Starting with eliciting students' initial ideas, experience a responsive teaching sense-making structure to take students through a process of developing conceptual understanding of core disciplinary ideas in science using NSTA's highly Uncovering Student Ideas in Science Formative Assessment Probes

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to transition from diagnostic probes to formative assessment and responsive teaching by taking students through a sense-making structure to change or further develop their initial ideas.

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

Flight is amazing! Even more amazing is the fact that students at any level can understand how flight works. In this session, we will share resources and strategies to teach aviation in any educational setting and how you can inspire students to pursue STEAM careers.

TAKEAWAYS:
We will share strategies, conduct hands-on STEAM activities, and provide a range of activities, developed by NASA, for all ages and all educational settings. Come have some fun and leave with useful resources you can use right away.

SPEAKERS:
Steve Kirsche (NASA Headquarters: No City, No State)

Join this session for information about content-language integration and discuss the design of a multimodal task that emphasizes 3D Science learning through the interpretive and expressive modes of communication. Then, take an in-depth look at examples that you can integrate into your classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn about lesson activities that provide students with the opportunity to make progress towards both the Science Ga Standards of Excellence and WIDA English Language Development Standards.

SPEAKERS:
Laura Canepa-Redondo (Science/ESOL Program Specialist)

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)

We all make assumptions about how we think students will respond to our seemingly basic questions on what they know. We also assume that they are thinking what we are thinking – until they tell us.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will learn to work with research-based misconceptions that students hold across grade bands in the physical sciences in order to incorporate those into assessment.

SPEAKERS:
Cynthia Crockett (Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian: Cambridge, MA)

SPARK®, developed by energy and educational specialists, shares expertise with teachers to enhance energy concepts, applications, and career options. The curriculum (60+ 5E lessons) uses active student engagement in sciences and math. Explore how this workable plan can be applied in your area!

TAKEAWAYS:
SPARK® uses “actions” in NGSS-based standards to make concepts cognitively “visible.” In multidisciplinary science/math, flexible entry points engage diverse students in simple to complex energy investigations using creative problem solving, data collection/analysis, and evidence-based conclusions.

SPEAKERS:
Gail Marshall (self-employed consultant: No City, No State), Margaret Reenstra (Economic Development Coordinator: Palmetto, GA), Judy Cox (N/A: No City, No State)

A special education teacher and science consultant worked together to plan, create, deliver and assess the middle school Essential Elements Science standards for students with significant cognitive disabilities. All assessed students increased three full grade levels.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with an understanding of how to teach science using the Dynamic Learning Maps for middle school students with significant cognitive disabilities using best practices in special education and science teaching. Unit samples will be available.

SPEAKERS:
Mandie Sanderman (Central Rivers Area Education Agency: Cedar Falls, IA), Nancy Scheel (Teacher), Chelsie Byram (Central Rivers Area Education Agency: Cedar Falls, IA)

This session will introduce NSTA's phenomenon-driven, three-dimensional instructional materials designed for middle school classrooms. These lessons and units provide opportunities for all students to engage in science learning meaningful to them.

TAKEAWAYS:
Phenomenon-driven, three-dimensional lessons and units provide students opportunities to actively try to figure out how the world works or design solutions to problems (sensemaking).

SPEAKERS:
Patrice Scinta (NSTA: Arlington, VA)

Need more support for STEM investigations and projects? Review a 3 year grant-funded STEM training to improve media specialists’ understanding of STEM as “thinking and doing.” Examine sample hands-on investigations, tools, and websites to help media specialists’ support of STEM at all grade levels.

TAKEAWAYS:
Media specialists have access to many different resources but may lack accurate understanding of STEM and the guidance students need for resources to promote STEM. This session will illustrate an effective all grades/subjects in-service program which could be adapted for use in a school or system.

SPEAKERS:
Gail Marshall (self-employed consultant: No City, No State), Melissa Johnston (University of West Georgia: Carrollton, GA), Judy Cox (N/A: No City, No State)

Good questions help us assess student’s learning, but are we asking the right – or best – questions?

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn the nuances of assessment without bias or excess difficulty that reaches all students.

SPEAKERS:
Philip Sadler (Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian: Cambridge, MA), Cynthia Crockett (Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian: Cambridge, MA)

Give students a hands-on exploration of heat transfer and insulation with this engineering & design project. Kids build an insulator around a soda can to keep hot water hot, while immersed in an ice water bath. While competing, they develop constructing skills, and analyze their process and data.

TAKEAWAYS:
Get all the files and resources to launch an engaging project applying the concepts of heat transfer (conduction, radiation and convection - things on every middle school science curriculum). You will be inspired!

SPEAKERS:
Jon Coole (Louisville Collegiate School: Louisville, KY)

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)

In this workshop, participants will be guided through the free online module created by Underwriters Laboratories (ULXplorlabs: Fire Forensics Claim and Evidence). This module provides a unique platform for learning fire science in an investigator academy; and then applying this science to an arson investigation simulated in the labs of the UL Fire Research Institute. Participants will have an opportunity to see the potential for blending this media and technology resource with three additional modalities of learning: oral discourse, fire related investigations, and interactive notebooks. Participants will experience these modules and complementary hands-on strategies as means to engage students in sense making via analysis of real fire data.

TAKEAWAYS:
Underwriters Laboratories online ULX modules use current issues to engage and motivate learning about scientific ideas that can be applied to engineer solutions for relevant problems.

SPEAKERS:
Amy Gilbert (Griffin Middle School: Smyrna, GA)

Explore how communication systems encode and transfer information via digital signals, from texts to images from space. Hands-on activities will introduce signals, binary, and ASCII.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will deepen their understanding of digital signals and information transfer. Attendees will walk away with an overview of a complete unit including hands on activities for both in person and distance learning.

SPEAKERS:
Jayne Kerner (F.A. Day Middle School: Newtonville, MA)

Bring science lessons to life with the integration of augmented reality (AR) & virtual reality (VR). This session explores the use of AR & VR tools such as zSpace, Merge Edu & Oculus Quest to transform science assignments and classroom projects.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will walk away with ideas and strategies that they can immediately implement in science classroom lessons. Attendees will leave with practical examples of AR & VR tools and resources they can begin using with their students in integrated, earth & space, physical, and life science classes.

SPEAKERS:
Tommy Clay (Atlanta Public Schools: Atlanta, GA)