2023 Kansas City National Conference

October 25-28, 2023

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137 results
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Shared Waters: A Classroom Ready Watershed Themed Curriculum for 3rd-7th Grade

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

Kansas City Convention Center - 2206


STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

Show Details

Participants in this session will be introduced to the Shared Waters curriculum, a classroom-ready, watershed-focused, 10-lesson unit. This presentation will provide attendees with a brief overview of the unit exploring overall content, learning goals, lesson resources, and the culminating student-driven action project. During the workshop, participants will engage in a hands-on activity that explores watershed boundaries and how pollution enters waterways via stormwater runoff. There will be a demonstration of pervious vs impervious surfaces and a showcase of an online learning tool titled 'runoff simulator' that connects the two activities. Finally, presenters will highlight the culminating student-centered action project and how the Shared Waters curriculum guides educators through the process with students. All participants will have free access to the Shared Waters curriculum, including all lesson plans, worksheets, and PowerPoint slides.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn more about this curriculum while participating in a hands-on watershed activity and demonstrations exploring pervious and impervious surfaces' connections to waterway health. We'll tie it all together with an easy-to-implement student-centered action project that can be completed in one day.

SPEAKERS:
Liz Fulton (Graduate Assistant: Millersville, PA)

Hands on photosynthesis experiments

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

Kansas City Convention Center - 2502 A


Show Details

Sponsoring Company: PASCO

Learn how collecting carbon exchange data from plant leaves can help you correct students’ most common misconceptions about respiration and photosynthesis.

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)

Next Generation Dissection: Form, Function, and Frogs!

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

Kansas City Convention Center - 2505 B


STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

Show Details

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

With the transition to 3-dimensional learning and NGSS, is there still a place for dissections in the classroom? The answer is yes! As you dissect a frog, we will demonstrate how to integrate the 3 dimensions of learning while highlighting adaptations and the relationship between structure and function.

SPEAKERS:
Patricia Kopkau

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

Show Details

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)

Genes in Space: A Free Experimental Design Competition

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

Kansas City Convention Center - 2504 B


STRAND: Research to Practice

Show Details

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Engage students in authentic research through Genes in Space: the experimental design competition that launches experiments to the International Space Station. Learn about free educational resources, including lesson plans, classroom activities, explainer videos, and biotechnology equipment loans.

SPEAKERS:
Marc Bliss (miniPCR: Cambridge, MA)

It All Begins with Water

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

Kansas City Convention Center - 1501 C


STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

Show Details

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Everything is dependent on water. Explore several properties of this remarkable compound with tried-and-true phenomena. Learn multiple ways to model those phenomena using the Water Kit©.

SPEAKERS:
Ruth Hutson (3D Molecular Designs: Milwaukee, WI)

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

Show Details

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)

Selection Pressures and Urban Spaces: A Storyline Approach in OpenSciEd Biology

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

Kansas City Marriott Downtown - Basie Ballroom A


STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

Show Details

This unit helps students develop an understanding of the elements of evolution by natural selection and learn to apply that understanding to protect populations endangered by urbanization. Students learn through modeling, reading and discussing adaptations of published scientific studies of nonhuman populations impacted by urbanization. They develop criteria for designing urban systems that protect populations from the harmful effects of fragmentation in urban systems and evaluate proposals for development in a real US city.

TAKEAWAYS:
Leave motivated to use OpenSciEd’s storyline to teach the elements of evolution by natural selection using real-world examples. Students will learn how their understanding of biological concepts can be used to design more sustainable systems that benefit the human and more-than human world.

SPEAKERS:
Sara Krauskopf (University of Wisconsin-Madison: No City, No State), Wayne Wright (NSTA: McLean, VA), Kate Henson (University of Colorado Boulder: Boulder, CO)

I've Got Good News and Bad News: You're Warm-Blooded!

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

Kansas City Marriott Downtown - Big Joe Turner A


STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

Show Details

Homeothermic, or warm-blooded, animals have several game-changing advantages compared to ectothermic, or cold-blooded creatures. Yet in the real world of Nature, nothing is free, and a price must be paid for these advantages. In order to supply all cells with oxygen and fuel, warm-blooded animals require an enormous blood supply and an efficient circulatory system with a 4-chambered heart at the center of it all. In this session, participants will work with research-generated data to build a mathematical model that allows them to estimate their own blood volumes. In addition, we will look at metabolic data comparing warm and cold-blooded animals, and the oxygen requirements of each. Finally, we will evaluate the food input requirements of warm-blooded animals in cold environments compared to warm environments.

