Explore the NSTA Website with us! NSTA provides high-quality digital resources and opportunities—all within a professional community—that supports professional learning and classroom instruction. NSTA staff will be available to answer questions.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will become knowledgeable about the plethora of digital resources available on NSTA’s website, about the live events, and professional learning community that can help them enhance their knowledge and improve their teaching practices.

SPEAKERS:
Michelle Phillips (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Flavio Mendez (NSTA: Arlington, VA)

Generating STEM interest through a place-conscious framework is a pathway for students to solve issues relevant to their community. Framing instructional methods within the place-conscious design allow important issues to be at the center of the curriculum.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session will explore how to design hands-on inquiry lesson developed from a place-conscious framework.

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Bookheimer (Pre-service Teacher: , MT)

Grounding in culturally-sustaining STEM as an asset pedagogy in context of an informal learning setting, we will focus on lessons learned in a Gullah community and share curriculum examples along with recommendations for culturally based STEM programs through the lens of our project’s stakeholders.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will (1) understand that within the STEM disciplines culture is a part of and embedded within underserved and underrepresented groups and communities and (2) identify ways to design and integrate community assets into project-based learning experiences.

SPEAKERS:
Fenice Boyd (Chair and Professorr: Columbia, SC), Regina Ciphrah (Verbalizing Visions, LLC)

Use NASA’s Universe of Learning (UoL) multiwavelength image sets of star formation regions, protostars, red giants, white dwarfs, planetary nebulas, neutron stars, pulsars, supernovas, and black holes to investigate stellar evolution, as physical properties and brightness of stars change over time.

TAKEAWAYS:
Stars form in giant molecular clouds of gas and dust in star formation regions, and depending on their initial mass, usually follow a sequence that ends in their destruction in catastrophic collapses and explosions. Plotting their changing physical properties on the H-R diagram shows the process.

SPEAKERS:
Donna Young (NASA/NSO/UoL Program Manager: Laughlin, NV)

Use your position to impact more teachers and students and actualize the NGSS vision. Success stories include: launching an NGSS-aligned curriculum, forming collegial circles, hosting administrator-focused workshops, and providing assessment resources.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be inspired to form partnerships with formal and informal organizations supporting science education. Participants will hear success stories and receive electronic links to relevant resources.

SPEAKERS:
Harry Rosvally (Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES: Yorktown Heights, NY), David Jacob (Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES: Yorktown Hghts, NY)

We will share a model of science home/school partnership, focused on families of young multilingual learners (MLs) that fuels their science and language learning across contexts, sparks their interest and self-efficacy in science, and can be leveraged to support their school science learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with concrete strategies, tools, and resources for building science partnerships with families of MLs that support language-enriched science experiences at home and mutually reinforce children's NGSS-aligned science and language experiences at school.

SPEAKERS:
Mandell Academy (Connecticut Science Center: Hartford, CT), Rachel Shurick (Connecticut Science Center: Hartford, CT), Becky Fahey (Connecticut Science Center: Hartford, CT), Cindy Hoisington (Education Development Center, Inc.: Holbrook, MA)

As education professionals seek to engage with Tribal entities to support Youth, they need resources to help ensure that they are stepping respectfully and intentionally. Learn about an Un-guidebook, supported by 100kin10, to help non-Native education professionals engage with Tribal entities.

TAKEAWAYS:
After this session, STEM educators will know more about building relationship with indigenous communities, and how both formal/OST, educators can use the Un-guide to create the first steps of a relationship with Tribal entities in their community and better support Tribal learners, especially youth.

SPEAKERS:
Kathy Hoppe (STEMisED, Inc: No City, No State), Melinda Higgins (U.S. Dept. of Energy - Fossil Energy & Carbon Management: Washington, DC)

What started out as our solution to “viewing science fair projects can be boring” evolved into a well-attended, hands-on experience for our families and community. In this session we will share our station-oriented activities and how to use them to build relationships with families and your school.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will walk away with the resources and confidence to organize large events for their school and community using science to build relationships. Session participants will be given an outline of helpful resources, tools, and ideas they can use to manage their own events.

SPEAKERS:
Megan Hunt (First Grade Teacher: Eustis, FL), Anne Fritz (Science Teacher: Eustis, FL)

An introduction for teachers to free standards-based lessons focused on a diverse group of scientists who have made scientific breakthroughs and the positive role of science in our lives provided by #ScienceSaves.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will become familiar with free resources to teach how science has benefited human outcomes with lessons focused on a diverse group of scientists, including teacher notes with curriculum standards, student response sheets, rubrics, and lesson plans.

