Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Journey through protein folding and its implications for human disease in this hands-on engaging investigation of the Amino Acid Starter Kit. Empower your students to make connections between amino acid sequences, final protein shapes and the effect a "simple" mutation can have on a human life.

SPEAKERS:
Dan Williams (Teacher: Shelter Island, NY)

Sponsoring Company: MiniOne Systems

Bring real-world conservation to biology students to analyze DNA profiles from confiscated ivory tusks. Fits with Environmental Science and the Africa Storyline.

SPEAKERS:
Sherri Andrews (Retired Science Teacher: , NC)

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek

There’s a break-in at the lab. Your students become forensic scientists as they walk into a crime scene. Analyze samples for blood and then catch the criminal with DNA fingerprinting. This exciting workshop will include ways to incorporate biotechnology and gel electrophoresis into your classroom.

Sponsoring Company: PASCO Scientific

Introduce students to the relationship between solution concentration and light absorption through hands-on experimentation.

Sponsoring Company: BIOZONE Corporation

Discover BIOZONE WORLD - a new platform bringing all our digital resources together for easy access and delivery. Incorporating BIOZONE’s eBooks with our rich collection of presentation slides, 3D models & curated videos, it provides powerful options for delivering your high school science programs.

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Engage students in authentic research through Genes in Space: the experimental design competition that launches experiments to the International Space Station. Learn about free educational resources, including lesson plans, classroom activities, explainer videos, and biotechnology equipment loans.

SPEAKERS:
Katy Martin (miniPCR: Cambridge, MA)

Sponsoring Company: Flinn Scientific

The persistence of laboratory incidents injurious to high school students demonstrates the need for work towards implementing strong safety cultures in our school science labs. Please join us to learn about simple things you can do to make the laboratory a safer environment for your students.

Sponsoring Company: MiniOne Systems

Be the geneticist overseeing screening and interpreting the genotypes of hemoglobinopathies for at risk newborns.

SPEAKERS:
Crystal McDowell (Greenbrier High School: Evans, GA)

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek

Explore the science of candy colors! We will extract food dyes from candy and separate them using agarose gel electrophoresis and paper chromatography. By separating the different colors, students learn about complicated mixtures, charges on molecules, and how science relates to everyday life.

Sponsoring Company: PASCO Scientific

Learn how collecting carbon exchange data from plant leaves can help you correct students’ most common misconceptions about respiration and photosynthesis.

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Link physical science concepts like circuits and charged particles to the essential biotech method gel electrophoresis. Build a reusable gel electrophoresis system with the Bandit STEM Electrophoresis Kit, and use it to separate colorful dyes. Also add the A to STEAM with creative pipetting art!

SPEAKERS:
Katy Martin (miniPCR: Cambridge, MA)

Sponsoring Company: Savvas Learning Company

Scientific literacy is vital to economic and public health and security. How can we respond to forces that undermine public understanding and trust in science. We will then explore online resources and individualized teaching strategies that can overcome these challenges in our classrooms.

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

Sponsoring Company: Flinn Scientific

Seeing is believing! Flinn Scientific presents a variety of easy to perform and exciting chemistry and physical science demonstrations. Come see Flinn’s new demonstrations and some of your old favorites—all guaranteed to make your science classroom come alive. Handouts provided for all.

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Learn how physical models can be used to introduce your students to the field of cancer immunotherapy and CRISPR-engineered T-cells.

Sponsoring Company: MiniOne Systems

Using the MiniOne System, develop an understanding of forensic science and gel electrophoresis while investigating the mystery of who killed Dr. Ward.

SPEAKERS:
Kathy Mirakovits (Kalamazoo Valley Community College: Kalamazoo, MI)

Sponsoring Company: Vernier Science Education

Wondering how to teach your students about enzymes? Leave the liver behind and bring complex concepts to life with hands-on experiments. Vernier biology expert Colleen McDaniel will walk you through an inquiry-based experiment that explores the different variables that affect catalase.

