This session disseminates learnings from an early-phase STEM project of the federal Education Innovation and Research (EIR) program. A joint effort of the Community Training and Assistance Center (CTAC) and Tracy Unified School District in California, the multi-year project centers on the development and implementation of integrated STEM curricular units to every student in each grade level, pre-kindergarten through grade twelve. Developed by local teacher leaders, each 4- to 8-week unit centers on a design challenge, clusters the ETS and other NGSS standards related to that challenge, and requires students to develop a computational artifact as a part of demonstrating their learning. The project is enriched through the participation of community leaders who bring local industry experiences to students within each unit, and is supported through strategic work teams. Come see how this systemic reform is bringing equitable STEM experiences to all students PreK-12. Leave inspired with ide

TAKEAWAYS:
1. How one district approaches integrated STEM; 2. What an integrated STEM unit feels like; and 3. How one district supports and builds accountability for equitable STEM instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Scott Reynolds (Community Training and Assistance Center (CTAC): Boston, MA)

Protecting Whales is one of two new freely available units in the Smithsonian Science for Computational Thinking series. Learn about integrating computational thinking into your elementary STEM classroom using both hands-on and high-tech resources by using this specific third grade unit.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to integrate computational thinking into the upper elementary STEM classroom using a problem-driven approach. Learn how to access everything needed to implement the 3rd grade Protecting Whales unit.

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Rogers (Smithsonian Science Education Center: Washington, DC), Sarah Glassman (Smithsonian Science Education Center: Washington, DC)

Immerse yourself in a classroom-ready lesson that creates the need to engage in Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking to build science ideas needed to explain a phenomenon young students are curious about.

TAKEAWAYS:
Elementary students engage in Using Mathematics and Computational thinking everyday as they describe, make comparisons between, and test predictions about systems in the world.

SPEAKERS:
Kate Soriano (NSTA: Arlington, VA)