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)

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

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

Sponsoring Company: Lab-Aids

Students use diagrams to create a three-dimensional clay model of some of the organs and structures in the human torso. The concepts of structure and function are introduced as students begin to think about how the organs can be grouped into body systems based on their function within the human body. Come experience this hands-on interactive session and take home your own Lab-Aids human torso model!

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.

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)

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)

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)

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Add excitement to your class with live organisms! We will explore how organisms find food and interact with other organisms in their environment. For younger students: How creatures find food, and for older students: Social behavior and interspecies interactions will be discussed.

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

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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.

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: 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)

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)

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)

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)

Sponsoring Company: Texas Instruments

Bring a friend with you to attend, "Zombie Apocalypse!" Just make sure you can run faster! Zombies provide an excellent way to get students interested in understanding how diseases move through a population. Great for middle and high school students.

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Bring molecular techniques to Ecology and Evolution units. Join an expedition to Madagascar to decide if an extinct lemur species has been rediscovered! Test DNA with gel electrophoresis, build phylogenetic trees, and analyze authentic field data from the Duke Lemur Center.

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

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Experience our new collection of protein models enhanced by molecular stories, digital resources, and augmented reality technology. Bigger, better… and more robust.

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

Sponsoring Company: HHMI BioInteractive

Join us as we explore free, classroom-ready HHMI BioInteractive resources to model how the species-area relationship impacts biogeography and conservation of protected areas.

SPEAKERS:
Jeannie Long (Teacher), Chris Monsour (Tiffin Columbian High School: Tiffin, OH)

Sponsoring Company: Bio-Rad Laboratories

Two out of three drug overdoses are due to opioids. Understanding the environmental & genetic links to drug dependency can reduce risk when opioids are prescribed to high-risk patients. Discover how math, genetics, & personalized medicine can determine the likelihood of addiction.

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

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

PTC tasting is a classic way to link genotype and phenotype. Use PCR and gel electrophoresis to determine if students have taster or non-taster alleles for bitter perception. Learn about our all-new curriculum and see how easy it can be to bring molecular genetics to your class!

Sponsoring Company: Carolina Biological Supply Co.

Experience the versatility of Wisconsin Fast Plants®. These quick-growing plants engage students and are ideal for all grade levels. Easily integrate Disciplinary Core Ideas, Crosscutting Concepts, and Practices in life cycle, heredity & inheritance, variation & evolution, and environmental science.

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

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

According to the CDC, there were 110,000 overdose deaths in the US in 2022. 75,000 of those were due to fentanyl, a powerful and dangerous synthetic opioid. Join us as we model action potentials, how fentanyl disrupts synaptic signaling, and how Narcan can stop an overdose.

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

Sponsoring Company: HHMI BioInteractive

How can genetic studies in dogs inform human medicine? Using free HHMI BioInteractive resources, we'll explore how scientists identify genes that affect human traits.

SPEAKERS:
Sherry Annee (Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School: Indianapolis, IN), Catherina Sammons (Tates Creek High School: Lexington, KY)

Sponsoring Company: Bio-Rad Laboratories

Experience CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing experiments designed for your students' learning! In this hands-on workshop, edit a chromosomal gene, complete with essential experimental controls, using the same cut-and-repair technology used in medicinal and agricultural applications.

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

Sponsoring Company: Lab-Aids

Use a DQB to make phenomena meaningfully connected to science content. Pro-tips and exemplary DQB walkthrough – an experienced trainer will guide development of a sample DQB using a model lesson from our middle school program that looks at the effects of an introduced species on an ecosystem.

Sponsoring Company: Vernier Science Education

Engage your students in learning about the effects of climate change with this hands-on experiment. Using the latest Vernier data-collection technology, we'll define ocean acidification, determine how we can measure it, and discuss why it is bad for our marine ecosystems. Get ready to dive in!

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

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Sickle cell disease is an excellent model to discuss topics ranging from protein structure and function to inheritance and genetic diseases. Add an engaging hands-on activity that only takes one class period! This lab helps a fictional family obtain a molecular diagnosis using gel electrophoresis.

SPEAKERS:
Marc Bliss (miniPCR: Cambridge, MA)

Sponsoring Company: Anatomy in Clay

They will acquire the knowledge to engage science students with immediate, hands-on learning using a proven method that is nationally recognized to increase student retention and test scores. Come build the rotator cuff with us!

SPEAKERS:
Chuck Roney (ANATOMY IN CLAY Learning Systems: Loveland, CO), John-Paul Theriault (ANATOMY IN CLAY Learning Systems: Loveland, CO)

Sponsoring Company: Bio-Rad Laboratories

Students often struggle to tie cellular respiration and photosynthesis together. Come and experience how algae beads help students easily visualize both processes in one experimental system. They can then extend their learning by changing light intensity, light color, and temperature...."

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

Sponsoring Company: HHMI BioInteractive

How do species coexist within an ecosystem? Come explore BioInteractive's niche partitioning resources that have students analyze data to understand ecological restoration efforts.

SPEAKERS:
Amy Fassler (Marshfield High School: Marshfield, WI)

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

Tour a crowded, active plasma cell to see how proteins are made and exported for use by the body. Explore how physical models foster an understanding of how the structure of DNA and RNA determines the structure of proteins, which carry out the essential functions of life.

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

Sponsoring Company: miniPCR bio

Come practice hands-on, authentic CRISPR/Cas learning activities. From using Cas9 to target DNA in a test tube, to knocking out a gene in bacteria, our labs will put real CRISPR/Cas in your students’ hands. Free educational resources like CRISPR/Cas paper models will also be demonstrated.

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)

Sponsoring Company: American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture

Learn how transfer tasks can be used as summative assessments to help students apply knowledge through authentic learning experiences through the context of food and agriculture. Open to all teachers K-12!

Sponsoring Company: 3D Molecular Designs

This session will preview a professional learning opportunity being developed by 3-D Molecular Designs focused on the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases.  This project is funded by an NIH SEPA award to 3-D Molecular Designs.

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