SPEAKERS:
Colleen McDaniel (Vernier Science Education: Beaverton, OR)

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

This session will introduce teachers to physical models of DNA base-pairs that highlight the epigenetic modification of DNA and its impact on gene expression.

SPEAKERS:
Tim Herman (3D Molecular Designs: Milwaukee, WI)

Sponsoring Company: PASCO Scientific

Modeling Ocean Acidification: A Hands-On Approach

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Company

Take a new look at enzymes through historical, cultural, and economical lenses. Students use the lactase enzyme to produce lactose free milk in an easy to perform lab and then modify experimental conditions to design and test their own procedures to maximize production of lactose free milk.

SPEAKERS:
Laurie Nixon (Chemistry Teacher: Boone, NC)

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek

The gene-editing tool CRISPR is one of the most exciting biotechnology breakthroughs of the past decade. In fact, this technique won the Nobel Prize in 2020! In this hands-on workshop, we’ll explore CRISPR biology using fast, easy experiments that model the development of a cure for Cystic Fibrosis.

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

A purrfect introduction to genetics! Track inheritance in a family of cats using Punnett squares. Then, use gel electrophoresis to examine the gene that controls that trait. Students connect Mendelian genetics with our modern understanding of genes! No stains or extra visualization equipment needed.

SPEAKERS:
Katy Martin (miniPCR: Cambridge, MA), Katy Martin (miniPCR: Cambridge, MA)

Sponsoring Company: Kendall Hunt

BSCS Biology: Understanding for Life is designed for the NGSS. The inquiry-based program leverages the new BSCS Anchored Inquiry Learning instructional model as well as literacy and sensemaking strategies to support all learners. Join us to explore the program’s benefits and key features.

SPEAKERS:
Cynthia Gay (BSCS Science Learning: Colorado Springs, CO)

Sponsoring Company: MiniOne Systems

Let innovative technology and simplified prep take the mess and stress out of bacterial transformation with the Let it Glow TM Bacterial Transformation MiniLab.

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Explore how physical models foster an understanding of the importance of meiosis to the diversity seen among living things.

SPEAKERS:
Ruth Hutson (Blue Valley High/Middle School: Randolph, KS)

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek

Neuroscience is one of science’s fastest growing fields. Students learn about the field by exploring Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s, two neurodegenerative disorders. We will analyze the Huntingtin genes using PCR and electrophoresis and explore the biology behind Alzheimer’s disease with an ELISA.

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Discover a new way to study DNA and enzymes! Use fluorescence to see changes to DNA structure and enzyme activity with your own eyes. Explore how temperature, pH, and genetic sequence affect DNA base pairing. Then, see inhibitors, concentration, temperature, and pH affect enzymatic reaction rates.

SPEAKERS:
Ally Huang (miniPCR: Cambridge, MA)

Sponsoring Company: Visible Body

Lab time and access to specimens can be limited, expensive, or sometimes completely out of reach. Visible Body's 3D content and Courseware platform provide a digital alternative to wet labs and 2D textbook images and diagrams, allowing students to "cut" as many times as they need.

Sponsoring Company: College Board

Come for an active conversation about helping introductory learners prepare for AP-level course work in STEM. We will align challenge areas identified using AP exam data with the Pre-AP Course Framework and explore instructional strategies to help students meet these challenges.

SPEAKERS:
Laura Casdorph (College Board: New York, NY), Mitch Price (College Board: New York, NY)

Sponsoring Company: Nourish the Future

Become a leader in exploring solutions with students on issues affecting sustainability, climate, environment, and food production. Test solutions to real-world problems facing food production today with 4 inquiry-based lessons in biotechnology, water/soil quality, renewable fuels and biodiversity.

Sponsoring Company: MiniOne Systems

What ALE's you? Come see how bitter taste genotype and phenotype are linked, and how it can play a role in your fondness for certain food or drinks! Great use of CER's!