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

Culturally responsive pedagogy can help bridge the diversity gap in STEM. This session shares how our Dream City program supports all students in thinking like urban planners to design beautiful neighborhoods that are not only structurally sound but also inclusive and responsive to all who come.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will have a chance to see how IMSA Outreach provides inquiry-based, hands-on STEM learning. Attendees will see how inquiry-based teaching and learning is, by its very nature, inherently culturally responsive and can leave with practical ideas to use in their own classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Elaine Wu (Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy: Aurora, IL)

We share a free online toolkit based on our recent experiences building community partnerships intended to support development of STEM career pathways for youth in a rural mountain community. Learn how you might use these tools and strategies in your own community.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to build a network of community partnerships that can support efforts to increase youth interest in STEM careers. This toolkit provides strategies and tools that you can use to develop a STEM partnership program that brings together students and STEM professionals from your community.

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Rummel (UCAR Center for Science Education: Boulder, CO)

The Informal Science Division is packed with professionals volunteering their decades of experience for NSTA. Join this open format meeting as the committee discusses future plans and ways that you can engage with them. You'll also have the chance to ask questions and find out how they can help you.

TAKEAWAYS:
Ways to engage with the Informal Science Division.

SPEAKERS:
Lindsay Milner (Mad Science Group Inc.: Montreal, QC)

Former teacher and host of the freely-available Tumble Science Podcast for Kids Marshall Escamilla will guide science educators in the nuts and bolts of creating a classroom podcast. We'll cover the very basics of getting set up and sharing your content with the entire community.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees at this session will learn the very basics of how to create a classroom podcast from a professional podcaster.

SPEAKERS:
Marshall Escamilla (Tumble Media Production: Greenfield, MA)

Department of Energy national labs provide opportunities for researchers to be involved in developing authentic STEM learning experiences for students. Join this hands-on session to see how Berkeley Lab energy technologies research is reflected in projects on sustainability and alternative energy.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn about NGSS-aligned curriculum resources that reflect authentic STEM research at Berkeley Lab, and directly experience hands-on sustainability/alternative energy projects.

SPEAKERS:
Faith Dukes (Director, K-12 STEM Education Programs: Berkeley, CA), Alisa Bettale (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: Berkeley, CA)

This session provides an opportunity for NSTA members to start an important conversation about the intersection of informal and formal science education. There will be a panel of informal educators leading the discussion and sharing success stories about meaningful formal-informal collaborations.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with an increased awareness and understanding of potential synergies between informal and formal science education organizations as well as a better understanding of NSTA’s Informal Science Division.

SPEAKERS:
Karen Hays (Denver Zoo: Denver, CO), Julie Travaglini (Allegheny Land Trust: Sewickley, PA), Christine Moskalik (NSTA: No City, No State)

Our FlyGirls program was developed to introduce young women in grades 4–8 to aerospace using drones. The Cobb County School District has partnered with Lockheed Martin, FTW Robotics, female drone pilots from across the U.S., and other informal educators to offer our FlyGirls program.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will: 1. learn how to cultivate a dynamic partnerships between multiple agencies; 2. receive step-by-step guidance to start your own local chapter of FlyGirls; and 3. receive access to the resources we developed and used with our FlyGirls group.

SPEAKERS:
Alana Davis (Cobb County School District: Marietta, GA)

Department of Energy national labs provide opportunities for students to interact with STEM professionals and learn STEM skills through research-based curricula. Berkeley Lab has developed a data science curriculum in which students apply data analysis and coding skills on datasets from researchers.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to integrate data science and coding into their STEM classes through an open source, research-based curriculum developed at Berkeley Lab.

SPEAKERS:
Faith Dukes (Director, K-12 STEM Education Programs: Berkeley, CA), Alisa Bettale (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: Berkeley, CA)

Want to strengthen learning experiences outside of the classroom? All teachers are welcome to participate in this workshop where we will practice field trip collaboration skills with experts from local informal science education centers. Opportunity for free treats from Atlanta area centers!

TAKEAWAYS:
In this workshop teachers will partner with informal educators to co-develop a plan connecting classroom learning goals with the educational opportunities offered at an informal center. Teachers will be equipped to leverage their educational expertise to better collaborate for their next field trip.