TAKEAWAYS:
Being "warm-blooded" brings both good news and bad news for an animal. In this session, attendees will calculate their blood volume, why a 4-chambered heart is needed to move all that blood around, and how the circulatory system is the key to unlock all of these physiological phenomena!

SPEAKERS:
Jeffrey Lukens (Retired Science Teacher: Sioux Falls, SD)

Evaluating Information & Digital Literacy

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

Kansas City Marriott Downtown - Andy Kirk



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
Evaluating Info & Digital Literacy Slides
Evaluating Info & Digital Literacy Slides

STRAND: Research to Practice

Show Details

One of the most powerful skills we can develop in our students to practice scientific literacy when they leave our classroom is the skill of critically evaluating information. This is particularly pertinent today with an uncharted landscape of misinformation and social media. We will share our experience as high school science teachers of explicitly incorporating the NGSS Scientific Practice of Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating information (SEP8) into our classrooms with proficiency-based assessment. We will share the research that influenced our work, resources that include scaffolds, activities, and assessments, and lastly, reflections and strategies after having explicitly taught and assessed evaluating information. After our first year teaching this scientific practice, we asked ourselves, "How had we not taught this skill before!?"

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will be provided with a framework and resources to help students engage in arguably the most important skill needed for them to continue to develop their scientific literacy outside of and after school -- to critically evaluate information for themselves and for a functioning democracy.

SPEAKERS:
Brett Erdmann (Adlai E. Stevenson High School: Lincolnshire, IL), Thomas Wolfe (Adlai E. Stevenson High School: Lincolnshire, IL)

Is Bigfoot Among Us? Follow the Evidence to Combat Pseudoscience

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

Kansas City Marriott Downtown - Basie Ballroom B


STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

Show Details

Science is often portrayed as conducted in a simple linear way (i.e., the scientific method). But this is rarely true in actual scientific practice. Instead of a step-by-step series of actions, science is conducted more cyclically, with scientists working back and forth between pursuing exploration and discovery, assessing benefits and outcomes, and developing analysis and feedback. At the core of this process is evidence, against which ideas in science are constantly tested. Evidence is what drives all scientific understanding. By examining environmental DNA (eDNA) collected from areas where recent Bigfoot sightings have occurred, participants can provide students with a logical and rational way scientists can use evidence to dispel the pseudoscience of cryptozoology. Upon completing this activity, attendees can apply their new knowledge to how eDNA is currently used to identify viruses and diseases in wastewater. Resources: https://ncse.ngo/supporting-teachers/classroom-resources

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore and appreciate the importance of evidence to the scientific process by taking a deep dive into an NGSS storyline sequence developed to help students understand that science must be substantiated by multiple lines of evidence to be accepted by the scientific community.

SPEAKERS:
Blake Touchet (National Center for Science Education: Oakland, CA), Ericca Thornhill (Mizzou Academy: Columbia, MO), Lin Andrews (: Oakland, CA)

Lessons from Our Classrooms: Successfully Supporting Emerging Multilinguals

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

Kansas City Marriott Downtown - Jay McShann A



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
Slides with links to resources on slide 27

STRAND: Research to Practice

Show Details

Participants will learn research-based methods for supporting emerging multilinguals in their science classroom. These methods will be modeled by sharing sections of Biology labs that have been modified to support English learners. At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to take home sample lessons and labs specifically developed for a multilingual science classroom. Teaching methods presented are based on research and actual classroom experience, developed collaboratively by a team including a science teacher, English as a new language teacher, and a language development researcher. Labs shared with participants are designed to foster critical thinking while incorporating appropriate scaffolding. Lab handouts for participants to take back to their classrooms will include the following topics: scientific method, ecology, enzymes, biomolecules, cell transport, photosynthesis, and cellular respiration.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn and practice teaching techniques for supporting English learners in their science class while engaging with lessons that model these procedures.

