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)

Learn how to use guiding phenomena to increase student engagement and inquiry. The guiding phenomenon of Sickle Cell will be demonstrated for Biology and Mangrove Forests for Environmental Science.

TAKEAWAYS:
From this session, attendees will learn how to use guiding phenomena to develop units that engage students and increase inquiry.

SPEAKERS:
Elissa Blount (Vidalia High School: Vidalia, GA)

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)

This project was funded by a National Science Foundation grant to expose high school students to geoscience within their required science curriculum. A collateral benefit is integrating key concepts in other sciences. In Biology, natural selection requires eons (“deep time”) to create Earth’s biodiversity. In project-based learning using fossil-bearing rocks of multiple ages, students experience deep time concretely. A barrier to hands-on fossil study is the expense of specimens good enough for university students to systematically learn fossil taxa. However, imperfect samples can connect anyone to deep time. Ironically, some such samples are simply dumped when teachers return from professional development field trips. This presentation reveals a path to making use of such ordinary material by 1) circling fossils in ink, 2) creating a picture guide from circled fossils, 3) building a PBL unit uniting those fossils with a biodiversity-though-time graphic known as a Tree of Life diagram.

TAKEAWAYS:
Might students better master evolution standards, especially extinction and adaptation, by encountering fossils through "deep time"? Teacher-collected samples, with fossils circled in ink, a picture guide made from the set, and a detailed Tree of Life diagram form foundations for PBL exploration.

SPEAKERS:
Adrianna Rajkumar (Lecturer), Katty Mobasher (Professor of Geology and GIS: , GA), Bill Witherspoon (geologist/educator: Decatur, GA)

Students from Anna-Jonesboro High School and Marion High School worked together to complete a field study on tardigrades and biodiversity.

TAKEAWAYS:
Students felt more driven to succeed in their scientific research when working with peers from another school.

SPEAKERS:
Emily Richbourg (Anna Jonesboro Community High School)

This poster will introduce attendees to Transformational Learning Theory and how we have used this as a research to practice framework. We will provide best practices for using it to develop science teacher education programs, particularly focused on study abroad or study away opportunities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to create transformational learning experiences for their science teacher educators using study abroad and study away opportunities. A template for designing and assessing such experiences will be shared.

SPEAKERS:
Lacey Huffling (Georgia Southern University: Statesboro, GA)

An AD can decrease the amount of waste in landfills, and produce clean energy, the byproduct of digestate (liquid and solid) can be used as fertilizer, it prevents pollution of the atmosphere, and the processing time takes (20 to 30 days) less than composting.

TAKEAWAYS:
This research aimed to identify and create a way to repurpose and utilize organic waste material that usually ends up in landfills. By creating a closed system within the laboratory, we measured the gas production of carbon dioxide and methane gas, and which waste produces the most biogas.

SPEAKERS:
Candace Edmerson (Duncanville High School: Duncanville, TX)

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)

Come learn about co.lab, an interdisciplinary course designed by Leyden teachers that includes Biology, Global Studies, English, Health/PE and Digital Literacy. Discover how we use our 4 period block of time in a traditional school day to reimagine how students learn and teachers collaborate.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will walk away from this session feeling inspired to collaborate within and outside of their departments, with ideas and strategies on how to do so. They'll learn the power of exhibiting student work, and hear new ideas on how to do so on a grander scale.

SPEAKERS:
Jamie Litzhoff (Leyden High School District 212: Franklin Park, IL)

The Human Evolution Lab Suite (HELS) is a collection of select labs that supplement existing biology curricula. The very best fossil, physiologic, behavioral, and genetic evidence is woven together to produce a compelling confluence of evidence for hominid (human) evolution.

TAKEAWAYS:
The Human Evolution Lab Suite (HELS) is a set of labs that features the most compelling and student-accessible evidence for human evolution, designed for user-friendly delivery by an instructor with the help of open access lesson plans and tools.

SPEAKERS:
Chris Bayer (Co-Founder, AncientAncestors.org: Feucht, Germany)

The effects of a Storyline approach was used in a High School biology class. A storyline focusing on the concept of ecosystem homeostasis was presented to students and compared to a traditional teaching approach. Results indicated that student content knowledge and attitudes improved.

TAKEAWAYS:
Storylines are effective teaching tool to help student learn science content through the lens of Science & Engineering Practices and Crosscutting Concepts.

SPEAKERS:
Shane Cullian (Whitewater High School: Whitewater, WI), John Graves (Montana State University: Bozeman, MT)

Empower students to playfully explore science through food and cooking. Explore the theoretical underpinnings that support sensemaking in the classroom and practical avenues for facilitating equitable and accessible learning through food and cooking.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to authentically leverage food and cooking to make science concepts concrete in the secondary classroom which platforms individual student voices, experiences, and ideas.

SPEAKERS:
Kate Strangfeld (Harvard University: Cambridge, MA)

Free phenomenon based unit around chromatin remodeling! Organization of a meter of DNA into a 5-μm nucleus is an obstacle and a way that genes are regulated. Using free resources including a 3D cut-and-paste model, this unit explores how DNA is organized and how access to DNA is controlled.

TAKEAWAYS:
DNA is coiled around histones. Tightly coiled DNA is inaccessible to gene reading machinery. Methyl molecules bind to DNA and block access to genes. Acetyl molecules bind to histones and improve access to genes.

SPEAKERS:
April Thompson (Lakeview Academy: Saratoga Springs, UT)

Grasses are important to biodiversity, geography, and human culture. Their diversity includes rice, corn, wheat, sugar cane, bamboo and more, and they cover much of Earth’s surface. Explore grasses on Earth@Home, a free online interactive resource for learning about the history of Earth and i

TAKEAWAYS:
Grasses play critical roles in our everyday lives, in landscapes, and in global ecosystems. Grasses on Earth@Home provides information on the diversity, evolution, and role of grasses in human society to assist educators in weaving information about these important plants into their courses.

SPEAKERS:
Don Haas (The Paleontological Research Institution)