To get kids excited to come to school, we built a School Zoo with 113 small animals that is run by an Animal Science elective class and student zookeepers. The students learn and run everything, including tours to over 3,000 elementary students. We will discuss the zoo and how to replicate it.

TAKEAWAYS:
Create a classroom or school zoo where your students become advocates and leaders while they learn by solving practical STEM related daily issues that come up.

SPEAKERS:
Jennifer Szydlowski (Jefferson Middle School: Columbia, MO), Mike Szydlowski (Science Teachers of Missouri: Columbia, MO)

Going from pure to applied science is an emphasis today. STEM makes science applicative. A competitive workforce and making science relevant are reasons for making applicative connections. Do these “connective pushes” (e.g., STEM) make studying science for science’s sake worthwhile? We think so. We’ve created a biology-based assignment where students are involved in SEP through biomimicry after first studying seeds. We chose seeds to show how pure science can blend into the applicative sciences for two reasons. The diversity in physical characteristics and the means of transportation open possibilities for creative uses beyond what seeds themselves provide humankind. Using biomimicry as the driving force to incorporate the concept of SEP in lessons works well in the middle grades. Studying science, using argument from evidence, getting an inventive idea, building a prototype, and finishing with an engineered product is possible through biomimicry. The lessons cover about 3 class days.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn the processes behind how learning pure science concepts can become STEM, by way of using both biomimicry and SEP in the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
William Sumrall (The University of Mississippi: University, MS)

In this session, I will present The Science and Engineering Community Walk, which engages students in authentic examinations of science and engineering activities in their communities. First, we will discuss the importance of exploring science and engineering practices outside the classroom, especially for students from minoritized backgrounds. Next, I will present the various parts of the activity, which is geared towards developing students’ observation and data collection skills. Third, we will break up into grade level groups to discuss how the Community Walk can be adapted for use in participants’ classrooms and identify focal Next Generation Science Standards. Finally, we will discuss how investigating the scientific and engineering resources of the community, and engaging families and communities in science learning, informs students’ and teachers’ visions for teaching and learning science.

TAKEAWAYS:
How investigating the scientific and engineering resources of the community, and engaging families and communities in science learning, inform students' and teachers' visions for teaching and learning science.

SPEAKERS:
José Rios (University of Washington Tacoma: Tacoma, WA)

If NGSS lessons address all aspects of STEAM in every lesson, students will actively engage & be excited every day. Post lockdown, classroom challenges include apathy and pushback, but if students have an expectation of coming to a classroom where they will be advancing, engaged, and busy, and let’s say it-- having fun (!), students achieve at high levels. In this presentation, five mini-unit lesson plans are presented with all 5 STEAM facets incorporated into each. The five lessons cover different MS DCI’s, with their SEP & CCC’s. Example: MS-PS1-3 & MS-ESS3-3. Lesson starts with mini-Math (M) review/game on density mathematics, Jeopardy style. Followed by a short experiment/exploration/play time with floating objects in water (S), (they separate by density, floating or sinking). Then small group online explorations (T), of kinds of plastics & objects contained in Great Ocean Garbage Patch (GOGP), how they got there, etc. Then do posters or presentations using art, (A) on findings.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will take home 5 examples of lessons which utilize a basic STEAM lesson plan template, which will make NGSS Science lessons fun and fast-moving, while incorporating every aspect of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM). These are all Monday-doable!

SPEAKERS:
Julie A. Smith (Lennox Middle School: Playa del Rey, CA)

Explore the intersection of emotion, place, and issues of justice to support students' motivation, engagement, and deeper learning in the STEM classroom. We present 2 flexible practices (e.g., low-floor and high-ceiling tasks) that have been researched across classrooms in the United States and South America. The first practice is called photovoice, which can be used to uncover student thinking and engage deep reflective sensemaking using the medium of photography as a launching point for student-driven inquiry. The second practice is called Community Science Data Talks, which layer different lenses of data (e.g., percentage of tree canopy coverage across a city, intra-urban heat, air quality, etc,) onto students' local communities and prompt discussions as students make sense of local issues of environmental justice. We will share lessons learned are how these two strategies support students in making sense of complex socio-scientific issues and constructing hope for their futures.

TAKEAWAYS:
You will takeaway teacher tools to support planning and implementing each flexible practice, along with understanding how these practices have played out with teachers and students. These takeaways will be supported by student and teacher examples of work with, and reflections on, these practices.

