This session will involve a synthesis of my two accepted conference sessions, each of which deals with a different NSTA Press Book.

SPEAKERS:
Ted Willard (Discovery Education: Silver Spring, MD)

Too frequently, teachers wait until Black History Month to incorporate diversity topics into their curriculum. I will be sharing how to incorporate diversity and equity topics year-round into a STEM program for both elementary and middle school students. We will examine different science topics that can seamlessly be included in the science classroom. I will be showcasing some of the work my second, fourth, and sixth grade students have completed. In addition, I will be discussing the latest addition to the sixth grade weather and climate unit: Hurricane Relief and Environmental Racism. Finally, we will be examining the stories that different cultures have composed about the origin of constellations. After taking this workshop, participants will have a much better idea on how to incorporate diversity and equity topics into their curriculum.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will see how to incorporate diversity and equity topics into their STEM classroom. They will view some of the lessons my students have experienced, and they will discover how easily it can be to adapt their lessons to celebrate the contributions of many cultures.

SPEAKERS:
Joan Gillman (The Browning School: New York, NY)

Teacher leaders are super heros. This STEM Share-a-Thon presentation will focus on being a teacher leader for STEM education. Participants will walk away with valuable information on how they can impove STEM education by following the Teacher Leader Model Standards.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will walk away with valuable information on how to improve their teacher leadership skills in the area of STEM education.

SPEAKERS:
Jessica Wagenmaker (Holton Middle School: Holton, MI)

Primary grades (K-2) are a challenge for science education. With the focus on basic literacy and math, there is little time for stand-alone science lessons. Here is one solution. Printable booklets are widely used to teach sight words (the top commonly used 100 words) or how to decode simple letter-sound relationships. With a careful selection of vocabulary words, they can also be used to introduce science ideas. The 6-part lesson 1) practices noticing and vocabulary; 2) uses the booklet to get students to notice, wonder, and ask questions; 3) plans an investigation; 4) carries out an investigation; 5) makes sense of results, and 6) shares results with others. The approach is illustrated with two booklets and lessons. One is on different kinds of leaves (NGSS K-LS1-1) and one is on the effect of sunlight (NGSS K-PS3-1), which can tie into building a structure to reduce the warming effect of sunlight (NGSS K-PS3-2).

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to create or recognize science literature that clicks with a teacher focused on reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Use that literature to craft a lesson that explicitly connects teaching ELA to student ideas, science ideas, science practices, and sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Jan Weaver (Retired)

Coaching Science Olympiad 30+ years and my science teaching cousin still a rookie, we offer tips and tricks on team startup or management. Join us to hear how I took a tiny Nebraska school to win B and C Divisions at Regionals my first year at Arcadia. Having been a veteran coach at four public schools, this amazing educational science event molded careers for my students, cousin, and four children. My cousin started a team in western Nebraska which added travel challenges across our state. We will share ideas on how to manage 2 teams of 30+ students to compete in 24+ events that coaches rarely get to see. Nebraska coaches often make tests for 2 events in 4 time slots to judge. Balancing team preparation and meeting NGSS/state science standards is a challenge while teaching a full day with 3-7 preps. The NE Director asked me to mentor more S.O. coaches so here we are. Teachers will be enlightened with a poster, slide show, paper examples and 3-D visuals to help coaches find success.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will gain ideas to start their own Science Olympiad Team/s. How to select students for various events to earn team points in each, make user-friendly maps with schedules, reminders and information students can follow, and build unity by wearing team designed school shirts.

