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)

Join us to learn what sensemaking is and how to use research-based resources to engage students in making sense of the world around them. Leave with a collection of resources to move your professional learning forward no matter where you are on the sensemaking continuum.

TAKEAWAYS:
Develop an understanding of what sensemaking is and how it can help build classrooms where students are able to make sense of the world around them. Leaders walk away with a consensus-building exercise for their team.

SPEAKERS:
Tricia Shelton (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Elizabeth Allan (University of Central Oklahoma: Edmond, OK)

In this session, the co-editors of the recent NSTA Press book, Crosscutting Concepts: Strengthening Science and Engineering Learning, will take a deep dive into how crosscutting concepts can be more explicitly leveraged to strengthen science instruction. Presenters will illustrate how two instructional units—one elementary and one secondary—have developed CCCs as lenses on phenomena in order to better connect with students’ everyday experiences and to enhance students’ ability to meaningfully integrate SEPs, DCIs, and CCCs to make sense of authentic phenomena and problems.

TAKEAWAYS:
CCCs are: 1) lenses on phenomena and problems; 2) critical to sensemaking about phenomena and problems; and 3) most useful when meaningfully integrated with SEPs and DCIs.

SPEAKERS:
Jeff Nordine (The University of Iowa: Iowa City, IA), Okhee Lee (New York University: New York, NY)

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

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

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

It is often thought that a makerspace activity is something that is nice to do with students but not a necessity. Yet when makerspace activities are integrated into daily instruction, it can open many avenues that promote an inclusive classroom. This workshop will focus on strategies and ways to use makerspace to promote student voice and choice for areas of concept development, empathy-driven problem solving, and assessment. Participants will explore the key elements of makerspace and examine ways to use makerspace challenges to support sense-making. The discussion will also focus on the idea that makerspace activities can nudge all students to consider multiple ways of solving problems, thus enhancing their “out of the box” thinking. As part of this session, participants will explore different strategies in using makerspace to introduce a phenomenon, model a phenomenon, and assess students understanding on different dimensions of learning: Crosscutting Concepts, Disciplinary Core Ideas, and Science and Engineering Practices.

TAKEAWAYS:
Makerspace challenges provide student choice and voice in how they make sense of a phenomenon, a solution to a problems, and core ideas.

SPEAKERS:
Michele Detwiler (Gary Adult High School: Tampa, FL)

Investigate how colors mix, by adding light sources or by removing colors from white light, and discover how cell phones and newspapers use these methods.

TAKEAWAYS:
Color mixing has different outcomes when light sources are added than when dyes or inks subtract colors from a white background. Additive color systems are used in TVs and computer screens, while subtractive colors are found in photos and paintings.

SPEAKERS:
Gary Benenson (The City College of New York: New York, NY), Stephanie Codrington (Benjamin Banneker Magnet School of Architecture and Engineering: Brooklyn, NY), Kathy Gutierrez (P.S. 536: Bronx, NY), Gary Benenson (The City College of New York: New York, NY)

This is an inquiry-based hands-on NASA STEM lesson based on a free storybook The Mystery at Willow Creek. All participants can learn from this experience regardless of level. The STEM activities incorporate cooperative learning and exploration. The session activity is versatile and can be used as a standalone or incorporated into complex units. The participants will receive 4 mystery samples. They will use their senses and pH paper to identify the samples with “pollution” and the one that is water. The PowerPoint will include the videos and activities including the tips and pointers and will be made available to all participants. The teacher’s guide is available online at no cost on http://www.globe.gov/web/elementary-globe. The teacher’s guide includes the free storybooks, activities, material lists, Instructional strategies, assessments, and cross-curricular implementation. Session Overview: 10 min- STEM Engagement strategies: Getting Organized 5 min- The Importance of Fresh Water 10 min- Introduce “Discoveries at Willow Creek” storybook 20 min- Activity: “Water Detectives Activity” –Using our senses 10 min – Reporting out -Why we are collecting water data? 5 min- Q and A

TAKEAWAYS:
NASA Elementary GLOBE has free storybooks with three or more STEM Activities each integrating the Core Standards with the Science standards. The materials are translated into 5 languages. Exploring the environment with a field experience ( Water Walk) will engage students in real-world culturally relevant problem-solving.

