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)

Review data analysis/collecting techniques to help students young and old to learn the relationships between types of data and analysis of it.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about "orders of variables" and how understanding these can help their students to better engage in making and interpreting graphs.

SPEAKERS:
G. Michael Bowen (Mount Saint Vincent University: Halifax, NS)

Engage in active exploration of primary source materials that support sensemaking in middle level science and STEM. Leave with a plan for incorporating primary sources into your own lessons.

TAKEAWAYS:
Primary sources can be used to: (1) present phenomena, (2) engage students in science and engineering practices, (3) identify crosscutting concepts, (4) reinforce disciplinary core ideas, and (4) address equity through leveled resources and shared experience.

SPEAKERS:
Kathy Biernat (Zanilu Educational Services, LLC: No City, No State), Donna Governor (University of North Georgia: Dahlonega, GA), Loris Chen (Science Education Consultant: Fair Lawn, NJ)

This is session #2 in the PL Committee CCCs Pathway and is designed to support K-12. Attendees will explore the Framework progression documents to understand what is appropriate for their grade level. They will learn about and engage in hands-on activities paired with talk strategies and protocols that focus classroom talk on making sense of observations and data using the Crosscutting Concepts. Attendees will have the chance to talk with fellow participants about how they might use these strategies and tools in their classroom or role and how they can be differentiated to be used at different grade levels. Participants will leave with a virtual toolbox of resources they can take home and apply right away in their sphere.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with discussion strategies and tools they can implement right away in classrooms to support student discourse and sensemaking anchored in the Crosscutting Concepts.

SPEAKERS:
Rebecca Garelli (Arizona Science Teachers Association), Leah Litz (Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium: No City, No State), Kimberley Astle (Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction: Olympia, WA)

Discover interdisciplinary games and simulations that help younger students explore connections between themselves and the environment, including natural resource use, pollution and climate. Presented activities build skills in scientific inquiry, data analysis and critical thinking.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will increase their understanding of basic human ecological concepts and best practices for introducing these concepts in their interdisciplinary elementary classrooms using 3D science instruction for a variety of learning styles.

SPEAKERS:
Julie Travaglini (Allegheny Land Trust: Sewickley, PA)

Did you know that you can launch units in your science class by engaging students in the analysis of historical primary sources? Join us for this hands-on workshop, where we’ll investigate free, digitized resources to see how they can reveal phenomena linked to the content you teach.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to engage students at the start of a unit by exploring phenomena embedded in historical primary source documents. The strategies discussed will develop the critical thinking and sensemaking strategies of students.

SPEAKERS:
Michael Apfeldorf (Library of Congress: Washington, DC), Jacqueline Katz (Science Teacher)

Worms excite everyone! They are cheap, easy to get, and can be the phenomenon to drive learning on a host of topics. Come play with worms and see how they can stimulate learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will experience a series of activities that will help them use earthworms as phenomena in elementary science. For each activity, we will discuss how to move from the specifics of worms into sensemaking around more general concepts that the activities illustrate.

SPEAKERS:
Jodi Wheeler-Toppen (Author/ Staff Development: Atlanta, GA)

Let’s look at air quality at your location with data gathered by Purple Air sensors. Contribute to the study of aerosols in the US. Bring computer/electronic device.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to access air quality data from citizen scientist sensors and satellite data and analyze air quality in your local area.

SPEAKERS:
Kevin Czajkowski (The University of Toledo: Toledo, OH), Jessica Taylor (NASA Langley Research Center: Hampton, VA), Sara Mierzwiak (The University of Toledo: Toledo, OH), Janet Struble (The University of Toledo: Toledo, OH)

Students are going to talk anyway. Learn to make talk productive with student-led talk circles. Use this powerful strategy tomorrow to build students’ scientific literacy!

TAKEAWAYS:
Talk Circles enable educators to uncover student ideas and misconceptions as well as reveal students’ understanding to pave the way for further investigation.

SPEAKERS:
Patricia McMahon (Charles H. Barrows STEM Academy: North Windham, CT), Sheri Geitner (Charles H. Barrows STEM Academy: North Windham, CT), Nicole Bay (Charles H. Barrows STEM Academy: North Windham, CT)

Come experience how leveraging complex culturally relevant societal challenges as phenomena in 3D teaching and learning supports student motivation and engagement. Learn how the BSCS Anchored Inquiry Learning instructional model develops student agency within and beyond the classroom!