SPEAKERS:
Polla Renken (Science Instructor: Kearney, NE), Stacey Bauer (Spalding Academy: Spalding, NE), Marie Wadas (Arcadia Public School: Arcadia, NE)

Throughout teaching Anatomy and Physiology (A&P) and General Biology, students often face academic challenges surrounding these two foundational courses. One intended method to overcome these challenges is to implement a preliminary online course that students can complete before starting the academic year. Attendees will discuss how to design their own preliminary online course through an interactive workshop (in electronic and hard-copy formats) with group-based activities (e.g., discussions and demos) for any college-level biology course. We will also demonstrate various methods and assessments (e.g., recorded videos, quizzes, virtual escape rooms) best suited for students who choose to take the prep course, through our findings at our current college. A sample of our current preliminary online courses can be found via this link: https://sites.google.com/springfieldcollege.edu/bioprepcoursessc/general-biology-online-course

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn about our experience using a preliminary online course for undergraduates. Attendees will then learn how to design their own prep courses focusing on what students require in general biology and anatomy.

SPEAKERS:
Gemma Bartha (Instructor: Springfield, MA)

This poster presentation will use the Krebs Cycle of Creativity, as created by Dr. Neri Oxman, as a framework for a new approach to interdisciplinary sciences. I will explore the intersectionality of art, science, engineering, and design. This will include how the synergy between these disciplines creates opportunities to study how art and design affect our behavior, how design and engineering impact utility, how engineering and science creates knowledge, and how science and art portrays information. I will use examples from my own classes to highlight how the Krebs Cycle of Creativity can provide a new lens to view interdisciplinary teaching in the science discipline. This will include examples of projects, teaching materials, and student samples. Visitors will leave with a tangible understanding of how their school can move away from the siloed STEAM approach and move towards a more holistic approach that connects the many different disciplines of science.

TAKEAWAYS:
Visitors will leave with a new lens to view interdisciplinary science teaching including examples of projects, teaching materials, student samples, and a tangible understanding of how their school can move away from the siloed STEAM approach and towards a more holistic take on teaching science.

SPEAKERS:
Adam Vorel (6th Grade Science Teacher: Webster Groves, MO)

Interviews with pre-service teachers and their host teachers inform how host teachers can best support observing pre-service teachers, and how observing pre-service teachers can authentically and meaningfully engage in the classroom. The poster will present how both parties can work together to create a learning environment that both the pre-service teacher and host teacher mutually benefit from, and address typical pitfalls causing disengagement and miscommunication in the classroom environment. The research serves to answer the questions of "What do pre-service teachers and host teachers need from each other to produce a meaningful observation experience?" in order to progress science education preparation programs.

TAKEAWAYS:
Both practicing and pre-service teacher attendees will learn how to best support each other during teacher practicum observation hours to ensure both parties mutually benefit and learn from each other.

SPEAKERS:
Carol Compton (Fort Zumwalt North High School: O'Fallon, MO)

As teachers are required to assess a student’s understanding of competencies in addition to knowledge outcomes, they have used tools more commonly used in other disciplines. For example, rubrics have been a tool used to assess many forms of student work. Their general description of each achievement level provides flexibility and personalization. This is particularly useful for essay assignments. However, in lab reports, this often leads to ambiguity. Students may not know the difference between an “acceptable” demonstration of communication compared to a “skilled” demonstration. Despite repeated instruction, the generalized description of rubrics allows room for conflict and negotiation between students and teachers. Rubrics can be redesigned into checklists to remove the ambiguity. It is clear whether or not students have demonstrated each aspect of a competency. This session will share a few of these checklists for teachers to use in their own classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Checklists can be made from rubrics. Checklists are more clear and reduce ambiguity.

SPEAKERS:
Leon Lau (Teacher: , AB)

Countless studies have found that teachers are struggling to support students in maintaining focus, finding self-worth and being intrinsically creative learners. Gamification provides the building blocks for engagement, community, healthy competition, and self motivation and works with any grade level and any subject. With gamification, students can use their creativity in learning choices and earn incentives based around curricular and extracurricular themes. Student examples from a sixth grade science classroom include review challenges that emphasize content and game elements. Participants in this session will gain the initial building blocks to create their own game for their classrooms that is manageable and can be enhanced over time. Activities will include defining gamification and creating their own game theme. During the session the participant will participate in a game challenge by using a choice board to explore and expand the strategies and methods of gamification.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will begin the journey, learning strategies of engagement in science class using gamification.

