By Invitation Only

Shifting from traditional professional development to curriculum-based professional learning is a simple concept but complex to design and execute well. At its core, it means teachers experience the same kind of inquiry-based learning we expect them to provide their students. Learn more about a Carnegie Corporation of New York report, The Elements, which identifies a core set of research-based actions, approaches, and enabling conditions that effective schools and systems have put in place to reinforce and amplify the power of high-quality curriculum and skillful teaching.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Examine beliefs and assumptions regarding the relationship between high-quality instructional materials, curriculum-based professional learning and student success 2. Gain understanding of the foundation for The Elements, a challenge paper from Carnegie Corporation of New York 3. Learn from science practitioners whose successful curriculum implementation efforts are grounded in the elements and essentials.

SPEAKERS:
Jim Short (BSCS Science Learning: Ridgefield, NY)

Since its release, the NSTA Quick-Reference Guide to the NGSS has become an essential tool for many educators across the country. A new version titled the Quick-Reference Guide to the Three Dimension has been developed to not only support teachers in all states that have standards based on the Framework for K-12 Science Education. This new version of the Quick-Reference Guide still contains the most useful features of the original, including descriptions of the practices and the crosscutting concepts from the Framework of K-12 Science Education and K-12 progressions of the elements of all three dimensions. In addition, the new Quick-Reference Guide contains several new features that should make it even more helpful. For example, every element now has a unique code (based on the codes in the NSTA Atlas of the Three Dimensions) that makes it much easier to reference a particular element. In addition, there is an entire chapter devoted to the Performance Expectations. Finally, the guide also contains a number of tools for working with standards. This session will outline all of the features of the guide through the process of unpacking the crosscutting concepts to better understand how to make curriculum, instruction, and assessment more three-dimensional.

TAKEAWAYS:
A deeper understanding of the Crosscutting Concepts and how a well-designed reference guide can make it easier to unpack the three dimensions for work in curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

SPEAKERS:
Ted Willard (Discovery Education: Derwood, MD)

The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Guidelines are a tool that can be used to design learning experiences that meet the needs of all learners (CAST, 2018). Instructional designers and teachers can use these principles to create learning environments that reduce barriers to access for all students, while keeping in mind the learning goals of the lesson. The three guiding principles of UDL are engagement, representation, and action and expression. In this session educators will be provided with examples of these principles in action in sample materials from OpenSciEd and classroom videos. In these examples, participating will identify how the materials have been purposefully designed with multiple avenues for engagement, representation, and action and expression. Additionally, they will identify the built-in supports for teachers to highlight student assets and to address potential barriers to learning for their local student population. Teachers will utilize a tool to help them analyze their own lessons to identify goals, potential barriers, and ways to use the UDL Principles to remove barriers and create flexible paths to learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will utilize a tool to help them analyze their own lessons to identify goals, potential barriers, and ways to use the UDL Principles to remove barriers and create flexible paths to learning.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Delaney (OpenSciEd: San Carlos, CA)

Participants will use a graphic organizer to record their thinking as I describe a unit I taught in which students in grades 9-12 explored issues related to artificial intelligence. Students crafted op-Eds advocating for what we should do in our community about emerging technologies like driverless cars and facial recognition. As I describe the unit, I will highlight how I (1) kicked off the unit with a phenomenon that raised questions about convenience, safety, security, equity, and justice; (2) layered on texts and encouraged students to grapple with multiple perspectives on AI-related issues; (3) used routines and mentor texts to support students in crafting claims and connecting evidence to their claims; and (4) engaged students in processes of revision. Then, participants will work in self-selected groups to explore science/technology/society text sets on topics like lab grown meat and space debris. As they explore the text set, they will engage with a classroom routine to develop a compelling, debatable, defensible, and nuanced claim. Participants will share what they discovered as they explored the text set and wrote claims in their group and will reflect on how these text sets and routines might become part of their classroom practice.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about freely available text sets and classroom routines developed by teachers for supporting civically engaged argument writing about science and technology issues in society.

SPEAKERS:
John Smith (Chester A Arthur School: Philadelphia, PA)

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: Santa Cruz, CA)

Sponsoring Company: Simulation Curriculum

Discover more new and interesting facts about plate tectonics, volcanism, Earth materials, geological processes, astronomy, and cosmology using NGSS-focused lesson plans and interactive and thought-provoking exercises and simulations.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will come away from the workshop with more knowledge and information about the subject matter, a new understanding of what is available for convenient teaching tools, and a general increase in the level of confidence while teaching the topics of Earth and space science.

SPEAKERS:
Dave Farina (Cosmos Safari LLC: No City, No State)

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Genes in Space is an experimental design competition that invites students in middle and high school to design biology experiments addressing challenges faced by space travelers. Each year, one winning project is launched to the International Space Station, where it is carried out by astronauts. Join us to learn how the contest can engage your students in authentic research combining science and engineering practices. We will also share how you can access free Genes in Space classroom resources, including lesson plans, classroom activities, explainer videos, and biotechnology equipment loans.

TAKEAWAYS:
Engage students in an experimental design contest, access free classroom resources including lesson plans, activities, videos, and biotechnology equipment loans, and make a real-world scientific contribution for a chance to launch your experiment to the International Space Station

SPEAKERS:
Bruce Bryan (miniPCR: Cambridge, MA)

Sponsoring Company: Legends of Learning

Attendees will learn how employing game-based learning (GBL) engages and develops all learners. Understand how games empower students, develop critical thinking skills, provide instant feedback (and more) to develop content mastery as well as social-emotional learning. Game-Based Learning: encourages players to take risks without fear of failure, provides instant feedback that takes advantage of the richest teachable moments, creates individualized experiences through student agency, develops 21st century skills such as critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity, allows students to experience that actions have ramifications, and invites all students to engage, providing expanded opportunities for equitable learning. Attendees will experience examples of each of these benefits, discuss how they could apply to their own classrooms, and will learn about the research that supports them. Attendees will collaborate with each other as they explore and discuss concepts during the session. They will also investigate how to apply game-based learning to creating experiences that address their own learning objectives.

TAKEAWAYS:
Apply game-based learning to make a difference to your students.

SPEAKERS:
Janet Pittock (director: , CA)

The NGSS is very complicated. The Institute for Quality Science Teaching at the Museum of Science and Industry provides professional learning opportunities for science teachers in Chicagoland and surrounding areas. Our approach is to ground everything we do in the NGSS and take a deep dive into all the elements of 3-dimensional learning. Professional learning programs at MSI are invested in helping teachers understand how to teach science effectively to meet these standards. Teachers in our programs learn science content in the context of 3-dimensional lessons, as instructors demonstrate instructional practices that enable NGSS-aligned teaching and learning. This presentation will review the basics of the NGSS, the 3 dimensions, how they’re combined in Performance Expectations, and the basics of enacting the NGSS in the classroom. If you need a refresher, just want a review, or still don’t have all those acronyms straight in your head, this is the presentation for you.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will leave with a basic understanding of the structures of the Next Generation Science Standards and how they inform 3-dimensional standards and 3-dimensional science teaching.

SPEAKERS:
Lauren Slanker (Museum of Science and Industry: Chicago, IL), Karin Klein (Museum of Science and Industry: CHICAGO, IL)

Get ready for the 2023 and 2024 solar eclipses. See how learning activities about Earth, Moon and Sun provide three-dimensional learning experiences that connect to these events, which will be more spectacular than the 2017 eclipse.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will have a better understanding of what is meant by three-dimensional learning, see how 3-D learning can lead to knowing what causes lunar phases and eclipses, and be prepared to enjoy the solar eclipses in 2023 and 2024.

SPEAKERS:
Dennis Schatz (Institute for Learning Innovation: Seattle, WA)

Human activities have caused changes in global temperature and weather patterns. This generation of students will need to understand climate science in order to adapt to this changing environment. In this session, participants will explore a project in which students incorporate engineering and basic coding - no experience necessary. We will use micro:bit technology to connect basic coding commands to collect authentic data using embedded sensors. Participants will use this collected data to modify design solutions based on human vulnerabilities to severe weather. Participants will find ways to expose their students to the engineering capabilities needed to solve problems. This project allows students to compare design solutions to identify which is best for the problem at hand and experience the interactive process of evaluating solutions. This project allows for the authentic integration of technology, mathematics, crosscutting concepts, science practices, and easy implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards.

TAKEAWAYS:
Use technology to expose students to coding and engineering design solutions for severe weather.

SPEAKERS:
Jessica Kohout (Educational Consultant: Ellicott City, MD), Stacy Thibodeaux (Southside High School: Scott, LA)

We live in a data-driven world, and our students will be working in a data-driven workforce. Therefore, it is critical that our Pre-K-12 students learn foundational data literacy skills. However, currently these skills are too often only taught in upper-level classes. All students need these skills and all students, down to our little Pre-Kers, can work with and make sense of science data. Let’s make sure data is an equalizer, rather than another divider in our educational system and society! Join us as we explore what perception and learning science tell us about how our brains process data. We will experience research-based strategies and freely available resources to build science knowledge and self-efficacy through data. Finally, we will explore ways to adapt our existing curriculum activities and data visualizations to help our students more equitably access science. Through hands-on activities and group discussions, participants will leave more empowered to leverage data and data visualizations into their science content in purposeful ways for all learners. Working with and learning science from data fosters critical thinking skills, lifelong interests in science, and facilitates learners’ overall 21st century skills. Let’s set all of our students up for success!

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will identify how data literacy is a critical aspect of science literacy in the 21st century for all students and ways to adjust existing curriculum to leverage data as entry points into science inquiry, sensemaking, and knowledge for all learners to see themselves in STEM.

SPEAKERS:
Kristin Hunter-Thomson (Dataspire Education & Evaluation, LLC: Santa Cruz, CA)

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: Avon, IL), Dan Voss (Northwestern University: Minneapolis, MN), Michael Novak (Northwestern University: Grayslake, IL), Tara McGill (Northwestern University: South Elgin, 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: Fort Worth, TX), Miranda Rosenhoover (Aledo ISD: Aledo, TX)

Confused about what to do post COVID? Thinking about switching careers? Learn about the experiences, challenges, and mistakes made by several esteemed science education leaders in this engaging and interactive panel discussion. This panel will feature current and former teachers, school leaders, district leaders, consultants, academics, national STEM education leaders.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about the increasing number of opportunities available for educators both inside and outside of the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Michael Lach (Hinsdale Township High School District 86: Chicago, IL)

One of the key features of the NGSS and other standards based on the Framework for K-12 Science Education is the idea that a “a progression of knowledge occurs from grade band to grade band that gives students the opportunity to learn more complex material, leading to an overall understanding of science by the end of high school.” (NGSS Appendix A, p. 2) The NSTA Atlas of the Three Dimensions has a set of 62 maps that illustrate the how the elements of the three dimensions build on each other and connect to one another. Each map focuses on a particular topic and shows the progression students are expected to make in that topic from one grade-span to the next. Arrows connecting individual elements on a map indicate that competency in one element is useful in learning to achieve the other element. Educators can use maps to deepen their understanding of the standards to plan or improve curriculum, instruction, and assessment. This session will provide participants guidance on how to read the maps in the Atlas and use this powerful tool to deepen their understanding of elements of the standards.

