Students may commonly hear the terms carbon dioxide, greenhouse gases, global warming, and climate change. It is important to understand climate science and climate change, and how energy use and consumer choices impact our environment, economics, and standard of living. Session participants will learn hands-on activities to use with their students to develop a better understanding of climate science. They will first explore NEED’s Greenhouse in a Beaker to observe how greenhouse gases, like CO2, act in our atmosphere through the use of common lab equipment. Can I Really Fry and Egg on the Sidewalk uses an infrared thermometer to showcase how radiant energy is absorbed by various surfaces at different rates and be able to see how different surfaces and the spaces surrounding them can have elevated temperatures, leading to a heat island effect. Road Trip involves calculating the carbon impact of transportation choices to learn about their carbon footprint.

SPEAKERS:
Cori Nelson (The NEED Project: Manassas, VA), Sharon Bird (The NEED Project: Manassas, VA)

Connect the human impact of trash pollution to engineering design. Get your students thinking critically and creatively as they collaborate in real-world problem-solving. The global real-world issue of human-generated trash polluting local bodies of water is the main focus of this hands-on session. Using our partnership with the Howard County Conservancy, our students learn about their local watersheds and contribute to a Watershed Report Card. Students see how trash that is often found on our local schoolyards can affect our watershed, and they design a working model for trash removal in a local tributary. Basic coding will be used to design programs that will control sensors and motors through a microcontroller, thus removing the trash from the water source. The model will utilize solar and water power to move the trash into a separate receptacle. Various sensors will also be used to monitor water levels and determine the outcome of the program. This session will allow participants to find ways to increase the environmental stewardship of their students while incorporating engineering design into the science classroom. This project allows authentic integration of technology, mathematics, crosscutting concepts, science practices, and easy implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards.

TAKEAWAYS:
Design a project that enhances STEM skills in students such as collaboration, curiosity and creative problem solving.

SPEAKERS:
Jessica Kohout (Howard County Conservancy: Woodstock, MD), Stacy Thibodeaux (Southside High School: Youngsville, LA)

This session will introduce participants to the Exploration Generation Middle School NSTA Playlist. It provides equitable STEM experiences to students and increases educator confidence in teaching rocketry. This two-lesson playlist brings Sensemaking to rocketry by cultivating student curiosity about rockets to drive learning about science ideas related to physics topics. Participants will investigate forces through hands-on engagement, while also learning about rocket safety. Learn how to develop critical skills within your students to prepare them for the careers of tomorrow.

TAKEAWAYS:
The excitement and curiosity generated by model rocket launches can be used to drive student learning about a variety of physical science ideas.

SPEAKERS:
Michelle Phillips (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Patrice Scinta (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Nicole Bayeur (Estes Industries: , United States)

Engage in a variety of activities, collect information and resources, and network with middle level leaders. Discover new ideas and materials that you can use next week.

TAKEAWAYS:
The participants will network with other middle level science educators and leaders to discover and engage in activities that will expand their knowledge and be usable in all aspects of their work.

SPEAKERS:
Mary Lou Lipscomb (National Middle Level Science Teachers Association: Naperville, IL), Alison Betz Seymour (Science Teacher: Winchester, 0), Carey Dieleman (National Science Teaching Association: No City, No State), Loris Chen (Science Education Consultant: Fair Lawn, NJ), Cynthia Crockett (Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian: Cambridge, MA), Suzanne Cunningham (Purdue University: West Lafayette, IN), Katy Garvey (The Source for Learning, Inc.: Reston, VA), Nicole Green (Animalearn: Jenkintown, PA), Joseph Michaelis (University of Illinois Chicago: Chicago, IL), Kim Nagle (Brooks Middle School: Bolingbrook, IL), Cori Nelson (Winfield School District 34: Winfield, IL), Anne Schoeffler (Seton Catholic School: Hudson, OH), Dennis Schatz (Institute for Learning Innovation: Beaverton, OR), Alison Betz Seymour (Science Teacher: Winchester, 0), Corydon Strawser (Lake Nona Middle School: Orlando, FL), Stacy Thibodeaux (Southside High School: Youngsville, LA), Barbara Phillips-Bredlow (Northeast Nodaway School District: Ravenwood, MO), Dawn Konieczny (Brooks Middle School: Bolingbrook, IL), Erin Towns (Edward Little High School: Auburn, ME)