SPEAKERS:
Sherri Andrews (Retired Science Teacher: , NC)

Sponsoring Company: Vernier Science Education

Keep your students engaged by giving them opportunities to move and interact in class. Explore limb position and grip strength, balance, and EKG and EMG experiments designed to encourage students to think about the physiology of various human organ systems. Come ready to participate!

SPEAKERS:
Colleen McDaniel (Vernier Science Education: Beaverton, OR)

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Examine how modeling deepens student engagement. Explore carefully designed models to discover basic features of DNA structure and function using an atomically accurate model. Model nucleotides, DNA and RNA polymers, genetic sequences, genetic engineering, and an endless number of possibilities.

SPEAKERS:
Keri Shingleton (Biology Teacher: Tulsa, OK)

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek

Want to learn more about technologies used in today’s laboratories? If so, join this hands-on workshop! You’ll explore two biotechnology techniques, PCR and electrophoresis.. These experiments will help your students understand how techniques like genetic engineering work in a real-world context.

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Add a hands-on lab to your study of the central dogma! With the cell-free BioBits® system, students can watch as polymerases transcribe RNA and ribosomes translate it to make protein, all using fluorescent indicators. Now you can experiment directly with transcription and translation!

SPEAKERS:
Ally Huang (miniPCR: Cambridge, MA)

Do you impact your school and community with STEM? If you teach K–12, come learn how to apply to win up to $20K through this teacher competition.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to apply for the Shell-sponsored teacher competition, and collaborate with past winners and judges to learn how to strengthen your application.

SPEAKERS:
Ruth Ruud (Cleveland State University: Cleveland, OH), Amanda Upton (NSTA: Arlington, VA)

Sponsoring Company: Bio-rad Laboratories

Taxonomy in action: use visual cues and biotechnology techniques to sort bumblebees into separate species. Experience how PCR, sequencing, and bioinformatics help scientists distinguish bee species.

Sponsoring Company: MiniOne Systems

In this hands-on lab, you'll use scientific reasoning and experimental design to determine the source of a real-life foodborne outbreak with gel electrophoresis.

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Explore how physical models foster an understanding of how the structure of DNA and RNA determine the structure of proteins, which carry out the essential functions of life.

SPEAKERS:
Dan Williams (Teacher: Shelter Island, NY)

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek

Explore the relationship between genotype and phenotype using Phenylthiocarbamide (PTC). Some think PTC tastes bitter, while others find it tasteless. The ability to taste PTC is linked to variations in a taste receptor gene. In this workshop, you will use PCR to distinguish between PTC alleles.

Sponsoring Company: Texas Instruments

You will learn how to build and code a four-chamber heart (no coding experience required) while exploring how the heart works. This is a great project for middle and high school science and STEM students! You can also borrow all of the equipment for this project from TI for free.

Sponsoring Company: PASCO Scientific

Discover how collecting data from a classroom greenhouse can help you engage students in more meaningful explorations of environmental concepts. Learn how to measure, analyze, and control greenhouse conditions such as light, water, and airflow - then optimize them using block-based code.

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Company

Nurture students’ curiosity! Investigate methods used by scientists to estimate population sizes. Learn how students can use a terrestrial model to observe how pill bugs respond to habitat degradation. Use inquiry to develop experiments to observe the habitat preference of Bess beetles and milliped

Sponsoring Company: Anatomy in Clay

In this workshop, attendees will build replicas of human anatomy using clay and a specially designed skeletal model in a class-room setting. Educators will learn how to implement a unique curriculum system which helps students create a kinesthetic map of the human anatomy.

SPEAKERS:
Chuck Roney (ANATOMY IN CLAY Learning Systems: Loveland, CO)

Sponsoring Company: BIOZONE Corporation

BIOZONE's innovative interactive worktext approach is a departure from traditional textbook learning, providing flexible, engaging, student-centred resources. Teacher Toolkit helps teachers plan, deliver and assess NGSS and AP programs. Attendees receive a FREE print copy and a 1-year eBook license

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Meet Bandit™, the electrophoresis system that brings accessibility to a new level. Build an affordable, durable, and reusable electrophoresis system. Then, make connections between molecular and Mendelian genetics with electrophoresis labs that run in 20 minutes and don’t require staining.