TAKEAWAYS:
A careful review of the connections between elements of the three dimensions can provide a clearer understanding of science standards and important guidance in planning instructional sequences to support three-dimensional teaching and learning.

SPEAKERS:
Ted Willard (Discovery Education: Derwood, MD)

An open-ended  investigation using the basic elements of the visual arts to compare images of Earth and celestial objects of our universe. Examples of student comparisons and a packet of resources will be shared.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will: 1. use images from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and compare them to Earth images taken by Yann Arthus-Bertrand; 2. compare and contrast, using the basic elements in art and the properties of matter used in science, to describe each object; and 3. continue to create their own comparisons using the images made available in the workshop.

SPEAKERS:
Sally Jensen (Retired Educator: Campton, NH)

Come explore creative storylines for integrating up-to-date, research-driven climate science into high school Chemistry courses.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Climate-related storylines provide powerful frameworks for students to learn fundamental chemistry core ideas and reinforce understandings of crosscutting concepts and science and engineering practices; 2. The wealth of Earth-orbiting NASA satellite data now available in real time provides us with an unprecedented understanding of the science of climate change and also provides many opportunities for student experiential learning; and The latest advances in climate modeling can allow all students to both see the inequitable impacts that humans are currently having on Earth systems and build a sense of hope in how future changes in human practices can reverse current impact trends.

SPEAKERS:
Michael Wysession (Washington University in St. Louis: Saint Louis, MO)

Sponsoring Company: Fisher Science Education

Space exploration is expanding and so are the needs for scientists who look to space for solutions to our current issues. So how do you spark the imagination of your kids? Let’s make astronauts cool again! This workshop focusses on creating that spark in middle school aged children by focusing on products that can relate space to students in a classroom during daylight hours. We will focus on three categories of products. 1) Portable, affordable telescopes designed for night time use that can be loaned out to students. 2) Apps and teaching aids that can be used during class to simulate a nighttime setting. 3) Products that specifically are designed to work during the day such as a sun scope or classroom models.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn about a series of products designed to teach space to students during the day.

SPEAKERS:
Thomas Wright

Our students use field work, computer modeling, and long term databases to understand the Earth's changing system. Students collect local weather data. They compare this data with regional and national databases, satellites databases, and climate modeling software (EdGCM).

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn how to introduce climate science in a non-threatening way by empowering their students to take a stand in their communities regarding decisions that affect their future by seamlessly incorporating field studies with professional climate studies.

SPEAKERS:
Carolyn Mohr (University Center of Lake County: Buffalo Grove, IL)

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: Freeport, IL), Harvey Henson (Southern Illinois University Carbondale: Carbondale, IL), ANGELA BOX (Southern Illinois University Carbondale: CARTERVILLE, IL)

To help develop more scientifically curious and literate students, we use scientific literature or documentaries to engage students in developing the NGSS science practices. Students find an interesting topic, generate a question, collect and analyze data and then develop a Science Installation that communicates their learning to the greater community. Our most recent class project had students study how to grow food in a simulated Mars environment with the conditions controlled by student programmed raspberry pis. High school students organized 6th graders to do hands on data collection. They created a 10x12 foot exhibit that looked like a Martian landscape and highlighted the equipment they used with the plants still growing. The display included QR codes to communicate data and research using student-created videos, infographics, and data tables. Other installations include a monochromatic yellow room where everything looks grey and allowed observers to learn about the properties of light and the ways light energy is used in photosynthesis, the way it can be used to promote electrons, and the way it produces color. Other exhibits include sound waves and a history or music and musical instruments, the chemistry of color, and an environmental study of our use of carbon.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to guide students in the reading of scientific literature or the watching of documentaries in order to generate an authentic question and project. (How can we develop the capacity to farm on Mars? How does yellow monochromatic light produce the absence of color (an episode of Abstract, What can we learn about pollen structure from 3D printed files from Bayer’s agricultural division?) Participants will review a process to take the question and generate an authentic study that transcends a single class, grade, or discipline. (Students in 11th grade worked with students in 6th grade to test growing plants under controlled conditions that simulated Mars. Students in art and physics classes explored the properties of light and created a light-based art exhibit with science lessons on QR codes) Participants will explore a template for guiding students through the creation of an installation/exhibit that creatively shows the question, their experiment, their analysis, and potential solutions or conclusions in a creative and community-informing way. The exhibit is similar to an art installation with QR codes and experiment/study artifacts presented in a museum like scenario.

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Helfant (Mary Institute and Saint Louis Country Day School: Saint Louis, MO)

Participants will understand how to develop and effectively implement STEM curriculum units that include project based activities and performance based assessments. Participants will learn to help students answer complex questions and develop solutions for challenges and real-world problems. They will also assist students with extending and refining their acquired knowledge to routinely analyze and solve problems. By the end of this session: 1) Participants will gain a clear and coherent understanding of what a STEM PBL is and how it works. 2) Participants will be able to identify and create effective essential questions. 3) Participants will be able to identify and apply the components of a STEM PBL. 4) Understand how STEM PBL’s will impact instruction for participants and students. Agenda: What is PBL? Why is it important? How does a STEM PBL Work? How to effectively integrate journal reflections. Ways to Implement STEM PBL’s

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to effectively implement STEM PBL’s (Project Based Learning) by integrating the components of STEM and PBL in order to grow students' capacity for creativity, fun, and back-loaded learning in a STEM context.

SPEAKERS:
Adero Carter (Fulton County Public Schools: College Park, GA)

What causes seasons on Earth? How is permafrost affected by climate change? What can we learn from ice cores about climate? These questions are answered through a series of NGSS aligned, hands-on activities. Students design an experiment to test the effect of Earth’s tilt on seasons, explore the effect of climate change on structures built on permafrost, and more! The eesmarts climate change curriculum is composed of adapted lessons surrounding natural cycles that occur on Earth and in our solar system, including the carbon cycle and sunspot activity, how these cycles affect populations, and how humans may affect natural cycles. Activities examine evidence from the past through proxies such as tree rings, cherry tree blossoms, and ice core data. Additional topics include climate and ecosystems, the impact of invasive species, and how to minimize the effect of human activity. The lessons are part of the eesmarts K-12 curriculum, an energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy learning initiative funded by the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund. They are written in the 5-E Instructional Model and include presentation Google Slides and handouts. Select digital resources will be provided to participants. The complete eesmarts program is free and available to all Connecticut educators.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore activities involving natural cycles including the sun cycle, the carbon cycle, and seasons, as well as a variety of proxies and what they can tell us about Earth’s climate past and present.

SPEAKERS:
Kathleen Brooks (CREC: Westbrook, CT), Karin Jakubowski (eesmarts: Northford, CT)

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 (Educational Consultant: Ellicott City, MD), Stacy Thibodeaux (Southside High School: Scott, LA)

We are naturally curious, prone to ask why? How? What? Unfortunately, somewhere along the way students lose the trust in their voices to ask questions of and from data. But data are what we use to do science and it permeates all aspects of society today. What should we do? Stop teaching the vocabulary of science and data first, and instead leverage classroom-ready strategies to empower students to lead with their innate curiosity to practice critical 21st century data literacy skills and master the science content. Join us to explore connections between our science content, inquiry-based activities, and data skills. 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 and student empowerment. We will participate in activities ourselves and reflect on approaches for how to bring these into our classrooms. Participants will leave more empowered to integrate data into their science content in purposeful ways to better help students do and communicate science. Working with and learning science from data fosters critical thinking skills, lifelong interests in science, and facilitates learners’ overall self-identity as a scientist. Let’s set all of our students up for success!

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will identify how data literacy is a critical aspect of science literacy in the 21st century, how students can do a lot more with data than we often think or presume from their science vocabulary alone, and how to leverage existing strategies to authentically integrate data into 6-12 science instruction to teach their science content and increase literacy simultaneously.

SPEAKERS:
Kristin Hunter-Thomson (Dataspire Education & Evaluation, LLC: Santa Cruz, CA)

Sponsoring Company: AeroTech/Quest, Div. of RCS Rocket Motor Component

Explore the differences between aerospace-grade solid composite propellant model rocket motors and traditional black powder model rocket motors in science education, STEM programs, TARC Competition, and collegiate rocket team activities. We'll assemble a Quest Astra III model rocket kit during the workshop to take back to your classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
In model rocket science education, AeroTech/Quest products have been "STEM from the beginning!”™

SPEAKERS:
Dane Boles (AeroTech / Quest Divison of RCS Rocket Motor Components, Inc.: , United States)

Sponsoring Company: Fisher Science Education & Aldon

Looking for ways to connect your classroom, regardless of whether students are in school or at home? Co-lab-orate is an innovative digital lab notebook that allows educators to easily create, assign, and grade lab reports, while helping students communicate with their classmates and teachers. Co-lab-orate can be used to complete hands-on activities done individually or in a group setting, when working at school or remotely. Join Fisher Science Education and Aldon as we conduct an experiment while showcasing Co-lab-Orate’s game changing and cost-effective teaching platform!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will perform a lab experiment and record the results on their own device experiencing the full power of Co-Lab-Orate.

SPEAKERS:
Kymberly Hall (: Atlanta, GA), Alex Molinich (Aldon Corporation: Avon, NY)

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

How do crosscutting concepts link the ideas and practices of science across different domains and over time? We’ll show you practical examples to see how crosscutting concepts provide a foundation for student sensemaking of phenomena and problems.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Define the seven crosscutting concepts; 2. Learn strategies to incorporate crosscutting concepts into science lessons; and 3. Understand how crosscutting concepts support student sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Bridget Hughes-Binstock (Carolina Biological Supply Co.: Burlington, NC)

News bulletins on social media and news sites contain topics that students need to understand now so that they can make informed decisions for their world today and tomorrow. STEM literacy is crucial to learners struggling to understand the multitude of information bombarding them through television, social media and the internet. Students in K-12 must become STEM literate so that they can identify, understand and solve problems in the world around them. STEM Literacy promotes innovative thinking and creativity as well as collaboration, problem solving, and most importantly, critical thinking. Today’s challenges need answers from our students but first they need to understand issues including climate change, space travel, robotics. By using real-world applications of scientific data and storylines, students become critical consumers, problem-solvers, and change-makers. Students who are STEM literate will be able to think critically and act responsibly about issues that impact them. In this session, lessons and strategies will be shared with teachers to inspire and to support their students as they develop STEM literacy skills. These lessons will encourage students to explore, explain and develop solutions to real phenomena and solve real problems.