The objective of this workshop is to guide educators through a mock grant-writing process. We will begin the session by discussing the grant process from proposal requests to awards. We will discuss misconceptions such as tax-exempt status requirements, time constraints, deliverables, project impact, collaboration, and more. Participants will have the opportunity to go through the process by searching for grants and completing a mock proposal. They will be provided with “step by step” guides to help them design a project, clarify their project objectives, create a budget, and determine the impact for their students, schools, and community. Participants will present their proposals and provide peer-to-peer feedback during the discussion part of the session.

TAKEAWAYS:
How to write a grant proposal for a classroom project.

SPEAKERS:
Emilia Odife (Lake Mary Preparatory School: Lake Mary, FL)

This session highlights an activity from NASA’s Learning Launchers: Robotics (https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/stem-on-station/learning_launchers_robotics) teacher toolkit part of a series of Educator Guides with lessons and activities to help bring the International Space Station into the classroom. This session will focus on the “I Want to Hold Your Hand” activity that engages participants to build and test a robotic-like hand and understand how NASA uses robotic explorers to collect information about places where humans cannot travel. After watching videos "Robotics and the International Space Station" & "Benefits For Humanity: From Space to Surgery" participants will work in teams to construct a robotic-like hand and test their robotic hand by picking up an empty soda can or other lightweight objects. The “I Want to Hold Your Hand Activity” is aligned to national standards for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) (i.e., NGSS, ISTE). The focus of the “I Want to Hold Your Hand” activity ties Engineering Design and NGSS science and engineering practices of defining problems, developing models, and planning and carrying out investigations. This session connects participants to how NASA uses robots in many ways as well as benefit humanity with its robots’ doing science and experiments aboard the International Space Station.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Attendees will explore NASA STEM Educator Guides that are standards-aligned and provide detailed information and resources on how to implement NASA STEM engagement learning experiences in the classroom. 2. Attendees will gain hands-on minds-on experience with implementing a NASA STEM engagement activity in their classroom using everyday materials that encourages students to construct a robotic-like hand and demonstrate how data are collected when using robotic technology. 3. Attendees will gain insights into how humans and robots are working hand in hand to expand the horizons of space exploration and how robotic research that has helped make advances in medicine, auto manufacturing, among other things. Without robotics, major accomplishments like the building the International Space Station, repairing satellites in space, and exploring other worlds would not be possible.

SPEAKERS:
LaTina Taylor (NASA Educator Professional Development Collaborative (EPDC): Flossmoor, IL)

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)

Attendees will be provided with a high-level overview of NASA’s Artemis Missions to the Moon and Mars, Next Generation Science Standards, and gain insights on how Engineering Design fits within the NGSS. This session highlights an activity from NASA’s Next Gen STEM - Moon to Mars Educator Guide titled, "Landing Humans on the Moon" (https://www.nasa.gov/stem-ed-resources/landing-humans-on-the-moon.html) which is part of a series of standards-aligned educator guides designed to help students reach their potential to join the next-generation STEM workforce and learn about sending humans to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. The focus of the “Safe Landing on the Lunar Surface” activity engages participants to understand how a spacecraft’s engines can provide downward thrust to counteract the force of gravity not only at launch, but also during a landing to slow its descent. Utilizing the engineering design process attendees will use household materials to better understand the difficulties in landing a lander on the surface of a terrestrial body that does not have an atmosphere (no atmospheric braking, no use of parachutes, and no aerodynamic control surfaces). Participants will design, build, and improve a model of a lunar lander that can slow its descent using the downward thrust of a balloon; graph the speed with respect to elevation of a model lunar lander.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Attendee will explore NASA STEM Educator Guides that are standards-aligned and provide detailed information and resources on how to implement STEM engagement learning experiences in the classroom to help students learn about sending humans to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. 2. Attendees will gain hand on minds on experience with implementing NASA STEM engagement activities in their classroom. Then, using engineering design principles, attendees will mirror the process that NASA engineers follow to brainstorm a human lander design, ultimately building an actual model that they will test. 3. Participants will gain insights into the difficulties in landing a lander on the surface of a terrestrial body that does not have an atmosphere (no atmospheric braking, no use of parachutes, and no aerodynamic control surfaces).

