University: Fort Collins, CO), Cari Herndon (National Center for Science Education: No City, No State), Ayesha Alirahi (Science Teacher), Blake Touchet (National Center for Science Education: Oakland, CA)

It has been common practice to move around units in science curricula based on teacher licensure, teacher preference, or state standards. However, the shifts in three-dimensional science learning supporting equitable science education emphasize the need for coherence intentionally helping students build the three dimensions, step by step, over time. We will describe a scope and sequence developed for the OpensciEd middle school program where each unit builds on the prior knowledge and experiences of all students to build increasing sophistication in all three dimensions, as they progress from unit to unit and grade to grade. We describe the strategies used to bundle performance expectations in a unit and for constructing progressions that build the elements of disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and science and engineering practices (SEPs) coherently across the program. We describe how these instructional materials support teachers and students in connecting with and extending what students have figured out in prior units to build increasing sophistication with ideas and practices across the program.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn strategies for developing and adapting unit to unit connections that support students in building each of the three dimensions coherently over time.

SPEAKERS:
Brian Reiser (Northwestern University: Evanston, IL), Michael Novak (Northwestern University: Evanston, IL)

This workshop demystifies bioinformatics using free online tools. The activity explains the mechanisms behind herbicide resistance and genetic changes that help weeds avoid chemical control.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will see a real-world example of artificial selection in action, while also increasing the awareness of free bioinformatics tools available for everyone to compare and analyze DNA sequences.

SPEAKERS:
Jane Hunt (Nourish the Future - Education Projects, LLC: Columbus, OH), Zack Bateson (National Agricultural Genotyping Center: Fargo, ND)

In this session, the participants will explore some lessons developed by teachers in the National Space Biomedical Research Institute-Teacher Academy Project (NSBRI-TAP). These are interactive, physical and focus on spatial disorientation and the musculoskeletal system as affected by microgravity. The teachers will engage in the activities and collect sample data as they would with students and interpret the results. These are both educational and fun as we need to desperately restore enthusiasm for science studies. The presenter has anecdotal stories from many astronauts of their physiological reaction to microgravity conditions that he will share. Teachers will be provided lesson plans and worksheets for use with their students. Sample activities: Title: IN-FLIGHT EXERCISES Grade Level: 5-8 Content Area: Life Science and Health National Science Content Standards: Standard A. Science as Inquiry (Grades 5-8 & 9-12) • Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry • Understandings about scientific inquiry Standard C. Life Science (Grades 5-8) • Structure and function in living systems • Regulation and behavior Standard F. Science in Personal and Social Perspectives (Grades 5-8 & 9-12) • Personal health Title: SHIFTY EYES Grade Level: 5-8 Content Area: Space/Life Science National Science Content Standards: Unifying Concepts and Processes (Grades 5-8) Models Standard C. Life Science (Grades 5-8) Structure and function in living systems Regulation and behavior Diversity and adaptations of organisms Dr. Wilson also participated in two experiments on NASA’s KC-135 (Vomit Comet): 1) testing a resistance exercise machine to fly in space designed at The Cleveland Clinic and 2) an experiment where the corn earworm (Helicoverpa zea) was subjected to microgravity while a control group of worms was grown by elementary students in Las Cruces, NM. He will explain and share the results of these experiments and of one flown by teachers from Miami-Dade School District in Florida involved in his Future Scientists Program.

TAKEAWAYS:
The International Space Station (ISS) is a research platform and is helping scientists develop countermeasures to the adverse effects of long-duration spaceflight on the human body.

SPEAKERS:
Craig Wilson (Texas A&M University: College Station, TX)

In this session, attendees will extend their understanding of learning design for the NGSS specifically focused on developing scientific literacy in the elementary grades. Participants will learn about selecting instructional phenomena and/or problems that can effectively anchor student learning experiences and create authentic needs for students to engage deeply with other content areas to make sense of phenomena and design solutions to problems, thus supporting meaningful integration of science with other STEM and content areas. Attendees will explore ways to design for elementary learning that meets at the intersection of three-dimensional standards, phenomena/problem driven learning, sensemaking, and integration. Participants will also be connected to a variety of Open Education Resources (OERs) and other freely available resources that support integrated elementary learning design.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how anchoring learning in phenomena and problems and leveraging integrated content as sensemaking resources for students supports scientific literacy development in grades K-5.

SPEAKERS:
Kimberley Astle (Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction: Olympia, WA)

A scientific model represents the cause and effect relationships between components of a system attempting to replicate the system in such a way as to be predictive. Models are necessary when the studied system is too complex to isolate each component and test variables and their impact on the whole system. Climate is a highly complex system, but modeling allows climate scientists to identify the variables within the system and study each of them independently and as a system. The evolution of video game graphics and consoles mirrors the evolution of models used to replicate Earth’s climate. To support the understanding of NGSS HS-ESS2: Earth’s Systems and HS-ESS3: Earth and Human Activity, session participants will analyze data from different factors affecting climate and average global temperatures. Ultimately, data shows the rapid increase of greenhouse gases due to human activity. Additionally, participants will examine various climate models focusing on the factors included in building the model and communicate their findings by creating their model. The National Center for Science Education supports science teachers through free professional development and curriculum to recognize and address science misconceptions using the three dimensions of the NGSS. Resources: https://ncse.ngo/supporting-teachers/classroom-resources

TAKEAWAYS:
Scientists use models to understand highly complex systems and make predictions about future outcomes. Climate scientists use multiple data sources to design and test comprehensive climate models to examine past climates and predict future trends. Attendees will learn about the history and evolution of climate modeling while examining evidence that supports their reliability for predicting future climate patterns.