TAKEAWAYS:
Three Takeaways: 1) Teachers will become familiar with technology, literacy and adaptive learning for middle school and high school students. 2) Teachers will be introduced to the free materials available that align with NGSS standards. 3) Teachers will be given ideas on how to incorporate these lessons in class

SPEAKERS:
Diane Ripollone (Cardinal Gibbons High School: Garner, NC), Kathy Biernat (Zanilu Educational Services, LLC: Oak Creek, WI)

Improve inclusive classroom dynamics between teachers, families, and students by reflecting on disability model perspectives, identifying barriers to collaboration, and determining effective avenues of communication.

TAKEAWAYS:
The triangle of inclusion presents pathways that can be used by administrators and teachers to recognize and overcome barriers faced within the inclusive classroom and includes strategies such as early open communications, student advocacy, professional learning opportunities, and mentorships.

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Wack (East Penn School District: Quakertown, PA)

Participants experience three different digital design challenges using branching scenarios that provide student choice and data sets involving wind energy, electromagnetism, and the greenhouse effect.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will engage in three digital design challenges to test the efficiency of wind turbine blades, the strength of electromagnets, and the greenhouse effect on different land surfaces (polar region, water, and desert).

SPEAKERS:
Rebecca Tonkinson (eesmarts: West Hartford, CT), Sharyon Holness (eesmarts: North Granby, CT), Kathleen Brooks (CREC: Westbrook, CT)

Learn about the many resources available to help plan your viewing of the 2023 annular and 2024 total solar eclipses.

TAKEAWAYS:
In order to see the maximum coverage of the Sun in a solar eclipse, the most important detail is a clear sky and fewer clouds. According to current climate data, the best locations to observe each solar eclipse will be reviewed.

SPEAKERS:
Richard Thomas (Beacon High School: Naples, FL)

Learn how to overcome the apathy of teenagers, understand their motivations for not asking questions, and get them to be curious again!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will take away multiple strategies to implement in their classroom to spark the curiosity of teens they teach.

SPEAKERS:
Jamye Carr (Cedar Ridge High School: Hillsborough, NC)

Sponsoring Company: ExploreLearning

STEM cases are an integral part of meaningful inclusive and authentic learning. They can range from community awareness to global crises. Students can instantly make socio-emotional connections to the cases as the phenomenon they are reviewing can be happening just beyond the walls of their classrooms. (And studies show that when students make emotional connections, they are able to redirect more content into long-term memory storage!) In addition, STEM cases can support all students by differentiating delivery and assessment, using technology (which has its own modifications and accommodations), and by also providing handbooks for educators and students to create additional in depth pedagogy and experiences. Because we focus on the process, educators can assess science and engineering skills over time as students complete more than a dozen standards-based studies. Session Outline: 1) Participants will learn more about the value of providing a career-readiness approach to STEM learning. 2) We'll review the research behind an effective program like Interactive STEM Cases. 3) Participants will see how we can see real-time data collection and see how this approach makes sense to pause if we need to support a challenging concept 4) Participants will have an opportunity to jump into an Interactive STEM Case to get excited about adding this resource to their students’ tool kit.

TAKEAWAYS:
The purpose of providing students with real-time scenarios to engage STEM enthusiasm.

SPEAKERS:
David Kanter (ExploreLearning: Charlottesville, VA)

Sponsoring Company: Phenomenon Science Education

In this session, we will explore what phenomena are by looking at examples and non-examples and using criteria to figure out the differences.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be given criteria and guidelines that they will use to evaluate science phenomena.

SPEAKERS:
Sharon Cates (Phenomenon Science Education: Greenfield, MA), Joshua Smith (Phenomenon Science Education: Orange, MA)

Sponsoring Company: Lab-Aids

How can scientists tell what Earth’s climate was like thousands of years before human measurements? This activity simulates the use of fossil ocean foraminifera, tiny organisms whose growth patterns are different in warm or cold water. Your students will analyze and graph samples of replicas of these organisms, and use this information to determine relative warm and cold periods in the past 200,000 years. This activity is from EDC Earth Science, a new NSF-supported high school earth science program from Lab-Aids that uses an active, data-oriented approach to the student of earth science and earth systems.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn what Earth’s climate was like thousands of years before human measurements.

SPEAKERS:
Mark Koker (Lab-Aids, Inc.: San Leandro, CA)

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 Seymour (Winchester College: Scottsdale, AZ), Carey Dieleman (National Science Teaching Association: Bettendorf, IA), Loris Chen (none: Fair Lawn, NJ), Cynthia Crockett (Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian: Antrim, NH), Suzanne Cunningham (Purdue University: 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: Manhattan, IL), Cori Nelson (Winfield School District 34: Hinckley, IL), Anne Schoeffler (Seton Catholic School: Macedonia, OH), Dennis Schatz (Institute for Learning Innovation: Seattle, WA), Alison Seymour (Winchester College: Scottsdale, AZ), Corydon Strawser (Lake Nona Middle School: Orlando, FL), Stacy Thibodeaux (Southside High School: Scott, 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)

Wander your way through 30 different STEM stations to learn about resources, lessons, and teaching strategies to incorporate more STEM into your school and classroom. This farmer's market–type event brings together educators, authors, researchers, and leaders in early childhood through fifth-grade STEM education. Leave with a mindful of great ideas and be inspired!

TAKEAWAYS:
Pick up great ideas and be inspired during this farmer's market–type event.

SPEAKERS:
Sharon Bird (The NEED Project: Crest Hill, IL), Heather Pacheco-Guffrey (Bridgewater State University: Bridgewater, MA), Lauren Burrow (Stephen F. Austin State University: Nacogdoches, TX), Susan Erickson (Country School: Maynard, MA), Sara Nelson (Iowa State University: Ames, IA), Constance Beecher (Iowa State University: Ames, IA), Elizabeth Dethloff (Robert R. Shaw Center for STEAM: Katy, TX), Christine Preston (The University of Sydney: Hornsby, Australia), Catherine Scott (Coastal Carolina University: Raleigh, NC), Kristin Cook (Bellarmine University: Louisville, KY), Richard Cox, Jr. (Atrium Health: Rock Hill, SC), Annette Venegas (retired: Gig Harbor, WA), Juliette Guarino Berg (The Town School: Forest Hills, NY), Katie Morrison (University Child Development School: Seattle, WA), Wendi Laurence (Education Specialist: Park City, UT), Katrina Kmak (Park City Library: Park City, UT), Brittnie Hecht (Park City Library: Park City, UT), Diana Lockwood (Author & Executive Director: Milford, CT), Godwyn Morris (Dazzling Discoveries / Skill Mill NYC: New York, NY), Bridget Miller (University of South Carolina: Columbia, SC), Christie Martin (University of South Carolina: Columbia, SC), Rebecca Kurson (Collegiate School: New York, NY), Cori Nelson (Winfield School District 34: Hinckley, IL), Shelly Counsell (Self Employed Consultant: Buffalo, NY), Belle Akers (Convent & Stuart Hall's Schools of the Sacred Heart: San Francisco, CA), Kathleen Tate (American Public University System: Lakeway, TX), Dennis Schatz (Institute for Learning Innovation: Seattle, WA), Beth Pesnell (Kansas State University: Manhattan, KS), Bill Burton (Tatnall School: Wilmington, DE), Barbara Bromley (Hazelwood Elementary School: Kingston, WA), Kim Stilwell (BIOZONE Corp.: Naples, FL), Nancy McIntyre (Robotics Education & Competition Foundation: San Jose, CA), Shari Haug (: Elmhurst, IL), Jane Savatski (Janet Berry Elementary School: Menasha, WI), Katrina Pavlik (Deputy Executive Director: Oakbrook Terrace, IL), Mitchell Rosenberg (Kinderlab Robotics, Inc.: Waltham, MA), Tiffany Leones (Digital Promise: San Jose, CA), Beth Dykstra VanMeeteren (University of Northern Iowa: Cedar Falls, IA), Danielle Scharen (Horizon Research, Inc.: Durham, NC), Frances Hamilton (The University of Alabama in Huntsville: Taft, TN), Jennifer Williams (Isidore Newman School: Belle Chasse, LA), Anne Lowry (Aleph Academy: Reno, NV)

See how tools developed within OpenSciEd units can support students’ progression of and engagement in SEPs and CCCs across a variety of unit contexts.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with practical tools such as graphic organizers, general rubrics, and self- and peer-assessments that can be used to support students in incrementally building SEPs and CCCs in a variety of units.

SPEAKERS:
Dawn Novak (Northwestern University: Grayslake, IL), Gail Housman (Northwestern University: Brookfield, IL), Jamie Noll (BSCS Science Learning: Evanston, IL)

How many teacher comments on student work are left unread? Or, even if they are read, how useful are they to the student? Can the student positively internalize the feedback and use it to improve their work? Chances are the answer is no! But it doesn’t have to be this way! During this session, participants will learn more effective strategies for giving actionable feedback and methods to help their students utilize feedback to improve their work. First we’ll learn how to ask questions in student feedback and how differently questions are internalized by the student. For example, consider the difference between, “I don’t understand what you mean here,” and “Can you explain in more detail what you meant in this statement?” Then we’ll discover how to make sure teachers' feedback is read and used by students to improve their work. By making self reflection a formalized step in the learning process, teachers provide students opportunities to practice this important skill! Participants will receive a worksheet with feedback tips and tricks.

TAKEAWAYS:
Several methods that can be applied immediately in the classroom, providing feedback encouraging students to be self reflective of their own work.

SPEAKERS:
Regina Borriello (Clifton High School/Awkward Octopus Productions: Edison, NJ)

Science teachers at Lindblom Math and Science Academy in Chicago Public Schools have worked with Northwestern University’s CT-STEM department to develop computational thinking in science units aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. The goal is for students to understand and apply computational thinking practices in their science classrooms to help make sense of phenomena or problems, analyze data, use models and develop explanations. Units, built by teachers, are designed to cover core science concepts in physics, chemistry, and biology. This program allows teachers to work with CT-STEM members to develop new simulations or other CT activities that work best in the unit. This was developed based on teacher need, when simulations didn’t exist to address the big ideas. Integration of NetLogo models, SageModeler, NetTango, and other data analysis activities are used to help students make real world connections. These tools allow students to learn and apply basic computer science ideas and skills as well as the 3-D of NGSS. Developed unit topics include: stoichiometry, climate change, gas laws, and energy. These units are available for public use and can be easily modified on the CT-STEM platform for teachers to use.

TAKEAWAYS:
Overview of how teachers integrated Computational Thinking into science units and how to access units for Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Earth Science

SPEAKERS:
Carole Namowicz (Lindblom Math and Science Academy: Chicago, IL), Lauren Levites (Lindblom Math and Science Academy: Chicago, IL)

In this session participants are introduced to the lesson Why is a covered planet a healthy planet? In this lesson, students use a digital tool to analyze large data sets available from NASA Earth Observations to identify spatial and temporal patterns that can help support (or refute) the claim that tilling the land in spring (Northern Hemisphere) causes an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere and the growing crops causes the amount to decrease in summer. This lesson is based on ideas presented in the film Kiss the Ground.

