Identify common fossils of the Middle Devonian in a hands-on investigation. Work with Petoskey stones and other fossils to make inferences about the past and learn how to teach this with elementary students. Curriculum handouts and fossil kits will be provided to the first 30 participants.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to use the fossil curriculum with intermediate elementary students. Teachers will get to explore Devonian fossils of the Traverse Group and learn how to analyze data to make inferences about past environments. Teachers will receive materials to use with intermediate elementary students.

SPEAKERS:
Kayce Wills (Captain Walter Francis Duke Elementary School: Leonardtown, MD), Laura Schneider (St. Mary's College of Maryland: Saint Mary's City, MD)

"PV=NRT" is nearly 200 years old! However, the ideal gas law has remained a relevant tool that's helped us progress from Sterling Engines to Solar Panel Cars. How? Engineering. Come be a student in an engineering project based physics/ physical science class.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will have hands-on opportunity to experience engineered based lesson (mini unit). Teachers will come away with an example scope and sequence, example projects with directions, materials guidelines, and rubrics.

SPEAKERS:
Briana Clarke (Park Day School: Oakland, CA)

The design of scaffolds can support or take away opportunities for student sensemaking. We will identify scaffolds already built into high quality curriculum, like OpenSciEd, and analyze teacher designed scaffolds to determine if they support or undermine sensemaking.

TAKEAWAYS:
Before high quality curriculum, teachers had to aggressively scaffold materials. Teachers will see how the materials support sensemaking without major redesign. They will consider how additional scaffolds may support or undermine student sensemaking elevating the deep expertise of teachers

SPEAKERS:
Hillary Paul Metcalf (Boston College: Chestnut Hill, MA), Nicole Ruttan (Boston College: Chestnut Hill, MA), Ji-Sun Ham (School Support Specialist: Chestnut Hill, MA)

Do you ever wish your lesson engaged everyone in the class? The readers, the mathematicians, the engineers and writers will all love these STEM and literacy lessons! In this session, you will learn how to mix and mingle - with read aloud books and STEM challenges, of course!

TAKEAWAYS:
When you leave this session, you will have a better idea of how incorporate literacy with STEM. I’ll be sharing STEM challenges that you can link to children’s books that you probably already have in your classroom! You’ll also learn some tips on how to create your own read aloud STEM challenges!

SPEAKERS:
Emily Gentile (STEM Teacher: Parker, CO)

Come learn how to carefully unpack elements of the Crosscutting Concepts to support the development and implementation of curriculum, instruction, and assessment using this brand-new version of the NSTA Quick-Reference Guide to the Three Dimensions. The “purple book” is now better than ever.

TAKEAWAYS:
A deeper understanding of the Crosscutting Concepts and how a well-designed reference guide can make it easier to unpack the three dimensions for work in curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

SPEAKERS:
Ted Willard (Discovery Education: Silver Spring, MD)

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)

Sponsoring Company: Simulation Curriculum

Experience Simulation Curriculum’s award-winning Starry Night Curriculum featuring classroom-ready, standards-based, interactive lesson plans. Covers grades K-4, 5-8 and 9-12 with engaging simulations, jaw-dropping interactions, activities and comprehensive teacher support resources!

Sponsoring Company: Simulation Curriculum

Join us as we use Simulation Curriculum’s Layered Earth to investigate Geology including Plate Tectonics and Meteorology including Weather & Climate using our amazing interactive Earth simulator to engage and excite students!

Sponsoring Company: Lyricos Learning LLC

We are a STEM+Arts streaming platform that gets used in the classroom to teach hands-on projects via our standards aligned videos. During this session we will plan on hosting a hands-on project for the teachers to make while following along with the video. Example - they can make a DNA bracelet.

SPEAKERS:
Devina Bhojwani (Lyricos Learning LLC: No City, No State)

NextGen TIME is a free suite of tools and processes that supports districts in preparing to evaluate instructional materials for quality and design for NGSS. This collaborative process helps you plan for next steps including customization to improve student outcomes and effective implementation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how NextGen TIME supports the evaluation of current instructional materials to strengthen their design for NGSS and how NextGen TIME tools and processes can serve as critical components of curriculum-based professional learning. You’ll walk away with free access to NextGen TIME resources.

SPEAKERS:
Susan Gomez Zwiep (BSCS Science Learning: Colorado Springs, CO), Jody Bintz (BSCS Science Learning: Colorado Springs, CO), Jenine Cotton-Proby (BSCS Science Learning: Colorado Springs, CO)

Opening a lab is a daunting process. Learn about how Fairport developed a vision, wrote a horizontally and vertically aligned curriculum, and utilized intentional decision making to design the Elementary STEAM Lab experience.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with recommendations for creating STEAM Labs in their districts based on the blueprint that Fairport used to launch Labs that incorporate the NGSS Engineering Design standards, Computer Science and Digital Fluency Learning Standards, and a focus on social-emotional learning.

SPEAKERS:
Travis Wood (Fairport Central School District: No City, No State), Kristin Larsen (Honeoye Falls- Lima CSD: Honeoye Falls, NY)

Science notebooks can be a powerful tool for students to capture their thinking and chart growth in learning. But, how can notebooks be assessed to help students grow in their science and engineering practices? Proficiency rubrics will be shared to allow teachers and students to assess notebooks.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave this session with 4 different proficiency scales to assess student notebooks through the science and engineering practices. While notebooks should not be assessed as “right and wrong,” they can be used to help students grow in their science and engineering practices.

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

In this interactive session, we share important lessons learned through our work with states, educators, and developers to support equitable systems of science assessment. These lessons can help us develop better 3D assessment tasks, processes, and systems that lead to better outcomes for learners.

TAKEAWAYS:
Three dimensional assessment design is tricky - come join us to discuss how we can take a systems approach and develop better 3D assessments.

SPEAKERS:
Katie Van Horne (Concolor Research: Orlando, FL)

This session will introduce participants to a NSTA lesson designed to introduce high school students to cutting edge research on Artificial Intelligence. The lesson is designed around the critical aspects of sensemaking: students experience a phenomenon, engage in science and engineering practices and share ideas and to build and/or apply disciplinary core ideas and crosscutting concepts needed to explain how or why the phenomenon occurs. Sensemaking is in the vision of A Framework for K-12 Science Education - “the doing of science and engineering is highlighted as a strategy that can capture students’ interest in science and motivate their continued study.” (A Framework for K-12 Science Education, pp 42-43). NSTA lessons and units provide opportunities for all students to engage in science learning that is meaningful to them

TAKEAWAYS:
The JHU Wavelength lesson introduced in the session provides opportunities for high school students to learn about cutting edge science research, figure out science ideas related to artificial intellligence, and consider how it could benefit their community.

SPEAKERS:
Rama Chellappa (Bloomberg Distinguished Professor: Baltimore, MD), Patrice Scinta (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Rama Chellappa (Johns Hopkins University: Baltimore, MD)

We have developed a flexible, equitable assessment strategy that can be applied to all levels, grades and courses, that keeps students engaged and accountable. Even better, it can be scaled: used by an individual or by an entire district. We call this the Learning Progression Model.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will understand how learning progressions are used to assess student learning, provide descriptive feedback, set goals, evaluate teaching, and report out achievement.

