Engage in the science practices of investigating, modeling, and arguing from evidence to make sense of why a toy train moves forward and backward without physical contact. Participants will explore gravity, static electricity, and magnetism to determine which most likely causes it to move.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants explore forces at a distance and make sense of how they might cause the phenomenon to occur by developing a model via a three-step sequence. Teachers examine sample student work to uncover ideas and determine that some ideas may make sense despite being inaccurate for the situation.

SPEAKERS:
Christi Pace (Augusta University: Augusta, GA), Jaclyn Murray (Mercer University: Macon, GA)

CDC staff will provide a tour of CDC’s publicly available STEM resources for teachers. The session will feature the newly released CDC NERD Academy curriculum, which uses real-world COVID-19 data and scenarios to teach foundational science, math, and critical thinking skills. These lesson plans, activities, and videos are designed to include everything a STEM teacher needs, even without previous knowledge of public health. CDC staff will illustrate how Module 2: How does disease spread? can be used to teach students about the science behind prevention strategies. Attendees will also meet a diverse group of fictional characters and real CDC staff to help introduce some public health STEM careers. By session’s end, attendees will have practiced how to use one of CDC’s ready-to-go STEM resources, gained insight on how to create lessons using real CDC data and scenarios from journal articles, and gathered ideas on how to get students interested in public health careers.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use public health examples to illustrate key STEM concepts and skills and to introduce students to STEM careers in public health.

SPEAKERS:
Juliana Azeredo (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Atlanta, GA)

Teachers can engage their students, teach content areas and process skills, and address standards using a specific inquiry-based format. The format incorporates a two-setup discrepant event, one forming an expectation and the other resulting in unexpected outcome and thus a problem to be solved.

TAKEAWAYS:
A specific inquiry-based format allows teachers to engage students, teach content areas and science process skills, and address standards. This discrepant-event method is easy for teachers and students to learn and gives students skills needed to feel comfortable and competent when doing science.

SPEAKERS:
Mary Jean Lynch (North Central College: Naperville, IL), John Zenchak (North Central College: Naperville, IL)

In this hands-on workshop, participants will explore an Elementary Grades Environmental Literacy learning module on the Eastern Oyster using stereo microscopes, smartphone lenses, the camera+ app, and iNaturalist to examine internal and external structures and how they support the species' survival.

TAKEAWAYS:
Science teachers will experiment with technologies and pedagogies that foster student engagement in scientific inquiry grounded in localized phenomena and environmental literacy.

SPEAKERS:
Amy Green (University of Maryland, College Park: College Park, MD), John Frederick (Maryland Sea Grant: College Park, MD), Angela Stoltz (Asst. Clinical Faculty)

Join the UCLA Science Project as we explore structures and formats for science leaders looking to engage teachers around social justice in STEM classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Establish space and culture that sustains conversations around equity issues in STEM

SPEAKERS:
Justin Betzelberger (UCLA Science Project: Los Angeles, CA), Richard Huynh (Science Coach: No City, No State), Zachary Cue (UCLA STEM+C3 and Science Project)

Need FREE grant funds for STEAM education, but don't know where to start? This session unpacks the science of grant writing in 12 steps to acquire resources, materials and supplies.

TAKEAWAYS:
From this session, educators will be able to: •Describe grant types and grant funders •Illustrate 12-step grant writing process •Identify sources of grant funding

SPEAKERS:
Bejanae Kareem (STEM & Grant Specialist: Jonesboro, GA)

Discover CERTL’s proven inquiry-based approach that aims to increase teacher effectiveness. Dynamic scenarios with embedded lab activities deliver content in a real-world context that spark student-led discussions. Participants will experience a hands-on student inquiry and receive takeaways.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will be provided inquiry-based learning scenarios and embedded lab activities that will allow them to deliver content in a real-world context that develops students’ critical thinking skills.

SPEAKERS:
Leslie Russell (The Center of Excellence for Research, Teaching and Learning: No City, No State), Stan Hill (Wake Forest School of Medicine: Winston Salem, NC)

Join us in this workshop to explore ways to review a beloved lesson and give it a 3D upgrade. Shifting to 3-dimensional teaching can seem like an insurmountable challenge. Teachers may wonder, aren’t I already teaching 3-dimensionally? Can’t I take a lesson and make it 3D? In some cases, yes, give that lesson an upgrade! In this workshop, we will explore how to identify if a lesson is 3-dimensional, if it can be tweaked to be 3-dimensional, or if it needs to be completely re-worked. Then, we will examine ways to incorporate 3-dimensional learning and teaching practices into an existing lesson. Finally, educators will be provided time to apply these strategies to a lesson of their own that they bring, or select from a group of provided lessons. By the end, educators will have the skills to make changes in their own teaching practice and take home a ready-to-implement 3D lesson.

TAKEAWAYS:
Research shows that teachers struggle transitioning to 3-dimensional teaching (Smith, 2020). One step that can help teachers begin to make the shift is to adapt familiar lessons. In this session, teachers will walk away with a beloved lesson they have upgraded to a 3D masterpiece.

SPEAKERS:
Ashley Hunter (Clemson University: Clemson, SC), Jennifer Bateman (Clemson University), Meredith Schwendemann (Clemson University)

NGSS storylines will provide the backdrop for a highly constructive, interactive session where attendees experience the power of questioning to drive connected lessons, deepen student thinking, and provide significant learning for all students. This session targets PK-8 teachers.

TAKEAWAYS:
Session attendees will leave with a vade mecum (go ahead and google it, you WANT this!) that will support implementation of transdisciplinary design processes. Takeaways include: Storyline development tools and teacher-constructed model of design processes for use in the classroom and more!

SPEAKERS:
Bridget Miller (University of South Carolina: Columbia, SC), Ashley Gess (University of South Carolina: No City, No State)