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

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 (The University of Alabama: Del Valle, TX)

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)

Explore how NSTA’s phenomena-driven lessons/units motivate students to engage in science practices to make sense of science ideas they need to explain how or why the phenomenon occurs.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Understand the critical attributes of sensemaking; 2. Strategies for intentional sequences of student interactions to provide access to participation and learning for all students; and 3. Students’ strategic use of modalities (talk, text, gestures, drawings, etc.).

SPEAKERS:
Kristin Rademaker (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Holly Hereau (NSTA: Arlington, VA)

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

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

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

In this workshop, participants will explore Chicago Academy of Sciences/Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum program models that use local, real world phenomena and object based learning to center student sensemaking. We will examine how our curriculum development process leverages local urban spaces, local specimens from both our living and preserved collections, and the work of museum conservation scientists to create opportunities for students to engage in rigorous and authentic science practice. We’ll unpack how a local focus increases both relevance and accessibility. We’ll reflect on the role of iteration in sensemaking, on the benefits of building in routines for revising explanations that allow teachers - and students - to trust the power of these collaboratively constructed student ideas to drive the learning. During the workshop, teachers will experience as learners how the wonder and inclusivity of local natural phenomena provide rigorous and accessible starting points for student driven inquiry. Finally, we will explore how learning ecosystems that connect in school learning with personal experiences can foster positive attitudes toward nature and science, and strategize opportunities for leveraging local natural spaces, institutions and resources to connect students to authentic sensemaking experiences.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore phenomena grounded in Chicago's urban ecosystems and strategize opportunities for leveraging local natural spaces, institutions and resources to connect students to authentic sensemaking experiences.

SPEAKERS:
Yukako Kawakatsu (Chicago Academy of Sciences/Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum: Chicago, IL), Melissa Siska (Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum: Chicago, IL)

In this workshop, Field Museum educators and Chicago Public School teachers will share their experience using object-based learning in the classroom and how it sparks curiosity and language development in multilingual students. Field Museum educators will give an overview of the tenets of object-based inquiry and how it lends itself to giving equitable access to content for all students. Chicago Public School teachers will explain the practical application and benefits of using object-based learning in their multilingual classrooms and highlight how science ideas and language development occurs naturally through discussion, question-asking, and scientific drawing. During the hands-on workshop, participants will act as a learner in a guided object-based inquiry lesson that focuses on including everyday phenomena. Following the hands-on experience, they will have the opportunity to share how they would integrate object-based learning in their own curriculum. Participants will create their own collection of learning objects to use in their classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will learn how to merge science ideas with student ideas in their classroom using object-based phenomena to deepen students' questioning and observation skills. Educators will learn how to use object-based learning in their ELL or bilingual classrooms to promote language and content acquisition. Educators will learn how to use objects as hands-on learning tools to provide equitable learning opportunities for all.

SPEAKERS:
Mireya Becker (The Field Museum: Chicago, IL), Damaris Cami (Dual Language Teacher: Chicago, IL), Eleanor Sweeney (Educator: Chicago, IL), Andrea McGehee (Educator: Chicago, IL)

Wondering how to inspire students’ curiosity and interest in science? Driving Question Boards (DQB) allow you to build science instruction around your students’ own ideas and questions. As students experience phenomena and ask their own questions, science becomes accessible to all students. Students gain similar experiences with phenomena allowing for inclusive classroom discourse opportunities because lack of experience is not an inhibitor. The students’ wonderings then drive the learning process as students engage in sensemaking around driving questions like, “How can we tell a story without using words?” or “How can we change the way that our toys move?” In this session, participants will experience phenomena, construct a DQB and experience other equitable project-based science strategies, designed for early elementary students, that they can take back to their own classroom. Participants will hear stories from real classrooms and access OER research-based curriculum.

TAKEAWAYS:
Engage in constructing a Driving Question Board (DQB) and other learning experiences designed for early elementary students and reflect on strategies used to support students' figuring out process as they experience and explain phenomena.

SPEAKERS:
Amber Richmond (Detroit Public Schools Community District: Detroit, MI), Cory Miller (CREATE for STEM Institute, Michigan State University: East Lansing, MI), Chiara Kirkland (Detroit Public Schools Community District: No City, No State)