TAKEAWAYS:
The research-based BSCS Anchored Inquiry Learning instructional model succeeds the 5Es and leverages complex societal issues as anchoring phenomena/problems, culminating tasks, and performance assessments in 3D units of instruction to motivate students and develop agency in addressing these issues.

SPEAKERS:
Cynthia Gay (BSCS Science Learning: Colorado Springs, CO)

Teachers will begin the session by sharing their current understanding/practice of incorporating play in the classroom by using a “fishbowl” sharing strategy. Then they will learn the three types of play: free play, guided play, and games. They will run through a few scenarios and determine which type of play is occurring during that scenario. Teachers will then review questioning-types that could be used to help guide free play to move it toward guided play. Teachers will work in teams scripting a teacher's questions to match a given play scenario. After teachers have shared, they will have a chance to put their work in action by engaging in four guided play stations. The four stations will focus on measurement, parts of a bug, buoyancy, and engineering. Teachers will brainstorm guided questions as they play. They will have a chance to share out major takeaways using a modified four corners strategy. We will have a reflection whole group.

TAKEAWAYS:
Explore strategies that enhance children's STEM learning during play in order to extend and support current play and science activities in the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Judith Lozoya (Professional Development Facilitator: Phoenix, AZ), Jennifer Petersen (Professional Development Facilitator: Phoenix, AZ), Brenna Chambers (Manager of Professional Learning)

Explore how to engage students in computational thinking using a newly developed, freely available simulation designed to address high school performance expectations in life science.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to promote the science and engineering practice of computational thinking in the high school biology classroom. Participants will be introduced to a freely accessible computer simulation based on a real-world phenomenon designed to address PEs in biology.

SPEAKERS:
Maia Binding (The Lawrence Hall of Science: Berkeley, CA), Ben Koo (The Lawrence Hall of Science: Berkeley, CA), Wendy Jackson (The Lawrence Hall of Science: Berkeley, CA)

Participants will investigate relationships between variables such as barometric pressure and precipitation, using data from a wide range of geographical stations in the United States. Selected stations represent sites with contrasting latitudes, altitudes, proximity to water bodies, and other elements, in order to best study the effect of these variables on weather and climate. The session will analyze data to look for patterns of change over time and to investigate regional patterns and region-specific effects of climate change. Data from Los Angeles & San Diego weather stations will also be included. The graphing tool is a freely accessible webpage that works on laptops, desktops, smartphones, and tablets. An internet connection at the session would additionally allow for participants to see a live demonstration as well as explore their own investigation questions. http://uanyc.science/pwc

TAKEAWAYS:
In this session attendees will learn to analyze and interpret weather and climate data using a custom designed graphing tool that simplifies visualizing and analyzing data on time scales of hours, days and weeks (weather) to decades and centuries (climate).

SPEAKERS:
Rachelle Travis (P.S. 288 The Shirley Tanyhill: Brooklyn, NY)

Play a new free online science game - Wake: Tales from the Aqualab. Take on ocean-based ecosystem missions, and engage in experimentation, modeling, and argumentation around middle school life sciences content. Use a submarine to explore a kelp forest! Travel to the arctic to find a missing whale!

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn ways to implement Wake in your classroom - including associated curriculum and supplemental materials. The full game can cover 10+ classes, with over 35 jobs of increasing complexity, and a fun story. Learn about our research on game-based supports for student learning of science practices.

SPEAKERS:
Jennifer Scianna (University of Wisconsin Madison)

Join this session to explore effective and practical student discourse strategies that promote inclusive and productive classroom discourse. In this session, you will have the opportunity to engage in a few strategies as a learner to better equip you with implementing these with your students!

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of shifts in classroom talk patterns, like moving away from the I-R-E talk pattern and towards Productive Talk. Attendees will engage with practical and effective discourse strategies that promote inclusive and productive classroom discourse.

SPEAKERS:
Rebecca Garelli (Arizona Science Teachers Association)

Engage with My NASA Data lessons as a model student to make sense of weather and climate phenomena while discovering the strengths and limitations of a conceptual model used to describe the complex energy transfer in our Earth system.

TAKEAWAYS:
Develop a better understanding of Earth’s energy budget by connecting weather and climate phenomena to a conceptual model developed by NASA from satellite-based observations. This is an example of how students may evaluate a model to engage in data literacy and employ systems thinking.

