2023 Kansas City National Conference

October 25-28, 2023

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Rooms and times subject to change.
190 results
Save up to 50 sessions in your agenda.

Developing Storylines from a Compelling Anchor

Thursday, October 26 • 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 3501 D



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
Link to the Session Slides

STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

Show Details

N/A

TAKEAWAYS:
Presenting a compelling phenomenon or design challenge requires framing a question and choosing material carefully. Building a storyline requires testing out a launch of a unit to anticipate student questions about it, and first identifying what students will figure out in each lesson of a unit before it occurs.

SPEAKERS:
Bill Penuel (: Boulder, CO)

Un-Cooking the Egg – Modeling Protein Structure and Denaturation

Thursday, October 26 • 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 1501 C


STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

Show Details

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

What happens when you cook an egg? Is it possible to un-cook it? Investigate the characteristics of amino acids, the levels (and rules!) of protein folding, and how denaturing a protein alters its function, in an engaging hands-on modeling investigation using the Amino Acid Starter Kit ©.

SPEAKERS:
Mark Arnholt (3D Molecular Designs: Milwaukee, WI)

Effective Intervention Strategies: Let’s Hook Students into Learning

Thursday, October 26 • 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2504 A


STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

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Sponsoring Company: STEMscopes by Accelerate Learning

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

SPEAKERS:
Margo Dye (Accelerate Learning Inc.: Houston, TX)

Left at the Scene of the Crime: High School Forensics

Thursday, October 26 • 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2503 B


STRAND: STEM Haven

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Sponsoring Company: Edvotek

There’s a break-in at the lab. Your students become forensic scientists as they walk into a crime scene. Analyze samples for blood and then catch the criminal with DNA fingerprinting. This exciting workshop will include ways to incorporate biotechnology and gel electrophoresis into your classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Danielle Snowflack, PhD (Edvotek Inc.: Washington, DC), Tom Cynkar (Edvotek Inc.: Washington, DC)

Capturing Motion: Hands-On Physics Learning with Vernier Photogates

Thursday, October 26 • 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2503 A


Show Details

Sponsoring Company: Vernier Science Education

Photogates are simple to use, but also have some challenging aspects. We’re here to help you unravel the complexities of these helpful tools so you can incorporate them into your curriculum. We’ll experiment with the laser gate, and we’ll discuss gate and pulse mode, different measurement setups, and more!

SPEAKERS:
Frances Poodry (Vernier Science Education: Beaverton, OR)

Classroom Data Literacy Practice with NOAA’s SOS Explorer and Visual Thinking Strategies

Thursday, October 26 • 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 1501 A


STRAND: Tech Tools

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Sponsoring Company: NOAA

Learn to leverage freely available global data visualizations using NOAA’s SOS Explorer mobile application (available on Apple and Android devices and Chromebooks), and an observational technique used in art museums to increase critical thinking and time spent on visual and group thought analysis.

SPEAKERS:
Beth Russell (NOAA Office of Education: Silver Spring, MD), Hilary Peddicord (NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory: Lyons, CO)

Foundations of Tech

Thursday, October 26 • 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 1501 B


STRAND: Tech Tools

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Sponsoring Company: Milestone C & STEMI

This essential Foundations of Tech will provide an introduction to areas of new-age tech that are embedded in Industry 4.0, including design, robotics, and AI. Let's work together to make students developers, instead of consumers, of tech and STEM for their future and ultimately, career choices.