SPEAKERS:
LaTina Taylor (NASA Educator Professional Development Collaborative (EPDC): Flossmoor, IL)

More than just dirt, soil is vital to life on the planet. Join us as we explore the how’s and why’s of the soil-life connection.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn the fundamental linkages between soils and life while being immersed in numerous activities and demonstrations that support classroom integration of soil topics.

SPEAKERS:
Clay Robinson (CRC Consulting: No City, No State), Susan Chapman (Soil Science Society of America: Madison, WI)

The free NASA STEM lesson plans introduce the practice of computational thinking and include elements of a real NASA mission. NASA’s Artemis program will return humans to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972, the year of the agency's last Apollo moon landing. This Educator Guide provides four standards-aligned activities to help students learn about NASA's Orion spacecraft that will take astronauts to the Moon and beyond. In this session, we will design and build a crew module model that will secure two 2-cm astronaut figures during a drop test. The PowerPoint will be available to all participants. The PowerPoint will include the videos and activities including the tips and pointers. Session Outline: 5 min - Welcome and Introduction to NASA Artemis Mission 10 min- STEM Engagement strategies and culturally relevant teaching 10 min- Introducing the Engineering Design Challenge 20 min- Teams Design a Crew Vehicle 10 min- Testing the Crew Vehicle 5 min- Reviewing the Resources and Q and A https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/np-2020-02-2805-hq.pdf

TAKEAWAYS:
NASA provides free educational resources that include educator guides with standards-aligned activities to help students use computational thinking while including elements of real NASA missions.

SPEAKERS:
Susan Kohler (NASA Glenn Research Center: Cleveland, OH)

Turn any multiple-choice review into an exciting escape! Learn to create digital and in-person escapes to help keep students interested, engaged, and motivated.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn tips for designing escape boxes, plus how to add riddles, puzzles, games, and small prizes. The digital escape uses Google Forms, and the physical escape uses lockable boxes with resettable combination locks. Links to a customizable digital and physical escape will be available to attendees.

SPEAKERS:
Sharon Beck (Davidson County High School: Lexington, NC)

Did you know that every U.S. aircraft flying today, and every U.S. air traffic control facility, uses NASA-developed technology in some way? Participants in this session will gain insights into how NASA Aeronautics work to make aviation truly sustainable by reducing delays and environmental impacts, transforming aviation efficiency and safety, while reducing noise, fuel use, harmful emissions, and ultimately transform the way we fly. NASA’s X-57 Maxwell is an experimental aircraft designed to test operating multiple electric motors for use in turning propellers – an idea known as “distributed electric propulsion.” This session highlights an activity from NASA’s “X-57 Electric Airplane: STEM Learning Module” (https://www.nasa.gov/aeroresearch/stem/X57 ) part of a series of Educator Guides with lessons and activities to help students learn about NASA’s X-57 Maxwell and the science behind electric propulsion. This session will focus on the “X-57 Maxwell: Circuits Activity Guide” that engages participants to build a light-up paper helicopter by creating a “parallel circuit” that uses copper foil tape, two LED lights, and a battery. This session’s goals are to demonstrate that an all-electric airplane is more efficient, quieter, and more environmentally friendly. Session participants will understand that knowledge gained from the X-57 Maxwell research will help engineers design future electric-powered aircraft for everything from urban air mobility to moving passengers and cargo between nearby cities.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Attendees will explore NASA STEM Educator Guides that are standards-aligned and provide detailed information and resources on how to implement NASA STEM engagement learning experiences in the classroom. 2. Hands-on minds-on experience with implementing a NASA STEM activity in their classroom that encourages students to create a parallel circuit on a paper helicopter as an introduction to circuitry and propulsion. 3. Attendees will gain insights into how NASA’s X-57 Maxwell all-electric airplane is more efficient, quieter, and more environmentally friendly while gaining a better understanding of the STEM concepts of energy transfer, and the physical science of pressure and aerodynamics.

SPEAKERS:
LaTina Taylor (NASA Educator Professional Development Collaborative (EPDC): Flossmoor, IL)