SPEAKERS:
Katy Martin (miniPCR: Cambridge, MA)

Sponsoring Company: Flinn Scientific

Turn the traditional prescriptive lab on its head, adapting the learning style to meet your students as they explore and do science around real-world phenomena. See how you can combine videos, simulations, VR experiences, flexible assessments, and editable labs to create hands-on curriculum.

Sponsoring Company: Bio-rad Laboratories

Experience CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing experiments designed for your students' learning! In this hands-on workshop edit a chromosomal gene, complete with essential experimental controls, using the same cut-and-repair technology used in medicinal and agricultural applications.

Sponsoring Company: MiniOne Systems

Do the macromolecule lab with minimal prep, and see how students can apply their new skills to explore macromolecules in every day foods.

SPEAKERS:
Stacey Chapley (Science Teacher: South Deerfield, MA)

Sponsoring Company: Vernier Science Education

Engage your students in learning about the effects of climate change with this hands-on experiment. Using the latest Vernier data-collection technology, we'll define ocean acidification, determine how we can measure it, and discuss why it is bad for our marine ecosystems. Get ready to dive in!

SPEAKERS:
Colleen McDaniel (Vernier Science Education: Beaverton, OR)

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

This session will introduce a mRNA vaccine design activity in which students explore the uridine-to-pseudouridine modification as well as codon optimization.

SPEAKERS:
Tim Herman (3D Molecular Designs: Milwaukee, WI)

Sponsoring Company: Lab-Aids

Explore the use of sensemaking strategies to help students understand how selective gene expression works. Come experience a model lesson from a new Lab-Aids' program: Science and Global Issues: Biology, developed by SEPUP. This hands-on workshop will also show a connection to genetic engineering.

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek

Creating colorful bacteria with transformation is a memorable way to teach the central dogma of molecular biology. Take it a step further and have your students create art with the colorful cells! In this workshop, we’ll share tips for transformation success and create bio-art with microbial paint!

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Bring molecular techniques to Ecology and Evolution units. Join an expedition to Madagascar to decide if an extinct lemur species has been rediscovered! Test DNA with gel electrophoresis, build phylogenetic trees, and analyze authentic field data from the Duke Lemur Center.

SPEAKERS:
Ally Huang (miniPCR: Cambridge, MA), ALEXANDRA Dainis (Owner/Producer: LOS ANGELES, CA)

Sponsoring Company: NOAA

How do hydrothermal vent communities survive without sunlight? Dive into the deep with us and investigate how these ecosystems thrive in the absence of light using a student sensemaking approach and activity. We’ll also share resources that make it easier than ever to connect to ocean exploration.

SPEAKERS:
Suraida Nanez-James (Education Specialist), Kristin Rademaker (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Bekkah Lampe (NOAA Office of Education: Silver Spring, MD)

Sponsoring Company: Savvas Learning Company

We will explore the ways in which a curriculum built around the Covid-19 virus can help students to explore some of the most basic processes in biology. The emergence and spread of this virus will be used to demonstrate important principles in evolution, genetics, molecular and cell biology.

SPEAKERS:
Kenneth Miller (Brown University: Providence, RI)

Sponsoring Company: Accu-Scope

ACCU-SCOPE would like to offer a professional class instructing teachers the best techniques for acquiring images on items that are part of their curriculum. These classes will discuss mitosis slides, contrast methods for seeing live water organisms, polarizers, phase contrast, photosynthesis, etc.

Although cancer biology is an important topic with the study life science, the definition of cancer literacy has been ill defined. This project demonstrates limitations of using one measure of cancer literacy, the Cancer Health Literacy Test-6, within the scope of a cancer biology outreach program.

TAKEAWAYS:
Cancer literacy has been broadly defined and assessed. Assessment of cancer biology knowledge may be best suited by the use of instructor-prepared, lesson-specific assessments.