SPEAKERS:
Elise Naramore (Pascack Hills High School: Montvale, NJ)

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)

As long as there have been CER templates, there have been students who struggle. What’s the difference between evidence and reasoning, or an explanation and an argument, exactly? Our Mi-STAR CER lesson and templates help answer these questions and they are open to all - join us to learn more!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with clear and concise definitions of reasoning, explanations, and argumentation, along with a lesson plan, activities, and templates to help students define and construct all three in the science classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Stephanie Tubman (Michigan Technological University: Houghton, MI), Chris Geerer (Mi-STAR: , MI)

In this unique curriculum, called BioScann, students become science experts, interpreting data to address a real-world challenge from their expert perspective. Students share their expertise in teams where communication and collaboration are essential to finding a final class solution to the problem. By showcasing a broad array of careers that require a range of training and education, we expose students to science careers that are in high demand; a major point being that STEM is for everyone! BioScann modules are web-based and free. The workshop will showcase a 3-day module designed for grades 7-9, but additional modules that focus on plastic pollution and antibiotic resistance are under development. And are expected to be released in 2023. Evaluations of the original BioScann module indicate that students show dramatic and sustained increases in life sciences interest and career awareness and demonstrate an increased ability to read graphs and interpret complex data.

TAKEAWAYS:
Engage in web-based curriculum that introduces students to a wide range of science careers. You will first experience the curriculum from the student perspective but will also be coached to deliver this free curriculum in your classroom. This curriculum is compatible with google classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Maggie Keeler (Senior Curriculum Specialist), Michelle Mischke (VP of Biotechnology Education Programs: CAmbridge, MA)

Soils are vital to sustaining life. What makes this natural resource so special? Join us for an active session that digs into numerous soil science concepts and vetted teaching resources connected to the geosciences, biology, chemistry, and physics.

TAKEAWAYS:
Soils are the foundation upon which life exists on Earth. The life that teems below ground supports the life above ground. Understanding the ecosystem services provided by soils requires cross-disciplinary thinking and reveals how vital soils are to our existence.

SPEAKERS:
Missy Holzer (Chatham High School: Chatham, LA)

Find out how contemporary scientists’ cutting-edge research can be shared with elementary students and linked to curriculum topics. Activities and investigations which children (ages 7 to 11) can do in the classroom to mirror cutting-edge research will be demonstrated.

TAKEAWAYS:
You will learn how I bet you didn’t know… articles written in language that children can understand and accompanying Teacher Guides can be used in the classroom to increase engagement with practical activities, develop enquiry skills and an appreciation of the impact of science on real life.

SPEAKERS:
Alison Trew (Primary Science Teaching Trust: Bristol, England)

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)

Experiment with and decode computational models of core science topics. Experience NSF-funded curricular materials developed to support science instruction that incorporates computational thinking and coding. The session will focus on physics but also preview the chemistry and biology tracks.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn (and experience!) some of the benefits of using computational models in high school science classrooms. They will do so by exploring the “use-decode-modify” progression for using computational models, which is built into our freely accessible curricular units.

SPEAKERS:
Kristen Bjork (Education Development Center, Inc.: Waltham, MA), Victor Mateas (Education Development Center, Inc.: Waltham, MA)

COESEE - Join us to learn more about assessment of elementary science learning using elementary learning stories.

TAKEAWAYS:
Creating student learning stories can help support assessment in elementary classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Molly Ewing (The Charles A. Dana Center: No City, No State)

Sponsoring Company: STEMscopes by Accelerate Learning

Students get engaged with practical and inquiry-based engineering experiences by using the DIVE-in method. This program was developed with the New York Hall of Science. Transform your classroom into an authentic makerspace with the DIVE process. Learn how to use the design process through consensus.

SPEAKERS:
Stacey O'Connor (STEMscopes by Accelerate Learning: Houston, TX)

Sponsoring Company: Kendall Hunt

BSCS Biology: Understanding for Life is designed for the NGSS. The inquiry-based program leverages the new BSCS Anchored Inquiry Learning instructional model as well as literacy and sensemaking strategies to support all learners. Join us to explore the program’s benefits and key features.

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

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)

How can career and technical education support science learning? How can science support career and technical education? Student understanding of how science is integral to success in their chosen career pathway is critical in many CTE programs, but oftentimes these connections are overlooked.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will reflect on strategies for how to engage students in using scientific and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts in career and technical education courses. And participants will discuss how to engage students in developing college, career, and life skills in science courses.

SPEAKERS:
Bridina Lemmer (Illinois Science Teaching Association: Jacksonville, IL), Chris Embry Mohr (Olympia High School: Stanford, IL)

Learn about free STEM educational resources including virtual reality, themed resource collections and lesson plans to increase ocean and climate literacy with your students.

TAKEAWAYS:
NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries offers lessons, videos and activities that can be used in K-12 classrooms to teach students about the ocean and Great Lakes with engaging real life examples of our nation's underwater parks.

SPEAKERS:
Tracy Hajduk (NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries: Monterey, CA)

Students will gain a deeper knowledge about sustainable energy generation / conservation and architectural ecology through hands-on, collaborative labs, which use on-campus student-built green roof models, a green roof section on our middle school, and ground-level on-campus solar panels.

TAKEAWAYS:
You will learn how to identify a key sustainable energy or ecological practice that fits your school culture. We'll show you how to design labs and select equipment that will engage the students in learning about sustainability. You'll identify learning objectives and assessments.

SPEAKERS:
Brian Ward (Science Teacher: Wallingford, PA)

Presenters will share two units in which science is integrated with ELA, math, and social studies. This session will share the process of unit creation and how incorporation with other content areas strengthens science instruction. Two units will be shared-one for kindergarten and one for 3rd grade.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to integrate multiple content standards to strength science instruction as well as leave with two examples of fully integrated elementary units. In addition to the sharing of the units, presenters will share the creation process so participants can engage in this work.

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

Sensemaking with the three dimensions is the focal construct we want to measure in science assessments - not the phenomenon or problem or the three-dimensions. Join us for a deep dive into centering sensemaking in 3D assessment design.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with examples of 3D sensemaking in assessment tasks and activities for building better assessments that elicit sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Sara Cooper (Contextus), Katie Van Horne (Concolor Research: Orlando, FL)

A multidisciplinary and open-ended investigation that incorporates absolute and relative dating techniques, anomalies, historical context, volcanoes, solar proton events, energy cycles, Earth systems, terrestrial events, and supernovas by analyzing 430 years of Earth history from 1562 to 1992.

TAKEAWAYS:
In constructing knowledge, there is no definitive answer, only plausible conclusions based on constructing, analyzing, and comparing data and research from multiple disciplines. This investigation provides a better understanding of the scientific process of developing models and defending results.

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

Use web-based image and analysis software to examine and compare the Cartwheel Galaxy determine the sources of the ultra- and in optical and X-ray bands, which can help determine the sources of the ultra- and hyperluminous X-rays (U/HLXs) in this galaxy.

TAKEAWAYS:
Astrophysicists use light in all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum to determine the nature of an object. Web-based software will be used, the same tools used by scientists. This software can be used by students to do their own investigations in astronomy with real data sets.

SPEAKERS:
Pamela Perry (Lewiston High School: Lewiston, ME)

Want to teach climate literacy but don’t know where to start? NOAA offers lesson plans, videos, data, webinars, and more to inform and inspire students.

TAKEAWAYS:
How to improve climate literacy and discuss climate and climate change in your classroom with free resources from NOAA.

SPEAKERS:
Frank Niepold (NOAA Climate Program Office: Silver Spring, MD)

This presentation highlights 10 unique and unusual science-based examples of solar system modeling that use simple materials and all activities stress the use of decimals, fractions, and proportions in a scalable, adaptable, and fun exploration of the planets, distance, time, density, and scale.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will view the solar system in new ways through hands-on activities addressing geologic age, light distance, object ratios, density, gravity, and travel time.

SPEAKERS:
Martin Horejsi (University of Montana: Missoula, MT)

Attendees will participate in a guided walk through the process of developing inquiries to ensure students reach mastery of critical content. This will include analyzing standard(s), participating in hands on inquiry, and using a template to create inquiries for students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will understand how to plan opportunities for students to demonstrate understanding of critical content using methods that allow educators to easily monitor student progress toward mastery.