SPEAKERS:
James Ammons (Gwinnett County Public Schools: Suwanee, GA)

Partnerships between museums, PD providers, and coaches can catalyze partners' expertise and networks and build trust and buy-in to create positive change in STEM learning. NYSCI and NYSCATE will share lessons learned from a research-practice-partnership to improve middle school physics instruction.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn about forming and maintaining partnerships with different stakeholders involved in the professional learning process, catalyzing specific networks based on organizational expertise, and how to establish trust, shared leadership and ownership throughout complex partnerships.

SPEAKERS:
Michaela Labriole (NYSCI: Corona, NY), Linda Brandon (Consultant: Croton on Hudson, NY), Antonio Scordo (Coordinator Technology Integration and Curriculum Development: , NY)

Learn how GPS, seismometers, Lidar, magnetotelluric, and other geophysical instruments help to measure the changes in our environment such as groundwater fluctuations and drought, climate change, volcanic deformation, river evolution, sea level changes, vegetation height, and more!

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will be able to: Describe some of the applications of seismology and geodesy to a wide range of Earth and environmental phenomena

SPEAKERS:
Tammy Bravo (IRIS | Earthscope Consortium: Vancouver, WA)

Learn how, working with Latinx communities, we’re developing a conceptual framework for a strengths-based approach that guides development of new resources and messaging to generate interest in STEM. Iterative prototype development and formative research are part of the project.

TAKEAWAYS:
Ideas for exploring community-based effort to increase STEM opportunities and resources for Latinx and other youth.

SPEAKERS:
Shawn Stevens (GBH Education: Brighton, MA)

This presentation centers the NGSS dimensions of science, crosscutting concepts, and engineering practices in real-life applications that yield tangible results to get students excited about STEAM by engaging with a school garden. Current teachers will share their successes and pitfalls.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session is aimed at helping teachers see that school gardening provides a plethora of STEAM-based learning experiences from current teacher perspectives.

SPEAKERS:
Tain Curtis (Teacher: , UT)

Hispanic students are being disproportionally left out of STEM opportunities due to many barriers. One avenue to bridge this disconnect is through community outreach and relationship building with both Hispanic students and families while incorporating STEM activities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will receive a template to begin building relationships with Hispanic students and families through community outreach events. This template will also include a scholarship list for undocumented/DACA students, a FAFSA guide, and an ideal student guide. All in Spanish and English.

SPEAKERS:
Elesha Goodfriend (Walters State Community College: Morristown, TN), Kelly Moore (Walters State Community College: Morristown, TN)

Learn how we use the 3-H Learning Cycle and our school garden to teach integrated STEAM lessons in our early childhood classrooms. This approach incorporates hearts-on, hands-on, and minds-on learning to address children’s social and emotional needs. We will share STEAM lessons and tips.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn about the 3-H Social and Emotional Learning Cycle, our favorite integrated STEAM garden-based lessons, and tips for effective and safe outdoor learning with young children (K-2). How to encourage students and families to get outside and make community connections in outdoor spaces.

SPEAKERS:
Kathy Trundle (Utah STate University: No City, No State), Shannon Rhodes (Teacher: Logan, UT)

Are you looking to integrate science fiction (sci-fi) media into your science classroom? Travel with us as we share current research regarding individuals’ interest in learning science while attending “science tracks” at sci-fi conventions and how we can integrate sci-fi into the science classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants attending this session will explore current research regarding the informal learning space of science fiction conventions and how these spaces and science fiction media can be used in formal science classrooms to support the learning of science.

SPEAKERS:
Gina Childers (Texas Tech University: Lubbock, TX), Rebecca Hite (Texas Tech University: Lubbock, TX), Kania Greer (Georgia Southern University: Statesboro, GA)

Community-based STEM (CBSTEM) programs, in this context, are school and organization-independent entities that were founded by local community members who recognized the importance of making STEM learning accessible to girls from populations that are traditionally underrepresented in STEM. This particular CBSTEM program is structured to leverage the financial and human resources of local businesses, organizations, and other community members, i.e., high school students. Middle school girls living in urban communities had an opportunity to engage in authentic STEM learning experiences, mentorship with STEM professionals, and exploration of careers. In addition to providing details about the structure of the program and how it functioned to extend the work of science practitioners, this session will explore how this CBSTEM program was able to pivot and evolve during the COVID-19 pandemic.