SPEAKERS:
Angela Rizzi (NASA Langley Research Center/ADNET: No City, No State), Natalie Macke (Pascack Hills High School: Montvale, NJ)

A major evolution misconception is that organisms on a phylogenetic tree are progressing towards the ultimate goal of being bigger, better, and faster. Using convergent evolution as an anchoring phenomenon, learn how to inoculate your students against this misunderstanding with a 5E storyline.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to help students using a misconception-based approach. By looking at a variety of species, teachers will leave with evidence-based examples of evolution in action. Major areas of focus are artificial selection, domestication, natural selection, and convergent evolution.

SPEAKERS:
Cari Herndon (National Center for Science Education: No City, No State), Lin Andrews (National Center for Science Education: Oakland, CA)

This session will take teachers behind the scenes of 3D Science to learn firsthand how phenomena draws every student into the scientific learning process.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will experience as students how a phenomenon serves as a bridge connecting cultural differences, science strands, and sense making strategies.

SPEAKERS:
Candice Taylor (Marietta Middle School: Marietta, GA), Keisha Kirkpatrick (Marietta High School: Marietta, GA)

Looking to increase engagement and leverage student curiosity? Sensemaking frames the inquiry process from the student’s point of view and puts them in charge of their own learning. Find out how this process can increase your teaching effectiveness and fundamentally change how your students learn.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will leave with an understanding of sensemaking as a practice, its place in the 3 dimensions of Next Gen Science Standards, and insights gained from experiencing hands-on, minds-on sensemaking of phenomena from the student point of view.

SPEAKERS:
Mariel Kolker (Morristown High School: Morristown, NJ)

The session uses embodied performances to support students’ science engagement. This interdisciplinary approach creates opportunities for multimodal literacies (e.g., body movement, oral/written texts, sound/music) that students can use to construct & communicate science knowledge & identities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use theatre practices (i.e., adaptation, embodiment, affirming ideas, & representing transformation) to support their students’ learning of science ideas, concepts, practices, & development of science identities in elementary/middle school classrooms via science theatre.

SPEAKERS:
Maria Rosario (Teacher: Chicago, IL), Stephanie Spezza (Graduate student), Jaegen Ellison (Teaching Artist/Educator), Miguel Melchor (DeWitt Clinton Elementary School: Chicago, IL), Rebecca Kotler (Postdoctoral Research Associate)

Experience an inquiry-based dance class showcasing key pedagogical ideas that support all learners, creating equitable opportunities for engagement and access. Designed using a research-based model, and an inclusive framework, build instructional knowledge that transfers to the science classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Experience best practices for science instruction including elements like differentiation, student choice, the power of kinesthetic learning, and more, all wrapped up in a research-based instructional model using an inclusive framework approach.

SPEAKERS:
Isaac Stauffer (Great Minds: Washington, DC)

Participants will explore critical components of “designed for NGSS” elementary units: phenomenon, embedded ELA resources, equity, professional learning, and assessment. Participants receive one exemplar unit.

TAKEAWAYS:
Place-based learning experiences that extend across a school year can have multiple benefits for elementary students. Designed-for NGSS units that elevate the brilliance of children must include new visions of phenomenon, embedded ELA resources, equity, professional learning, and assessment.

SPEAKERS:
Mary Starr (Michigan Mathematics and Science Leadership Network)

Experience how the new BSCS Anchored Inquiry Learning (AIL) instructional model creates learning experiences that motivate students with significant, real world phenomena and problems! Learn how AIL anchors cycles of inquiry and sensemaking, culminating in student explanations/design solutions!

TAKEAWAYS:
The research-based BSCS Anchored Inquiry Learning instructional model succeeds the 5Es and leverages authentic phenomena/problems to anchor cycles of inquiry and sensemaking. This approach provides instructional coherence from students’ perspective, equitable access, and motivation for ALL learners.

SPEAKERS:
Cynthia Gay (BSCS Science Learning: Colorado Springs, CO)

Practice hands-on strategies for engaging students with scientific notebooks, letters, photos, drawings and more! These free online resources elevate the stories behind scientific endeavor, highlighting scientific practices, the nature of science, and connections between science and society.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to access millions of free digitized primary sources and practice hands-on strategies for using them to promote critical thinking skills and a deeper understanding of real-world scientific practices, the nature of science, and connections between science and society.

SPEAKERS:
Jacqueline Katz (Science Teacher), Michael Apfeldorf (Library of Congress: Washington, DC)

NGSS SEP 8 requires students to read like scientists. Develop questions and learn strategies to support student understanding of how to read like scientists.