SPEAKERS:
Tina Ahmadi (PhD Student: Indianapolis, IN)

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)

Exploring a Learning Sequence About Patterns in Species Diversity

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

Kansas City Convention Center - 2501 D


STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

Show Details

Sponsoring Company: Lab-Aids

Learning Sequences to drive phenomena through a unit is one way to help students understand the content. In this model activity from a new Lab-Aids program; Science and Global Issues: Biology, developed by SEPUP, you will use data to investigate how abiotic factors and species diversity are related.

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)

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)

Cat Genetics: An Accessible Gel Electrophoresis Investigation for all Learners

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

Kansas City Convention Center - 2504 B


STRAND: Research to Practice

Show Details

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

A purrfect introduction to genetics! Track inheritance in a family of cats using Punnett squares. Then, use gel electrophoresis to examine the gene that controls that trait. Students connect Mendelian genetics with our modern understanding of genes! No stains or extra visualization equipment needed.

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

The Cell Game

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

Kansas City Marriott Downtown - Mary Lou Williams



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
QR codes for website and presentations
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The Cell Building Game 2023.pdf
This is the presentation I'll be doing. Documents will be available at the presentation.

STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

Show Details

Over the course of the last five years I have developed an engaging resource based card game to teach the cell. I grew disillusioned the projects and activities that we were currently doing as it didn't get to the heart of the parts of the cell. The Cell Game fixed that. In one class students compete to build different organelles that require resource cards. By having more organelles, your cell becomes more complex. The students LOVE the cell game and clamor to play it at lunch after being exposed to it. I'd love to share it with other teachers.

TAKEAWAYS:
Build a cell. Divide. Grow. Get excited about cell microbiology!

SPEAKERS:
Jason Zackowski (Science Curriculum Lead)

Act It Out: Visualizing Cellular Processes

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

Kansas City Marriott Downtown - Big Joe Turner A



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
Action Potentials Infographic.png
Slides from the Act It Out Presentation

STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

Show Details

The more senses we use when learning something, the better we are able to remember it, so in this session teachers will learn how to incorporate movement into their classes. Here are the activities we will do: 1) Modeling an action potential. The graph of an action potential looks a lot like a wave and so to help students remember this, we say the stages of the graph while we make a wave with our bodies (like in a stadium). Then students need to describe what is happening at the cellular level while their bodies are moving. 2) Modeling translation. Participants will be given supplies to take on the role of tRNAs, with anticodons and amino acids, and then show how they enter the ribosome through the A, P and E sites to undergo translation. 3) If time permits, we can also model a signal transduction pathway or DNA replication. 4) The last 15 minutes will be for groups to come up with one way they can incorporate movement and present this to the group.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to get your students up and moving as they use their bodies to act out cellular processes.

SPEAKERS:
Ilana Saxe (The Lawrenceville School: Lawrenceville, NJ)

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)

Helping students understand scale across the organism microverse

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

Kansas City Convention Center - 2502 A


Show Details

Sponsoring Company: PASCO

Microscope Scale activities to build skills for better interpretation of what they view in the eyepiece. Techniques help teachers use any equipment to establish scale for further investigations across organism kingdoms.

Exploring STEAM With Transformation

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

Kansas City Convention Center - 2503 B


STRAND: STEM Haven

Show Details

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek

Creating colorful bacteria with transformation is a memorable way to teach the central dogma of molecular biology. Take it a step further and have your students create art with the colorful cells! In this workshop, we’ll share tips for transformation success and create bio-art with microbial paint!

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

Glow Labs: Study DNA Structure and Enzyme Activity Using Fluorescence

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

Kansas City Convention Center - 2504 B


STRAND: STEM Haven

Show Details

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)

Dynamic DNA: More Than Just A's, and T's, and C's, and G's

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

Kansas City Convention Center - 1501 C


STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

Show Details

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Examine how modeling deepens student engagement. Explore carefully designed models to discover basic features of DNA structure and function using an atomically accurate model. Model nucleotides, DNA and RNA polymers, genetic sequences, genetic engineering,...and epigenetics.

SPEAKERS:
Tim Herman (3D Molecular Designs: Milwaukee, WI)

Be a Genetic Counselor!