SPEAKERS:
Dave Conelias (Milestone C LLC: Shelton, CT)

Exhibit Hall Grand Opening

Thursday, October 26 • 10:50 AM - 11:00 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - NSTA Exhibit Hall


Show Details

N/A

SPEAKERS:
Jessica Eaton (NSTA: Arlington, VA)

Strategies to Support English Learners (ELs) in the Science Classroom

Thursday, October 26 • 10:50 AM - 11:50 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2504 A


STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

Show Details

Sponsoring Company: STEMscopes by Accelerate Learning

N/A

SPEAKERS:
Leslie Spaeny (STEMscopes by Accelerate Learning: Houston, TX)

Inspire Meaningful Engagement with Hands-On Learning in the Middle School Classroom

Thursday, October 26 • 10:50 AM - 11:50 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2503 A


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Sponsoring Company: Vernier Science Education

Spark your students’ curiosity and prepare them for high school–and the world beyond. Learn how to introduce concepts to your students using the Go Direct Temperature Probe to measure the temperature of the palm of their hand, discover the reflectivity of various colors with the Go Direct Light and Color, measure sliding friction with the Go Direct Force & Acceleration Sensor, and determine the power of their grip with the Go Direct Gas Pressure.

SPEAKERS:
David Carter (Vernier Science Education: Beaverton, OR)

Introducing Your Students to Gene Editing with CRISPR

Thursday, October 26 • 10:50 AM - 11:50 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2503 B


STRAND: STEM Haven

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Sponsoring Company: Edvotek

The gene-editing tool CRISPR is one of the most exciting biotechnology breakthroughs of the past decade. In fact, this technique won the Nobel Prize in 2020! In this hands-on workshop, we’ll explore CRISPR biology using fast, easy experiments that model the development of a cure for Cystic Fibrosis.

SPEAKERS:
Danielle Snowflack, PhD (Edvotek Inc.: Washington, DC), Tom Cynkar (Edvotek Inc.: Washington, DC)

From Circuits to Molecules: Biotech Basics for Middle School and General Bio

Thursday, October 26 • 10:50 AM - 11:50 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2504 B


STRAND: STEM Haven

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Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Link physical science concepts like circuits and charged particles to the essential biotech method, gel electrophoresis. Build a reusable gel electrophoresis system with the Bandit STEM Electrophoresis Kit, and use it to separate colorful dyes. Also, add the A to STEAM with creative pipetting art!

SPEAKERS:
Kristin Hennessy-McDonald, PhD (miniPCR: Cambridge, MA)

How board games can engage your students and develop environmental literacy

Thursday, October 26 • 10:50 AM - 11:50 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 1501 B


STRAND: Research to Practice

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Sponsoring Company: Adventerra Games North America LLC

N/A

SPEAKERS:
Sue Mundell (Adventerra Games North America: Boston, MA), Bryan Mundell (Founder: , Switzerland), Lauren Kelly (Crowley ISD: Fort Worth, TX)

Exclusive Exhibit Hall Hours

Thursday, October 26 • 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Kansas City Convention Center - NSTA Exhibit Hall


Show Details

N/A

SPEAKERS:
Jessica Eaton (NSTA: Arlington, VA)

Decoding Starlight—From Photons to Pixels to Images—Using Science and Art

Thursday, October 26 • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Kansas City Marriott Downtown - Lester Young A



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
Decoding Starlight - paper and pencil version
Decoding Starlight - student version
Decoding Starlight Presentation
Js9 Astronomy Image Analysis Software
Making 3 Color Composites with js9 - student handout

STRAND: STEM Haven

Show Details

To analyze data from space and ground-based telescopes, scientists rely on computers, not only to do calculations, but also to change numbers into images. Scientists and programmers go through painstaking calibration and validation processes to ensure that computers produce technically correct images. Visual representation of X-ray data, and radio, infrared, ultraviolet, visible, and gamma, involves the use of representative color techniques where colors in the image represent intensity, energy, temperature, or another property of the radiation. This activity creates models from numerical data. Each model will be unique, depending upon how the photon intensity and energy data was processed – binned and assigned color values – and then analyzed. Artistic representations of this data will be made "by hand" and also by using web-based js9 imaging and analysis software. This is one step in allowing students to do their own astronomy research using real data sets.

TAKEAWAYS:
Scientists learn about astronomical objects from the light they produce. Colors in images are based on data from this light and are used to highlight different features.

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

Radio Astronomy in the STEM Classroom - A daytime activity!