TAKEAWAYS:
Part of scientific literacy is being able to access science news articles. Learn strategies to use in the classroom to support your students to read like scientists.

SPEAKERS:
Janel McPhillips (Calvert County Public Schools: Prince Frederick, MD)

A hands on simulation based on probabilities from scientific literature is used to investigate the effect of community structure on the prevalence of infected ticks. This anchoring phenomenon is extended to explore population ecology, trophic cascades, biodiversity, and the dilution effect.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will come away with a set of lessons that teach many core concepts in ecology using a modeling approach. The hands on simulation will be supplemented by computer models that allow students to explore population growth curves and more complex community relationships.

SPEAKERS:
Daniel Carroll (Yorktown High School: Arlington, VA), Michael Zito (Yorktown High School: Arlington, VA)

Students bring amazing intellectual resources to make sense of natural phenomena. Come learn how to notice and leverage them in your teaching.

TAKEAWAYS:
Culturally responsive education supports student sensemaking and learning in science. Inclusive science strategies help teachers learn to see students’ sense-making resources. These methods help us create and adapt curriculum that is equitable and justice centered.

SPEAKERS:
Deb Morrison (Educator and Learning Scientist: Seattle, WA), Philip Bell (University of Washington: Seattle, WA)

Do you or the educators you work with have questions about what science teaching and learning look like in classrooms implementing your state standards? Join us for a session where you will receive support to lead this module using classroom video of contemporary research-based teaching in action.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will build an understanding of sensemaking and receive a toolkit to lead this session with other educators.

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Allan (University of Central Oklahoma: Edmond, OK), Tricia Shelton (NSTA: Arlington, VA)

Why do many students struggle with data? We will explore strategies for finding high quality datasets and discuss different approaches of building data skills by integrating real-time data into our teaching. Data as our instructional hook can result in changes for all of our students' data skills.

TAKEAWAYS:
Review ways to leverage real-world data -- including personalized or daily data -- to enhance all students’ ability to access and make sense of data as parts of our instructional practices and/or adjust the curriculum you have.

SPEAKERS:
Kristin Hunter-Thomson (Dataspire Education & Evaluation, LLC: No City, No State)

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)

Educators will experience how 3D learning in any curriculum can be made into 5D learning if they have the pedagogical framing that identifies both phenomena types and supports phenomena adaptation. Specifically, place, student interests, and identities provide motivation to engage in sensemaking.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will learn to identify phenomena types, select related phenomena and use students' place, interests, and identities to promote equitable learning experiences. These pedagogical tools and framing will help educators turn 3D, NGSS-aligned phenomena-based units into 5D learning experiences.

SPEAKERS:
Leonard Kenyon (Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance: No City, No State)

Explore how to use food and cooking to invite students to connect science to their everyday lives and be curious. This session includes hands-on activities and discussions to emphasize how participants can incorporate resources into their own teaching to support their current curriculum.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will walk away with ready-to-use strategies and resources to incorporate food and cooking into the science classroom. These strategies and resources are differentiated so they can be used for different types of classrooms and availability to resources as well as teaching styles.

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

Learn how you can give students an opportunity to use science concepts and skills to figure out how or why a natural phenomenon happens. This instructional approach also gives students an opportunity to use disciplinary literacy practices (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) during science.

TAKEAWAYS:
How to give students an opportunity to use science concepts and skills to make sense of natural phenomena, an opportunity to talk, read, and write in the service of sense-making, and ways to support students as they engage in real-world science while using literacy-based materials.

SPEAKERS:
Victor Sampson (The University of Texas at Austin: Austin, TX)

This session highlights the importance of argumentation surrounding explaining meaningful phenomena and their centrality to a 3-D learning approach. The session will equip teachers to implement such learning experiences in their classes.

TAKEAWAYS:
The importance of argumentation around meaningful phenomena and how to implement learning experiences that engage students in argumentation around phenomena in the service of sense-making and learning DCIs, SEPs, and CCs.

SPEAKERS:
Todd Hutner (The University of Alabama: Austin, TX)

Join members of NSTA’s Professional Learning Committee to explore effective strategies and resources that focus on helping students make sense of data using the Crosscutting Concepts. In this session, you will have the opportunity to engage with the strategies and consider how to implement them with

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with sensemaking strategies for engaging students in the Science and Engineering Practice of Analyzing and Interpreting Data, through the lens of the Crosscutting Concept of Patterns, that can immediately be implemented with students!