Thursday, October 26 • 3:40 PM - 4:40 PM

Kansas City Marriott Downtown - Big Joe Turner A



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
Genetic Counselor Project Folder
This Google Drive folder has all of the materials for this project, including: the PDFs of the open access primary literature articles, teacher launch pad/key, student directions, sample presentation, the slides from the talk, an explanation of statistics and the project rubric. Please make sure to provide attribution to ilana saxe of The Lawrenceville School, thanks!

STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

Show Details

While not always the case, the experiences that students have had in middle school with genetics can be limited to plug and chug Punnett squares investigating traits in aliens, SpongeBob, and dragons. In an effort to help students see how patterns of inheritance and gene expression can be more nuanced than that and to connect to a real world example, I created a Genetic Counselor project for the 9th graders at The Lawrenceville School (Lawrenceville, NJ). In this session, participants will have the opportunity to work through aspects of the project, specifically creating the pedigree and working with primary literature and analyzing data. This project is great because it includes representation of people of different backgrounds and identities, is based in the real world, introduces students to a career path, and teaches about primary literature. Please see the project launch pad here: https://tinyurl.com/GCPNSTA --Thanks!

TAKEAWAYS:
Work through the genetic counselor project from a patient background, solving a pedigree, learning how to use NCBI, and interpreting primary literature. You will take home the student directions, exemplar projects, list of relevant primary literature articles, and teacher key.

SPEAKERS:
Ilana Saxe (The Lawrenceville School: Lawrenceville, NJ)

Exploring Symbiosis: Parasitoid Wasps

Thursday, October 26 • 3:40 PM - 4:40 PM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2102 B


STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

Show Details

Symbiosis and Other Relationships is a multimedia curriculum module that uses a three-part symbiosis between a wasp, its caterpillar host, and a virus to highlight the varied and sometimes complex ecological relationships. It includes an opportunity for students to analyze data through a simulated experiment, interweaving this example with more general information. Students learn about competition, predation, parasitism, commensalism, and mutualism through examples of 2-way relationships, and tease out the types of relationships at play in examples of 3-way relationships. The module’s materials can be used independently to supplement existing curriculum materials, or used alone in a suggested sequence over 1-2 weeks of class time. Workshop Outcomes • Where to access a free NGSS-friendly, multimedia middle school curriculum module on ecological relationships. • Teasing apart 2-way and 3-way ecological relationships reveals a number of strategies organisms employ to survive.

TAKEAWAYS:
How to access and use a free module that includes an opportunity for students to analyze data through a simulated experiment involving the wasp parasitoid and its host, interweaving this example with more general information in a way that builds an understanding of complex ecological relationships.

SPEAKERS:
Molly Malone (The University of Utah: Salt Lake City, UT)

Inspiring Curiosity with Wildlife Cams

Thursday, October 26 • 3:40 PM - 4:40 PM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2209


STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

Show Details

Live-streaming wildlife cams give students an intimate view into the amazing and diverse world of animals and allow teachers to engage all students in inquiry- and phenomena-based learning as nature unfolds in real-time and with unknown outcomes. Wildlife cams encourage questioning and curiosity, build connections to wildlife and nature, and are interesting to teachers and students alike. Cams engage students who have fewer opportunities to be immersed in nature, including those in urban settings, with mobility challenges, and in remote learning environments. I will guide teachers through a series of questions to help them determine good live-streaming cams to use in their classrooms. I’ll discuss different ways to use cameras within the classroom, including active and passive usage. I’ll share how we use cams to make observations and they will draw their own comics as we watch a live-streaming cam.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will discover a variety of wildlife cams from around the world, explore how they can be used to effectively develop student science practices, and discover free resources to support science learning through wildlife cams.

SPEAKERS:
Susan Licher (Cornell Lab of Ornithology: Ithaca, NY)

Expanding STEM and Health Science Opportunities: California Northstate University's Outreach Programs Empowering Middle and High School Students and Teachers

Thursday, October 26 • 3:40 PM - 4:40 PM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2201


STRAND: STEM Haven

Show Details

California Northstate University College of Health Sciences offers several outreach programs supporting middle and high school students and teachers. Our outreach goals are to expand opportunities, interest, and awareness for students interested in pursuing careers in the STEM and health science professions and to increase and diversify the pipeline of students with access to these career opportunities. Currently, we have 3 active outreach programs engaging the regional communities: Biology Education to Careers, Institute for Chemistry and Physics for Middle School Science Teachers, and Student Powered Activities for Reach Knowledge. Over 400 students have participated in our various outreach programs, and we have added over 50 educators to our training network. Our regional community school affiliations have grown to over 30. By sharing our outreach experiences, we hope to inspire educators in engaging their regional communities about careers in STEM and health science professions.