SPEAKERS:
Michelle Simmons (Klahowya Secondary School: Silverdale, WA)

As a district, we have worked to ensure that all courses have three dimensional standards. We currently teach all of the NGSS standards by the completion of sophomore year. Our freshmen physical science course teaches the physical science standards and one-half of the earth science standards, while our sophomore biology course teaches the biology standards and the other one-half of the earth science standards. To meet the rigor of NGSS, our elective courses such as Chemistry, Physics, Environmental Science, Earth Science, Forensics Science and Plants and Propagation have all built upon the NGSS standards in content, along with identifying Science and Engineering Practices and Crosscutting Concepts. Our goal would be that participants would leave with a process in which they could do the same. Our process has been influenced by the 5 tools training as well as many of the NSTA publications designed to lead teachers and teacher leaders in standard development.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with examples of elective standards that are three-dimensional.

SPEAKERS:
Teresa Bender (Omaha Northwest High School: No City, No State), Jennifer Rhine (Omaha Public Schools: Omaha, NE)

In this interactive workshop, new science teachers will explore ways to implement the 3-D Science Teaching Framework and the tenets of Culturally Responsive Literacy Instruction (CRLI) to build equitable learning experiences in literacy and science for young learners.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will provide opportunities for young learners to apply literacy skills while learning science concepts that relate to real-world experiences.

SPEAKERS:
Cletis Allen (CLETIS Education Consulting LLC: No City, No State)

STEM Career awareness has been done in many ways, as has STEM experiences. Students doing research projects is not new, nor is having mentors. What IS novel is how a coordinated effort to move students from career awareness, to interest, to proficiency through doing research in a mentored and well-resourced environment with extensive Teacher PD at the core, really results in 89% of the students choosing a STEM career. Based on a 12-year case study, the combination of intentional (teacher/student) support centered around a specific STEM career has outcomes tracked in a free online database. This presentation will share the formula, coach teachers to create their own implementation plan during the session, and offer web access to the free online database so teachers/students can track their own progress and benchmark it to aggregated anonymous data of others doing similar programs. Teachers are able to pull/share a PDF report of their own outcomes and as compared to others.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with a written plan for their chosen career focus and lists of resource suggestions to help implement this program locally, as well as access to an online data tracking system where they can benchmark outcomes and receive tabulated reports at no charge.

SPEAKERS:
Jill Ott (Science Coach: Saint Louis, MO)

This Share-A-Thon stop will include information and free teacher materials from the USPTO's Office of Education presented by a Master Teacher of Invention Education & Intellectual Property. There will also be an opportunity for further networking with other fellow elementary teachers.

TAKEAWAYS:
You will walk away with free materials from the US Patent & Trade Office created specifically for elementary teachers, along with an invitation to explore further with a Master Teacher of Invention Education & IP.

SPEAKERS:
Kathy Hoppe (STEMisED, Inc)

This Share-A-Thon Session will feature a display that contains hands-on (Make-n-Take) projects, lesson plan ideas, student products, handouts, information about community resources and more. This PreK-5th grade presentation will highlight the need for exploring ways to incorporate agricultural literacy within STEM based lessons. This session will connect attendees with resources, such as Kansas Corn and National Agriculture in the Classroom, where they can discover ways to add the world of agriculture to their STEM teaching! Because we all rely on agriculture for food, fuel, fiber and more, combining agricultural education and STEM education are a natural fit. When agriculture is brought into the classroom, students become aware of the impact their actions have on the world and can gain an appreciation of the world around them.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will walk away with a variety of activities and easy-to-implement STEM ideas that incorporate agricultural literacy. We'll also explore ways to secure community resources, materials, and lesson plan ideas. Agriculture education and the STEM fields are a perfect match!

SPEAKERS:
Nancy Smith (Heatherstone Elementary School: Olathe, KS)