Thursday, October 26 • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Kansas City Marriott Downtown - Jay McShann B


STRAND: STEM Haven

Show Details

This lesson focuses on radio astronomy data collected with a $50 student-built telescope. The telescope is not needed to do the lesson. Students collect information on the locations of neutral hydrogen. Easy to do and a primary focus of radio astronomy. The data collected can be used in the classroom to teach lessons on the Doppler Effect, Wave behavior, galactic velocity curves, and effects of gravity as well as other science topics. Many physics concepts can be taught in a highly engaging way by studying the concepts found in astronomy. Doppler effect, rotational motion, wave behavior, the EM spectrum are examples. The challenges to doing such lessons is the high cost of the telescopes and the challenges of collecting astronomy data during daylight hours. Plans for building and operating the radio telescope will be provided. Lesson plans for teaching the Doppler Effect via Red Shift/Blue Shift and for teaching how to work with galactic velocity curves will be included.

TAKEAWAYS:
Radio astronomy is done during class time as radio wave detection is not affected by daylight. Students will learn about the unique nature of galactic rotational behavior as compared to circular motion and planetary motion under Kepler’s Laws.

SPEAKERS:
John Clark (Volusia Online Learning: Port Orange, FL)

Hurry Up and Wait – Utilizing “Downtime” in Plasmid Ligation (and Other Biotechnology) Wet Labs

Thursday, October 26 • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Kansas City Convention Center - 1501 C


STRAND: Research to Practice

Show Details

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Give your students a deeper understanding of what is happening inside those tiny tubes during PCR, endonuclease digest, and incubation wait times through hands-on modeling. This workshop will feature the use of the Biotechnology Kit © and focus on plasmid ligation.

SPEAKERS:
Mark Arnholt (3D Molecular Designs: Milwaukee, WI)

Let's DIVE-In to Engineering and the Engineering Design Process

Thursday, October 26 • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2504 A


STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

Show Details

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:
Margo Dye (Accelerate Learning Inc.: Houston, TX)

Got Milk?: DNA, Enzymes, and Lactose Intolerance

Thursday, October 26 • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2505 B


STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

Show Details

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Participants use the lactase enzyme to produce lactose-free milk in an easy-to-perform lab and then modify experimental conditions to design and test their own procedures to maximize production of lactose-free milk.

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

Bright Ideas: Investigating Light Bulbs and Simple Circuits Through Guided Inquiry

Thursday, October 26 • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2503 A


Show Details

Sponsoring Company: Vernier Science Education

Let us shed light on guided-inquiry lessons for your classroom. We’ll walk you through guided-inquiry simple circuit lessons, with attention to both the student experience and the teacher's view. You’ll be able to customize the lessons to feature the sensors and software you already have!

SPEAKERS:
Frances Poodry (Vernier Science Education: Beaverton, OR)

Inspiring the Future with DoD STEM

Thursday, October 26 • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2101


STRAND: Research to Practice

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Sponsoring Company: DoD STEM

Department of Defense STEM scientists and engineers are the bedrock of our nation’s most advanced technology and research breakthroughs, including virtual reality, autonomous vehicles, and more! Join us as we explore multiple STEM career pathways supported by DoD STEM’s network of partners in academia, industry, not-for-profit, and local/federal government.

SPEAKERS:
Dr. Marquis Mason (RTI International: Research Triangle Park, NC), Dr. Whitney White (RTI International: Research Triangle Park, NC)

Sweet Science: Exploring Complex Mixtures With Biotechnology

Thursday, October 26 • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2503 B


Show Details

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek

Explore the science of candy colors! We will extract food dyes from candy and separate them using agarose gel electrophoresis and paper chromatography. By separating the different colors, students learn about complicated mixtures, charges on molecules, and how science relates to everyday life.