SPEAKERS:
Ryan Carlson (Orange County Public Schools: Orlando, FL), Desiree Siegel (Program Specialist Elementary Science: Orlando, FL), Matthew Timm (Orange County Public Schools: Orlando, FL), Kimberly Seaver (Orange County Public Schools: Orlando, FL)

Sponsoring Company: Plasma Games

It's all fun and games but does it work? Take a deep dive into the difference between gamification and game based learning and how to incorporate both into your classroom for the best outcome. Bonus: Leave with an all inclusive access code to a 3D game based platform!

Sponsoring Company: College Board

Come for an active conversation about helping introductory learners prepare for AP-level course work in STEM. We will align challenge areas identified using AP exam data with the Pre-AP Course Framework and explore instructional strategies to help students meet these challenges.

SPEAKERS:
Laura Casdorph (College Board: New York, NY), Mitch Price (College Board: New York, NY)

Join the GaDOE science team to get updates on resources, professional learning, virtual communities, and other information related to the science teaching community. See what has just been released and how you can use it in your classroom tomorrow!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will receive updates from the Georgia Department of Education science team. Many new resources and professional learning opportunities are now available. Check out the phenomenon-based resources, including instructional deliverables, assessment tasks, literacy plans, and more.

SPEAKERS:
Laura Canepa-Redondo (Science/ESOL Program Specialist), Judie Beccaro (Georgia Department of Education: Atlanta, GA), Renee Shirley-Stevens (Science Program Specialist), Keith Crandall (Science Program Manager: No City, No State)

The purpose of this session is to explain how NGSS-aligned state assessments are developed alongside our state partners. We will use our Item Review Framework to analyze a sample item from New Meridian and ask participants to compare/contrast that with released items from their state. This comparison will provide teachers with the tools they need to review their own state assessment content and provide evidence for the changes they would like to see enacted within their state program.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will leave with a better understanding of how state-wide assessments are created and the role educators can play in influencing the direction of those assessments.

SPEAKERS:
Christopher Lazzaro (New Meridian Corporation: austin, TX)

This session will cover how the science department at our school worked with our director of collaborative curriculum to create transdisciplinary lesson plans for grades 5-8. Some of the topics covered in our units include light and perception, climate change, breadmaking, sustainability, and water.

TAKEAWAYS:
Our work shows how science can be the center of a transdisciplinary study. We wanted to connect science to real world issues and bring the world into the classroom. We are using science skills and understanding to take action in our community.

SPEAKERS:
Sara Melman (San Francisco Friends School: San Francisco, CA), Rich Oberman (San Francisco Friends School: No City, No State), Jeffrey Porter (San Francisco Friends School: San Francisco, CA), Jennifer Stuart (Director of Collaborative Curriculum: San Francisco, CA), Christine Tantoco (Science Teacher: San Francisco, CA)

This session helps participants use the tools and reports available from EdReports to select high-quality instructional materials for their classroom or school. Participants will learn how the tools evaluate for NGSS-aligned instruction and have the chance to practice evaluating sample materials.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with tools to help them evaluate instructional materials for NGSS-aligned instruction based on making sense of phenomena and integrating the three dimensions.

SPEAKERS:
Shannon Wachowski (EdReports.org: Fort Collins, CO), John-Carlos Marino (Science Lead)

Engineers around the world use system models as a go-to tool to solve problems, and your students can too. Create system models related to real-world problems and learn pedagogy for supporting students to develop and share system models. Leave with an engineer-approved 5E lesson to use tomorrow!

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will understand the origin and use of system modeling as an engineering tool and be able to use student talk, whiteboarding, and system schema to implement system modeling in their classrooms. Teachers receive Mi-STAR’s OER lesson plan to introduce system models to their students.

SPEAKERS:
Stephanie Tubman (Michigan Technological University: Houghton, MI), Chris Geerer (Mi-STAR: , MI)

Incorporate coral reefs into your existing curriculum – biology, chemistry, climate studies, art, and more – using lesson plans, demos, activities, and multimedia from NOAA.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn what corals are, why they are important, and how to fit coral reefs ecosystems into your curriculum using free NOAA resources.

SPEAKERS:
Kayla Smith (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: Silver Spring, MD), Denise Harrington (NOAA TASAA Fellow: Garibaldi, OR), Bekkah Lampe (NOAA Office of Education: Silver Spring, MD)

Scared of science? Wondering how to put it ALL together? Join us as we look at how a K-6 STEAM Elementary school creates science units that are project-based and student focused, without breaking the bank or burning out!

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will understand how to create unit frameworks that are informative, easy to use, and lead to quick lesson planning.

SPEAKERS:
Joe Shaughnessy (John Thomas School of Discovery Partner School: Nixa, MO), Ryan Mahn (John Thomas School of Discovery Partner School: Nixa, MO)

This program aims to dramatically increase the exposure to and consumption of locally produced honey by developing a network of apiaries and supporting curriculum for preK–12.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn about: 1. how educational apiaries can be used in an education setting; 2. the benefits of implementing curriculum related to honey production; and 3. strategies to engage migrant students in STEM education.

SPEAKERS:
Spencer Cody (Edmunds Central School District: Roscoe, SD)

Background information, teacher demonstrations, and fun, hands-on student explorations to better help you introduce K-3 students to the basic concepts of science and energy, as well as measurement.

TAKEAWAYS:
Help educators learn hands-on activities to introduce primary students to the basic concepts of science and energy using NEED's free curriculum while providing suggestions for use across the K-3 setting.

SPEAKERS:
Kimberly Swan (The NEED Project: Manassas, VA)

PFAS are a harmful class of widely used chemicals that can be found in everything from drinking water and crops to cosmetics and food packaging. Secondary science teachers from North Carolina used design-based thinking to develop standards-aligned activities featuring the cutting-edge research taking place to understand exposure to PFAS and to describe the biological processes behind health outcomes, such as autoimmune disease or cancer. This session will showcase how teachers adapted published scientific data for use with diverse learners to address life science standards while conveying important environmental health concepts and promoting biomedical research careers. Teachers also will receive an array of curated media resources to help them incorporate this nationally relevant topic into their instruction.

TAKEAWAYS:
Humans are exposed to PFAS before birth, and exposure continues throughout life due to the prevalence of these chemicals in our environment. Attendees will learn about the biomedical research taking place to understand the biology underpinning health effects and receive standards-aligned activities.

SPEAKERS:
Andromeda Crowell (Orange High School: Hillsborough, NC), Clare Matusevich (Chapel Hill High School: Chapel Hill, NC)

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)

Sponsoring Company: STEMscopes by Accelerate Learning

If you're using STEMscopes (or wanna-be), this session is for you. Come see the most popular digital curriculum during this session. Discover assessment packages, streaming videos with activities, coding with app building, hands-on engineering projects, STEM teacher certification, and much more.

SPEAKERS:
Leslie Spaeny (STEMscopes by Accelerate Learning: Houston, TX), Suzan Morris (STEMscopes by Accelerate Learning: Houston, TX), Susan Arnette (STEMscopes by Accelerate Learning: Houston, TX), Ashley Mathis (STEMscopes by Accelerate Learning: Houston, TX)

Sponsoring Company: ExploreLearning

This interactive session will explore a digital interface that develops models to capture students' thinking when designing and testing solutions to real-world problems. We will immerse ourselves in solving a puzzling STEM Case to develop a model and use it to optimize a solution.

SPEAKERS:
Lauren Chiota (Learning Designer), Jared Jackson (Director of Production: Decatur, GA)

Sponsoring Company: Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers

Capture high school chemistry students’ interest by inviting them into a phenomenon-based curriculum! Perform a periodic table card sort and learn how to build an understanding of whether it is possible to turn a copper penny into gold. Presented by Living by Chemistry author, Dr. Angelica Stacy.