SPEAKERS:
Emily Heath (Student: Warrenville, SC), Kamani Barnes (Student: Warrenville, SC), Alexandria Martin (Student: , SC), Christie Palladino (Teacher: Warrenville, SC)

Joining a research lab as an undergraduate is a boon to many future career directions, making it important to equip students with the tools to find and contact potential laboratories. We will discuss evidence for the need for these tools as well as a tested strategy for their input into classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Gaps in knowledge created by socio-economic differences, being a first-generation college student, etc., can make it challenging to find a research laboratory, or decide what skills are required to join. We will demonstrate a modular teaching device to help fill this void.

SPEAKERS:
Joseph Ruesch (Postdoctoral Researcher/Educator: Ithaca, NY)

Introducing students to real-world engineering problems is a key component to engaging them in the science classroom. In this project, students solve the problem of saving pets from a hot car. Many students are aware of this issue and would have many ideas on how this could be achieved. This projects gives them the tools to help solve such a problem by building a model and finding a solution. Participants in this session will get to build the model themselves to see how information from sensors (input) can determine what should be done (output) through simple lines of code. No coding or engineering experience is needed, just imagination and logical thinking. Projects like these can expose students to STEM Careers. The exposure to coding and engineering design can also get them interested in doing more in the STEM field.

TAKEAWAYS:
Solve a real-world problem with coding and engineering design - no prior experience needed.

SPEAKERS:
Stacy Thibodeaux (Southside High School: Youngsville, LA)

The Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science (TIES) provides teachers with free and downloadable resources for an entire unit of instruction, including a variety of assessments.

TAKEAWAYS:
The TIES website contains a variety of teaching materials including presentations, online resources, online games, video questions, data analysis, puzzles, and formal assessments. The formal assessments include student response sheets and rubrics to support teaching evolution.

SPEAKERS:
Amanda Clapp (The Catamount School: Sylva, NC), Alison Seymour (Science Teacher: Winchester, 0)

Sponsoring Company: Bio-rad Laboratories

Genetic engineering in medicine and agriculture can be achieved with various techniques, all of which require secondary experimental confirmations. In this workshop learn how to use models to teach CRISPR gene editing, experimental controls, and various techniques for validating observed results.

Sponsoring Company: MiniOne Systems

Run and analyze the Familial Hypercholesterolemia genotypes of family members to see which members are at risk for this inherited condition.

SPEAKERS:
Crystal McDowell (Greenbrier High School: Evans, GA)

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Engage in an exploration of the unique chemical and physical properties of water and the phospholipid bilayer that separates cells from their surrounding environment.

SPEAKERS:
Ruth Hutson (Blue Valley High/Middle School: Randolph, KS)

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Company

Data analysis provides evidence for posing scientific arguments and models. Tree ring and WFP data are collected then used to make arguments about climate change and inheritance patterns. Data set size and differences between direct and indirect data are illustrated.

Sponsoring Company: Lab-Aids

Learning Sequences to drive phenomena through a unit is one way to help students understand the content. In this model activity from a new Lab-Aids program: Science and Global Issues: Biology, developed by SEPUP, you will use data to investigate how abiotic factors and species diversity are related.

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

PTC tasting is a classic way to link genotype and phenotype. Use PCR and gel electrophoresis to determine if students have taster or non-taster alleles for bitter perception. Learn about our all-new curriculum and see how easy it can be to bring molecular genetics to your class!

SPEAKERS:
Ezequiel Alvarez-Saavedra (miniPCR: Cambridge, MA), ALEXANDRA Dainis (Owner/Producer: LOS ANGELES, CA), ALEXANDRA Dainis (Owner/Producer: LOS ANGELES, CA)

Sponsoring Company: Animalearn

Want to help your students explore anatomy without dissecting animals? Tune in and learn about the latest advancements in life science, from AR/VR dissection technology to hands-on non-animal resources that will both amaze and engage your students.