SPEAKERS:
Kimberley Astle (Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction: Olympia, WA), Rebecca Garelli (Arizona Science Teachers Association)

The study of trace fossils is an exciting way to explore the past. Join the Wade Institute for Science Education and Amherst College’s Beneski Museum in an inquiry-based session to guide your students through the application of the SEPs in creating and interpreting their own dinosaur stories.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this session participants will gain experience with using the phenomenon of dinosaur tracks and trace fossils as a powerful tool for student engagement, and leave the session with guidelines for creating track stories, and using those track stories to expand their student’s use of the SEPs.

SPEAKERS:
Allison Pagliaro (Wade Institute for Science Education: Quincy, MA), Alfred Venne (Museum Educator: Amherst, MA), Kathryn Atkins (Wade Institute for Science Education: Quincy, MA)

Experience how embedding literacy supports for reading, writing, and academic discourse in 3D teaching and learning promotes sensemaking and science understanding for ALL learners! Learn how the BSCS Anchored Inquiry Learning instructional model embeds literacy supports throughout cycles of inquiry.

TAKEAWAYS:
The research-based BSCS Anchored Inquiry Learning instructional model succeeds the 5Es and embeds literacy supports for reading, writing, and academic discourse in conjunction with science and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts to promote students in figuring out key science ideas.

SPEAKERS:
Cynthia Gay (BSCS Science Learning: Colorado Springs, CO)

Immerse yourself in classroom-ready lessons that create the need to engage in Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking to build science ideas needed to explain phenomena (and maybe solve a problem or two).

TAKEAWAYS:
Engaging students in the practice of Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking can create and foster wider interests in STEM fields

SPEAKERS:
Kate Soriano (NSTA: Arlington, VA)

Although the S in STEM is science, this doesn’t mean science equals STEM. What makes a lesson STEM? Using two captivating hands-on activities, we compare STEM and science through the discussion of the value of student failure, why student choice is important, and how to integrate STEM into your scie

TAKEAWAYS:
A STEM lesson includes the possibility of failure, the opportunity for student choice, while also incorporating science standards. STEM uses processes within all the subjects included in the acronym to deepen student understanding of the content while creating skills for lifelong learning.

SPEAKERS:
Chauntèe Pitts (Professional Learning Specialist), Lauren Kelly (Crowley ISD: Fort Worth, TX)

This session explores how technology-based instruction can give students more choice in figuring out how to solve problems and make sense of the world and voice in deciding what counts as knowing in science, math, and engineering.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session helps teachers enable students to (1) design and carry out investigations, share ideas, justify evidence, and provide feedback to others, (2) reach a consensus about what counts as acceptable or high-quality work, (3) see technology as a useful tool in sense-making.

SPEAKERS:
Victor Sampson (The University of Texas at Austin: Austin, TX)

Learn about environmental DNA (eDNA) by analyzing unknown samples against a database of DNA barcode sequences. This evidence will be used to justify whether one of the collected samples belonged to a Bigfoot. A variety of practical applications for eDNA will also be explored.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore and appreciate the importance of evidence to the scientific process by taking a deep dive into an NGSS storyline sequence developed to help students understand that science must be substantiated by multiple lines of evidence to be accepted by the scientific community.

SPEAKERS:
Cari Herndon (National Center for Science Education: No City, No State), Lin Andrews (National Center for Science Education: Oakland, CA)

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)

How do scientists study dark matter in a world where we only see matter? How do they study neutrinos, a subatomic particle with almost no mass, no charge, that travels near the speed of light and is constantly shifting? At the Sanford Underground Research Facility, scientists are doing just that!

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with ideas for classroom strategies that support introducing difficult and abstract topics. Leveraging the SEPs, teachers can help students use what they can see to figure out things they cannot.

SPEAKERS:
Ashley Armstrong (Sanford Underground Research Facility: Lead, SD)

Engage in a mini design sprint to develop curriculum aligned exit tickets for use in your classroom. Together, we will use an equity framework and Universal Design to design exit tickets that support equitable sensemaking and 3D science learning. You will walk away with a set of exit tickets to asse

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with a set of exit ticket prompts to support 3D science learning in their classrooms. These prompts can be used to gain insight into their students’ experiences to support their 3D sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Katie Van Horne (Concolor Research: Orlando, FL), Dawn Novak (Northwestern University: Evanston, 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)

Model Eliciting Activities provide no-cost PBL, content area integration and an increase in computational thinking for students. Experience open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that reveal students’ thinking while considering constraints & tradeoffs in realistic problems.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn about PBL, called Model Eliciting Activities, as they experience them firsthand, analyze the required parts & hear about the research and successes it can bring to a diverse classroom. Teachers can formulate how to write their own and see the many integration areas possible.

