NSTA School and District partnerships provide personalized professional learning experiences for K–12 educators. Find out more about these NSTA opportunities that combine membership with access to resources, online tools, and the national network.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Discover the value of being a School or District NSTA Partner; 2. Explore how to maximize online professional learning for all teachers; and 3. Discover how to utilize NSTA's online learning resources to support in-person professional learning.

SPEAKERS:
Flavio Mendez (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Tricia Shelton (NSTA: Arlington, VA)

Daily Do sensemaking lessons are designed to engage students in authentic, relevant science learning. Join us to explore how these phenomenon-driven lessons motivate students to engage in science and engineering practices to make sense of science ideas (disciplinary core ideas) they need to explain how or why the phenomenon occurs. Learn strategies for implementing Daily Do lessons  in both face-to-face and virtual settings. If you are a K–5 teacher, we have Daily Do sensemaking lessons for you!

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Explore how phenomenon-driven lessons motivate students to engage in science and engineering practices to make sense of science ideas; 2. Understand the critical attributes of sensemaking; and 3. Discuss strategies for implementing Daily Do lessons in face-to-face and virtual settings.

SPEAKERS:
Patrice Scinta (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Kate Soriano (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Kristin Rademaker (NSTA: Arlington, VA)

Come learn how to use specially designed questions to reveal K–2 children's ideas and make instructional decisions based on the students' thinking while simultaneously promoting three-dimensional learning in diverse classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will: 1. be introduced to the Uncovering Student Ideas in Primary Science K–2 probes; 2. examine research-identified ideas young children in diverse classrooms have about concepts and phenomena in science, where these ideas may have come from, and how they affect learning in science; and 3. examine the role of productive talk and sensemaking when using the probes to promote learning.

SPEAKERS:
Page Keeley (NSTA Past President: No City, No State)

This presentation will share examples of how science storylines create space to formatively assess students in productive ways, particularly emergent multilingual students.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Storylines in science sensemaking provide teachers with flexibility to take up students’ wonderings, giving students more agency; 2. When teachers make space for students to share what they know and wonder, teachers can engage in more constant and open-ended formative assessment that lets students show just how much they know and how it ties to their lived experiences; and 3. When teachers make space for student sharing that spans languages and discourses, students can better share how much they know, and are more engaged.

SPEAKERS:
Allyson Trella (Heights Terrace Elementary Middle School: Hazleton, PA), Taylor Tarone-Sefchik (Heights Terrace Elementary Middle School: Hazleton, PA), May Lee (Penn State: University Park, PA), Jennifer Cody (Park Forest Elementary School: State College, PA), Michelle Brown (Penn State: University Park, PA), Teila McNulty (Heights Terrace Elementary Middle School: Hazleton, PA)

Hear about various NSTA competitions and how they can bring STEM and the NGSS into the classroom, as well as give students and teachers a chance to earn recognition and prizes.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn: 1. about NSTA competitions; 2. how NSTA competitions help integrate STEM and NGSS in the classroom; and 3. how students and teachers can win recognition and prizes.

SPEAKERS:
Acacia McKenna (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Matthew Hartman (BrainPOP: Pittsburgh, PA)

The Texas A&M Women in Science & Engineering (WISE) organization invites you to join a mock Zoom a WISE Woman session with scientists and engineers!

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Connecting real-world female scientists and engineers with K–12 classrooms; 2. Understanding the importance of connecting diverse role models in order to broaden participation in STEM; and 3. Experiencing the ease and benefits of collaborating with a virtual outreach program.

SPEAKERS:
Iliana De La Cruz (Texas A&M University: College Station, TX), Sarah Poor (Texas A&M University: Columbia, MO)

Learn how any teacher can use their school’s simple outdoor spaces to engage students of all backgrounds in more meaningful and authentic hands-on inquiry-based science.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Most students, especially those in marginalized or minoritized communities, are denied access to the STEM career pipeline early on, because elementary students get only 18 minutes of Science per day, and interest in a STEM career solidifies by sixth grade. Middle and high-school interventions come too late; 2. Outdoor learning is inherently more inclusive, equitable, and accessible, and when paired with a constructivist pedagogy based on the 5E model, it can help students build memorable and inspiring experiences with Science that boost STEM, SEL, and 21st-Century skills; and 3. Open Educational Resources can help teachers everywhere augment their curricula to embed more outdoor Science into the school day, keep more students in the Science and STEM talent pool, and transform Math and Language Arts lessons into more culturally relevant, real-world student-driven experiences.

SPEAKERS:
Wendy Kelly (Out Teach: Dallas, TX), Jarri Goodman (Out Teach: Washington, DC)

This session will describe Arts-STEM Afterschool Programming in two low-performing schools in primary grades based on the theme of Thinking and Inventing like Leonardo da Vinci.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. To engage participants in the connection between nature, art (design), math, and science and the core disciplines for three-dimensional thinking; 2. To promote three-dimensional thinking by promoting science and engineering practices and crosscutting processes (particularly, form and function); and 3. To promote inclusivity by showing how a variety of children and families from diverse races, ethnicities, and countries in high-need areas worked together to promote a high level of learning in the design thinking.

SPEAKERS:
Mary Jo Pollman (Professor Emerita, Metropolitan State U of Denver: Denver, CO)

If we treat content areas as silos, we’ll never find time for Science! Discover how to create authentic, cross-curricular projects that increase engagement and critical thinking.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Determine characteristics of authentic learning experiences; 2. Explore two projects, lesson by lesson, making connections to your science content; and 3. Discover a process for creating your own project-based learning units.

SPEAKERS:
Terra Tarango (Van Andel Education Institute: Grand Rapids, MI)

Learn about a seven-week Saturday program that engages fifth- and sixth-grade Latinx girls and their parents in garden-based activities to develop language and science identities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will: 1. learn about the evolution and goals of Family Problem-Based Learning to promote interactions and language, and to develop science content knowledge and abilities; 2. appreciate how translanguaging can be an asset in science education; and 3. learn about activities that can be used in classrooms and out-of-school programs.

SPEAKERS:
Kim Marie Rillero (Urban Farming Education: Phoenix, AZ), Adrian De Alba (Maricopa County Schools: Phoenix, AZ), Peter Rillero (Arizona State University West Campus: Glendale, AZ), Susie Oliver (Arizona State University: Tempe, AZ), Ashley Coughlin (Arizona State University: Tempe, AZ)

This interactive session offers focused strategies for leveraging nonfiction books to integrate Common Core standards with content-rich science instruction. Handouts include bibliography of recommended resources.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Discover classroom-ready tools for using nonfiction books to accomplish dual goals of reading comprehension and science learning for all students, regardless of background; 2. Explore ways to inspire budding scientists by leveraging nonfiction books that appeal to children’s love of stories, learning styles, and innate curiosity on a range of subjects; and 3. Obtain bibliography of recent high-quality nonfiction trade books with associated classroom-ready curricula that address specific Common Core standards.

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Shreeve (Science Writer: Mill Valley, CA), Sierra Satterstrom (Teacher: San Marcos, CA)

Join us to experience the role of phenomena in driving three-dimensional STEM learning. Through active engagement, you will learn about and discuss how building science ideas can empower students to engage in the practices of science and engineering to solve problems. Leave with strategies to support transforming STEM learning in your classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Experience the role of phenomena in driving 3-D STEM learning; 2. Understand the importance of applying science ideas to solve design problems; and 3. Discuss strategies for the effective integration of engineering.

SPEAKERS:
Michelle Phillips (NSTA: Arlington, VA)