Join us at the Georgia World Congress Center for an opening reception to mark the start of NSTA Atlanta23! We’ll keep it casual—meet new colleagues and greet returning friends while enjoying beverages and small bites and a photo opportunity with keynote speaker—NASA Astronaut, Dr. Megan McArthur. The event is complimentary and open to all registered conference attendees. Immediately following the reception, McArthur will share her thrilling experiences while working on the International Space Station in an inspirational fireside chat facilitated by NASA’s K-12 Education Advisor Cindy Hasselbring.

Calling all yoga enthusiasts. Regardless of whether you’re a newbie or veteran, schedule time to join Jasmine for a gentle warm-up; traditional vinyāsa-style yoga (balance poses, core, strength building); deep stretching for hips and hamstrings; and, of course, meditation for relaxation and de-stressing. Beginner friendly!

Feeling overwhelmed by all there is to see and do at an NSTA conference on science education? Join us for an interactive exploration through the conference app and NSTA’s social media. By the end of the session, you will know just how to get the most from your conference experience in addition to bu

Join us for our inaugural Teacher Voices Keynote Panel, moderated by Dr. Stephen Pruitt, President of the Southeast Regional Education Board (SREB). Panel members—three inspiring, passionate educators from various parts of the country—will share engaging and inclusive strategies for humanizing science education, drawing on their own teaching experiences to fuel the discussion.

SPEAKERS:
Whitney Aragaki, Autumn Rivera (Glenwood Springs Middle School: Glenwood Springs, CO), William Stockton (Arlee High School: Missoula, MT)

As part of the SCAFFOLD project, district science coordinators develop and implement strategic plans. In this session, coordinators will share their experience with this process and faculty will share ideas for supporting the development of your own strategic plan.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about strategic planning and gain support for developing their own plan.

SPEAKERS:
Brooke Whitworth (Clemson University: Clemson, SC), Julie Luft (University of Georgia: Athens, GA)

In this session we will look at how engaging students in the practice of Developing and Using Models over the course of a unit can be used for different purposes. Participants will experience building a consensus model and reflect on how building a class consensus model is an important step in ensuring that all members of the learning community can contribute to the knowledge building and that ALL students have access to the ideas the class agrees moves the understanding forward. We will also highlight how models are a powerful way to uncover new questions students may have, requiring students to dig for a deeper understanding.

TAKEAWAYS:
Developing and using scientific models allows all students to be integral members of the knowledge-building community.

SPEAKERS:
Holly Hereau (NSTA: Arlington, VA)

We will share how we implemented current educational research to create a learning environment that supports learners of all abilities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will understand the educational research supporting a shift away from traditional grading and describe methods of implementation that address issues of equity, differentiation, peer interactions, and more.

SPEAKERS:
David Frangiosa (Pascack Valley Regional High School District: Montvale, NJ)

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: STEMscopes by Accelerate Learning

Let’s explore several intervention strategies to help struggling students in STEM. Let's move beyond differentiation and scaffolding. Come learn other proven intervention techniques to help students. Let’s modify our traditional outreach to connect with students so that they gain greater understandi

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

Sponsoring Company: Amplify

High quality instructional materials are essential for equitable access to science, but materials are only the start of the instructional journey! Examine the importance of YOUR role as a teacher in leveraging NGSS-designed curriculum to inspire your students to figure out phenomena.

Sponsoring Company: BIOZONE Corporation

Discover BIOZONE WORLD - a new platform bringing all our digital resources together for easy access and delivery. Incorporating BIOZONE’s eBooks with our rich collection of presentation slides, 3D models & curated videos, it provides powerful options for delivering your high school science programs.

Sponsoring Company: Discovery Education, Inc.

Start your day with the Discovery Education team as they take you on a high energy and hands-on immersion into the wonderful world of Phenomena!