SPEAKERS:
Lin Andrews (National Center for Science Education: Oakland, CA), DeeDee Wright (Colorado State University: Fort Collins, CO), Cari Herndon (National Center for Science Education: No City, No State), Blake Touchet (National Center for Science Education: Oakland, CA)

Research shows many benefits of a maker-centered learning environment, however many teachers do not consider their classroom “maker classrooms” In this hands-on workshop, participants will see many different categories of making in an early years class, which allows participants to begin to reframe their view of their own classes. Through hands-on activities, participants experience a range of maker-centered learning activities which showcases how these activities can be used to develop problem solving and sensemaking for students, with built in modifications support MLL and students with special rights. Literacy development and formative assessments are also continuous threads in maker-centered learning as students learn and use language in the making process. Through observation and discussion of maker-made artifacts, and the processes leading to these artifacts, teachers can assess student understanding Furthermore, with many maker-centered activities, family and community connections are strengthened as students observe their own community, ask questions, and involve others outside of school in their making activities. Conference activities will be limited to portable, lightweight materials, with discussions and examples of different materials in action

TAKEAWAYS:
1) Discover new making opportunities to support sensemaking in your class while developing student skills in communication, collaboration as well as identifying and solving problems 2) Identify ways of integrating maker centered opportunities in your class planning, with specific attention to the early years 3) Observe different ways of bringing family’s funds of knowledge into a maker centered classroom

SPEAKERS:
Anne Lowry (Aleph Academy: Reno, NV)

Horses have an extraordinary fossil record in North America, with specimens from the early Eocene (about 55 Ma) to just the last 10,000 years. The primary dietary strategy in horses changed from browsing –- like that of a giraffe –-to grazing –- like that of modern horses, as seen in the evolution of the higher-crowned teeth. The evolution of tooth structure strongly correlates to variations in the ecosystem due to a changing climate. To support the understanding of NGSS HS-LS4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity, session participants will engage in the analysis of hypsodonty -- the height of the tooth relative to its overall size -- of fossil replicas to track the evolution of dietary strategy in this lineage to construct an explanation based on evidence to support the claim that changes in environmental conditions may result in the emergence of new species over time. Additionally, participants will communicate their newly gained knowledge in analyzing how horse evolution is depicted in museum displays and design an accurate phylogenetic representation. The National Center for Science Education supports science teachers through free professional development and curriculum to recognize and address science misconceptions using the three dimensions of the NGSS. Resources: https://ncse.ngo/supporting-teachers/classroom-resources

TAKEAWAYS:
Natural selection acts on genetic variation within populations as individuals who are adapted to survive in the environment reproduce and pass on their genes. Attendees will have the opportunity to work hands-on with a variety of 3D-printed horse teeth dating back to the Eocene to understand how a changing climate played a role in the dietary evolution of horses.

SPEAKERS:
Lin Andrews (National Center for Science Education: Oakland, CA), DeeDee Wright (Colorado State University: Fort Collins, CO), Cari Herndon (National Center for Science Education: No City, No State), Blake Touchet (National Center for Science Education: Oakland, CA)

Our master teacher video case studies are used to facilitate discussion about the science practices of Asking Questions and Modeling with inservice and preservice teachers.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Using classroom video as a focus of discussion can provide teachers with an avenue for substantive conversations about their teaching practice; 2. Our case studies present real classroom settings where the teachers are having their students work on the practice of questioning and/ or modeling; and 3. Participants will view the videos and reflect on how the teachers are facilitating the use of science practices in their classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
David Henry (SUNY Buffalo State College: Buffalo, NY), Alayla Ende (University at Buffalo, SUNY: Buffalo, NY), Lisa Brosnick (SUNY Buffalo State College: Buffalo, NY), Alan Baczkiewicz (Sweet Home Middle School: Amherst, NY)

Budburst is a national community science project that brings together researchers, educators, gardeners, and community scientists to make careful observations of the timing of plant life cycle events, or phenophases. Changes over time can be used to illustrate how plants and ecosystems are being affected by human impacts on the environment, especially climate change. By joining Budburst, students can connect to nature wherever they live while participating in an authentic scientific investigation with real-world impacts. In this session educators will learn how they can use Budburst to engage their students in collecting and using real scientific data to examine local plant phenomena and address the NGSS. They will learn about the resources freely available to educators on the Budburst website, including tools allowing them to (1) create their own virtual classroom and set up student accounts, (2) collect and submit data with students, and (3) access existing data to help students ask and analyze their own questions about plants, ecosystems, and climate change. Finally, participants will learn how other educators have implemented Budburst in their classrooms and explore how they can use this flexible platform to scaffold their students’ participation in different stages of the scientific process.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn to engage students in local plant phenomena and real-world climate change science using Budburst resources.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Jones (Chicago Botanic Garden: Glencoe, IL), Rebecca Ammann (Chicago Botanic Garden: Glencoe, IL)