SPEAKERS:
Danielle Snowflack, PhD (Edvotek Inc.: Washington, DC), Tom Cynkar (Edvotek Inc.: Washington, DC)

STEM Outreach for Families: Plan an Engaging and Meaningful Event

Thursday, October 26 • 2:20 PM - 3:20 PM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2208


STRAND: STEM Haven

Show Details

This will give information that will enable participants to replicate a STEM outreach event with various theme ideas. The activities are all low-cost and adaptable across student ages and generations of family members. The activities are meant to provide opportunities for students and families to experience success in a fun and enriching way while engaging with STEM concepts from the NRC K-12 Framework. We will also discuss how we used this event as a way for our preservice teachers to experience and practice implementing informal education strategies. This event was hosted at our local STEM Center, but we will also discuss ways that it can be implemented at school STEM nights, at community events, or even as neighborhood "pop-up" events to reach diverse learners in equitable ways.

TAKEAWAYS:
STEM Outreach events can be a way to engage students and families in equitable STEM learning to encourage and support all learners. This will provide information on how to replicate a STEM outreach event we hosted at our local STEM Center along with ideas about implementing it in different formats.

SPEAKERS:
Kelly Moore (Tennessee Tech: Cookeville, TN)

Analyzing X-Ray Pulses from Stellar Cores Using Physics and Web-Based NASA Data, and STEM Image Analysis Tools

Thursday, October 26 • 2:20 PM - 3:20 PM

Kansas City Marriott Downtown - Lester Young A



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
Analysis of Two Pulsating X-ray sources js9 (revised).pdf
Analysis of X-Ray Sources with Js9 presentation
Js9 Astronomy Image Analysis Software
X-Ray Spectroscopy of SNRs js9 presentation

STRAND: STEM Haven

Show Details

Participants will use light curve graphs and image analysis software tools located on the web to investigate stellar objects at the centers of supernova remnants, and determine if the objects are white dwarfs or neutron stars. Two sets of data from the Chandra X-Ray public archive will be used to plot brightness versus time to determine the rate of rotation of the object. Centripetal acceleration and Newton's Universal Law of gravitation calculations will then be applied. This activity is designed for physics and/or astronomy classes and integrates STEM analysis tools with the crosscutting concepts, physical science core disciplinary content and engineering concepts embodied by NGSS. Students may also use tools learned in this activity to use js9 to do further research projects using publicly available astronomy data sets.

TAKEAWAYS:
Light curves generated from web-based js9 image analysis software can be used to determine the period of rotation and identify objects as white dwarfs or pulsars using Newton’s Universal Law of gravitation and centripetal acceleration calculations.

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

Building Future STEM Leaders: Incorporating Science Olympiad in Pre-Service Teacher Education

Thursday, October 26 • 2:20 PM - 3:20 PM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2211


STRAND: Leadership and Advocacy

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In Oklahoma, The University of Central Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University are working to prepare future STEM teacher/leaders by integrating Science Olympiad volunteering into each institution's pre-service teacher (PST) education programs. With partial funding through a grant from the Science Olympiad USA Foundation, the teacher education programs are partnering with the Oklahoma Science Olympiad (OKSciOly) to provide PSTs who serve as peer-mentors to OkSciOly member schools and Event Supervisors for OKSciOly tournaments as a part of their science education program expectations. The program goals are supported by prior studies that indicate that such a program could be associated with improving PSTs’ confidence, increasing opportunities for practicing skills in planning and assessment, and supporting intrinsic motivation associated with coaching Science Olympiad. We will describe the development and activities, and what we learned from PSTs and member schools about the experience.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how Universities and Science Olympiad can increase STEM education support to local schools and develop capacity within their pre-service teacher candidates to use Science Olympiad’s high quality, NGSS aligned science, math, and engineering experiences with their future students.

