This activity has students/participants act as particles. To start, participants are given baseline information about how attractive forces between particles can vary from very strong to negligible, & that particles are always in motion. Participants then split into three groups, strong, moderate, & weak forces. To model very strong forces participants link arms at the elbow, for moderately strong forces they hold hands, & for weak/negligible forces they can only hold each other’s pinky fingers. Participants start far apart & move very slowly to model a very cold temperature. At this speed, all of the participants are able to catch onto each other & form an organized structure (solid). With each iteration the participants move faster; this results in the weak-force group not being able to form a structure (gas), the moderate-force group being clumped together but not organized (liquid), & the strong-force group still being able to form an organized structure (solid).

TAKEAWAYS:
Students will not only know the properties of solids, liquids, and gasses, but will be able to give in-depth explanations as to WHY the properties are different by behaving as the particles at different temperatures and with different attractive forces.

SPEAKERS:
Clark Ellis (The Kinkaid School)

Participants will learn about forms of energy and their transformations by experimenting through six stations. Stations cover potential and kinetic energy, endothermic and exothermic processes, radiant energy, thermal and motion energy, chemical energy, and electrical energy. Within each, there are multiple activities to showcase the energy transformations occurring. The stations will be set up with materials needed, a hypothesis prompt, procedure list, and a station guide for recording data. For example, a yo-yo stores gravitational potential energy when it is in your hand until it drops. When it drops, the yo-yo transforms the potential energy into motion. At the end of experimenting, participants will review a “What’s Happening” sheet that explains what form of energy and energy transformation occurred in that station, as well as how it’s tied to the real-world applications. NEED activities are free and easily differentiated at the elementary, intermediate, and secondary level.

TAKEAWAYS:
How to help students master forms of energy and their transformations and how it can be visualized in the world around them.

SPEAKERS:
Don Pruett, Jr. (Washington Science Teachers Association: Everett, WA)

The drinking bird is a classic heat engine toy that has been featured in popular culture. Although the cause-and-effect relationship for this phenomenon is clear, the mechanism for its repetitive movement is puzzling for most students. In this workshop, participants will use investigative and sensemaking practices to explore the drinking bird phenomenon. This interactive 3-D lesson is in alignment with the goals, standards, and practices of the NGSS. In addition, tips to enhance the development and use of student explanatory models will be featured.

TAKEAWAYS:
Workshop participants will experience an interactive and engaging three-dimensional lesson that is in alignment with the goals and practices of the Next Generation Science Standards. In addition, tips to enhance the development and use of student-created explanatory models will be featured.

SPEAKERS:
Bryan Horan (Northport - East Northport UFSD: Northport, NY)

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Discover a new way to study DNA and enzymes! Use fluorescence to see changes to DNA structure and enzyme activity with your own eyes. Explore how temperature, pH, and genetic sequence affect DNA base pairing. Then, see inhibitors, concentration, temperature, and pH affect enzymatic reaction rates.

SPEAKERS:
Allison Nishitani, PhD (miniPCR: Cambridge, MA)

Sponsoring Company: Savvas Learning Company

N/A

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

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Explore easy, engaging, and safe chemistry activities that guarantee a reaction in your students. Whether you’re new to chemistry or feeling out of your element, create excitement with hands-on labs and demonstrations.

SPEAKERS:
Laurie Nixon (Watauga High School: Boone, NC)

Is there a correlation between the length of someone’s hand and shoe size? While this may seem like a silly question, we've developed a full research project called the "Foot-to-Hand Ratio." This research project uniquely exposes students to units of measurement, dimensional analysis, and research. Over a period of years, a class of 24 students completed this research project. Students measured the length of one hand, one foot, and their height. Then they calculated their Foot-to-Hand, Height-to-Foot, and Height-to-Hand ratios. Surprisingly, there was a direct correlation between the hand and foot length, and height and hand, or foot, length. In addition, students used statistics to dismiss "outliers" in the data.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will have access to a new, simple research project that incorporates mathematics.

SPEAKERS:
Sharron Jenkins (Georgia Gwinnett College: Lawrenceville, GA)

Sponsoring Company: Vernier Science Education

Find out how you can use a simple reaction between food color and bleach to teach reaction kinetics. Learn how to select the best wavelength on a spectrometer, analyze the data to determine the rate constant, and write the rate expression. Collect data on your own device or use one of ours!

SPEAKERS:
Nüsret Hisim (Vernier Science Education: Beaverton, OR)

Sponsoring Company: Savvas Learning Company

Join Professor Michael Wysession in an inspirational session to reconnect you with the reasons you chose teaching as your profession. Through the lens of a modernized ancient concept (the Japanese “Ikigai”), participants will reflect on their teaching careers and rediscover the rewards (personal, societal, financial) of the teaching profession.