Sponsoring Company: Savvas Learning Company

What's so phenomenal about phenomena? Join the Savvas science team for an engaging, hands-on workshop as we explore the purpose of phenomena, the power of using it to drive your instruction, and the way it will support your students as they bring their own life experiences into your classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Jessi Davis (Savvas Learning Co.: Paramus, NJ)

Sponsoring Company: LaMotte Company

Water is the single most valuable resource essential for life on Earth, yet is subject to increasing scarcity, pollutants, and overuse. The Tapwater Tour curriculum make the real-world connection between the phenomena explored in the lesson and actual hands-on laboratory activities.

SPEAKERS:
Joseph Evans (Kent County High School: Worton, MD)

Sponsoring Company: Activate Learning

Asking questions and defining problems provides students with an authentic and meaningful entry point into science and engineering. Experience a puzzling chemistry phenomenon and learn how to elicit, organize, and revisit students’ questions so that students feel ownership over their own learning.

SPEAKERS:
Tracy Marmolejo (Activate Learning: Greenwich, CT)

Sponsoring Company: Flinn Scientific

The persistence of laboratory incidents injurious to high school students demonstrates the need for work towards implementing strong safety cultures in our school science labs. Please join us to learn about simple things you can do to make the laboratory a safer environment for your students.

Sponsoring Company: Great Minds

In this workshop, participants are introduced to a 5th grade module on Earth Systems to uncover a new process for developing models in science and see how the communication of ideas through models and sketches increases opportunities for student engagement.

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: Bozemanscience.com, Inc

Paul Andersen will demonstrate how to use targeted mini-lessons to explicitly teach the concepts (CCCs) and practices (SEPs) of the NGSS. You will learn the main elements of an effective science mini-lesson and be provided examples of mini-lessons to deliver to your students. For grades K-12.

Sponsoring Company: STEMscopes by Accelerate Learning

Engage in strategies to help your English Learners (EL) population make sense of science concepts and apply their science knowledge to real-world applications. We will explore a variety of strategies for differentiating instruction so that ELs can build their ability to communicate science concepts.

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

Sponsoring Company: Amplify

How can a phenomena-based NGSS curriculum promote sensemaking in science and also support language development? See how embedded supports in well-designed instructional materials, along with teachers’ best practices, can create a successful science learning environment for Multilingual Learners.

Sponsoring Company: Savvas Learning Company

Scientific literacy is vital to economic and public health and security. How can we respond to forces that undermine public understanding and trust in science. We will then explore online resources and individualized teaching strategies that can overcome these challenges in our classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Joseph Levine (Science Writer and Producer: Concord, MA)

Sponsoring Company: Activate Learning

Explore the teacher’s side and experience the student side of our IDE. While engaged in an OSE lesson we'll explore the Teacher Edition’s and its structure while also experiencing the different features that students have available to use in their interactive student edition.

SPEAKERS:
Jen Gutierrez (IntegratedSTEMk12, LLC: Chandler, AZ)

Sponsoring Company: Estes Industries

Empower your students to become confident problem solvers by providing hands-on STEM experiences that improve their resilience and motivation through trial and error. Build a free rocket with us and walk away with great strategies to use in your classroom!

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Bayeur (Estes Industries: , United States)

Sponsoring Company: Discovery Education, Inc.

Built exclusively for Florida, learn about the Discovery Education K-8 Florida Science Program delivers active science lessons designed based on the Statewide Science Assessments. Pre-registration is required and a light lunch is served first come first serve. Pre-register at bit.ly/de-at-nsta-2023

This session is intended for secondary science teachers with multilingual learners (MLLs). MLLs bring important science ideas that contribute to learning. This session will emphasize meaningful language instruction for all students and provide ideas for how to support emergent multilingual students.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this session, participants will engage with meaningful examples of teaching techniques to support higher-level thinking for all students, especially multilingual learners. These examples can be implemented in any secondary science classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Monica Davies Davies (AVID curriculum Developer: , WA), Angela DiLoreto (Bellevue School District: Bellevue, WA)

Did you know the ocean is a major influence on weather and climate? Apply Ocean Literacy - an understanding of the ocean’s influence on you and your influence on the ocean - in your learning environment! Explore the Ocean Literacy Framework, including alignment of ocean science concepts with NGSS.