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Green (Animalearn: Jenkintown, PA)

Sponsoring Company: Bio-rad Laboratories

Two out of three drug overdoses are due to opioids. Understanding the environmental & genetic links to drug dependency can reduce risk when opioids are prescribed to high-risk patients. Discover how math, genetics, & personalized medicine can determine the likelihood of addiction.

Sponsoring Company: MiniOne Systems

Run an agarose gel to make DNA Fingerprints to determine who baby whale Luna's dad is. This activity can be done in a single classroom period.

SPEAKERS:
Anna Mazur (Science Teacher: , MA)

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Come experience our new collection of protein models enhanced by molecular stories, digital resources and augmented reality technology. Bigger, better,…and more robust.

SPEAKERS:
Ruth Hutson (Blue Valley High/Middle School: Randolph, KS), Tim Herman (3D Molecular Designs: Milwaukee, WI)

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Sickle cell disease is an excellent model to discuss topics ranging from protein structure and function to inheritance and genetic diseases. Add an engaging hands-on activity that only takes one class period! This lab helps a fictional family obtain a molecular diagnosis using gel electrophoresis.

SPEAKERS:
Ezequiel Alvarez-Saavedra (miniPCR: Cambridge, MA), ALEXANDRA Dainis (Owner/Producer: LOS ANGELES, CA)

Sponsoring Company: Bio-rad Laboratories

Put your epidemiologist hat on and determine the transmission mode of a new virus using molecular data, patient histories, and clues hidden in a restaurant.

Sponsoring Company: MiniOne Systems

In this STEAM activity, you will make art using drops of color dye – similar to the pointillism art technique, while perfecting pipetting technique.

Sponsoring Company: Vernier Science Education

Stop counting bubbles! Your students can easily visualize photosynthesis and cellular respiration using the latest Vernier technology. This workshop will cover sample collection, carbon dioxide data analysis, and inquiry ideas to test variables that affect photosynthesis and cellular respiration.

SPEAKERS:
Colleen McDaniel (Vernier Science Education: Beaverton, OR)

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Cell to cell communication is difficult for students to grasp; but signal molecules and receptors come to life with this hands-on model synapse. Further engage your students using this model to reflect how drugs and toxins disturb the biochemistry of the synapse.

SPEAKERS:
Dan Williams (Teacher: Shelter Island, NY)

Sponsoring Company: Texas Instruments

Attendees will explore disease modeling through the use of ZOMBIES!

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Company

With the transition to 3-D learning and NGSS, is there still a place for dissections in the classroom? The answer is yes! As you dissect a frog, we will demonstrate how to integrate the 3 dimensions of learning while highlighting adaptations and the relationship between structure and function.

SPEAKERS:
Patti Kopkau (Retired Educator: National City, MI)

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Learn about our suite of CRISPR/Cas activities. From using Cas9 to target DNA in a test tube, to knocking out a gene in bacteria, our labs will put real CRISPR/Cas in your students’ hands. Free educational resources like CRISPR/Cas paper models will also be demonstrated.

SPEAKERS:
Ally Huang (miniPCR: Cambridge, MA)

The Citizen Science model provides students with opportunities to engage in authentic, purposeful, and relevant educational activities in support of local, state, and national scientific research and monitoring projects.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be introduced to a variety of Life Science and Ecology-based Citizen Science ideas ranging from simple to highly complex activities: activities that teachers can do on their own with students or in collaboration with local, state, or federal wildlife or conservation organizations.

SPEAKERS:
Robert Hodgdon (Richmond Hill Middle School: Richmond Hill, GA)

Looking to increase achievement in an immersive way? The Air Camp Team will demonstrate how to harness the universal appeal of flight by captivating students with lessons and engaging activities rooted in biology standards while exploring exciting and fast growing aviation career fields!

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn strategies to construct activities resulting in greater interest and mastery of biology for students in grades K-12. Explore distinct professional practices that expand biology standards into unforgettable learning experiences associated with human life, animals, plantlife, and so much more!

SPEAKERS:
Shannon Coblentz (Director of Operations: Dayton, OH), Christina Davis (Air Camp USA, Inc.: Dayton, OH)

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

TAKEAWAYS:
The participants will network with other high school-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.