TAKEAWAYS:
California Northstate University is dedicated to sharing insights gained from developing and implementing our outreach programs and to offer guidance for educators and institutions that seek to engage their local communities about careers in STEM and health sciences.

SPEAKERS:
Allan Ancheta (California Northstate University: Rancho Cordova, CA)

It’s All in the Genes—Exploring Mendelian and Non-Mendelian Inheritance Through Modeling

Thursday, October 26 • 3:40 PM - 4:40 PM

Kansas City Convention Center - 1501 C


STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

Show Details

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Help direct student questions towards investigation and modeling several types of inheritance with the Chromosome Connection Kit©. Construct Punnett squares with gene sequences as alleles to connect the inheritance of traits to chromosomes at the molecular level.

SPEAKERS:
Ruth Hutson (3D Molecular Designs: Milwaukee, WI)

ELISA Essentials: Unlocking the Power of Immunoassays

Thursday, October 26 • 3:40 PM - 4:40 PM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2503 B


STRAND: STEM Haven

Show Details

Sponsoring Company: Edvotek

Discover the awesome potential of the ELISA! This highly-sensitive assay allows for detection of low levels of antigens in biological samples, making it perfect to identify pathogens, allergens, and more. We'll also practice pipetting to improve accuracy and precision, ensuring experimental success.

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

A Hands-On Lab to Teach the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology

Thursday, October 26 • 3:40 PM - 4:40 PM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2504 B


STRAND: Research to Practice

Show Details

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Add a hands-on lab to your study of the central dogma! With the cell-free BioBits® system, students can watch as polymerases transcribe RNA and ribosomes translate it to make protein, all using fluorescent indicators. Now you can experiment directly with transcription and translation!

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

uHandy Mobile Microscope

Thursday, October 26 • 3:40 PM - 4:40 PM

Kansas City Convention Center - 1501 B


STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

Show Details

Sponsoring Company: Aidmics Biotechnology

This workshop supports teachers to implement inquiry-based science learning and helps students to develop meaningful scientifically literate views of the world by using the uHandy Microscope that acts as your second pair of eyes, which ignites your curiosity and your genuine passion for science!

SPEAKERS:
Jolanda Hsu (Aidmics Biotechnology: Taipei City, Taipei City)

Making Meaningful Connections to Social Emotional Learning Alongside the NGSS

Friday, October 27 • 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2201


STRAND: Research to Practice

Show Details

Since the NGSS, science teachers have been increasingly considering how to effectively engage students during science lessons using science and engineering practices (SEPs). In order to engage in these practices deeply, students need to have effective social and emotional skills. Therefore, embedding social-emotional learning (SEL) can be a tool that teachers use to build a classroom community that deeply engages in the SEPs. This session will engage students in three science activities (one elementary, one middle school, and one high school) that promote 3D learning and SEL. For example, the high school activity will consist of us doing a simulation where participants will act as animals getting "food". We will use it to connect SEL to HS-LS2-8. We will then have participants reflect on SEL teaching strategies such as explicit/reflective SEL questions (Bahnson et al., 2020) in order to demonstrate how to meaningfully embed SEL into 3D NGSS lessons.

TAKEAWAYS:
You will learn strategies to teach SEL in existing NGSS lessons.

SPEAKERS:
Kathryn Borton (Science Teacher and Ed.D Student: Nevada, IA), Jesse Wilcox (University of Northern Iowa: Cedar Falls, IA)

Water, Water Everywhere, But How Did it Get in There? -- Modeling the Movement of Water and Ions Across Cell Membranes

Friday, October 27 • 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 1501 C


STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

Show Details

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Participants will model the aspects of water and ion transport across cell membranes using the Phospholipid and Membrane Transport Kit © and our MIGHTY Model © Channel collection. 3-D models of Na+ and K+ channel proteins and aquaporin will help your students understand cellular transport.