SPEAKERS:
Bob Melton (University of Central Oklahoma: Edmond, OK)

Using Neuroscience Research in the STEM Classroom

Thursday, October 26 • 2:20 PM - 3:20 PM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2214



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
Brain based hacks to learning.pptx

STRAND: Research to Practice

Show Details

As teachers, it is important for us to understand how the brain works when students are learning. Brain science research has not been easy to transfer to the classroom setting. We are beginning to bridge the gap with real-world, classroom research. By joining this session, you will uncover some of the newest neuroscience/learning research and ways to use the information in your classroom. Retrieval practice, interleaving, spaced practice, and elaborate encoding are a few of the topics we will learn about. In addition, you will leave with plenty of short 5-minute tools you can use right away in your classroom, as well as a deeper understanding of the pros and cons of neuroscience research and classroom settings.

TAKEAWAYS:
Not all research is equal, especially when it comes to classroom teaching. This session will help you understand the research, it's strengths and limitations, and provide you with usable tools to start using right away.

SPEAKERS:
Kirsten Landry (Kent Denver School: Englewood, CO)

Engaging All Students in the Science of Sustainable Food Systems

Thursday, October 26 • 2:20 PM - 3:20 PM

Kansas City Marriott Downtown - Basie Ballroom B


STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

Show Details

Students and educators must remain connected to, and motivated by, the elements of their world that not only spark curiosity and generate wonder but are real. Students care deeply about the environment, climate change, food insecurity, and sustainability. A sustainable and resilient future will only be achieved if we begin to make sense of these challenges in smaller, coherent investigations; starting in our science classrooms. An enormous piece of the sustainability puzzle lies within sustainable food systems. Food production and agriculture provide limitless opportunities for students to explore phenomena among the interactions of living things and the earth’s systems. Further, the practice of agriculture, since its origins, has been a continuous series of design challenges to cultivate nature for the needs of humans. This presentation provides a lens through which students and educators can find opportunities to spark inquiry and solve real-world problems.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will see successful examples of authentic phenomena and problems found within food and agricultural systems that are relevant to all students. We will demonstrate how all three dimensions of NGSS are used to make sense of these real-world phenomena.

SPEAKERS:
John McNamara (Wash. State Academy of Sciences), Brian Beierle (Relevant Classroom, a Division of Vivayic, Inc.: No City, No State)

Selecting Anchoring Phenomena for Equitable 3D Teaching (Part 1 of 2)

Thursday, October 26 • 2:20 PM - 3:20 PM

Kansas City Convention Center - 3501 D



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
Session 3 Materials: Selecting Anchoring Phenomena for Equitable 3D Teaching

STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

Show Details

N/A

TAKEAWAYS:
Phenomena is foundational to science and intellectual pursuits in general! Come make sense of the idea and think about how phenomena-based instruction can engage your students in meaningful learning.

SPEAKERS:
Bill Penuel (: Boulder, CO), Tiffany Neill (Curriculum Project Manager: Oklahoma City, OK)

Talk like your cell phone does (an inquiry lab)

Thursday, October 26 • 2:20 PM - 3:20 PM

Kansas City Marriott Downtown - Jay McShann B


STRAND: STEM Haven

Show Details

Working in teams, students take a short analog message and convert it to binary code for cell phone transmission. Students then send those zero’s and one over a carrier wave using a form of amplitude modulation to another team. At the other end the message is decoded and rewritten in analog form. which message was first? How close was it? A discussion of challenges the students’ faced in acting like a DSP (digital signal processor) lets student see some of the challenges of the original binary code and how subsequent forms of coding came about to address some of those challenges. Students discover the binary code they used was Morse code. Students then code and send a different message using the original 5-digit computer code. After racing to send their messages, students are guided through a follow-up discussion on the pros and cons of the new (Baudot) computer code used.

TAKEAWAYS:
Students will understand some of the challenges faced in digital signal processing as sending digital information evolved by completing a lab activity where they will code and decode messages into a digital format for transmission and receiving, similar to how cell phones work.

SPEAKERS:
John Clark (Volusia Online Learning: Port Orange, FL)

STEM Behind Breast Cancer and Type I Diabetes

Thursday, October 26 • 2:20 PM - 3:20 PM

Kansas City Marriott Downtown - Jay McShann A