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

Sponsoring Company: PASCO

Help students develop a better understanding of mole ratios, stoichiometry, and limiting reactants through this hands-on activity using household chemicals and a Wireless Pressure Sensor.

Sponsoring Company: Anatomage, Inc.

The Science Table by Anatomage provides a library of biology, chemistry, and physics experiments with realistic-quality visuals and an interactive touchscreen experience. The workshop will focus on incorporating the Science Table into middle school, high school, and college-level classrooms.

Sponsoring Company: Texas Instruments

The King of all sensors in most science departments is the temperature probe. Probes make it easier for students to quickly and reliably collect data so they can spend more time making sense of it. Come to this hands-on session and interact with, "The Lord of the Probes!"

Sponsoring Company: Savvas Learning Company

N/A

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

Sponsoring Company: Lab-Aids

How do we engage students to ask questions and develop evidence-based explanations? In this hands-on activity from the Lab-Aids EDC Earth Science program, discourse occurs authentically as you role-play a geologist testing various site extractions for molybdenum, a valuable mineral.

Sponsoring Company: Vernier Science Education

While building bottle rockets, students are instructed not to use more than 10 pumps on a bicycle pump. When a bottle bursts and injures students, it's up to you to investigate. Use Avogadro’s law and a Go Direct® Gas Pressure Sensor to solve the mystery in this hands-on experiment.

SPEAKERS:
Nüsret Hisim (Vernier Science Education: Beaverton, OR)

Sponsoring Company: Plasma Games

It's all fun and games but does it work? Dive into the difference between gamification and game-based learning to innovate your classroom, and engage and excite students to learn Chemistry. Bonus: Leave with an all-inclusive access code to a 3-D game-based platform.

SPEAKERS:
Alison Baker (Lead Curriculum Specialist: Raleigh, NC)

Sponsoring Company: Plasma Games

It's all fun and games but does it work? Dive into the difference between gamification and game-based learning to innovate your classroom, and engage and excite students to learn Chemistry. Bonus: Leave with an all-inclusive access code to a 3-D game-based platform.

Sponsoring Company: Lab-Aids

How do we teach topics such as electron configurations so that high school students can learn and understand them? Walk away with some effective ways to teach the structure of the atom. Using a user-friendly spectrophotometer, explore how light interacts with dyes. Then use unique spectrum cards to show how atoms, color, and spectra are related, making a conceptual bridge between a core chemical technology—making dyes—and the fundamental structure of the atom.

This presentation revolves around the development of two distinctive research projects: Vitamin C Project and the Carbon Dioxide Project. In the Vitamin C project, participants extract juice from fruits and determine the vitamin C content using common household chemicals. In the Carbon Dioxide Project, participants quantitatively determine the amount of carbon dioxide and water produced when mixing specified amounts of baking soda and vinegar. The capture of carbon dioxide and water in clear balloons is an engaging way to apply basic mathematics to a chemical reaction. Embracing an integrative approach to teaching science and mathematics helps bridge the gap between knowledge learned and knowledge applied. This presentation will provide educators with innovative, standards-aligned projects that foster student interest in science and mathematics. For 3rd - 6th graders, these research projects can be delivered through storybooks!

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will gain full activity descriptions and handouts for at least three projects and learn how to integrate math skills into research projects that promote critical thinking and discovery (targeting 3rd - 12th grade).

SPEAKERS:
Sharron Jenkins (Georgia Gwinnett College: Lawrenceville, GA)

This activity has students/participants act as particles. To start, participants are given baseline information about how attractive forces between particles can vary from very strong to negligible, & that particles are always in motion. To model very strong forces participants link arms at the elbow, for moderately strong forces they hold hands, & for weak/negligible forces they can only hold each other’s pinky fingers. Participants start far apart & move very slowly to model a very cold temperature. At this speed, all of the participants are able to form an organized structure (solid). With each iteration the participants move faster. This results in the weak force group not being able to form structure (gas), the moderate force group being clumped together but not organized (liquid), & the strong force group still being able to form an organized structure (solid). Activity will then be modified to explain WHY gas law variables have the relationships they do (P,V,T, n).

TAKEAWAYS:
Students will not only know the properties of solids, liquids, and gasses, but will also be able to give in-depth explanations as to WHY the properties are different by behaving as the particles at different temperatures and with different attractive forces.

SPEAKERS:
Clark Ellis (The Kinkaid School)

Sponsoring Company: Lab-Aids

What is the difference between subscripts and coefficients? What does "balancing" a chemical equation mean? Many students have trouble with these fundamental concepts in chemistry. If a student does not fully understand the chemical formula, then moles, reactions, and stoichiometry are hopelessly confusing. Join us for some elegant, intuitive, and well-differentiated lessons that allow students of all levels to master the chemical formula and thereby move confidently into a deeper understanding of chemistry.