In this session, the presenters will share specific strategies and an intentional design for preparing elementary STEM teachers to create inclusive and equitable STEM classroms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about specific strategies to create inclusive STEM classrooms. Elementary STEM educators will model ways in which they have revised curriculum and integrated specific STEM pedagogy that is inclusive, culturally sustaining, and rooted in social justice.

SPEAKERS:
Bonnie Maur (Sacred Heart University: Fairfield, CT)

Water is constantly in the news. Between hurricanes, flooding, drought issues and water wars, everyone knows how important water is to our well being. With that being said, do students really understand its importance, it's behavior, the difference between cohesion, adhesion and surface tension?

TAKEAWAYS:
Activities in this session come from the Project WET Curriculum. These will feature hands on activities with copies of lessons distributed.

SPEAKERS:
Karen Henman (Brenau University: Gainesville, GA)

Real-world public health examples help teach middle and high school students concepts and skills across multiple STEM disciplines. Using a fictional novel emerging respiratory disease (i.e., NERD for short), CDC’s NERD Academy curriculum uses real-world COVID-19 data and scenarios to teach foundational science, math, and critical thinking skills. Designed by STEM teachers and CDC public health experts, each module includes engaging videos, STEM classroom activities, and career spotlights that can enrich classroom learning. In eight modules, using educational videos, interactive activities, and a set of diverse characters representing specific jobs in public health, the curriculum helps students answer critical public health questions like, “How does disease spread?”, “Who is at risk?”, or “Why do laboratory testing?”. This session will include an overview of the eight-module curriculum and a brief tour of CDC’s publicly available online STEM lesson plans and other resources.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how real-world public health examples can illustrate key concepts and skills across multiple STEM disciplines and how public health professionals like epidemiologists, laboratory scientists, and health communication specialists use STEM skills in their careers.

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

Take a closer look at how to structure science learning units through student-driven inquiry. We will examine the components involved in designing a coherent, NGSS-aligned storyline. Teacher teams will collaborate to analyze, critique, and optimize existing storylines and corresponding phenomena.

TAKEAWAYS:
Examine the Five Routines that work together to create a 3D learning experience through the inquiry cycle. Learn where to find existing storylines for Middle and High school sciences. Leave with templates to guide you in your storyline planning.

SPEAKERS:
Lori Fine (Instructional Coach: Managua, TX)

Have you wondered how to implement that appendix H of the NGSS into classroom practice? Wait..What..there's an appendix H? Come see how to implement the Nature of Science principles into your classroom practice with a few simple activities that you can use tomorrow in your classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn what the Nature of Science principles are and how they can be implemented in the classroom. Also, this will help further attendees knowledge of pedagogy practices of using all domains of the NGSS to further help students gain science literacy skills.

SPEAKERS:
Kelly Mulligan (Bridgeport Public School: Bridgeport, NE)

In 2018, TNTP published its landmark report “The Opportunity Myth" which showed that to be on track to reach their post-secondary goals, students needed consistent access to four key resources: (1) rigorous instruction, (2) grade-appropriate assignments, (3) deep engagement, and (4) high expectations. In this session, participants will learn about the findings of “The Opportunity Myth” and explore TNTP’s tools for strong instruction and grade-appropriate assignments in Science. During this session, teachers will review the tools and have an opportunity to practice using them with assignments and classroom videos. Participants will also hear the story of how teachers in east Tennessee rapidly improved their practice through the implementation of a single unit from OpenSciEd. Teachers will reflect on the roadblocks they faced, including partial state standards alignment, and will share the benefits they are realizing in their classrooms because of this change in pedagogy.

TAKEAWAYS:
Implementation of even a single unit from a high-quality science curriculum leads to stronger instruction and increased access to grade-appropriate assignments in science classrooms. Despite facing the barrier of partial alignment, teachers still improved learning for students using this method.

SPEAKERS:
Jessica Proffitt (Director, Academics: Richmond, VA), Breshay Helton (Implementation Coordinator: Greeneville, TN), Elizabeth Naegele (TNTP: No City, No State)

Preservice and novice teachers will learn tips and participate in systems for running an efficient and safe science classroom from experienced educators. Safety, management, and organization tips are the highlights of this session. Time-saving strategies for lesson planning will also be shared.

TAKEAWAYS:
Pre-planning safety, lesson content, and lesson organization/implementation saves instructional time, freeing up brain space to tackle the inevitable classroom challenge.

SPEAKERS:
Donna Governor (University of North Georgia: Dahlonega, GA), Tasha Thomas (University of Houston Clear Lake), Takisha Gastile (University of Houston-Clear Lake: Houston, TX), Omah Williams-Duncan (University of Houston-Clear Lake: Houston, TX)