SPEAKERS:
Angelica Stacy (University of California, Berkeley: Berkeley, CA)

Sponsoring Company: Imagine Learning | Twig Education

Join world class designers and engineers as we dive in to explore hydroelectricity and the growing need to harness force and motion found in the ocean. Participants will experience a simulated lesson, make a 3D model of a water turbine, and use it to investigate the relationship between force and motion.

Problematizing phenomena requires that tasks pose productive uncertainties related to a phenomenon or problem explicitly to students. During this interactive session, participants will analyze various assessments and artifacts for how problematizing is an integral part of the assessment.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will engage with well problematized assessment scenarios and will have access to these assessments for future use.

SPEAKERS:
Dawn Novak (Northwestern University: Evanston, IL), Sara Cooper (Contextus)

An 11 year old recently found a trilobite in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. Let's explore this phenomenon and how customizing existing high-quality, open-source lessons for local stories create a cohesive storyline for elementary students.

TAKEAWAYS:
1) How to customize existing high-quality, open-source lessons that pair with local phenomena; 2) What fossil evidence scientists use to support claims about past environments; and 3) Where to find open-source storylines for the elementary classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Rachel Cox (Knox County Schools: Knoxville, TN)

Discover how to build a STEM curriculum from the ground up, from ideation to final product. Design an alarm to protect your stuff, meet the STEM Quality Framework and 50+ free STEM units from Pre-K to High School, and explore amazing resources from the Dayton Regional STEM Center and DoDSTEM.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn the process of designing a high-quality STEM curriculum including; standards alignment, evaluation and improvement of curriculum and implementation within the classroom, along with a library of free, currently available unit plans and resources.

SPEAKERS:
Tim Carey (Xenia Community Schools: Xenia, OH)

Learn about the new NASA Next Gen STEM activity Sparking Participation with Real-world Experiences (SPARX), launching in school year 23-24. Explore this exciting opportunity and experience hands-on lessons from the SPARX portfolio - Priority Packing for the Moon.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave this session with an understanding of what resources will be necessary on a mission to the Moon, a knowledge of NASA SPARX, and an activity to ignite students' interest in STEM through space exploration resources.

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Sebastian (Education Coordinator), Martha Lopez (Education Coordinator: Houston, TX)

Sponsoring Company: School Specialty - FOSS

Engage in activities using lasers and optical fibers and concepts of refraction and reflection in the FOSS Next Generation Waves Course for middle school. Explore the phenomena that allow information transfer by fiber optic technology, and identify connections to the three dimensions of NGSS.

SPEAKERS:
Jessica Penchos (The Lawrence Hall of Science: Berkeley, CA), FOSS Project Staff (The Lawrence Hall of Science: Berkeley, CA)

Sponsoring Company: Simulation Curriculum

Experience Simulation Curriculum's newest addition - Interactive Anatomy & Physiology - for grades 9-12. See the jaw-dropping interactive anatomy simulator with its 40+ lesson plans, simulations and images along with complete teacher resources.

Sponsoring Company: Texas Instruments

You will learn how to build and code a four-chamber heart (no coding experience required) while exploring how the heart works. This is a great project for middle and high school science and STEM students! You can also borrow all of the equipment for this project from TI for free.

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)

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)

Compare surface temperature data collected by students between urban & rural areas studying the phenomenon of urban heat islands. Get involved in the summer in a Google classroom and receive equipment.

TAKEAWAYS:
The importance of collecting surface temperature data to study “heat islands” within communities and ways to interpret the ground-truthing & satellite data.

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

Sponsoring Company: School Specialty - FOSS

Students need to experience and make sense of relevant science phenomena that connect to and define standards—a challenging task for teachers. Learn strategies for providing direct experience with phenomena, guiding students to constructing explanations, and developing models with the FOSS program.

SPEAKERS:
FOSS Project Staff (The Lawrence Hall of Science: Berkeley, CA), Brian Campbell (The Lawrence Hall of Science: Berkeley, CA)

Sponsoring Company: Kendall Hunt

Anchored Science by Mi-STAR is a middle school science curriculum motivated by a vision for the future in which science including engineering practices is taught and learned as an integrated body of knowledge that is applied to address societal issues. Attend this session to learn more.

SPEAKERS:
Teresa Rockwood (Science Curriculum Specialist: , TX)

Sponsoring Company: Lyricos Learning LLC

We are a STEM+Arts streaming platform that gets used in the classroom to teach hands-on projects via our standards aligned videos. During this session we will plan on hosting a hands-on project for the teachers to make while following along with the video. Example - they can make a DNA bracelet.

SPEAKERS:
Devina Bhojwani (Lyricos Learning LLC: No City, No State)

Join education staff from Tellus Science Museum to see fossils that call Georgia home and discuss how to incorporate place-based geoscience education with elementary science standards.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will see how a science museum has worked to improve its own geoscience education using a place-based approach and how similar processes can be applied to education practice in classrooms or other localities.

SPEAKERS:
Hannah Eisla (Tellus Science Museum: No City, No State)

Although cancer biology is an important topic with the study life science, the definition of cancer literacy has been ill defined. This project demonstrates limitations of using one measure of cancer literacy, the Cancer Health Literacy Test-6, within the scope of a cancer biology outreach program.

TAKEAWAYS:
Cancer literacy has been broadly defined and assessed. Assessment of cancer biology knowledge may be best suited by the use of instructor-prepared, lesson-specific assessments.

SPEAKERS:
Emily Heath (Student: Warrenville, SC), Kamani Barnes (Student: Warrenville, SC), Alexandria Martin (Student: , SC), Christie Palladino (Teacher: Warrenville, SC)

Examine how climate understandings are developed over the three courses in the OpenSciEd high school program. Discussions will revolve around incorporation of Earth and space science throughout the program and look closely at human impacts on various scales of Earth systems.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will see how climate understandings are built coherently across the OpenSciEd high school program while addressing social justice and equity. Various disciplinary lenses are leveraged across courses to explore how humans influence and are influenced by climate.

SPEAKERS:
Kate Henson (University of Colorado Boulder: Boulder, CO), Nicole Vick (Northwestern University)

OpenSciEd's first high school chemistry unit, Thermodynamics in Earth Systems, helps students figure out how polar ice melt and sea level rise can be slowed. Session presents the unit anchor, final model, and system of assessments in this first of five free, open-source, 3D units in the course.

TAKEAWAYS:
OpenSciEd HS Chemistry has an NGSS-aligned first unit that scaffolds typical early-year topics such as measurement, experiment design, significant digits, and unit conversion while supporting 3D learning and HS PEs in a coherent, phenomenon-driven, justice-oriented storyline.

SPEAKERS:
Samantha Pinter (Norwalk Public Schools: Norwalk, CT), Dan Voss (Northwestern University: Evanston, IL)

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)

In this session, we will share how to use NGSS performance expectations to design classroom assessments. Sample assessments will be provided that require students to incorporate models and use evidence to support their responses.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will come away with both examples of assessments and tools for developing their own three-dimensional assessments.

SPEAKERS:
Nicole McRee (KCSD#96), Tracy Eschrich (KCSD96: No City, No State)

A key aspect of the vision in A Framework for K-12 Science Education and Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards is how to develop assessments to advance equity. In this session, participants will use an equity framework developed to analyze three-dimensional assessment task

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will use an equity framework that has been developed to support (re)designing assessment tasks to ensure accessibility by all students. Participants will use this equity framework to analyze example assessments for alignment.