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Promising idea or a recipe for disaster? Beta-test a new app that pairs with 3DMD’s physical models.

SPEAKERS:
Heather Ryan (3D Molecular Designs: Milwaukee, WI)

Sponsoring Company: NOAA

Your students will employ the NGSS Practice of developing and using models within VR versions of ocean habitats. Three new lessons from NOAA explore scientific modeling and ocean ecosystems. Lessons include Ocean Food Webs, Observations vs. Models, and Predators and Prey (in a marine setting).

SPEAKERS:
Bruce Moravchik (NOAA National Ocean Service: Silver Spring, MD), Randy Russell (Dragonfly Games: Boulder, CO)

Sponsoring Company: InnerOrbit

During this session you’ll build a scaffolded, NGSS-aligned assessments to use with your classroom, school, or district! We'll investigate building prior grade level assessments, cover common misconceptions around sensemaking, and best practices for scaffolding assessments for HS students.

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Describe the DNA and enzyme structures that researchers use to create biotechnology applications such as restriction enzymes and PCR. Identify how models can be used to reveal student understanding. Learn formative assessment opportunities in the modeling process.

SPEAKERS:
Keri Shingleton (Biology Teacher: Tulsa, OK)

Explore a free unit featuring progressive cell models supported by multimedia tools. A realistic and dynamic exploration of cells, cell systems, and disruption by pathogens.

TAKEAWAYS:
How to integrate realistic multimedia and paper-based modeling exercises to depict the dynamic inner-workings of cells and tissues.

SPEAKERS:
Jen Taylor (Lakeview Academy: Saratoga Springs, UT)

Do have the forensic skills needed to solve the mystery? Join Dr. Yemothy for a mini-CSI hands-on workshop exploring basic forensics skills needed to solve the murder. Leave with a packet of classroom activities and murder mystery for your students to solve.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with the experience of practicing forensic skills that can be done in a classroom setting. Educators will be provided with a packet of forensic activities and a murder mystery to take back to their classroom for use with students.

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Yemothy (K-8 STEM Educator & Trainer)

Teaching reproduction and puberty can be challenging for early middle schoolers. We have created a fun, engaging, and inquiry-based curriculum that gets even the most hesitant student excited about sexual health!

TAKEAWAYS:
Teaching reproduction and puberty for middle schoolers can be engaging and fun!

SPEAKERS:
Laura Doyle (MYP Science Teacher: Atlanta, GA), Kyla Corelli (Atlanta International School: Atlanta, GA)

First Green is a free, innovative, environmental and STEM education outreach program using golf courses as environmental learning labs. Golf Course staff host grades 4-12 students who engage in site-based, hands-on learning activities related to golf course agronomy, technology, and ecology.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how First Green activities increase student engagement and learning and receive information regarding contacts and scheduling a First Green field trip from Leann Cooper, Senior Manager, Chapter Services, Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.

SPEAKERS:
Robert Hodgdon (Richmond Hill Middle School: Richmond Hill, GA), Leann Cooper (Golf Course Superintendents Association of America: Lawrence, KS)

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Model the molecular mechanism of CRISPR Cas9 with Making the Cut kit. Also explore how Cas9 is engineered as a more powerful genome editing tool.

SPEAKERS:
Tim Herman (3D Molecular Designs: Milwaukee, WI)

Use award-winning videos, crash-science demos and teacher tip-assisted activities including paper car crashes, egg drop cushions and stretchy slime to teach science and engineering concepts related to vehicle crashworthiness and highway safety.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participant will learn how to access inquiry-based lessons and video-supported activities integrating STEM concepts with vehicle crashworthiness and crash avoidance technologies.

SPEAKERS:
Pini Kalnite (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Highway Loss Data Institute: Arlington, VA), Griff Jones (University of Florida: No City, No State)

Explore a free middle school unit that integrates genetics concepts to help students understand natural selection. Features paper-based activities, multimedia pieces, and games!