TAKEAWAYS:
Why is a Covered Planet a Healthy Planet? provides students with an opportunity to analyze large data sets in order to support or refute a claim about the effect tilling the land in the spring has on carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere.

SPEAKERS:
Patrice Scinta (NSTA: Brooklyn, NY)

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: Saint Henry, OH)

Older science magazines (from the early 1900’s) are replete with articles and photos of unusual inventions and ideas which can be transformed into case studies that elicit active discussions in science classrooms. Magazines like Popular Science and Science and Invention often had articles on proposed scientific inventions, their ‘technology of the future’, that were never successfully produced. We use their proposals as the basis for mini-case studies in physics classes. Ideas like rocket mail, houses powered by radium, and jumping over Niagara Falls in the family sedan were all proposed in the first half of the 20th century. Determining whether or not the proposals were scientifically viable makes for engaging physics activities. In addition, students can look at aspects other than the pure science: the proposed idea might be scientifically feasible, but would it be prohibitively expensive or damage the environment or the users? Additionally, students can explore how historically the ideas might have made sense (e.g. a radium house in 1900 would have been thought of differently than it is now). In this talk we will give participants ideas of where to find free articles, work through several case studies, and give examples of many others.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn ways to implement case studies based on historical scientific innovations.

SPEAKERS:
Todd Brown (University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg: Greensburg, PA)

Engage students, families, and the community in STEAM through Family STEAM Nights in order to equitably build understanding and interest in STEAM.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to create, recruit, and implement a Family STEAM Night to engage students, families, and the community in STEAM.

SPEAKERS:
McKenna Serowka (Lake Zurich High School: Lake Zurich, IL)

This session focuses on improved outcomes for students’ written science explanations when including data description prompts and instructional facilitation to adapt the CER framework.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn about the importance of a preliminary step of incorporating data descriptions when utilizing the CER framework to guide students’ written explanations and reasoning of data visualization.

SPEAKERS:
Andrea Drewes (Rider University: East Windsor, NJ)

While receiving less media exposure than climate change or plastic waste, air pollution is a substantial environmental challenge of the 21st century. The World Health Organization estimates that about seven million premature deaths globally can be attributed to outdoor and household air pollution. Many education organizations and guidelines, including the NSTA and NGSS, emphasize understanding, monitoring, and mitigating human impacts on the environment as a key competency for middle school students. While science education research is still working to identify the association between environmental knowledge, attitudes, and environmentally responsible behaviors, scholarly literature suggests that increasing knowledge of environmental issues is a critical first step towards fostering environmental concern and changes to actions. In this session, educators will learn how to implement a sequence of lessons and activities to explore air pollution sources, how polluted air impacts human health, and strategies to tackle this pressing challenge. The session will cover implementing a scientific inquiry lesson around investigating local sources of air pollution, identifying global trends using online databases, and applying concepts to a Mystery Town activity. These lessons are aligned with NGSS standards for Middle School Earth science and support a broad vision to prepare environmentally and scientifically literate citizens.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators who attend this presentation will explore a lesson and activity sequence, congruent with 5e and the NGSS, that introduces students to the science ideas encompassing air quality such as factors and sources of pollution, and associations with adverse human health effects.

SPEAKERS:
Benjamin Janney (Texas A&M University: Bryan, TX)

This session will introduce participants to Our Beautiful Planet,  a collection of classroom-ready films and lesson plans that highlight the science and engineering practices scientists use to explain the phenomenon of climate change. The collection of over 10 lessons brings Sensemaking to environmental science by cultivating student curiosity with engaging and eye-popping phenomena.

TAKEAWAYS:
Our Beautiful Planet is a series of compelling 5-7 minute science films and lessons highlighting the cutting-edge research that climate scientists are doing to solve some of the world’s most pressing issues.

SPEAKERS:
Patrice Scinta (NSTA: Brooklyn, NY)

The Innovate to Mitigate (I2M) project empowers teachers to employ a problem-based learning approach to incorporate climate change education in their classrooms. Teachers, regardless of whether they teach language arts, science, engineering, or math, work with students to identify potential causes of climate change and to develop a prototype as a potential solution. Collaborative student teams, utilizing the various strengths and interests that they bring from diverse backgrounds, design and develop their projects and finally create a competition pitch. I2M provides a structure for teaching climate change throughout the school year, supports students to discuss their developing mitigation ideas with peers across the nation, and provides an outside incentive for them to work towards an end goal. We propose a mini-simulation of the competition experience where teachers, acting as students, participate in the sensemaking promoted by the competition. Teachers read a short article about an aspect of climate change, brainstorm in small groups to propose a solution that mitigates the problem, and discuss mitigation ideas with other workshop attendees. Facilitators present ideas for collaboration among their students and across the hall with other teachers, identify key NGSS integration opportunities, provide examples of student projects, and help teachers think about integrating such a project into their own classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn how to identify entry points for climate change education that capitalize on student desires to make a difference about climate change, support collaboration, and incorporate three-dimensional sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Santiago Gasca (TERC: Annandale, VA), Natalie Stapert (Master Reading Coordinator: Potomac, MD)

Computer science CAN be integrated into high school science classes. Here are some ideas from the STEMcoding Project!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will work on three "STEMcoding" activities on: 1. climate change with connection to spreadsheets; 2. orbital motion for Earth science; and 3. the first of the "physics of video games" activities.

SPEAKERS:
Chris Orban (The Ohio State University at Marion: Marion, OH)

Marine debris is a widespread pollution problem in our ocean and waterways. It can harm wildlife, habitats, and our economy. This issue is human-caused, but it also has human solutions. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Program is dedicated to better understanding and preventing marine debris and its impacts on our environment. One of the best tools we have to combat marine debris is understanding the distribution, abundance, and types of debris in the marine environment. The Marine Debris Monitoring & Assessment Project (MDMAP) is a NOAA citizen science initiative to survey and record marine debris on shorelines. By participating in the MDMAP, students can generate critical data on marine debris for use by community organizations, policymakers, researchers, and NOAA. MDMAP data can also support student-generated action projects, providing opportunities to plan and implement authentic changemaking efforts. The NOAA Marine Debris Program plans to demonstrate and solicit feedback on an updated tool to support implementation of the MDMAP protocols with students: The MDMAP Educators’ Guide (Guide). We will introduce the updated protocols, provide a demonstration of activities in the Guide, and engage in a discussion with educators about implementation, suggested extensions (including action projects), and feedback.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees at this session will learn about the updated Marine Debris Monitoring & Assessment Project Educators’ Guide: a refreshed citizen science tool for monitoring shoreline marine debris available from the NOAA Marine Debris Program, including planning and conducting protocols with students, working with survey data, and creating authentic, meaningful action projects for students based on their experiences.

SPEAKERS:
Alexandria Brake (NOAA Office of Education: Silver Spring, MD), Tanya Kea-Marie Torres (California Sea Grant Marine Debris Extension Fellow: San Diego, CA)

As educators shift their teaching practice to align with the Framework for K-12 Science and the NGSS, they face various challenges and barriers. One pressing challenge is how to align their new approach to teaching and learning with existing assessment and grading systems. In this session, we will present provide examples of 3D assessments and associated scoring guidance. Participants will review student work for these sample assessments and identify evidence of understanding. They will collaborate with others in the session and determine how they would give grades based on set criteria. The second part of the session will highlight different approaches to grading based on local grading expectations (e.g., standards-based grading, daily grade requirements, or 100 point-based systems). Participants will leave the session with approaches to assessment and grading that support student sensemaking and honor the diverse resources students bring to the classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave the session with approaches to assessment and grading that support student sensemaking and honor the diverse resources students bring to the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Delaney (OpenSciEd: San Carlos, CA)

Explore how to use phenomena to generate student questions that allow for further investigation to support student sensemaking.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to effectively use phenomena to allow for authentic student questioning and how to use those questions to increase student engagement and sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Vick (Northwestern University: Avon, IL)

Explore classroom-tested benchmark assessments and scoring guides you can use to assess students’ three-dimensional learning related to middle school performance expectations.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will learn about a comprehensive set of free, summative benchmark 3-D assessments designed to be used in any NGSS-focused middle school classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Maia Binding (The Lawrence Hall of Science: Berkeley, CA), Wendy Jackson (The Lawrence Hall of Science: Skokie, IL)

Sponsoring Company: Simulation Curriculum

Discover more new and interesting facts about plate tectonics, volcanism, Earth materials, geological processes, astronomy, and cosmology using NGSS-focused lesson plans and interactive and thought-provoking exercises and simulations.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will come away from the workshop with more knowledge and information about the subject matter, a new understanding of what is available for convenient teaching tools, and a general increase in the level of confidence while teaching the topics of Earth and space science.

SPEAKERS:
Dave Farina (Cosmos Safari LLC: No City, No State)

Sponsoring Company: ExploreLearning

Everyday events make us wonder. Some events are easily explained, while others cannot. When these events are examined and tested through virtual simulations, they give students an opportunity to think. Why do some objects float and others sink? What is the difference between a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse and how often does that happen? Learn how to use virtual simulations to help students dig deeper and get inspired by science and STEM phenomenon! Through this highly interactive session, educators will be able to understand the added value of including simulations to their current lab practices. Although hands-on activities are always important, simulations allow for a deeper understanding of content for all students. When coupled with hands-on learning, students can create more moments to explore, discover and apply new concepts. Simulations are repeatable (to allow for trial and error) so students can practice skills again and again to make STEM concepts stick!

TAKEAWAYS:
Use of virtual simulations builds a deeper understanding of concepts.

SPEAKERS:
Jenna Mercury (ExploreLearning: Charlottesville, VA)

Come start your winning application for the Shell Science Teaching Award, or the Shell Urban Science Educators Development Award. We'll walk through the application step by step and you'll be able to begin your application or nomination form live.

TAKEAWAYS:
Collaborate with past winners and judges to learn how to start your winning application for the Shell Teaching Awards. We'll walk through the application step by step and you'll be able to begin your application or nomination form live.

SPEAKERS:
Amanda Upton (NSTA: Fresno, TX), Melissa Collins (John P. Freeman Optional School: Memphis, TN)

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: Jersey City, NJ), Kristin Rademaker (NSTA: Freeport, IL), Holly Hereau (NSTA: Lake Angelus, MI)

Sponsoring Company: BIOZONE

BIOZONE’s interactive worktexts are designed to support teachers by providing tools and content to:

• Deliver accessible content within a differentiated classroom.
• Engage students through inquiry or phenomenon-based learning.
• Undertake effective and meaningful assessment using curricula specific assessment tools.
• Enhance content delivery using the BIOZONE toolkit.
• Enable flexible delivery in remote, in class, or blended delivery environments.

During this presentation we will showcase our two NGSS series and our new AP titles.