SPEAKERS:
Dawn Novak (Northwestern University: Evanston, IL)

Engage in conversations for how to use the three dimensions of the NGSS and the NRC Framework, storylines, driving questions, formative and summative assessments, and hands-on activities to learn science and engineering skills while making sense of one of our most basic needs – FOOD.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will engage in a morsel of a storyline on producing the perfect apple. In this storyline, students notice and wonder about different varieties of apples and are challenged to explain why it took 30 years for the Honeycrisp apple to be available to consumers.

SPEAKERS:
Kristin Rademaker (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Chris Embry Mohr (Olympia High School: Stanford, IL)

Educators will present lessons they created based on their nanotechnology research. With overlap in high school curricula, nanotechnology fits into biology, chemistry, engineering, and physics.

TAKEAWAYS:
Present the educational materials and the activities developed by some of the RET NNCI educators of GT, UNL, NU, and UofM and the classroom implementation information.

SPEAKERS:
Steve Wignall (University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Lincoln, NE)

Are you hybrid, 1:1 or want to be paperless? Then use a digital learning log! Our team has used these in digital classrooms for a year with great success! We’ll demonstrate content logs, and a SPED / EL support strategy log. BYOD as we will provide digital docs you can use now!

TAKEAWAYS:
BYOD Session! Not only will you take away ideas and templates to help you build your own digital interactive learning log, but you will hear ideas of how these can be easily integrated into your current classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Robin Tillotson (Gwinnett Online Campus: Lawrenceville, GA), Wanda Allen (Gwinnett Online Campus: Lawrenceville, GA), Erin Springthorpe (Gwinnett Online Campus: Lawrenceville, GA), Jennifer Barnes (Gwinnett Online Campus: Lawrenceville, GA)

How could the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows bridge have been prevented? How can we ensure electronic devices hold up to everyday use? Developing well-defined criteria and constraints is critical to successful engineering. Experience ways to help your students plan and evaluate solutions like pros!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn the importance of well-defined criteria and constraints, and will experience activities to share with students to help them develop and evaluate successful solutions to engineering challenges. Everyone leaves with access to a Mi-STAR NGSS aligned OER lesson.

SPEAKERS:
Stephanie Tubman (Michigan Technological University: Houghton, MI), Chris Geerer (Mi-STAR: , MI)

Claim Evidence and Reasoning a strategy to increase engagement and assess student learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will use the Claim Evidence and Reasoning protocol to check student content knowledge, increase discourse and improve literacy.

SPEAKERS:
Lindiwe Ngubeni (Atlanta Public Schools: Atlanta, GA), Felicia Pratt (Atlanta Public Schools: Atlanta, GA), Warren Edwards (Atlanta Public Schools: Atlanta, GA)

Teachers may have a range of comfort with various disciplinary core ideas in ESS1. To engage students in figuring out these abstract ideas we have developed a unit to support 3D teaching and learning related to stars and exoplanets. This unit has been field-tested across NYC high schools and evidence has shown that the modeling activities, data analysis and simulations utilized in a unit can empower students to feel like space scientists and argue from evidence about which exoplanet is most likely to be habitable. Using a phenomena-driven 3D unit for providing access to students who may have been previously disengaged in STEM is essential for equity. Participants will have an opportunity to immerse in an activity from this high quality unit with an NGSS badge after EQuIP review, explore how the unit addresses some of the 3D learning goals for space science (HS-ESS1), and discuss how to make this content personally relevant to students in diverse settings.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to access, use, and adapt a free HS Earth & Space Science unit - currently the only HS ESS unit with an official NGSS badge - to attend to student interest and relevance, and to support argumentation.

SPEAKERS:
Charles Link (DeWitt Clinton High School: Bronx, NY)

We will dive into hands-on, STEM-based activities and technology resources such as ArcGIS and web apps, that educators can use right away to help students understand the sustainability and climate justice issues most relevant to their school and local community. We will present best practices for executing a successful eco-audit and using design thinking methodologies to foster critical thinking and problem solving. These methodologies will help students tap into community funds of knowledge by engaging local stakeholders in their process. These K-12 activities help students cultivate sustainability and climate science literacy while exploring the uneven and inequitable impacts of climate change on the communities that have the fewest resources to respond. Teachers will explore how to foster student action through the creation of data-driven policy or use student-driven Eco-Audit resources to implement a climate solution at their school.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will explore how ArcGIS StoryMaps and other EcoRise resources related to climate data, mapping and climate justice can shape students’ understanding of the causes and impact of climate change within their community and foster student action.

SPEAKERS:
Brynn Johnson (Program Manager), Zakhia Grant (EcoRise: No City, No State)

Sponsoring Company: School Specialty - FOSS

The convergence of language, literacy, and science lands squarely in the science and engineering practices. Engage in a hands-on learning experience and discussion as we explore strategies and tools that support student engagement in the practices and focus on literacy and language development.

SPEAKERS:
Diana Velez (The Lawrence Hall of Science: Berkeley, CA), FOSS Project Staff (The Lawrence Hall of Science: Berkeley, CA)

Sponsoring Company: Texas Instruments

This session will challenge you to code a TI Rover to avoid hitting a dog! Using the relationship between distance, time, and speed, you will try to get rover as close to scruffy as possible without making contact. Students LOVE this activity! You can borrow TI gear for free to do this project!

Sponsoring Company: College Board

Come for an active session about helping students prepare for AP-level course work in STEM. We will align challenge areas identified using AP Chem exam data and correlate these with the Pre-AP Chem Course Framework and explore instructional strategies to help students meet these challenges.

SPEAKERS:
Laura Casdorph (College Board: New York, NY), Mitch Price (College Board: New York, NY)

Let's discuss food safety, nutrition, and activities to bring real-world knowledge into the classroom. Activities will be demonstrated and a curriculum will be provided.

TAKEAWAYS:
Students will: 1. be introduced to the fundamentals of microbiology while, at the same time, identifying important public health information through literature and hands-on learning activities; 2. learn about the label, and that nutrition not only aids in general well-being.

SPEAKERS:
Tiska Rodgers (Clarkton High School: Clarkton, MO), Leanne Thele (Perryville High School: No City, No State)

Using technology you may already have in the classroom, attendees will use data to tie together the concepts of rate orders, rate laws, and rate law calculations.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will be able to tie kinetic rate law information with dynamic data to create a deeper understanding of the how and why of rate laws and rate law calculations.

SPEAKERS:
Chris Coker (Camden Fairview High School: Camden, AR)

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)

Learn about the scope and sequence of a model-based Earth science-integrated biology course and how our phenomenon-question-model framework is used to develop a set of models to explore the history of life on Earth and human impact.

TAKEAWAYS:
Explore one way to develop a coherent year-long curriculum that integrates Earth science standards into biology.

SPEAKERS:
Cynthia Passmore (University of California, Davis: Davis, CA)

This session introduces participants to NASA resources including a closer look at STEMonstrations which are STEM demonstrations filmed in the microgravity environment aboard the International Space Station and taught by astronauts. Each of these videos includes a corresponding Classroom Connection lesson plan which is ready for educators to immediately implement in their classrooms. This session focuses on the Moment of Inertia STEMonstration where participants watch the Moment of Inertia STEMonstration video and participate in the Moment of Inertia Classroom Connection lab investigation. Participants alter chip cans using household materials to explore how mass distribution affects ease of rotation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will become familiar with STEMonstrations and be able to integrate these videos and corresponding Classroom Connection lesson plans into their classrooms. participants will leave this session with hands-on, ready-to-go STEM lesson plans including student activities and worksheets.

SPEAKERS:
Michele Hooks (Education Project Manager), Lynn Dotson (NASA Office of STEM Engagement-GoH: Kennedy Space Center, FL)

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)

Sponsoring Company: Texas Instruments

A decomposing corpse is found in a field. Four possible missing persons fit the description. But who is it? Using clues near the scene will help determine identity. Forensic anthropologist Diane France helped to develop this free middle school and high school forensic science lesson.