SPEAKERS:
Jim Reynolds (STEM coordinator: Tallahassee, FL), Carrie Meyers (Curriculum Coordinator: No City, No State)

At the elementary level, having students explain what they are observing and learning in science class can be challenging. Using a strategy such as a claim, evidence, and reasoning (CER) to guide explicit instruction and student responses can immensely impact their understanding of the curriculum.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to use silly commercials to engage your elementary science students into creating detailed written responses to what they are learning in class using the CER strategy. CER will help them unlock their thinking skills in a way that can then be easily transferred to classroom content.

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Oberdorf (Big Spring School District: Newville, PA)

Meaningful phenomena and authentic problems make learning experiences in science classrooms more relevant and equitable for students. Come learn what makes phenomena meaningful and problems authentic and then leave with some high-quality instructional materials that you can use in your classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Meaningful phenomena and authentic problems are more than a hook or an example – they drive learning and provide a context for sense-making.

SPEAKERS:
Victor Sampson (The University of Texas at Austin: Austin, TX)

Climate change has exacerbated the urban heat island issue. Understanding the issue at different spatial scales helps us clarify the problem and identify solutions. Participants unpack the science of urban heat islands at local and regional scales, and identify solutions to reduce the impacts.

TAKEAWAYS:
Urban heat islands are studied at local and regional scales using simple instruments, and remote sensing data to view the impact over time and space. Understanding the causes and effects of urban heat islands at different scales will ensure effective solutions are implemented to reduce the impacts.

SPEAKERS:
Desiray Wilson (Science Systems and Applications, Inc.: Hampton, VA), Missy Holzer (Chatham High School: Chatham, LA)

This session introduces a way to create learning experiences that centers literacy as central to students' sensemaking as they use the DCIs, CCs, and SEPs to explain natural phenomena.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn about an approach to teaching science and literacy at the same time, supporting students learning of key science concepts will further developing their reading, writing, speaking, and listening proficiency.

SPEAKERS:
Todd Hutner (The University of Alabama: Austin, TX)

Participants will learn strategies for implementing Meaningful Watershed Education Experiences in their classrooms. Strategies include how to build relationships with community partners, finding local spaces to use to conduct investigations, and how to engage students in field-based investigations.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will have a “front row seat” and get hands-on experience with the resources needed to implement a Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience. Participants will walk away with specific strategies for building partnerships and gaining resources to support their instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Alexis Tharpe (ODU Research Foundation TCEP: Norfolk, VA 23508, VA), Venicia Ferrell (Research Assistant Professor: Norfolk, VA)

Explore the fundamental nature of particles with hands-on activities and real experiences based on the research of the Sanford Underground Research Facility.

TAKEAWAYS:
Investigating concepts from the micro and macro environments is better when students can investigate the content through hands-on activities and real-world experiences.

SPEAKERS:
Chad Ronish (Science Education Specialist: Lead, SD)

How do you help a student who gets stuck on a critical thinking task without giving them an answer? Explore modeling prompts for scientific phenomena to dig deeper and communicate your understanding that you can implement with the students so they can produce exemplary work.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will practice using modeling prompts they can bring to their classes to support student learning while utilizing evidence statements to ensure student empowerment and consistency across the curriculum.

SPEAKERS:
Erik Bullock (Grade 6 Science Teacher: Vienna, 0), Allison Wise (American Community School of Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates)

Come see how you can help your elementary students not only understand the science content but how the people behind the science do their work! This session will be hands-on and provide strategies, examples, and historical short stories to help students understand how science works.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will walk away with resources and examples to teach nature of science (what science is and how science works) they can use right away with their students.

SPEAKERS:
Jesse Wilcox (University of Northern Iowa: Cedar Falls, IA)

You are using models in your science classroom, but are your students MODELING to make sense of systems and phenomena? Come to this hands-on session to learn more about modeling as a sensemaking practice and how to integrate meaningful modeling experiences into your science classroom!