TAKEAWAYS:
You can't be science literate without being ocean literate. While terrestrial examples dominate NGSS, Ocean Literacy is essential to understanding many DCIs, but the connection may not be obvious. Other DCIs do not mention the ocean but cannot be fully understood without the ocean component.

SPEAKERS:
David Christopher (Delaware Sea Grant Marine Advisory Service: Lewes, DE)

Does your PLC need some TLC? Come learn new strategies and approaches to enhance your professional learning community (PLC). In this workshop, participants will reflect on their previous PLC experiences, learn about the components of a community of practice (CoP), and walk away with specific strategies to revitalize and bring meaning back to their PLCs. “Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly,” (Wenger-Trayner, E. & Wenger-Trayner, B., 2015). Workshop participants will explore how to make their PLC not just another group planning session, but rather a dynamic community where members work towards specific goals for themselves and their students by incorporating elements of a CoP. By the end of this session, participants will have specific strategies they can take home and implement immediately with their PLCs.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this workshop, participants will reflect on their previous PLC experiences, learn about the components of a Community of Practice (CoP), and walk away with specific strategies to revitalize and bring meaning back to their PLCs.

SPEAKERS:
Meredith Schwendemann (Clemson University), Ashley Hunter (Graduate Research/Teaching Assistant: Clemson, SC), Brooke Whitworth (Clemson University: Clemson, SC), Jennifer Bateman ()

Calling all diverse and experienced educators that impact students and their community. Learn how to win up to $10K with Shell sponsored teacher awards.

TAKEAWAYS:
Collaborate with past winners and judges to learn how to start your winning application for the Shell Teaching Awards. We'll walk through the application step by step and you'll be able to begin your application or nomination form live.

SPEAKERS:
Martha McLeod (Aransas County ISD: Rockport, TX), Amanda Upton (NSTA: Arlington, VA)

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)

How can we provide access to learning to ensure students can succeed in today’s learning experience? We will look at the practice of scaffolding instruction in science and use classroom examples that can be transferred into your classroom. Q&A to follow.

TAKEAWAYS:
The practical use of instructional scaffolds and the supporting strategies to increase access to student learning in science.

SPEAKERS:
Jeffrey Longenberger (Washington County Public Schools: Hagerstown, MD)

Make manageable, meaningful changes in the classroom with free tools to help you communicate the nature and process of science, while integrating NGSS SEPs. Explore strategies for modifying your current instruction, such as the Science Flowchart interactive journaling tool. Bring a laptop/tablet!

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will reflect on and refine their own models of the nature and process of science and gain experience with using materials, tools, and interactives from the Understanding Science project to support their classroom teaching on this topic.

SPEAKERS:
Betsy Barent (Lincoln Public Schools: No City, No State), Anastasia Thanukos (University of California Museum of Paleontology: Berkeley, CA)

You’ve heard it said, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” Well, 3-D teaching and learning are “The Big Stuff” in science education. Join us for a 100% hands-on session of data collection, data analysis, and data discussion.

TAKEAWAYS:
The attendees will do a data collection activity on the cooling rates of water vs. isopropyl alcohol. The biggest takeaway will be an understanding of the importance of the structural properties of water--namely its polarity--and will apply this understanding to how water allows for life to exist.

SPEAKERS:
Jeffrey Lukens (Retired Science Teacher: Sioux Falls, SD)

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: Great Minds

In this workshop, participant explore parts of a 4th grade module on Energy to see how hands-on experiences and other modes of discovery enable students to build knowledge and gather personally meaningful evidence to support their scientific explanations.

Sponsoring Company: Savvas Learning Company

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SPEAKERS:
Michelle Forsythe (Texas State University: San Marcos, TX)