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: Grayslake, IL)

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 (Clayton County Public Schools: Jonesboro, 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 (eesmarts), Karin Jakubowski (eesmarts: No City, No State)

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, Rutgers University: Princeton, NJ)

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: Hartford, CT), Sharyon Holness (eesmarts: No City, No State), Kathleen Brooks (eesmarts)

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)

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)

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 (Lakeview Academy: Saratoga Springs, UT)

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

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

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

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)

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: North Olmsted, OH)

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 (RTI International: Durham, NC), Todd Campbell (RTI International: Durham, NC), Lauren Milord (DreamUp, PBC: Washington, DC), Angela Adams (Cumberland County Schools: Fayetteville, NC)

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

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

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

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: No City, No State), Kathleen Brooks (eesmarts)