Sponsoring Company: School Specialty - FOSS

Investigate phenomena and experience how students collect data, engage in sensemaking discussions, and construct explanations in FOSS lessons. Experience strategies that build student agency and promote scientific thinking and discussion by using science notebooks.

SPEAKERS:
Brian Campbell (The Lawrence Hall of Science: Berkeley, CA), FOSS Project Staff (The Lawrence Hall of Science: Berkeley, CA)

Sponsoring Company: STEMscopes by Accelerate Learning

Teaching students to reason and problem solve is the cornerstone of math instruction. This session will highlight several engaging strategies - Three Reads, Numberless Word Problems, and more. These provide multiple entry points for students to engage in the math problem solving process.

SPEAKERS:
Suzan Morris (STEMscopes by Accelerate Learning: Houston, TX), Susan Arnette (STEMscopes by Accelerate Learning: Houston, TX)

Sponsoring Company: Savvas Learning Company

Good problem-solving in physics is more than algebraic manipulation. Students can learn and you can assess problem-solving through multiple avenues, including graphs, representations, and more.

SPEAKERS:
Christopher Moore (University of Nebraska Omaha: Omaha, NE)

FREE resources and earthquake data enable students to compare models with observations to discover and measure Earth's outer core in this NGSS aligned activity! Can be implemented as either an in-person hands-on lab, or and entirely self-guided online lab experience.

TAKEAWAYS:
Working through this novel curriculum, teachers will explore two different pedagogical approaches to use recent earthquake data and models, to find and measure Earth's outer core!

SPEAKERS:
Michael Hubenthal (IRIS | Earthscope Consortium: Washington, DC)

What does a grade mean in your class? Learn how to create a grading system that is accurate, bias resistant, motivational, and transparent.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Understand the frameworks for creating an equitable gradebook that is accurate, bias resistant, and motivational; 2. Create a transparent gradebook that shows feedback and progress on course standards; 3. Explore assessment literacy within unit assessments, lab assessments and reassessments.

SPEAKERS:
Katti Bachar (Libertyville High School: Libertyville, IL)

Do probiotic products really contain the number of bacteria they claim? Do expiration dates really matter? How do supplements compare to food products?

TAKEAWAYS:
Practice the use of serial dilution, aseptic technique, and culturing to evaluate probiotic products with the goal of understanding the use of probiotics and the different environmental and nutritional needs required for bacterial growth and reproduction.

SPEAKERS:
Jennifer Vignolini (Biology Teacher)

Learn how to read the 62 maps of practices, core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and performance expectations in The NSTA Atlas of the Three Dimensions and use them and other features of this powerful navigational tool to develop and implement curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

TAKEAWAYS:
A careful review of the connections between elements of the three dimensions can provide a clearer understanding of science standards and important guidance in planning instructional sequences to support three-dimensional teaching and learning.

SPEAKERS:
Ted Willard (Discovery Education: Silver Spring, MD)

Engage in hands-on activities (problem-solving challenges, simulations and modeling) that use 3D learning to explore key ecological topics in Biology and Environmental Science courses (including AP) – population trends, climate change, land use, biodiversity, and ecosystem health.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn ways to guide students’ inquiry around key environmental challenges, using hands-on simulations and modeling activities that employ 3D learning in an inclusive classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Katie Grams (Education Program Associate: Washington, DC), Barbara Huth (Online Learning Manager: Washington, DC)

Sponsoring Company: School Specialty - FOSS

Join us for a hands-on experience and discussion as we consider the assets of our diverse students and how to leverage their funds of knowledge in science and engineering. Receive a toolbox of strategies the FOSS Project developed for educators to support universal access.

SPEAKERS:
Diana Velez (The Lawrence Hall of Science: Berkeley, CA), FOSS Project Staff (The Lawrence Hall of Science: Berkeley, CA)

Sponsoring Company: Texas Instruments

Attendees will explore disease modeling through the use of ZOMBIES!

Sponsoring Company: Plasma Games

Scientific literacy goes beyond understanding and requires students to make a claim that is supported with fact and reasoning. By incorporating comics, anchoring phenomenon, and repetition, we are taking these CER charts to the next level! Bonus: Leave with an all inclusive access code to a 3D game

Sponsoring Company: STEMscopes by Accelerate Learning

If you're using STEMscopes (or wanna-be), this session is for you. Come see the most popular digital curriculum during this session. Discover assessment packages, streaming videos with activities, coding with app building, hands-on engineering projects, STEM teacher certification, and much more.

Sponsoring Company: STEMscopes by Accelerate Learning

CER gets students to explain phenomena in a scientific way. Let’s use investigations to demonstrate how to use data collection to drive data-based conclusions. Guide students in how to think deeper, write scientifically, & incorporate vocabulary that strengthens their understanding of a phenomenon.

SPEAKERS:
Ashley Mathis (STEMscopes by Accelerate Learning: Houston, TX)

Sponsoring Company: InnerOrbit

During this session you’ll build a scaffolded, NGSS-aligned assessments to use with your classroom, school, or district! We'll investigate building prior grade level assessments, cover common misconceptions around sensemaking, and best practices for scaffolding assessments for HS students.

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)

This presentation demonstrates the lasting power and depth of learning through interdisciplinary projects. Come see how science and language arts can be combined for students to have the opportunity to share knowledge about symbiosis through side-by-side poetry.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn to use poetry to communicate how organisms survive. Participants will leave knowing how to introduce side-by-side poetry through a scientific lens, demonstrating a unique way of understanding symbiosis.

SPEAKERS:
Candice Autry (Sheridan School: Washington, DC)

Identify elements in the spectra of supernova remnants to determine the properties of collapsed and exploded stars using web-based NASA X-ray data and image analysis tools.

TAKEAWAYS:
Js9 web-based software can be used to analyze NASA data sets to determine the type of supernova and provides students with real opportunities to do astronomical research.

SPEAKERS:
Pamela Perry (Lewiston High School: Lewiston, ME)

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)

The topic of mRNA vaccines can introduce or reinforce ideas about central dogma (DNA->RNA->proteins) while challenging students to explore various vaccine misconceptions. Activities include an exploration of vaccine-preventable diseases and a timeline-building activity for mRNA vaccine development.

TAKEAWAYS:
mRNA vaccines, like other vaccines, help your immune system to fight infections in order to prevent severe illness. mRNA vaccines are unique in utilizing your cell’s own machinery to evoke a targeted immune response.

SPEAKERS:
Jeanne Chowning (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center: No City, No State), Hanako Osuga (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center), Regina Wu (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center: Seattle, WA)

This session introduces participants to NASA resources including a closer look at STEMonstrations which are STEM demonstrations filmed in the microgravity environment aboard the International Space Station and taught by astronauts. Each of these videos includes a corresponding Classroom Connection lesson plan which is ready for educators to immediately implement in their classrooms. This session focuses on the Engineering Design Process STEMonstration where participants will watch the Engineering Design Process STEMonstration video and participate in the corresponding Classroom Connection activity. Other engineering design activities will be introduced and discussed as extensions to this introductory lesson.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will become familiar with STEMonstrations and be able to integrate these videos and corresponding Classroom Connections into their classrooms. Participants will leave this session with hands-on, ready-to-go STEM lesson plans including student activities and worksheets.