• BIOZONE’s two NGSS series (Standard NGSS Series and Integrated NGSS Series) have been specifically designed to fully embrace the spirit and intent of the Next Generation Science Standards. These phenomena based titles are and fully three-dimensional, the DCIs, SEPs, and CCCs are embedded within each activity, delivery of material is scaffolded using the 5Es Instructional Model, and carefully designed assessment tasks conclude each chapter. Discover which NGSS series is right for you.
• BIOZONE’s AP Environmental Science and AP Biology are structured on the units and topics outlined in the CEDs, with the Big Ideas and Enduring Understandings spiralling across all units. Students are engaged in learning through inquiry, case studies, investigations, and second hand data analysis. Assessment tasks based on the CED stipulations conclude each chapter.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Discover how BIOZONE’s interactive worktexts and BIOZONE toolkit empower teachers to deliver engaging, effective programs within a differentiated classroom. 2. Discover how the BIOZONE tool kit augments the worktext and supports teachers to deliver a flexible and engaging program. 3. Learn about BIOZONE’S two NGSS series (Standard NGSS Series and Integrated NGSS Series) and our new Advanced Placement titles for AP Biology and AP Environmental Science. All workshop attendees receive a FREE BIOZONE eBook personal license and a FREE copy of the BIOZONE title of their choice.

SPEAKERS:
Lissa Bainbridge-Smith (BIOZONE Corp.: Parker, CO)

Creating an equitable classroom requires the creation of a learning community that integrates supports for all students to succeed. Learn how to use common strategies with intentionality to build a classroom community that supports sensemaking. In this session participants will learn strategies that allow you to take your students to the next level as a community.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how different strategies can be used to support ALL learners to create a community that learns together.

SPEAKERS:
Megan Caruso (Glenn Westlake Middle School: Wheaton, IL), Randie Johnson (Glenn Westlake Middle School: Wheaton, IL)

The use of inclusive STEAM pedagogy is the forefront of using NRC Framework, Hill’s model, and 21st Century skill in unison for generating a sustainable STEAM curriculum. In this presentation, a demonstration of how to utilize these frameworks into creating project-based learning units that showcase diversity and the embodiment of students seeing diversity in the STEAM careers. The NRC framework will include SEPs for developing and using a model, planning and caring for an investigation, and using mathematical and computational thinking and CCCs of cause and effect, structure and function, and energy and matter. The use of the NRC framework with sensemaking (phenomena, science and engineering practices, student ideas, and science ideas) was the basis for developing a hurricane unit for 6th grade and macromolecule unit for 8th grade. Both of these units are grounded in these frameworks and the 5 C’s (communication, critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, citizenship) and the Hill’s model for cultural and historical education (CRE). All these frameworks are woven together on the Hill model lesson plan template to create hands-on PBL for the students. This presentation will give both STE(A)M and science teachers ideas on how to create a curriculum that incorporates more inclusivity and diversity while showcasing the work of my students.

TAKEAWAYS:
How to create a lesson that incorporates the 5 C's, CRE, SEPs, CCCs, and sense making into a lesson.

SPEAKERS:
Jenniffer Stetler (Chamblee Middle School: Norcross, GA)

This session will provide an introduction to the freely available Next Generation Science Assessment (NGSA) Elementary (Grades 3-5) task portal (https://ngss-assessment.portal.concord.org/elementary-school) and the companion virtual learning community (VLC), Understanding Progress in Science (https://www.upinscience.org/). The NGSA Elementary tasks are multidimensional and aligned with NGSS performance expectations. They were co-developed with teachers and can work with any curriculum. The Understanding Progress in Science VLC provides additional resources, support, and community of practice dedicated to using assessment tasks formatively in elementary science. Participants can learn more about why and how to use NGSA Elementary tasks, get help understanding student responses and using rubrics, and discuss how to use student responses to guide instruction. During this Bring Your Own Device hands-on workshop, we will share examples of how teachers have used the tasks, sample student responses, and instructional next steps. Then we will guide attendees as they explore the NGSA Elementary tasks and consider how to integrate them into their teaching. Participants will also have the opportunity to explore the resources within the Understanding Progress in Science VLC that can support the formative use of tasks in their classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to access and use two related, freely available online resources that support elementary teachers’ use of NGSS-aligned assessment and instruction: A website with tasks aligned with the performance expectations for Grades 3-5 and a virtual learning community around using assessments formatively in the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Liz Lehman (American Medical Association: Chicago, IL), Brian Gane (University of Kansas: New Orleans, LA), Sania Zaidi (Education Development Center, Inc.: Chicago, IL)

Academic discourse is a vital part of promoting student sensemaking. Learn how discourse can be used to promote equity and access in the science classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use discussion strategies in the classroom to move student thinking forward, use talk as a formative assessment, and build a classroom culture that promotes student discussion.

SPEAKERS:
Kristin Rademaker (NSTA: Freeport, IL), Cheryl Knight (Orland Junior High School: Midlothian, IL)

Join us for a chance to learn more about  NSTA-administered competitions and awards from NSTA staff and past participants. NSTA-administered competitions include NSTA Teacher Awards, the Army Educational Outreach Program, Shell Science Lab Regional Challenge, and Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision competitions. This engaging hour will include discussion and tips on how to engage K–12 students in project-based learning opportunities that are no cost to participate.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Engage with educators that have participated in NSTA-administered competitions and awards; 2. Learn more about opportunities to engage students in project-based learning; and 3. Share best practices and tips to foster inquiry-based learning and showcase ideas.

SPEAKERS:
Acacia McKenna (NSTA: Arlington, VA)

This session introduces a way to create learning experiences that are meaningful, rigorous, and equitable for students. Participate in the same sort of rich and meaningful learning experiences that are called for by the NGSS.

TAKEAWAYS:
The characteristics of learning experiences that are meaningful, relevant, and equitable for students and how to give students an opportunity to use their own ideas along with the DCIs, CCs, and SEPs in the service of sensemaking during these experiences.

SPEAKERS:
Todd Hutner (Del Valle ISD: Del Valle, TX)

Participants will be given a chance to experience what their students might encounter in this eesmarts digital activity based in an escape room format. Clues must be gathered and puzzles solved using science knowledge to successfully complete the challenge. The format provokes high student interest and engagement due to its game-like nature. The use of technology lends itself well to remote learning but can also be seamlessly translated to enhance in-person learning. The focus of the content in this particular activity involves the transformation of energy and its impact on the environment. Participants will be actively engaged throughout the presentation by experiencing the escape room. They will be provided with a digital toolbox to help them create an interactive slide of their own. This escape room is a companion to the eesmarts K-12 curriculum, an energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy learning initiative funded by the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund. Select digital resources will be provided to participants. The complete eesmarts program is free and available to all Connecticut educators.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will experience and explore ideas to enhance in-person learning through competitive activities and gamification using and adapting a digital escape room format with an energy focus or their existing curriculum.

SPEAKERS:
Rebecca Tonkinson (eesmarts: West Hartford, CT), Sharyon Holness (eesmarts: North Granby, CT)

Let's explore creative storylines for integrating up-to-date, research-driven Earth and space science into high school physics courses.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Earth and space science storylines provide engaging avenues for students to learn fundamental physics core ideas and reinforce understandings of both crosscutting concepts and science and engineering practices; 2. Most of the classical physics curriculum originated within fields of Earth and space science, so aspects of geophysics integrate naturally within a modern high school physics curriculum; and 3. For most high schools, aligning a high school curriculum with the NGSS requires the addition of a substantial amount of Earth and space science, and integrating relevant geophysical content into a high school course can help do this.

SPEAKERS:
Michael Wysession (Washington University in St. Louis: Saint Louis, MO)

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

How does hands-on learning incorporate digital and print resources to promote active learning? See how Smithsonian Science for the Classroom engages students with science and engineering practices and promotes scientific literacy for all students.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Experience a model lesson from Smithsonian Science for the Classroom; 2. Learn how to effectively integrate hands-on, print, and digital resources; and 3. Pick up strategies for putting student ideas front and center.

SPEAKERS:
Cory Ort (Carolina Biological Supply Co.: Burlington, NC)

Join the members of the NSTA High School Committee as they share how they incorporate sensemaking into their classrooms and learn how to implement these best practices within your own classroom. A roundtable discussion will follow.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. High school science sensemaking discussion; 2. Implementation strategies of sensemaking; and 3. Networking with other high school teachers.

SPEAKERS:
Ruth Hutson (3D Molecular Designs: Westmoreland, KS)

A former national science fair judge provides insights on how good titles can improve the odds of winning at science fairs. The poster will describe what the parts of a "good" title are and how teachers can help your students create one.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn the components of a good project title (from an research project on science fairs) and how to help their students develop a good title for their own project.

SPEAKERS:
G. Michael Bowen (Mount Saint Vincent University: Halifax, NS)

The Universe of Learning partnerships provides STEM educators tools, from exoplanet searches and robotic telescopes to image analysis, to implement programs specific to individual audiences.

TAKEAWAYS:
NASA’s UoL STEM program partnerships provide a wide range of free materials, projects and interactive activities that can easily be incorporated into any educational setting.

SPEAKERS:
Donna Young (NSO/NASA: Laughlin, NV)

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 Seymour (Winchester College: Scottsdale, AZ)

Alaska has cultural standards take an important role in science instruction. Using rural Alaska for case studies, learn how cultural standards can enhance science teaching.

TAKEAWAYS:
Session participants will learn: 1. what cultural standards are; 2. how they were applied in instruction in several sites in the YK Delta in Alaska; and 3. how the proper application of cultural standards can be applied in any setting with any demographic group.

SPEAKERS:
Andrew West (Lower Kuskokwim School District: Bethel, AK)

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: Hillsboro, WV)

Water is the major force in shaping our planet. Students use simple models to measure water outwash and soil erosion.

TAKEAWAYS:
Simple models show students how plants and plant residue play major roles in preventing water runoff and soil erosion.

SPEAKERS:
Suzanne Cunningham (Purdue University: Lafayette, IN)

Make the unequal distribution of resources (yawn) interesting with a Catan-style game, real minerals to play with, and parodies (Earthy and many more)!

TAKEAWAYS:
Games make learning more palatable

SPEAKERS:
Jen Taylor (University of Utah: Orem, UT)

Creating inquiry activities doesn't have to require re-inventing the wheel. There are simple adjustments you can make to build inquiry into any activity.

TAKEAWAYS:
Three easy ways to build inquiry into traditional "cookbook" activites.

SPEAKERS:
Regina Borriello (Clifton High School/Awkward Octopus Productions: Edison, NJ)

Escape-room activities offer promise for fun and function in developing social problem-solving skills. Participants will learn implementation and design strategies for their own ER environments.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how escape rooms help to engage students in dynamic learning environments and how to begin developing up your own activities.