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will come away from this session with a deeper understanding of modeling as a sensemaking practice, having engaged with multiple models and with ideas about how to integrate more modeling in their own classrooms, support discourse, and formatively assess students’ modeling practice.

SPEAKERS:
Lauren Saenz (Researcher: , ME), Alison Miller (Bowdoin College: Brunswick, ME)

Make student thinking come to life with notebooks! Increase the rigor of student work—learn new strategies for organizing content and how to use templates for any science class. Take home many current NGSS classroom examples to get you started.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. The how and why of science notebooks; 2. Engaging ALL students in science; and 3. Templates scaffold student learning for success.

SPEAKERS:
Jennifer Weibert (Fresno County Office of Education: Fresno, CA)

Increase your ability to use phenomena to anchor sensemaking throughout an entire unit rather than simply hook students’ interests. We will explore examples from the free OpenSciEd curriculum to show how to anchor entire units in a phenomenon and support students to make sense of the natural world.

TAKEAWAYS:
Phenomenon-based instruction is not about grabbing interest or demonstrating concepts, but rather anchoring sensemaking throughout a unit in explaining an observable event. Tools like the driving question board and progress tracker can focus student thinking on figuring out an anchoring phenomenon.

SPEAKERS:
Jamie Noll (BSCS Science Learning: Colorado Springs, CO), Bruce Kamerer (Boston College: Chestnut Hill, MA), Ji-Sun Ham (School Support Specialist: Chestnut Hill, MA), Benjamin Lowell (New York University: New York, NY)

Do your students struggle to make sense of graphs? You're not alone. Join us to explore new ways to leverage how our eyes work to make working with graphs and real-world data easier for your students. Gain strategies you can use this week regardless of what curriculum or graphing programs you use.

TAKEAWAYS:
Access classroom-ready strategies to better leverage graphs from online data portals and ways to better set students up for success to make sense of data patterns in any graph they are using in your science classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Kristin Hunter-Thomson (Dataspire Education & Evaluation, LLC: No City, No State)

Hexagonal Thinking ensures the learning environment features a high degree of student engagement by providing a framework for academic discussion where all students participate. Attendees experience Hexagonal Thinking using science, math and engineering concepts to make connections between them.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn a hands-on strategy that will help students make connections between academic vocabulary, engineering practices and science concepts visible in the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Miranda Rosenhoover (Aledo ISD: Aledo, TX)

Students love sketchnoting in science! Come learn how visual notetaking leads to deep processing and retention of content. Editable templates will be provided.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. What are sketchnotes; 2. How to use sketchnotes in science; and 3. How to greatly increase student processing.

SPEAKERS:
Jennifer Weibert (Fresno County Office of Education: Fresno, CA)

Join us as we explore the connection between science demonstrations and thinking routines. Discover how these two teaching tools, uncover student misconceptions, activate prior knowledge, and engage students in sensemaking by integrating literacy with science.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will takeaway a series of engaging science demos/activities that have been purposefully paired with literacy strategies to help develop important thinking routines students can use when approaching a problem, issue or challenge in science.

SPEAKERS:
Lionel Sandner (Edvantage Interactive: Sidney, BC), Sandra Mirabelli (Brock University: Burlington, ON)

Creating an inclusive learning environment requires dedication and creativity for incorporating the success skills (21st Century Skills) such as citizenship with culturally relevant education for crafting STEAM and science curriculum.

TAKEAWAYS:
Main goal of the workshops is using the CRE into STEAM or science lesson or unit plan on any topic or subject matter.

SPEAKERS:
Jenniffer Stetler (Chamblee Middle School: Chamblee, GA)

Experience the process of sensemaking by investigating surface heating from a student perspective. With a focus on student ideas, explore methods for engaging students in the three dimensions of science learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learning through place-based, student-centered, teacher-facilitated science inquiry increases student engagement in and ownership of learning and promotes student growth in science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts.

SPEAKERS:
Loris Chen (Science Education Consultant: Fair Lawn, NJ)

Models are an essential tool used by scientists to study natural phenomena. Learn how climate hindcasting helps build powerful models for projecting future climate trends.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn about the history and evolution of climate modeling while examining evidence that supports their reliability for predicting future climate patterns.