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

Decipher a Chain of Infection

Friday, October 27 • 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 1501 B


STRAND: Research to Practice

Show Details

Sponsoring Company: Bio-Rad Laboratories

Join us for this fun, interactive workshop in which you will apply a molecular diagnostic test, basic principles of virology, and clues hidden within a restaurant to track the chain of infection of a novel norovirus. The results may just make you want to wash your hands…

SPEAKERS:
Leigh Brown (Bio-Rad Laboratories: Hercules, CA), Tamica Stubbs (Bio-Rad Laboratories: Hercules, CA)

Modeling Ecosystem Regulation and Trophic Cascades with HHMI BioInteractive Resources

Friday, October 27 • 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2502 B


Show Details

Sponsoring Company: HHMI BioInteractive

Bring ecology to life for students as we explore free, hands-on resources from HHMI BioInteractive that model how keystone species regulate ecosystems through trophic cascades.

SPEAKERS:
Heather Peterson , Timothy Guilfoyle (Phillip O. Berry Academy of Technology: Charlotte, NC)

Using Maggots, Flies, and Flesh to Solve a Mystery!

Friday, October 27 • 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2503 B


STRAND: Tech Tools

Show Details

Sponsoring Company: Texas Instruments

A decomposing corpse is found in a field. Four possible missing persons fit the description. But who is it? Using clues near the scene will help determine identity. Forensic anthropologist Diane France helped to develop this free middle school and high school forensic science lesson.

Structure and FUNction! Organ Dissection for Next Generation Teachers

Friday, October 27 • 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2505 B


STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

Show Details

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Dissect several mammalian organs and explore links between anatomy and physiology. Examine real-world examples while connecting structure with function of engaging organs including the cow eye, sheep heart, and bull testicle. Use these workshop objectives to bolster your 3-dimensiona instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Patricia Kopkau

Let’s Get Physical: Human Physiology Experiments

Friday, October 27 • 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2503 A


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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)

Building Depth Through Storylines: Why Can’t We Walk Through Walls?

Friday, October 27 • 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2505 A


STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

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Sponsoring Company: Savvas Learning Company

N/A

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

Exploring Mendelian Inheritance With Dog Genetics

Friday, October 27 • 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2504 B


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Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Puppies are born to Molly the Labradoodle and students must use genetics to solve the paternity mystery. Use Punnett squares and DNA gel electrophoresis to track inheritance of the furnishings trait across the litter. Then decide who’s the daddy: Zeus the Poodle or Otto the Labradoodle?

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

Exploring Soil Ecosystems: An Immersive Learning Workshop

Friday, October 27 • 9:20 AM - 10:20 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2103 B



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
Digging Into the Secrets of Soil Lesson Plan
Digging Into the Secrets of Soil Student Document
Digging Into the Secrets of Soil Student Vocabulary Cards
Presentation Slide Deck - copy for attendees

STRAND: Tech Tools

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This workshop offers an immersive learning experience that allows participants to explore the roles of soil in the ecosystem as well as its function as a carbon sink. Designed for grades K-2 educators, this workshop provides a glimpse of a classroom investigation that can be adapted for use in their own classrooms. Participants will gain insights into key concepts related to soil ecosystems, such as the roles of different organisms, nutrient cycles, and the impact of human activities on soil health. Participants will also explore the importance of soil as a carbon sink and its potential as a tool for mitigating climate change. The workshop is designed to be highly engaging and interactive, mimicking the student experience. By the end of the workshop, participants will gain an understanding of how to use immersive learning activities to support classroom teaching and learning, and will have access to resources to help them implement similar investigations in their own classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Through hands-on experience, students gain a deeper understanding of sustainability by using observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals need to survive. The workshop highlights the value of adapting investigations within the context of sustainability to support teaching NGSS.