SPEAKERS:
Joy Barnes-Johnson (Foundation Academies: Willingboro, NJ), Mridula Bajaj (Mount Laurel Schools: Robbinsville, NJ), Shefali Mehta (Princeton High School: Princeton, NJ)

Science denial, anti-intellectualism, and conspiracy theories have long, sordid histories. Today, rampant science denialism threatens personal and public health, economic sustainability, and prosperity. Globally, it poses existential threats to humanity. How has the situation deteriorated so far? How can so many people deny, not only the reality of climate change - a slow-moving and invisible enemy - but also the reality of a global pandemic and the effectiveness of simple protective/preventive strategies? The explanation is straightforward. Widespread scientific illiteracy enables moneyed and/or politically powerful interests to manipulate a credulous public in ways that undermine understanding of science and generate distrust of the scientific community. Campaigns often waged on unregulated social media are disturbingly effective. When disinformation, willful ignorance, and belligerence strike, who's on call? Right now, almost nobody ... and that's a problem for all of us who, as science educators, understand and value the role of science in general, and STEM topics and approaches more specifically. We will then explore a variety of online resources and discuss individualized teaching strategies that educators can deploy to overcome these challenges in our classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
This workshop will briefly review the history, driving forces behind, and current status of science denialism, to clarify what we are up against. We will then explore online resources and individualized teaching strategies that can overcome these challenges in our classrooms. No single "magic bullet" (or magic YouTube video) can rescue us. We need a full-court press by all of us in education, focusing on cultivating in our students a true understanding of the nature of science, appreciation for the value of expertise in STEM fields, and a willingness to engage on a personal level with disturbingly cult-like beliefs.

SPEAKERS:
Joseph Levine (Science Writer and Producer: Concord, MA)

Throughout the pandemic teachers have learned how to successfully navigate their world in a virtual setting. Now the benefits of virtual teaching can be used to enhance in-person learning. This hands-on session gives participants the opportunity to use scientific tools such as a photometer, infrared thermometer, and watt meter to collect data. Digital interactive slides containing additional data will then be introduced to enhance the classroom experience. Digital interactive slides increase student engagement with clickable features providing meaningful data and useful information. Teachers will also be given instructions and resources to create their own interactive Google slides aligned to their curriculum. Though the focus of this session is data collection for high school physical science, digital interactive slides can be created for all grade levels and content. These activities are companions to the eesmarts K-12 curriculum, an energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy learning initiative funded by the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund. Select digital resources will be provided to participants. The complete eesmarts program is free and available to all Connecticut educators.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will use tools such as a photometer, infrared thermometer, and watt meter to collect data, and enhance this experience with digital interactive slides providing additional data.

SPEAKERS:
Sharyon Holness (eesmarts: North Granby, CT), Rebecca Tonkinson (eesmarts: West Hartford, CT), Karin Jakubowski (eesmarts: Northford, CT)

Sponsoring Company: BrainPOP Science

Research has shown better ways to incorporate learning theory in our assessment practices. This session links constructivist learning theory to instructional practices and meaningful formative assessment. Teachers often seek more clarity on the term "inquiry" related to science instruction and the new role of the teachers in students' learning. When we empower students to have agency, how do we still provide support and coaching? We will discuss current findings from Hattie, William, and other educational researchers on how to involve students in the learning process. New tools and software designed around inquiry can make teaching science and STEM exciting. Anchored by essential questions, we will demonstrate tools for student learning which organize and visualize the data while allowing students time to focus on analyzing and understanding instead of simple creation. While not a replacement for hands-on activities, we will examine ways to use simulations to enhance learning. Discover ways to strengthen sense-making and enable your students to think like scientists while exploring immersive 3D worlds where students make observations and collect evidence for CER assessments. We will also discuss assessment through the lens of UDL (Universal Design for Learning) and social/emotional standards.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be exposed to different levels of instructional feedback, standard-based grading, and assessment and feedback tools.

SPEAKERS:
Mike Jones (Illinois State University: Bloomington, IL)

Sponsoring Company: Mosa Mack Science

Not all phenomena are created equally. How you kick off your unit sets the tone for the entire unit itself. In this workshop, you’ll learn what sets apart the best phenomena and complete phenomena-based lessons.

TAKEAWAYS:
How to choose, implement and maximize learning around the best science phenomena. You’ll also receive free access to phenomena lessons.

SPEAKERS:
Lissa Johnson (Mosa Mack Science: Fairfield, CT), Lorraine Gueye (Mosa Mack Science: Fairfield, CT)

Three-dimensional learning, as outlined by NGSS, allows students to view science as an interrelated world of inquiry. Today’s environmental challenges require a 3-D approach to understand the phenomena and data and how our landscapes and ecosystems have changed as human population has doubled in the past 50 years. In this hands-on session, the presenter will lead participants in hands-on activities (problem-solving challenges, simulations and modeling) that use real-world data sets and 3-D learning in a variety of formats to analyze and think critically about some of the key ecological topics in Biology and Environmental Science courses (including AP) – population trends, climate change, land use, biodiversity, and ecosystem health. Presented activities emphasize students’ ability to collect, analyze and interpret data as central to developing and using models, identifying patterns and designing solutions. The presenter will also share interactive digital tools for engaging students remotely. The presenter will discuss how to implement these activities as part of broadening students’ understanding of the NGSS topics “Human Sustainability” and “Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems. Participants will receive lesson plans (including assessment ideas) and background materials in an electronic format.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will come away with cross-disciplinary ideas to incorporate 3-D learning strategies into hands-on activities around the NGSS topic of Human Sustainability.

SPEAKERS:
Stephanie Ruder (J.I. Case High School: Kenosha, WI)

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: Carlock, IL)

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 (College of Arts and Sciences, Texas A&M University: Mt. Enterprise, TX)

A challenge that STEM education presents to educators is how to stay current in an ever-evolving field to accurately represent and engage their students with new topics, activities, and careers. Too often STEM teachers become locked-in on a set of topics, activities, and careers because of the resources and opportunities to which they have access. After-school programs, and their ability to foster partnerships within a school’s larger STEM ecosystem, are one mechanism to open up STEM programs within schools to new topics, activities, and careers while offering avenues for professional growth and learning for the classroom teacher. By introducing the Science Olympiad program and the strategies used by our school participants for over three decades to build partnerships, connect to their STEM ecosystem, and expand learning we intend to help attendees draw parallels to their STEM ecosystems and their after-school programs. Building off of this information, attendees will analyze and discuss ways their STEM ecosystem can contribute to their STEM program, develop approaches for asking ecosystem members for support, and recognize opportunities to grow their STEM program through after-school programs. The session will close with a discussion of attendees’ specific challenges and issues ensuring attendees leave with actionable solutions.

TAKEAWAYS:
The big takeaway from this session will attendees examining their STEM ecosystem to identify potential partners who align with their programming and can support student learning.

SPEAKERS:
John Loehr (Science Olympiad: Oakbrook Terrace, IL)

Sponsoring Company: BrainPOP Science

BrainPOP Science is a new inquiry-based instructional tool for middle school science classrooms. Our unique and intuitive Claim-Evidence-Reasoning process allows students to gather, edit, and organize evidence the way real scientists do while strengthening their argumentative writing skills. Rich with phenomena-driven content, investigations, units, diagnostics, and assessments, it provides teachers and administrators with real-time, actionable insight into student learning to help drive instruction, differentiation, and assessment success for all students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Transitioning from using BrainPOP science topics into using our new middle school investigations in BrainPOP Science.

SPEAKERS:
Rex Beaber (Professional Learning Strategist, BrainPOP Science: New York, NY), Robert Miller (Professional Learning Strategist, BrainPOP Science: New York, NY)

Sponsoring Company: Lab-Aids

Students take on the roles of civil engineers as they use a river model to investigate how flowing water erodes and deposits sediments to create common landforms. They then design erosion-control structures and use the river model to test them. Based on the results of their initial testing, students redesign and retest their structures.

TAKEAWAYS:
Use a river model to investigate how flowing water erodes and deposits sediments to create common landforms.

SPEAKERS:
Misty Richmond (James Ward Elementary School: Chicago, IL)

Toshiba America Foundation wants to work together with teachers who are looking for a better way to engage the community in STEM. Participants will hear from educators that have won money for their school and communities to implement STEM action projects.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how they can receive cash awards and acknowledge for STEM action projects.

SPEAKERS:
John Anderson (Toshiba America Foundation: Irvine, CA)

Carnegie Corporation of New York released a challenge paper calling on the education field to transform teaching and learning through the elements and essentials of curriculum-based professional learning. Learn how schools and systems are helping teachers experience the instruction their students experience to help change instructional practices, leading to better student outcomes.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Explore the rationale for a challenge paper dedicated solely to the issue of curriculum-based professional learning; 2. Discover the 10 elements and three essentials of professional learning critical to effective implementation of high-quality science instructional materials; and 3. Consider implications of the roles and responsibilities for putting into action the elements of curriculum-based professional learning.

SPEAKERS:
Jim Short (BSCS Science Learning: Ridgefield, NY)

Sponsoring Company: BrainPOP Science

You've heard the phrase "CER" but aren't sure what it means in the context of your classroom and your students? We all know that effective communication is crucial to our student's success, but what role do we, as science teachers, play in establishing a communicative culture? We will discuss the necessity of evidence-based writing and how to help students comprehend the distinction between evidence and reasoning. We'll look at a science lesson with an embedded CER, and discuss the components of CERs as well as CERs' role in the science classroom and how CERs are fundamentally a part of 21st-century career and college readiness skills. Teachers will leave with skills, techniques, and resources to guarantee that CER is taught effectively in their classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn to promote a supportive writing environment and identify writing supports for ELs and SPED students in a science classroom

SPEAKERS:
Kristen Rillieux (BrainPOP: New York, NY)

Sponsoring Company: Legends of Learning

Build a catapult to launch cows, learn about impacts on trajectories and walk away with knowledge of how to bring more of this engaging gaming experience to your classroom. Research has proven how we learn best through engagement and play. While launching cows can seemingly be all play, students doing this activity need to adjust their approach in order to hit a target or defined goals. This activity is based on one of the premise of engagement, which is a fundamental concept to game-based learning, From force and motion, to the water cycle, to the conservation of energy and more, help students gain science literacy, students can explore science and engineering practices, and more easily attain subject mastery through engaging approaches like game-based learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will receive first-hand experience of what collaboration and achievement can look like through our hands-on game-based learning platform. Come ready to collaborate, compete, learn some science and math, and have a whole lot of fun!

SPEAKERS:
Sean Reidy (Legends of Learning: Laurel, MD)

Research scientist Africa Flores-Anderson uses data from satellites to map algae blooms in lakes and forest degradation in her home country of Guatemala. Join Flores-Anderson as she shares her personal journey from small-town girl to National Geographic Explorer, using satellite imagery to better understand our planet.

About the Speaker
Originally from Guatemala, Africa Flores-Anderson is a research scientist at the Earth System Science Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). She is passionate about using data and satellite images for environmental conservation. As a National Geographic Explorer, she is working to forecast harmful algae blooms in Lake Atitlán, Guatemala using artificial intelligence. She also works to strengthen the capacity of countries in environmentally sensitive areas to use Earth observation data and geospatial technologies for managing natural resources and environmental risks. Flores’s research focuses on forest monitoring, water quality and ecological forecasting.

