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)

Sponsoring Company: PASCO

For students new to describing motion, graphs of position and velocity can be difficult to interpret. In this hands-on workshop, you will learn how to use sensors to create and discuss graphs of motion with your students.

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)

Sponsoring Company: Vernier Science Education

Do your students struggle with the meaning of the slope of a graph? We'll demonstrate how to use all the sensors in a Go Direct® Sensor Cart to explore kinematics, force, and mass. These engaging, hands-on experiments will give your students multiple ways to practice working with these principles.

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

Slides with diagrams of the anatomy of the larynx are shown with the parts & functions being described to participants. As the anatomy is being taught there will be breaks for participants to talk to each other while feeling their throats, chest, nose, mouth, jaw, etc to feel the vibrations & notice how damping the vibrations changes how participants sound to themselves & others. Next, videos of an opera singer in an MRI machine are shown to see the anatomy in action. After this whistles, & recorders will be passed out for participants to play the same note but hear the difference in sound. A visualizer showing the relative amplitude of each frequency is used as participants play so they can see that each instrument creates its own unique set of waves in addition to the fundamental tone that is being played. The process is repeated for multiple singers that are singing the same note.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be able to use direct instruction, demonstrations, and short activities to explain the basics of how human voices are able to produce sound, why each person/instrument has a unique sound, and why your voice sounds different to you than it does on recordings.

SPEAKERS:
Brendan Emig (Middle/Upper School Choral Director: Houston, TX), Clark Ellis (The Kinkaid School)

The session will open with having participants work through pieces of Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 from Once Upon a Physical Science Book. We will play with marbles to explore inertia, read about inertia's effect on kids in a school bus, and write an explanation of inertia. Then we'll try out gumdrop wave machines read, an article on bat echolocation, and outline a short letter that students could write after doing the reading. Next, we will discuss the "shape" of the lesson we just worked through, called a literacy learning cycle. From there, we will look at several specific difficulties that arise for students when they are asked to read and write (expectations, background knowledge, and meaningful writing). These topics will illustrate why a literacy learning cycle is so helpful. Finally, we will talk briefly about how the Once Upon a Science Book series can serve as a resource for literacy learning cycles.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will be introduced to the literacy learning cycle format, in which hands-on work precedes meaningful reading and writing activities. They will see how this system works by participating in lessons on wave motion and inertia.

SPEAKERS:
Matthew Hackett (Delta Woods Middle School: Blue Springs, MO), Jodi Wheeler-Toppen (Author/ Staff Development: Atlanta, GA)

Sponsoring Company: PASCO

Give your students a real-world engineering challenge! Explore the relationship between momentum and impact forces by designing and testing crash barriers with live collision data.

Sponsoring Company: Vernier Science Education

TI graphing calculators now work with Vernier’s Go Direct sensors, wirelessly, with the TI-Bluetooth Adapter! Students can code their own data collection programs using Python to ensure their experiments are customized to their specific needs. Or they can use pre-existing programs from the TI web site to quickly start collecting data. Once the data is on the calculator, students can use one of many applications to better visualize, analyze, and understand the data they’ve collected.

SPEAKERS:
Gregory Dodd (Retired Chemistry Teacher: Pennsboro, WV)

Sponsoring Company: PASCO

Experience the best way to teach basic circuits! Learn how to build circuits with modular components that look identical to schematic drawings. We'll show you how to skip the tangled wires that confuse students and focus on the physics.

Sponsoring Company: Vernier Science Education

Keep your students engaged by giving them opportunities to move and interact in class. Explore limb position and grip strength, balance, and EKG and EMG experiments designed to encourage students to think about the physiology of various human organ systems. Come ready to participate!

SPEAKERS:
Colleen McDaniel (Vernier Science Education: Beaverton, OR)

Sponsoring Company: Savvas Learning Company

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

Sponsoring Company: Texas Instruments

Combine science, math, paper towel tubes, popsicle sticks, cardstock, and a calculator into an actual working slide whistle. This project explores the frequencies of musical notes and uses a linear equation (y=mx+b) to create a functional, customizable slide whistle.

Sponsoring Company: PASCO

Rediscover the most versatile tool in your physics lab: the meter stick! Learn how to facilitate investigations of rotation, torque, optics, and even Lenz's law using the PASCO Aluminum Meter Stick and accessories.

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: PEER Physics

Are you passionate about engaging students in rich discourse and looking for strategies, norms, and protocols that can support this work? Join us for an interactive workshop to explore effective small-group and whole-class discourse techniques. Participants receive consensus building protocols.

SPEAKERS:
Emily Quinty (University of Colorado Boulder: Boulder, CO)

What does rich student discourse look like in a middle school science classroom? How can spirited debates over scientific principles erupt from prepubescent teens? I found myself skeptical when my colleague first brought the PEER Physics curriculum to my attention. How could a curriculum that was initially designed for undergraduate non-science majors and was revised to be applicable for high school contexts, possibly work in middle school? But I found that it not only “worked”, students thrived. I had longed for my students to authentically engage in science practices. In this workshop, I’ll share my experience with bringing PEER Physics into middle school. I’ll invite you into examples of middle school discourse by showing video and student reflections. Workshop participants will consider norming strategies that can support students in rich discourse in middle school science courses. And see how the three-dimensional learning from PEER changed the rest of my instruction.

TAKEAWAYS:
Through video examples and hands-on learning, participants will see what evidence-based student discourse looks like at the middle school level. They will also walk away with tangible strategies, having experienced some of these strategies themselves.

SPEAKERS:
Daniela Del Cid (8th grade Science teacher: Thornton, CO)

Sponsoring Company: PEER Physics

Join us for an interactive workshop to explore how science practices can be used to build a more inclusive and engaging learning environment. Participants will explore the PEER Physics Learning Cycle and gain access to a phenomenon-driven Waves unit for high school physics and physical science.

SPEAKERS:
Emily Quinty (University of Colorado Boulder: Boulder, CO)

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)

In the presentation, I will be sharing activities for a 6-8 aligned unit on force and motion. The activities the participants will experience will include: a hands-on activity with technology to collect and analyze data that will aid in calculating speed and a hands-on activity using technology to graph motion in real time. I will also provide links to activities/projects that participants can use that will not be demonstrated/experienced that will align the concept of force and motion to TEKS for grades 6-8.

TAKEAWAYS:
Vertically aligned lessons for teaching force and motion that involves hands-on experiences which will engage your students. We will use hot wheels to collect data to calculate speed and create motion graphs using hands-on technology.

SPEAKERS:
Rebecca Walker (Tays Junior High School: Katy, TX), Amy Rush (Lufkin Middle School: Lufkin, TX)