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

What will be describe in this session is are community science events that can be organized with themes that use natural phenomena or NGSS standards, practices, and outcomes that a school would like to promote.

TAKEAWAYS:
How to update these events to go beyond the traditional Family Science Events that are superficial. One main takeaway are example indepth activities and resources that can be used for use with families and students

SPEAKERS:
Annabelle Fortine (Central Michigan University: Eagle, MI), Lavender Bertsch (Central Michigan University: Mount Pleasant, MI), Hannah Smock (Central Michigan University: Mount Pleasant, MI), Morgan Glann (Central Michigan University: Mount Pleasant, MI), Nicole Merner (Central Michigan University: Mount Pleasant, MI), Makayla Spencer (Central Michigan University: Mount Pleasant, MI), Emma Harma (Central Michigan University: Mount Pleasant, MI), Jim McDonald (Central Michigan University: Mount Pleasant, MI)

This session will highlight the coaching up of intentional literacy instruction during science time for coaches and teachers. School districts select goals based on their district improvement plans to support writing, reading, and/or academic productive talk. Facilitation guides provided.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will engage in a model for cross-disciplinary work during science instruction to take to their districts, supporting both instructional coaches and teachers.

SPEAKERS:
Jackie Presson (Early Literacy Coach: Muskegon, MI), Christi Gilbert (Literacy and EL Coach), Wendi Vogel (Kent Intermediate School District: Grand Rapids, MI)

Come learn three discussion routines that can transform your science lessons: “I Notice, I Wonder, I Predict”, “Data Discussions”, and “Let’s Make Sense of It All”. Together we’ll explore key features of each talk, participate in enactments, and brainstorm ways to have more talk time in our lessons

TAKEAWAYS:
For young students, talking is learning as students learn as they talk through their own ideas and listen to the ideas of others. This session highlights three whole class science discussion routines that can transform elementary science lessons.

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

In this session, Nyamwija, a native Ugandan, will provide songs, dances, and instrument-making from Western and Central Uganda. Dees will provide cross-cultural and cross-curricular hands-on-learning activities to intersect the Ugandan arts with NGSS standards. Twabakiira! Karibu! Welcome!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will participate in music making (singing/dancing/drumming), as well as, instrument making to gain a greater sense of the Ugandan culture while combining those understandings in hand-on science activities for use in their classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Jenny Dees (Texas Tech University: Lubbock, TX), Ristella Nyamwija (Texas Tech University: Lubbock, TX)

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

Birds of a Feather sessions (BoFs) are informal gatherings of like-minded individuals who wish to discuss a certain topic without a pre-planned agenda.

Washington County Public Schools, MD had adopted the definition of Acceleration as intentionally providing access to grade/course-level learning so students who have unfinished learning succeed in today’s learning experience. Underpinning this definition we have leaned on the work of John Hattie to identify 4 high-impact areas(relationships, scaffolds, clarity, feedback) of teaching and learning to frame our focus away from traditional remediation. This session will look at the practice of scaffolding instruction in the science classroom. Attendees will participate in collaborative discussions and experience the use of authentic classroom examples. These experiences will promote their own thinking of how our practical strategies can be transferred into their classrooms. Due to the organizational leadership role of the presenters, audience members will be able to have questions ranging from classroom implementation to curriculum integration discussed.

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

SPEAKERS:
Tara Ellis (Washington County Public Schools: Hagerstown, MD)