SPEAKERS:
Africa Flores-Anderson (National Geographic Learning | Cengage: Boston, MA)

Students are generally intrigued by cosmology but it can be difficult for instructors to explain. For some scientists and teachers, the famous Hubble graph from which we obtain Hubble’s Law makes it obvious that the universe is expanding but for most students (and many of us teachers!) this is not the case: looking at the graph does not obviously imply an expanding universe. We will discuss standard candles and the redshifting of light, and how Hubble used these to measure the speeds and distances to galaxies. We will examine his data and graph and then we will work through an activity that will help students see why the 1929 graph implies an expanding universe. The simple activity uses elastic and rulers and provides a qualitative introduction to the Hubble redshift. Additionally, we will share other ideas and materials for teaching students about cosmology and the expansion of the universe.

TAKEAWAYS:
Students can produce a Hubble-like graph representing an expanding universe using elastic and a ruler.

SPEAKERS:
Todd Brown (University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg: Greensburg, PA)

Problem centered instruction is a great way to engage students, integrate content, inspire learning, and naturally incorporate all three dimensions of the NRC Framework. However, true problem centered instruction requires a major shift in both teaching and learning, requiring the one thing teachers don't have: time--the last thing teachers need is another pedagogical strategy that disrupts their entire routine. Teachers will have the opportunity to voice their concerns and discuss some barriers of problem centered teaching and learning, while also addressing the benefits for both teachers and students. Considering the benefits, there are some immediate changes that teachers can use to help shift to a problem centered environment. Recalling that problem centered learning should be complex, meaningful, and open-ended, the four strategies are: 1) Make the Content Relatable, 2) Structure: Less is More, 3) Be a Resource, Not an Answer Key, and 4) Use a Problem to Introduce a Topic. Teachers will then have an opportunity to put the strategies to immediate use by picking a lesson or topic and work with others to transform it into a three-dimensional, problem centered lesson.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will explore four strategies that promote three-dimensional learning through the process of problem centered instruction that is complex, meaningful, and open-ended. They will discuss benefits and barriers to the problem centered approach from the perspective of both the instructor and the learner. Teachers will have an opportunity to brainstorm and work collaboratively on transforming a lesson or topic of their choice into a problem centered, reality based scenario that seamlessly integrates the Science and Engineering Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Disciplinary Core Ideas.

SPEAKERS:
Cassandra Armstrong (Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy: Aurora, IL)

This session introduces a way to create learning experiences that will give students opportunities to talk, read, and write in the service of sensemaking as they use the DCIs, CCs, and SEPs to explain natural phenomena.

TAKEAWAYS:
How to ensure students have access to science in grades 3–5 by designing investigations that promote and support the use of literacy skills in the service of sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Todd Hutner (Del Valle ISD: Del Valle, TX)

Sponsoring Company: BrainPOP Science

This workshop will explain the purpose and importance of student discourse in the science classroom to help with sense-making. Examples of effective strategies and teacher moves will be provided for participants to explore resources that foster student discourse. Participants will then experience these strategies firsthand and see the teacher moves as they utilize a science investigation from the lens of a student. The session will wrap up with a debrief of the modeling activity and leave an opportunity to ask questions.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will receive effective strategies that promote productive student discourse and see how BrainPOP Science can provide opportunities for collaborative student discourse.

SPEAKERS:
Kelsie Stocz (BrainPOP: Garner, NC)

Wheaton Christian Grammar School was one of 27 schools (3 non-public and 24 public) who received this prestigious award in Illinois in 2021. During the session, we will share how our board of directors, administration, and maintenance staff have reduced our environmental impact and cost through routine maintenance, upgrades, and building design. We will review how our school has implemented lessons and programing that promotes sustainability and care for the earth. We will discuss how our health team works on promoting wellness for student, faculty, and staff in areas of heathy eating habits, staying active, and social emotional learning. Utilizing local agencies and promoting professional development for your staff will be addressed. We will end our session with sharing how our school reduces our waste by using four outside compost bins along with a vermicomposting bin in the STEAM Lab. A worm bin will be present for a step-by-step demonstration.

TAKEAWAYS:
Come "learn" what the U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon is and "lead" your school in achieving this award.

SPEAKERS:
Susan Macaluso (Wheaton Christian Grammar School: Winfield, IL), Jacqueline Lauriat (Wheaton Christian Grammar School: Winfield, IL)

Engaging in argument from evidence is often the culminating scientific practice for units focused on sensemaking. High-quality units present students with a driving question about a meaningful, complex phenomenon and engage them in a variety of practices to investigate the driving question. A significant challenge that students face in an extended unit is keeping track of the evidence they are collecting and connecting that evidence to the key scientific concepts. Over the last four years, researchers at The Learning Partnership and Northern Illinois University have been collaborating with middle school science teachers at two Chicago elementary schools to co-design tools for supporting students in developing scientific arguments. (1) The Investigation Steps chart uses the NGSS storyline structure to highlight how students will use scientific practices to conduct their investigations and then record what was figured out each day. (2) The Evidence Sorter provides a structure for organizing and weighing evidence and connecting that evidence to reasoning as a precursor to writing their argument. Prior research shows the importance of connecting evidence to key concepts throughout a unit. The tools provide a means for teachers to monitor how students are making these connections and applying those connections in their final argument.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Introduction to tools for supporting students in connecting what is learned each day to the unit goal. 2. Introduction to tools for supporting students in synthesizing evidence and connecting reasoning to develop a scientific argument. 3. Research shows the importance of connecting evidence and key concepts throughout a unit

SPEAKERS:
Stephanie Morales (John W. Garvy: Chicago, IL), Randi McGee-Tekula (The Learning Partnership: Western Springs, IL), Emily Dubicki (Mozart Elementary: Chicago, IL), Anne Britt (Dr.: Dekalb, IL), Steven McGee (The Learning Partnership: Western Springs, IL)

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: Zachary, LA), Jennifer Norwood (Instructional Support Specialist: Zachary, LA), Tara Hollins (Exceptional Student Services Educator: Zachary, LA)

Join Chief engineer of NASA’s JWST to explore the design and development of the largest space telescope every imagined by humanity. Discover how The Hunt for Planet B will shape our future and what we can learn about the skills and relationships that drove our greatest technological journey as a species.

About the Speaker
Jonathan Arenberg is currently chief mission architect for Science and Robotic Exploration at Northrop Grumman. His work experience includes all phases of program and mission development, including early technology development, mission concepts, detailed design, test and verification, and integration and test. His last major program assignment was as chief engineer for the James Webb Space Telescope. In the last few years, Dr. Arenberg has led major mission studies for NASA and other government customers. He has been a principal in major paradigm breaking concepts; the Starshade, MODE lenses, and the OASIS mission based on an inflatable reflector. He is a creative and broad thinker, capable of addressing the most challenging problems with practical and effective solutions. In addition to optical systems experience from X-rays to THz systems, he is also familiar with laser systems and components.

Dr. Arenberg has a BS in physics, a MS and PhD in engineering, all from UCLA. As a committed member of the scientific community, Dr. Arenberg is a long serving California State Science Fair Judge, frequent public speaker, a referee for several journals, and a guest editor for several special journal issues. He is a Fellow of the international optics and photonics society, SPIE, for his contribution to astronomy and lasers. He is the author of over 200 conference presentations, papers, and book chapters and holds 15 European and U.S. patents in a wide variety of areas of technology. Dr. Arenberg is also the co-author of a recent book on systems engineering for astronomy from SPIE press. In 2020 Jon was given the Professional Achievement Award from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science.

SPEAKERS:
Jonathan Arenberg (Northrop Grumman Corp.: El Segundo, CA)

Sponsoring Company: Savvas Learning Company

Learn how to make math and science come alive through humor, hip-hop, and connections. As Dajae recounts her “unplanned” journey of becoming a NASA Rocket Scientist, she will share exactly what it takes to bring a sense of culture to the classroom. Take-away her teaching strategies to create learning environments with lasting purpose and long-term impact.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how removing language as a barrier helped a student leverage pop culture in her STEM classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Dajae Williams (ListenUp! Education: Long Beach, CA)

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)

Learn about NASA’s Next Gen STEM educator resources and how to join our first online community of practice for STEM educators (CONNECTS).

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will learn about future opportunities with NASA for student participation while completing a lunar lander design challenge.

SPEAKERS:
Lynn Dotson (NASA Office of STEM Engagement-GoH: Kennedy Space Center, FL)

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)

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: Waldorf, MD)

Use the Great Lakes as a learning tool! Participate in virtual classroom-ready activities, discover PD opportunities, and learn how to collect authentic water quality data.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn: 1. how to request and incorporate the use of the Hydrolab in their classroom to collect authentic water quality data either in the classroom or in the field; 2. how to utilize Nearpod to create engaging lessons that can be utilized virtually or in the classroom; and 3. about professional development opportunities aboard the R/V Lake Guardian and at Ohio State University's Stone Lab.

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Kowalski (Put-in-Bay Local School District: Put in Bay, OH), Shari Insley (North Olmsted Middle School: Olmsted Falls, OH)

Sponsoring Company: Mosa Mack Science

Discover an NGSS resource you can use in class next week. Award-winning phenomena, mysteries, labs, and engineering—all in one teacher-friendly resource. (Common Sense Education Learning Selection 2021)

TAKEAWAYS:
Experience the excitement of Mosa Mack Science, see real student work, and walk away with free interactive lessons for your classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Lissa Johnson (Mosa Mack Science: Fairfield, CT), Lorraine Gueye (Mosa Mack Science: Fairfield, CT)

Sponsoring Company: BrainPOP Science

Assessments can be a powerful learning tool if used in the right way. Research shows that students find it helpful to be able to practice applying what they have learned in new contexts, that feedback after struggle leads to learning, and student responses to assessments can be used to help teachers plan for what to teach next or what they may need to re-teach. Our BrainPOP Science product offers multiple opportunities to digitally assess student knowledge to help inform teaching and learning. In this presentation we will highlight two of the key digital assessment components within the BrainPOP Science product that support multidimensional learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about the different digital assessment opportunities offered in our BP Science product and how to use evidence collected through strategically designed assessments to support multidimensional learning.

SPEAKERS:
Sara Bakken (BrainPOP: New York, NY)

Students utilize different components (enzymes, yeast, feed stocks, and water) to produce ethanol and carbon dioxide through the process of fermentation. Students will develop a model of fermentation and explain how ethanol is made to answer the focus question "How can fermentation produce a renewable fuel source?" Students will develop experimental models to generate data in order to construct explanations about the relationships between the components of the fermentation process and to predict how those relationships can be manipulated to produce carbon dioxide. Students will design solutions to make the fermentation process as efficient as possible and generate the maximum amount of ethanol in a small bag environment Attendees will participate in hands-on activities centered around biofuel. Participants are going to prepare and compare different amounts of fermentation occurring in four different mixtures which will allow observations of production rates. A second activity focuses on a way to make a qualitative or quantitative explanation regarding the relationship between feed stock and glucose availability for ethanol production. Participants will deconstruct a model of starch to examine enzyme and starch reactions to determine how starches change into smaller molecules. Three additional hands-on activities that can be included in your classroom curriculum will be discussed.