TAKEAWAYS:
How to access and use a new, free unit that integrates core ideas in genetics, heredity, and natural selection, through multimedia materials.

SPEAKERS:
Jen Taylor (Lakeview Academy: Saratoga Springs, UT)

It happens every school year. Someone came to school sick and spreads their germ. Now 20% of the class is sick. Can you use your contract tracing skills to determine who Patient Zero might have been? Participants will work in epidemiology teams to spread the flu and try to identify Patient Zero.

TAKEAWAYS:
Experience from the student’s perspective of how to execute this lab and what it takes as a team member to solve the mystery. Participants will also receive teacher guide packet for how to set up and implement the lab in their classroom with students.

SPEAKERS:
Vidalina Trevino (Albert Einstein Fellow: Alexandria, VA), Nicole Yemothy (K-8 STEM Educator & Trainer)

With the catalog of known exoplanets growing, NASA scientists are searching these worlds for signatures of life as we do (and do not) know it. In this session, participants learn through hands-on activities about NASA astrobiology missions that attempt to answer the age-old question: are we alone?

TAKEAWAYS:
To offer participants resources and strategies for developing an astrobiology [life sciences] unit that integrates hands-on NASA education activities, cutting-edge scientific research, and differing worldviews [cosmologies] that combine science, culture, art and storytelling.

SPEAKERS:
Anne Weiss (Educator Professional Development Specialist)

Moths play key roles in food webs, as pests, and as nocturnal pollinators. The MothEd Project invites students and teachers to investigate moths in local places by building blacklight traps, developing hypotheses, collecting and analyzing moth data in collaboration with others using a web platform.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will prepare to engage students in science investigations of moth ecology by building blacklight traps, developing research questions/hypotheses, collecting/analyzing data from local habitats, and using technology-enhanced curricular materials to foster collaboration & agency among students

SPEAKERS:
Peter White (Associate Professor: No City, No State), Brian Keas (Research Associate)

How does the installation of offshore wind turbines impact marine life? This hands-on session will allow participants to design and test a model that would reduce noise pollution from drilling into the sea floor.

TAKEAWAYS:
Engineers and marine biologists work together to ensure that protected species are not negatively impacted during the installation of offshore wind turbines. Participants will investigate the precautionary measure of using bubble curtains to absorb sound waves.

SPEAKERS:
Cori Nelson (Winfield School District 34: Winfield, IL)

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Learn how students can explore complex properties of water while manipulating magnetic molecules that also teach model literacy for learning all year long.

SPEAKERS:
Keri Shingleton (Biology Teacher: Tulsa, OK)

Although questions are an important aspect of effective science teaching, many science teachers may not be aware of the questions they ask. This session will show three questioning strategies including SHARE (Wilcox et al., 2021), using students’ responses to drive the conversation forward, and convergent/divergent questions. We will demonstrate the questioning techniques during a 5E where we use specimens preserved in acrylic to investigate the structure/function relationships (1-LS1-1, 4-LS1-1) and to consider homologous and analogous structures (MS-LS4-2).

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn three different questioning strategies they can use with their students. Additionally, participants will experience these questions in action as the presenters will use life science examples to teach the questioning strategies.

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

A skyrocketing global population is making us rethink how we feed people. Traditional protein sources are unequally distributed and can have devastating effects. We will be investigating how insects could help us feed the world in a more equitable and sustainable way. Bring your appetite!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how traditional ways of farming protein (poultry and cattle) negatively affect the ecological communities and explore how insects could help rectify this problem.

SPEAKERS:
Courtney Ologbosele (Teacher), Curtis Martin (Teacher)

Sponsoring Company: HHMI Tangled Bank Studios

We will introduce a new package of classroom and informal science education resources funded by NSF and produced by the team behind Blue Whales: Return of the Giants, a new IMAX film. The workshop will explore animal feeding strategies, communication, and specialization through virtual field trips a

SPEAKERS:
Alex Duckles (Digital Media & Impact Producer)