SPEAKERS:
Cari Herndon (National Center for Science Education: No City, No State), Lin Andrews (National Center for Science Education: Oakland, CA)

Adopting curriculums is a top priority for many schools across the nation. While curriculums are useful, they often have shortcomings. One shortcoming we often see in schools is a lack of engagement between the students and the content. In this session, we will explore strategies that align with the 5E Instructional Cycle and UDL that can be easily implemented with the curriculums adopted by schools and provide opportunities for students to engage with science and engineering practices. The strategies can be implemented immediately in the classroom setting. Each strategy presented can be leveled up or leveled down for varied grade levels, including differentiated supports in class to support the varied learners in a classroom. Engage strategies include Observations and Questions and Four Corners. Both are low stakes and engage learning with phenomena immediately. The Explain strategy leverages reading in science and makes it accessible through targeted questions and scaffolding.

TAKEAWAYS:
Small shifts in the curriculum can make large shifts to develop an inclusive classroom environment. Science should be accessible for all and by taking prescribed curriculum and making a few adjustments, all students can engage in science learning.

SPEAKERS:
Whitney McCormick (Alliance College Ready Public Schools: Los Angeles, CA), Sheena Velasquez (Alliance College-Ready Public Schools: Los Angeles, CA)

With increasing diversity in student populations and continued focus on STEM education, new approaches are needed to increase student interest and literacy in science. Student success in the science classroom requires that they be authentically engaged as they investigate and communicate their understanding of scientific phenomena. In this session, participants will receive 30+ classroom-ready strategies, activities, games, templates, and resources that will help engage all learners and increase student achievement in various domains of science. The resources and strategies provided will help participants teaching grade 6 and higher motivate even the most unengaged students. Resources and strategies target areas of the 5- E Model of instruction. Many activities can be used as formative assessments to assess student learning. Participants may modify the activities based on the content they teach and the academic level of student groups and individual students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will explore resources including activities, templates, games, etc. they can use to increase the scientific literacy and engagement of all students. These can be used “as is” or modified to include other content based on the needs of the learners.

SPEAKERS:
Iris Mudd (Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools: Winston Salem, NC)

Although questions are an important aspect of effective science teaching, many science teachers may not be aware of the questions they ask. This session will show three questioning strategies including SHARE (Wilcox et al., 2021), using students’ responses to drive the conversation forward, and convergent/divergent questions. We will demonstrate the questioning techniques during a 5E where we use specimens preserved in acrylic to investigate the structure/function relationships (1-LS1-1, 4-LS1-1) and to consider homologous and analogous structures (MS-LS4-2).

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn three different questioning strategies they can use with their students. Additionally, participants will experience these questions in action as the presenters will use life science examples to teach the questioning strategies.

SPEAKERS:
Carson McClain (Student), Jesse Wilcox (University of Northern Iowa: Cedar Falls, IA)

Modeling integrates scientific practices, cross cutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas. In this workshop you will construct a model of a favorite anchoring phenomenon, and use the model to develop a 3D, modeling-based unit.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this session attendees will learn how to engage their students in modeling, and use a systems-thinking framework to construct a modeling-based unit

SPEAKERS:
Steve Bennett (Michigan State University: East Lansing, MI)

Physical computing allows students to design and create interactive objects that emphasize computational thinking skills. Participants will engage in activities designed for middle school students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Microcontrollers are small computers that come with several integrated sensors. Their functionality makes them useful for both investigations and engineering projects. We will focus in how engineering tasks using microcontrollers provide opportunities for student sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
G. Michael Bowen (Mount Saint Vincent University: Halifax, NS), Susan German (Hallsville Middle School: Hallsville, MO)

In this session participants will explore STEMTeachingTools.org — a suite of accessible, resource-rich tools for guiding instruction, assessment, and curriculum in the science classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
STEM Teaching Tools is a freely-available collection of research-practice briefs that contain recommendations and strategies for implementing the vision of the Framework and NGSS. They can be used for educator professional learning, both individually and in professional learning communities.

SPEAKERS:
Deb Morrison (Educator and Learning Scientist: Seattle, WA), Philip Bell (University of Washington: Seattle, WA)

The sky belongs to everyone - including middle-school age youth. Learn how to join the Youth Astronomy Network (YouthAstroNet) of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, where your students can tell their own star stories using images they capture from real robotic telescopes.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn YouthAstroNet’s strategies for engaging students from culturally diverse backgrounds in accessible, relevant and meaningful exploration of their place in the cosmos and find out how they can join the YouthAstroNet online community, supported by the National Science Foundation

SPEAKERS:
Erika Wright (Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian: Cambridge, MA), Mary Dussault (Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian: Cambridge, MA)