TAKEAWAYS:
The main takeaway of this session is to raise awareness about this school-independent community program and others like it that function to extend the work science practitioner do in classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Marisol Jimenez (student), Vanessa Dodo Seriki (Morgan State University: Baltimore, MD)

Come learn about professional development opportunities that will reinvigorate your teaching, allowing you to see science happening around the world.

TAKEAWAYS:
Professional development can not only teach you new things; but can inspire you to see science happening in the world. Come learn about some of the opportunities.

SPEAKERS:
Victoria Obenchain (The Saklan School: Moraga, CA)

The International Space Station National Labs Space Station Explorers has over 25 programs that can help your students be inspired and engaged in real space science and research. As a non-profit organization we strive to bring educators free and low cost K-12 programs.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to become a Space Station Ambassador which will offer them free professional development, access to a community of STEM professionals and give them premier access to new ISS programs.

SPEAKERS:
Courtney Black (ISS National Laboratory: Melbourne, FL)

With Extension Services being in every county in every state, your local county/parish Extension Office can be a great partner to enhance student learning. Come learn about strategies on how to work Extension Agents & K-12 educators can partner together in student learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
• Provide ideas on how teachers and Extension Agents can partner together to enhance student learning

SPEAKERS:
Elaine Giles (Extension Agent I - 4-H Youth Development: Green Cove Springs, FL)

We aim to bring K-12 STEAM further in the 21st century by emphasizing innovation. The proposed session will cover a STEAM rebranding process. We will host a discussion of NSTA community goals around innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as tools and resources for addressing these goals.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees should expect the session to serve as a valuable idea brainstorm, to provide a collection of strategies, and to generate a network of NSTA members interested in pursuing a rebranding of STEAM to a “Tinker-Create-Innovate” model who may serve as allies as such shifts are endeavored locally.

SPEAKERS:
Maggie Renken (STEAM Program Director)

Learn how to leverage food and cooking to encourage tinkering and sensemaking to make your secondary science curriculum engaging, meaningful, visual, and “sticky” (literally and metaphorically). Free resources (& lesson plans) included.

TAKEAWAYS:
You will walk away with a practical toolkit of ways to use food and cooking in the classroom to facilitate a supportive and purposeful environment for tinkering. Participants will discuss and reflect on how to add and remove layers of scaffolding and support to differentiate activities.

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

The CDC Museum has produced a set of 20 free hands-on STEM Lessons centered around public health topics for middle and high school students. Attendees will review the lesson catalog and discuss how they can use them to broaden students’ understandings of public health.

TAKEAWAYS:
The CDC Museum’s STEM Lessons explore issues in public health using the engineering design process, scientific method, or public health approach to outbreak investigation. Learn more about how STEM and public health concepts can be used to improve critical thinking and communication.

SPEAKERS:
Emma Domby (Museum Visitor Experience Manager/Educator: Atlanta, GA), Trudi Ellerman (Education Director: Atlanta, GA)

Learning rarely takes place in only one space. In this session, identify strategies for developing and executing STEAM-based curriculum for young learners. Shift your mindset from “child homework” to “family learning” as we discuss ways to engage parents and families as stakeholders in learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will identify strategies for creating lessons grounded in STEAM and engaging parents and families in their child’s learning.

SPEAKERS:
Samanta Gutierrez (Professional Learning Specialist: No City, No State), Patricia Ratanapraphart (STEM Content Manager: Dallas, TX)

Explore examples of successful collaborations on curriculum for grades PreK-12 between museums & schools and learn how to get what you need from your community partners.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to best utilize your community partners to co-create comprehensive curriculum and experiences for your students.

SPEAKERS:
Tina Seidelson (Director of Student Engagement: No City, No State), Karyn Torigoe (Great Lakes Science Center: Cleveland, OH)

When it comes to health, sometimes your zip code matters more than your genetic code. Join the CDC Museum in unpacking our Introduction to Health Equity STEM Lesson. We’ll use data tools to identify place-based causes of health disparities, with a focus on the health effects of climate change.

TAKEAWAYS:
Where you live, work, and play affects your health. Examining the factors that adversely affect health outcomes for different populations is essential to eliminating health disparities and to ensuring better health for all.

SPEAKERS:
Emma Domby (Museum Visitor Experience Manager/Educator: Atlanta, GA), Trudi Ellerman (Education Director: Atlanta, GA)