SPEAKERS:
Michele Hooks (Education Project Manager), Lynn Dotson (NASA Office of STEM Engagement-GoH: Kennedy Space Center, FL)

BYO Device to this hands-on workshop for the Next Generation Science Assessment (NGSA) project. Explore free, high-quality, multidimensional tasks, consider how to use them for formative assessment in your elementary classrooms, and view online resources in a virtual learning

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn to access and use two related, freely available online resources that support elementary teachers’ use of NGSS-aligned assessment and instruction: A site with tasks aligned with the performance expectations for Grades 3-5 and a virtual learning community for science teachers.

SPEAKERS:
Jeanne Di Domenico (The University of Chicago: Chicago, IL), Brian Gane (University of Kansas: No City, No State), Carla Strickland (UChicago STEM Education: No City, No State)

Sponsoring Company: NOAA

Why are sea levels rising? Why is it so dangerous for everyone - no matter where they live? How can we address it? Explore these questions and NGSS-aligned online lessons, visualizations, and role-playing activities from NOAA to engage your students on this topic.

SPEAKERS:
Bruce Moravchik (NOAA National Ocean Service: Silver Spring, MD), Symone Barkley (Education Specialist: Silver Spring, MD)

Sponsoring Company: STEMscopes by Accelerate Learning

Come learn how to use effective literacy strategies so that students can better understand science content. Student understanding and critical-thinking skills will improve with these techniques. Join our constructivist approach that promotes literacy in the science classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Suzan Morris (STEMscopes by Accelerate Learning: Houston, TX), Angela Campana (Accelerate Learning, Inc.: Houston, TX)

Come learn about co.lab, an interdisciplinary course designed by Leyden teachers that includes Biology, Global Studies, English, Health/PE and Digital Literacy. Discover how we use our 4 period block of time in a traditional school day to reimagine how students learn and teachers collaborate.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will walk away from this session feeling inspired to collaborate within and outside of their departments, with ideas and strategies on how to do so. They'll learn the power of exhibiting student work, and hear new ideas on how to do so on a grander scale.

SPEAKERS:
Jamie Litzhoff (Leyden High School District 212: Franklin Park, IL)

Teachers will hear about the EPA Gulf Guardian Award winning curriculum that teaches students about climate change. A Classroom Course in Community Resilience uses scientific problem-based learning to promote environmental stewardship.

TAKEAWAYS:
TThe human effect on the climate is evident in many ways, and today's students will be future leaders. Our program equips teachers with lessons that are easily implemented into their existing coursework and empowers students to think outside the box and creatively solve climate-related issues.

SPEAKERS:
Samantha Capers (USM Marine Education Center: No City, No State)

Planet Lamron is a new way to teach biomes and renewable energy in environmental science. Using climate graphs from an earlier mission to the distant earthlike planet, students will determine the biomes present. From there, students will decide where to colonize and how to set up energy plants.

TAKEAWAYS:
Conference attendees will learn to use Planet Lamron to teach the concepts of biomes and renewable energy in environmental science. Students will learn to interpret climate graphs, make decisions about where to colonize based on biome, and how/where to set up renewable energy plants.

SPEAKERS:
Victoria Myers (Teacher: Alpharetta, GA)

Science educators teach THE scientific method; while this is a tried-and-true practice, it doesn’t wholly represent all the different methods used by scientists. At UT Austin, college students are taught there are several scientific methods. We can teach science this way starting at a younger age!

TAKEAWAYS:
Students would benefit from learning more research methods from a young age! Expand students’ view of science, and introduce variety to maintain student interest. Hear ideas to incorporate methods into your lessons such as mathematical modeling, observational studies, and statistics.

SPEAKERS:
Rama Sreekantham (Paragon Prep School: No City, No State)

Contemporary scientists’ cutting-edge research can be shared with elementary students and linked to curriculum topics. Using I bet you didn’t know… articles and accompanying Teacher Guides is an exciting way to stimulate children and provides a rich context for learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
You will learn how I bet you didn’t know… articles written in language that children can understand and accompanying Teacher Guides can be used in the classroom to increase engagement with practical activities, develop enquiry skills and an appreciation of the impact of science on real life.

SPEAKERS:
Alison Trew (Primary Science Teaching Trust: Bristol, England)

How do we add physical science emphasis to Earth Science curriculum? Weather and Climate with ADI Gas intro lab Students will use the ideal gas law Pv=nrT in their Earth science lessons Students will explore basic Chemistry in their exploration of the atmosphere Molecular models activity Gas Properties lab Water and Oceans Density Ph labs Salinity labs Geology with ADI Students will study wave theory as it applies to earthquakes and tectonics plates Wave on a string Minerals with an emphasis on the atom and radioactivity Space and Astronomy with ADI Students will look at motion in three dimensions and learn how to calculate azimuth and simple orbital mechanics Students will study the periodic table in conjunction with the cosmic forces that created them Gravity Forces lab Gravity and orbits lab Blackbody Spectrum analysis Introduction to Quantum Chemistry

TAKEAWAYS:
We will review activities, lessons, and experiments that will help enhance your Earth Science class and prepare your student for middle school or high school physical science.

SPEAKERS:
Brian Gardiner (Kittredge Magnet School for High Achievers: Atlanta, GA)

In this session , I will model ways to make your elementary and middle school electricity unit light up! I will demonstrate several labs and display a cumulative project that you can assign to your students.

TAKEAWAYS:
The teacher will actively engage students in a tangible session regarding electricity.

SPEAKERS:
Amber Kersey (Henderson Middle School: Jackson, GA)

Preview of how the OpenSciEd High School Chemistry course will guide students to use force thinking as a lens alongside energy and matter to help them develop and explain chemical phenomena including atomic structure, bonding, and exothermic and endothermic reactions.

TAKEAWAYS:
Forces are not only an important idea in physical science generally, but are necessary, in conjunction with matter and energy, to help students develop the mechanisms underlying diverse phenomena like lightning, creating water on another planet, and energy released in the combustion of fossil fuels

SPEAKERS:
Michael Novak (Northwestern University: Evanston, IL), Dan Voss (Northwestern University: Evanston, IL), Nicole Vick (Northwestern University)

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)

Explore a free unit featuring progressive cell models supported by multimedia tools. A realistic and dynamic exploration of cells, cell systems, and disruption by pathogens.

TAKEAWAYS:
How to integrate realistic multimedia and paper-based modeling exercises to depict the dynamic inner-workings of cells and tissues.

SPEAKERS:
Jen Taylor (Lakeview Academy: Saratoga Springs, UT)

Dr. Michael Wysession, NGSS co-author and geophysics professor, demonstrates how including Earth and space science (ESS) storylines in a high school physics course helps build student understanding of both the ESS content and the fundamental physics topics.

TAKEAWAYS:
For many fundamental physics topics (motion, forces, energy, heat flow, waves, radioactivity, etc.), incorporating ESS topics, and even using ESS-related phenomena and storylines, is a great way to engage students and help them better understand the physics fundamentals.

SPEAKERS:
Michael Wysession (Washington University in St. Louis: Saint Louis, MO)

Learn how to access and explore NOAA’s data-rich resources, lesson plans, and visualization tools to build data literacy and proficiency in scientific data analysis.

TAKEAWAYS:
How to find and use NOAA data in your classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Denise Harrington (NOAA TASAA Fellow: Garibaldi, OR)

Complete a distracted driving simulation and discover award-winning videos, crash-science activities and real-world applications exploring science, engineering, vehicle crashworthiness and driver safety. Free online access to video-supported classroom resources and NGSS-aligned lessons.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will complete a distracted driving simulation and learn how scientific and engineering principles can be modeled in classrooms using crash-science related videos and activities.

SPEAKERS:
Pini Kalnite (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Highway Loss Data Institute: Arlington, VA), Griff Jones (University of Florida: No City, No State)

Teachers will hear about the EPA Gulf Guardian Award winning curriculum that teaches students about climate change. A Classroom Course in Community Resilience uses scientific problem-based learning to promote environmental stewardship.