SPEAKERS:
Michael Lawson (Teaching Assistant Professor: Manhattan, KS), Imogen Herrick (Assistant Professor of STEM Education: Lawrence, KS)

STEM Education in rural areas needs to meet students where they are at, not push progress and advancement by utilizing non-relatable curriculums and extensions. Rural community culture needs to be recognized and respected as well as incorporated into STEM learning in order to achieve the most beneficial outcome for the student. The GO STEM Mobile Maker Lab is using & developing curriculum influenced by students and supported by teachers to elevate rural STEM Education.

TAKEAWAYS:
Awareness and insight into exploratory STEM education methods and tools designed to enhance classroom experiences.

SPEAKERS:
Kyle Koyle (GO STEM: La Grande, OR)

The vision of the Fairport STEAM Lab is to support, challenge, and prepare all Fairport students to be Future Ready. We believe that by engaging with curricular and extracurricular projects and inquiries, students will utilize their innate creativity to actively construct knowledge. Students engage with materials and technologies that help them share their learning and tell their stories. The Labs are a place for young people to develop skills that they can transfer to other parts of their lives as they prepare themselves for the future. The presenters will share our experience with building a Lab with attendees that are interested in creating them in their districts and how we have expanded our work to other area districts. We will explore how our curriculum is scaffolded to increase levels of sophistication regarding engineering design, computer science, and digital literacy concepts.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with recommendations for creating STEAM Labs in their districts based on the blueprint that Fairport used to launch Labs that incorporate the NGSS Engineering Design standards, Computer Science and Digital Fluency Learning Standards, and a focus on social-emotional learning.

SPEAKERS:
Travis Wood (Fairport Central School District: Rochester, NY), Kristin Larsen (Honeoye Falls- Lima CSD: Honeoye Falls, NY)

In this exciting and topical workshop, participants will act as their students to roleplay as a team of EV drivers, city planners, and community members to plan EV infrastructure. Participants will need to balance the needs and desires of different stakeholders to place EV chargers in their community. They will test their plan by simulating a day trip by calculating distance, battery capacity, and charging time. The challenge will be to make it a whole day without running out of battery power. This activity is inspired by electrification lessons from The Energy Coalition’s Energy is Everything curriculum program. Participants will leave this workshop with the tools to facilitate a roleplaying activity that explores city planning, identifying and addressing tradeoffs, and electrification within their communities. All materials will be provided by The Energy Coalition’s program, Energy is Everything.

TAKEAWAYS:
This hands-on, standards-aligned workshop will show the influence of engineering, technology, and science on society. Participants will learn to facilitate a roleplaying activity that explores city planning, stakeholder tradeoffs, and electrification within their own communities.

SPEAKERS:
Hanna Buechi (Sr. Project Coordinator: Irvine, CA), Jasmine Pineda (Project Manager: Irvine, CA)

This workshop will demonstrate how to teach the engineering design process through building water filters and discussing water quality and water purification topics. Participants will work in groups to design and construct a water purification model using various materials, such as sand, gravel, and charcoal. The models will be tested by pouring dirty water through the system and analyzing the resulting water quality using test strips. The goal is to design a model that is both economically and environmentally beneficial to society. At the end of the workshop, participants will have a better understanding of the importance of water in society, as well as how engineering, technology, and science can be used to maximize the potential of this limited resource. Additionally, participants will learn how to adapt the lesson for different grade levels. All materials will be provided by The Energy Coalition’s program, Energy is Everything.

TAKEAWAYS:
This workshop will show the influence of STEM on society and the natural world. Participants will build a water purification model by developing a solutions-oriented approach to an environmental problem.

SPEAKERS:
Hanna Buechi (Sr. Project Coordinator: Irvine, CA), Jasmine Pineda (Project Manager: Irvine, CA)

In this presentation, we will be reviewing how our district has built a STEM Pathway program that has developed a community of STEM learners and led to the creation of programming opportunities both inside and outside of the classroom that builds knowledge of STEM careers, foster STEM skills, and ultimately begins to create a community of real-world problem solvers. In addition to discussing the programs, we will discuss how we have leveraged community resources, how the program has branched out to create other unique STEM opportunities for our students and has ultimately allowed us to close the gender gap for STEM in our schools, reach our diverse population, and promote our founding belief that STEM is for all.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with resources and tangible ways to build a STEM community and provide a variety of opportunities for all students to participate and deepen their understanding of the STEM field.

SPEAKERS:
Kelly Curtiss (Coordinating Supervisor of Mathematics, Computer Science, and Business: Parsippany, NJ), Rachel Villanova (Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Schools: Parsippany, NJ)