SPEAKERS:
Elaine Makarevich (SubjectToClimate)

Using Research-Based Practices to Overcome Plant Awareness Disparity By Uncovering Students' Botanical Histories

Friday, October 27 • 9:20 AM - 10:20 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2104 A


STRAND: Research to Practice

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This session will focus on sharing instructional modules that have been developed to facilitate relationships between herbaria and high school students to highlight the importance of plants and preserving botanical specimens. Many times plants are overlooked or considered less significant than animals. This research-backed perspective is known as Plant Awareness Disparity. These free, research-based modules allow students to investigate their own botanical history by connecting with plants that are important to them and their families, then experience the entire process of collecting, mounting, cataloging, and digitizing their specimen. There are 10 modules that are aligned with the NRC K-12 Framework and heavily rely upon student-centered and place-based learning. All participants will be given access to the modules and encouraged to interact with the module developers as they implement the activities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Many times, plants are overlooked and considered less significant than animals. This is known as Plant Awareness Disparity. Participants in this session will learn about free instructional modules that will help high school students connect with plants through exploring their own botanical history.

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

Equitable Discussions of Nature-Culture Relationships: OpenSciEd Biology

Friday, October 27 • 9:20 AM - 10:20 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 3501 F



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
Lesson 2 Reading
short framework_Nature_Culture_Relations_rev101321.pdf

STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

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OpenSciEd Biology Units incorporate frameworks such as 5 Dimensions of Reasoning About Complex Socio-Ecological Systems developed by Learning in Places to support multiple Ways of Knowing and interacting with phenomena. These frameworks bring conversations about power and historicity into the classroom and help students consider multiple points of view when making decisions involving science. The Nature-Culture Relations framework helps students and educators identify the positionality of interest holders to explain different perspectives. Learn how these frameworks are incorporated into biology units.

TAKEAWAYS:
Recognize your own positionality in nature-culture relations and think about how to bring this framework to your students.

SPEAKERS:
Sara Krauskopf (University of Wisconsin-Madison: No City, No State), DeAnna Lee Rivers (University of Colorado Boulder: , CA)

Strategies for successful water quality projects using PASCO probeware

Friday, October 27 • 10:40 AM - 11:40 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2502 A


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Sponsoring Company: PASCO

From analysis of individual ions to calculating an overall index for general water quality. Explore tips for best results and how to leverage your work for students beyond those who go to the field to collect the data. Importance of Temp, DO, conductivity, pH, hardness, nutrients, and bacterial load

The Unlimited Cut: Dissecting 3-D Animal Models to Improve Life Science Education Outcomes

Friday, October 27 • 10:40 AM - 11:40 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2210


STRAND: Tech Tools

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Sponsoring Company: Visible Body

Lab time and access to specimens can be limited, expensive, or sometimes entirely out of reach. Visible Body’s 3-D content and Courseware platform provide a digital alternative to wet labs and 2-D textbook images and diagrams, allowing students to “cut” as many times as they need.

SPEAKERS:
Rachel Buchanan (Sales Director: , SC)

Four Ways to GMO Detection!

Friday, October 27 • 10:40 AM - 11:40 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 1501 B


STRAND: Research to Practice

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Sponsoring Company: Bio-Rad Laboratories

Is your food genetically modified? Learn three different hands-on activities that explore this topic. First, simulated PCR analysis using pre-amplified DNA (no thermal cycler needed), then DNA extraction and PCR, and next, quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). Bonus activity: use ELISA to detect GMOs!

SPEAKERS:
Tamica Stubbs (Bio-Rad Laboratories: Hercules, CA), Leigh Brown (Bio-Rad Laboratories: Hercules, CA)

Sustaining the Commons

Friday, October 27 • 10:40 AM - 11:40 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2501 D


STRAND: Students and Sensemaking

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Sponsoring Company: Lab-Aids

In this interactive workshop from our new Biology program from SEPUP, students will engage with a model of how human choices affect the sustainability of a particular resource—the fish population of a fictitious lake—and the potential effects of various actions.

Engaging Students In Data Analysis With HHMI BioInteractive Resources

Friday, October 27 • 10:40 AM - 11:40 AM

Kansas City Convention Center - 2502 B


Show Details

Sponsoring Company: HHMI BioInteractive

Inquiring minds want to know! Join us as we explore how BioInteractive Phenomenal Images and Data Points spark student questions and help them develop explanations.

SPEAKERS:
Amy Fassler (Marshfield High School: Marshfield, WI), Christina Bowers (Meridian School: Round Rock, TX)