TAKEAWAYS:
The human effect on the climate is evident in many ways, and today's students will be future leaders. Our program equips teachers with lessons that are easily implemented into their existing coursework and empowers students to think outside the box and creatively solve climate-related issues.

SPEAKERS:
Samantha Capers (USM Marine Education Center: No City, No State)

This unit is really engaging for the students! They start highly engaged with the filter design and stay focused through the challenge of microscope work. Our district made a video highlighting this project. Since 2018 we added the water scarcity issues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_LSblnGNRU Here is the Padlet of water scarcity issues: https://nvhs.padlet.org/adrianne_toomey1/boalf80ihol2sm91

TAKEAWAYS:
Students are introduced to a regional water issue and challenged to design a filter to clean water. Students are also developing microscopes skills as they learn about life in the water. The unit ends with redesigning their filter and possible solutions.

SPEAKERS:
Heidi Habas (Neuqua Valley High School: Naperville, IL)

Sponsoring Company: InnerOrbit

During this session you’ll build a scaffolded, NGSS-aligned assessments to use with your classroom, school, or district! We'll investigate building prior grade level assessments, cover common misconceptions around sensemaking, and best practices for scaffolding assessments for MS students.

Matter, forces, and energy are three powerful lenses to make sense of phenomena. We will use examples from the forthcoming free and open-source OpenSciEd High School physics course, which also incorporates earth and space science, to show how we can scaffold the development of student thinking using these lenses across the year. Participants will receive an overview of the course and the matter-energy-forces (M-E-F) conceptual framework. Participants will also explore examples of phenomena that students will explain through these different lenses. Examples will include (1) deep mantle convection, (2) vehicle collisions, (3) meteors, (4) microwaves, and ionizing radiation.

TAKEAWAYS:
A framework for reasoning about changes in the matter, energy and forces in a system helps students develop the mechanisms underlying explanations of diverse phenomena including deep mantle convection, vehicle collisions, meteors, microwaves and ionizing radiation.

SPEAKERS:
Zoe Buck Bracey (Senior Science Educator and Director of Design for Justice: Colorado Springs, CO), Michael Novak (Northwestern University: Evanston, IL), Kate Henson (University of Colorado Boulder: Boulder, CO)

The session engages participants in the process of developing three-dimensional multiple-choice assessment items to be used as a component of classroom instruction. The focus is on the role of phenomena and crosscutting concepts in assessing student understanding of practices and core ideas.

TAKEAWAYS:
Process for developing three-dimensional multiple-choice assessment items. Strategies for measuring student understanding of core ideas, practices, and of crosscutting concepts. Understanding the central role of phenomena in assessing student application of scientific knowledge.

SPEAKERS:
Juan-Carlos Aguilar (Georgia Dept. of Education: Brookhaven, GA)

During this session participants will learn practical strategies for developing, implementing, and differentiating three-dimensional assessments. Participants will develop an understanding of three-dimensional assessments by engaging in activities to support discussion around how and why three-dimensional assessment tasks and instructional tasks share many similarities. We will discuss how a three-dimensional assessment task attends to access and equity using differentiation strategies already embedded into the task. Participants will also gain experience evaluating student learning across the three dimensions using authentic student work samples. We will also use these examples to discuss strategies and tips for developing success criteria for grading that allows for interrater reliability.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will gain a stronger understanding of how to use three-dimensional assessments to evaluate student learning.

SPEAKERS:
Zoe Evans (Bremen City Schools: Bremen, GA), Kristin Rademaker (NSTA: Arlington, VA)

Explore a free middle school unit that integrates genetics concepts to help students understand natural selection. Features paper-based activities, multimedia pieces, and games!

TAKEAWAYS:
How to access and use a new, free unit that integrates core ideas in genetics, heredity, and natural selection, through multimedia materials.

SPEAKERS:
Jen Taylor (Lakeview Academy: Saratoga Springs, UT)

Use STEM web-based analysis software and real data to determine the rate of a supernova remnant expansion and its uniformity.

TAKEAWAYS:
Js9 web-based software provides students with real opportunities to do astronomical research.

SPEAKERS:
Pamela Perry (Lewiston High School: Lewiston, ME)

Discover how to build a STEM curriculum from the ground up, from ideation to final product. Improve an aircraft design, meet the STEM Quality Framework and 50+ free STEM units from Pre-K to High School, and explore amazing resources from the Dayton Regional STEM Center and DoDSTEM.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn the process of designing a high-quality STEM curriculum including; standards alignment, evaluation and improvement of curriculum and implementation within the classroom, along with a library of free, currently available unit plans and resources.

SPEAKERS:
Tim Carey (Xenia Community Schools: Xenia, OH)

Explore a 10-lesson unit in which students follow a young girl’s cancer journey. Participants will work through 3 hands-on activities that center NGSS science and engineering practices to engage students in learning about mitosis, the cell cycle and cell differentiation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Explore 3 activities: Blood Panel Analysis - Disease diagnosis through blood cell count anomalies. Modeling Cell Differentiation - Differential expression of genes drives development of blood from hematopoietic stem cells. Cell Cycle Game - Cancer results from disruptions in cell cycle controls.

SPEAKERS:
Regina Wu (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center: Seattle, WA), Hannah Crowder (Sacred Heart Schools, Atherton: Atherton, CA)

Gain ideas for incorporating the science of e-cigarettes into STEM instruction through an examination of curriculum connections; receive a suite of data interpretation activities that showcase how toxicologists are studying the effects inhaled e-cigarette aerosols on health.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will be able to describe the components of e-cigarette liquids and inhaled aerosols; identify curriculum connections; interpret published scientific data (e.g., graphs).

SPEAKERS:
Dana Haine (UNC Institute for the Environment: Chapel Hill, NC)

Sponsoring Company: InnerOrbit

During this session you’ll build an NGSS Benchmark or common assessment from our database of 10,000+ NGSS Assessment items! We'll look at the types of questions best used for these summative assessments and take workshop time to build an assessment you can use immediately

SPEAKERS:
Erin Cooke (Customer Success Manager)

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)

Using common lab equipment, everyday items, and technology we will introduce equilibrium and the stresses it encounters to students. Using collected data attendees will use technology to introduce and solidify the concept of equilibrium and the changes that it can undergo.

TAKEAWAYS:
Concrete and graphical understanding of what equilibrium "is" and what results occur when stresses are put on equilibrium.

SPEAKERS:
Chris Coker (Camden Fairview High School: Camden, AR)

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)

Join us for a high flyin’ hot air balloon adventure! Learn how you can use hot air balloons to teach properties of gases/gas laws through this project-based lesson- balloon creation and launch included! Easily adapted for most grade levels, it is a fun, versatile addition to your toolbox.

TAKEAWAYS:
Session attendees will learn how to use hot air balloons to teach gas laws through this hands-on, project-based lesson.

SPEAKERS:
Katherine Donaldson (The University of Texas at Dallas: Richardson, TX), Kate York (The University of Texas at Dallas: Richardson, TX)

A skyrocketing global population is making us rethink how we feed people. Traditional protein sources are unequally distributed and can have devastating effects. We will be investigating how insects could help us feed the world in a more equitable and sustainable way. Bring your appetite!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how traditional ways of farming protein (poultry and cattle) negatively affect the ecological communities and explore how insects could help rectify this problem.

SPEAKERS:
Courtney Ologbosele (Teacher), Curtis Martin (Teacher)

Join in collecting GLOBE data partnered with NASA resources to study the solar eclipses. Join Google classroom. Equipment will be provided. There is something for each grade level.

TAKEAWAYS:
Contribute data to a citizen science database used by scientists and students to study the effects of eclipses on the atmosphere

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