TAKEAWAYS:
Nourish the Future is a national education initiative developed by science teachers for science teachers to connect students to modern agriculture and provide sound science based resources that meet teacher and student needs in the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Tiska Rodgers (Clarkton High School: Dexter, MO), Leanne Thele (Perryville High School: Cape Girardeau, MO)

Sponsoring Company: Estes Education

What does it take for a rocket to launch? Join us for this mission to see how rocket science transcends STEM and beyond.

TAKEAWAYS:
Model rocketry is an interdisciplinary tool for any classroom to provide hands-on, inquiry-based learning for all.

SPEAKERS:
Kathy Biernat (Zanilu Educational Services, LLC: Oak Creek, WI)

Cognitive science has identified flexible and often counterintuitive cognitive strategies that boost student learning. Teachers will learn how to implement these techniques within their classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to apply multiple practical, flexible, and research-based cognitive strategies, including retrieving information from memory, distributing practice across time, scaffolding, and mixing together different examples, within their own classrooms to improve student learning.

SPEAKERS:
Jonathan Tullis (The University of Arizona: Tucson, AZ)

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)

What first hooked you on STEM? Learn how regional and national partners are working to create “STAR” moments for students through inquiry-based PBL focused on space.

TAKEAWAYS:
Students can’t be what they can’t see. In addition to powerful inquiry-based learning experiences, deliberate, equity-focused STEM education and community reinforcement of STEM exploration are required to build the STEM ecosystem.

SPEAKERS:
Kristana Rogers (DoD STEM/RTI International: Raleigh, NC), Todd Campbell (DoD STEM/RTI International: Raleigh, NC), Lauren Milord (DreamUp, PBC: Washington, DC), Angela Adams (Cumberland County Schools: Fayetteville, NC)

1) Poly-density Bottles DIY for Inquiry
I will share how to create your own cool polydensity bottles and use them for student inquiry activities that relate to many topics including density, molecular properties, and solubility.

2) Investigate Stars and Galaxies Using NASA’s Universe of Learning STEM JS9 Image Analysis Tools and Data
Access NASA’s Universe of Learning image analysis tools to investigate  the chemistry, physics, mechanics and variability of stars, binary systems, supernovas, stellar cores, and galaxies.

3) Explore El Niño and La Nina the relationship between Ocean and Atmosphere that affects the warming of the ocean waters
Materials will help teachers present the topic of El Nino and La Nino in the classroom. They will gain insight into the atmospheric and oceanic processes behind the El Nino and La Nino Phenomena with hands-on exploration

SPEAKERS:
Diane Ripollone (Cardinal Gibbons High School: Garner, NC), Donna Young (NSO/NASA: Laughlin, NV)

Sponsoring Company: Estes Education

Learn model rocketry basics through NGSS based content and build a FREE rocket with us!

TAKEAWAYS:
Model rocketry is your teaching companion to make engineering come to life for your students.

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Bayeur (Estes Industries: Pueblo, CO)

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)

The GISP2 H-Core was collected in 1992 adjacent to the Greenland Ice Sheet Project Two (GISP2) drill site. The GISP2-H 125.6-meter firm and ice core is a record of 430 years of liquid electrical conductivity and nitrate concentrations. The liquid electrical conductivity sequence contains signals from a number of known volcanic eruptions that provide a dating system at specific locations along the core. The terrestrial and solar background nitrate records show seasonal and annual variations – as well as unique events. Several major nitrate anomalies within the record do not correspond to any known terrestrial or solar events, and there is compelling evidence that some nitrate anomalies within the GISP2 H-Core could possibly be a record of supernova events. This investigation provides participants with a better understanding of the scientific process of analyzing data and developing models to construct knowledge, and defending the results. Sometimes there is no answer key, only possible solutions from analyzing and constructing knowledge from multiple sources that cross traditional disciplines. The materials focus on NGSS scientific practices, crosscutting concepts and the Earth and space sciences core disciplinary ideas – including analyzing and interpreting data, patterns, cycles of energy and matter, Earth systems and Earth and human activity.

TAKEAWAYS:
In constructing new knowledge, sometimes there is no definitive answer, only plausible conclusions based on constructing, analyzing, and comparing data and research from multiple disciplines.

SPEAKERS:
Donna Young (NSO/NASA: Laughlin, NV)

Are you used to having your students keep a notebook, but aren’t sure how to transition it into a digital version? Have you ever wanted to try an Interactive Notebook but don’t know where to start? Are you having trouble keeping your students organized in the digital school world? Interactive Notebooks are a meaningful way to transfer a student’s learning, practice, and reflection into an engaging digital environment. Research has shown that benefits range from allowing students space to record and reflect on their experiences, guiding teacher instruction, and providing more opportunities for differentiation. As classes have shifted between in-person, hybrid, and completely online instruction, digital learning options are becoming an even more necessary part of our curriculum. During this workshop, you will learn about different types of digital notebooks, their uses/benefits, and how to find or create your own resources for student use. By converting an interactive notebook into a digital notebook, students can now access multi-media resources all in one place creating opportunities for greater flexibility and autonomy in learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Create and manage digital notebooks resources from materials you already use.

SPEAKERS:
Joy Barnes-Johnson (Foundation Academies: Willingboro, NJ), Mridula Bajaj (Mount Laurel Schools: Robbinsville, NJ), Shefali Mehta (Princeton High School: Princeton, NJ)

Come learn how to teach in three dimensions and advance students’ scientific literacy by strategically applying the use of CERs and CEJs in your classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
After this session, participants will be able to identify opportunities for using CERs and CEJs to facilitate student discourse and discussion and apply what they have learned to their own classroom.

SPEAKERS:
McKenna Serowka (Lake Zurich High School: Lake Zurich, 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: Clarendon, TX), Susan Chapman (Soil Science Society of America: Madison, WI)

I would like to present an overview of an interdisciplinary curriculum titled Indigenous Foods, which I developed for the Natural History Museum of Utah in partnership with the nonprofit Utah Diné Bikéyah. Weaving together indigenous knowledge, Utah history, archaeological findings, plant biology, and nutritional data, this curriculum shares the importance of indigenous food sovereignty through the story of a tiny, highly nutritious superfood called the Four Corners potato (Solanum jamesii). Over the past 5-10 years, University of Utah researchers, Lisbeth Lauderback (archaeologist) and Bruce Pavlik (botanist), have pieced together evidence from stone tool starch granules, plant genetics, and historical accounts to show that the Four Corners potato is the earliest known domesticated plant in the Western United States. Currently, these same researchers are working closely with Utah Tribes to reincorporate the Four Corners potato into indigenous communities with the hopes of restoring community health and traditional practices. In summary, this curriculum aims to show the importance of including different ways of knowing in science education, as well as to inspire others to learn about the incredible indigenous knowledge that exists within their own communities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Weaving together indigenous food sovereignty, archaeological findings, and plant biology, this curriculum overview offers examples for how to include indigenous knowledge in science education.

SPEAKERS:
Kirsten Walker (Waterford School: Sandy, UT)

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: Waldorf, MD)

How and why has Earth’s climate changed over time? How do we collect data about Earth’s natural history? How do Earth’s orbital variations affect climate? What role does phytoplankton play in the Carbon Cycle? These are all questions that are answered by exploring a series of hands-on activities that are NGSS aligned. Activities include: eccentricity, obliquity, precession, carbon and plants, the effect of carbon dioxide on temperature, ocean acidification, and more. The climate change curriculum, from the eesmarts K-12 curriculum, an energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy learning initiative funded by the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund, is made up of adapted lessons surrounding natural cycles that occur on Earth and how humans may affect natural cycles. Activities examine evidence from the past through proxies such as forams and ice core data. Additional topics include sea-level rise and vulnerability, the impact of single use plastics, and how the effect of human activity can be minimized. The lessons are written in the 5-E Instructional Model (Engage - Explore - Explain - Elaborate - Evaluate) and include teacher-presentation Google Slides and student handouts. Select digital resources will be provided to participants. The complete eesmarts program is free and available to all Connecticut educators.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore activities that demonstrate how and why Earth’s climate has changed over time.

SPEAKERS:
Karin Jakubowski (eesmarts: Northford, CT), Kathleen Brooks (CREC: Westbrook, CT)

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: Thomasville, NC)

Socioscientific issues are scientific topics that require students to engage in meaningful discussions (Zeidler & Nichols, 2009). Additionally, engaging students in socioscientific issues can promote equity, diversity, and help students question biases (Goldsmith et al., 2021). Importantly, these issues are often most likely to promote inclusivity if students have a connection with them. Considering we live in the Midwest, we often use socioscientific issues surrounding agricultural practices. We start with a phenomenon that introduces the example socioscientific issue by showing a video about tilling. We then ask, “Should farmers till the land?” To explore this question, we engage participants by jigsawing four different hands-on activities related to the soil. Participants will explore compact vs. loose soil, reducing water erosion, reducing erosion caused by wind and snow, and the effect of a heat lamp on the temperature of soil. Participants will use science and engineering practices such as planning and carrying out investigations and analyzing and interpreting data. We will debrief the activities and model how we help students make sense of the science ideas. We will finish the presentation by discussing how to find suitable socioscientific issues, include culturally responsive teaching practices, and provide some strategies for integrating with the NGSS.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about how to use socioscientific issues and culturally responsive practices to engage students with social issues that require scientific knowledge.

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

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)

This session will introduce participants to Our Beautiful Planet, a collection of classroom-ready films and lesson plans that highlight the science and engineering practices scientists use to explain the phenomenon of climate change. The collection of over 10 lessons brings Sensemaking to environmental science by cultivating student curiosity with engaging and eye-popping phenomena. Participants will generate questions and use model data as evidence to construct an explanation of how increases in global temperature could shift infection rates of mosquito-borne diseases. Using their explanation and information provided in the film, participants will consider the effect of this shift on humans.

TAKEAWAYS:
Providing students with an engaging and relevant phenomenon can be used to drive student learning about climate change and inspire them to examine critical climate issues in their own communities.

SPEAKERS:
Patrice Scinta (NSTA: Brooklyn, NY), Kristin Rademaker (NSTA: Freeport, IL), Holly Hereau (NSTA: Lake Angelus, MI)

The Illinois Science Assessment is written by Illinois science teachers for Illinois science students. Learn more about the format of this test and how you can model test clusters in your classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Illinois Science Teachers will gain insight into how to better prepare students for the ISA by learning how to create clusters for use in their classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Carol Baker (NGSS: Orland Park, IL), Harvey Henson (Southern Illinois University Carbondale: Carbondale, IL), ANGELA BOX (Southern Illinois University Carbondale: CARTERVILLE, IL)

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)