Three different options will be shared that will help teachers bring their students outside where they can connect with nature. This includes 2 PBLs. Logistics and content will be clearly explained so that teachers can use these ideas immediately with their classes that focus on ecology.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn 3 different successful low-cost activities (including 2 PBLs) that they can use directly in their classrooms to connect their students with nature regardless of their geographic location. The presenter will share materials to help teachers plan logistics and content.

SPEAKERS:
Nadene Klein (Daniel C. Oakes High School: Castle Rock, CO)

Figuring out phenomena engages students in the nature and process of science through the integration of all three dimensions. Observe how scientists investigate a question. Then use a web tool to illuminate the nature and process of science and apply to any lesson or phenomenon in your classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to use the Science Flowchart interactive journaling tool to illuminate the dynamic nature and process of science, and how to apply the tool to any phenomenon or lesson in their classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Kirsten Smith (Pound Middle School: Lincoln, NE), Lindsey Roy (Science and Digital Learning Coordinator: Lincoln, NE), Betsy Barent (Lincoln Public Schools: No City, No State)

Participants will engage in the development of a PBL Life Science unit— from start to finish for any secondary student. Several examples of successful PBL Units will be shared and participants will have the opportunity to create their own PBL— specifically Brownfields, Env. Disasters, etc.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will be able to walk away with a partial or entire PBL unit.

SPEAKERS:
Margaret Busker-Postlethwait (Teacher/presenter: Akron, OH)

By 2050, 9.7 billion humans may be living on Earth. If current trends continue, food production will need to increase 60-100%. In this storyline, students design solutions to feed this growing population while building space spacing food production systems (ie-hydroponics, vertical garden).

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about a new storyline that engages students in designing and evaluating solutions for how to solve the issue of feeding the world’s growing human population based on scientific knowledge, student-generated sources of evidence, prioritized criteria, and tradeoff considerations.

SPEAKERS:
Shane Cullian (Whitewater High School: Whitewater, WI)

In this hands-on workshop, participants will work with models of chemical reactions, photosynthesis, and cellular respiration that can help students develop a deep and flexible understanding of these important processes.

TAKEAWAYS:
Modeling, an important component of the NGSS, can help students understand biological processes more fully. These hands-on, minds-on models are engaging and lead to rigorous learning.

SPEAKERS:
Jennifer Hofeld (Harrah High School: Harrah, OK)

Life is diverse, the way we teach biology can honor and highlight diversity in gender, sex, and sexuality. In this session, we will share classroom-ready lessons and resources for teaching about diverse bodies, identities, and families.

TAKEAWAYS:
LGBTQ+ students, and all students, can benefit from teaching about gender diversity in evidence-based, ongoing, and positive ways.

SPEAKERS:
Sam Long (Denver Public Schools: No City, No State)

Learn about a free unit of instruction that uses a GIS data explorer tool from the USDA Forest Service to explore connections between forests and watersheds. You’ll have an opportunity to try out the activities and receive copies of three lesson plans connected to NGSS and CCSS.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will have the knowledge, tools, and resources needed to engage students in using cutting-edge GIS technology in learning about natural systems and the connection between forests and the water they drink. Walk away able to use these tools immediately in your classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Kate Nagle (Ivymount School: Potomac, MD), Jaclyn Stallard (Sustainable Forestry Initiative: Washington, DC)

Educators and researchers from the inquiryHub partnership between DPS and CU Boulder share their experiences as they co-designed (and co-redesigned) the iHub Biology curriculum, professional learning to accompany it, and other classroom tools to support its use.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers partnering with researchers can yield engaging curriculum materials that support more equitable teaching and learning.

SPEAKERS:
Douglas Watkins (Denver Public Schools: Denver, CO)

Essential Element standards for grades 9 and 10 were used for an integrated science unit regarding traits in life science. It was designed to facilitate learning with students who qualify for alternative assessment and for students with physical needs who may use communication devices.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will discuss the process of unit design, intentional use of inquiry teaching practices, essential element standards, assistive technology, and preparing the teacher. One high school level unit and middle school sequence will be shared to use in their own teaching spaces.

SPEAKERS:
Mandie Sanderman (Central Rivers Area Education Agency: Cedar Falls, IA), Chelsie Byram (Central Rivers Area Education Agency: Cedar Falls, IA)

Climate change and other drivers of change in global systems are complex, interdisciplinary phenomena. Learn about a conceptual framework that connects drivers of change with global systems to help students understand the science behind the headlines.

TAKEAWAYS:
Human-biosphere interactions offer relevant narratives and conceptual frameworks that integrate cause-and-effect; systems and system models; structure and function; and stability and change.

SPEAKERS:
Joseph Levine (Science Writer and Producer: Concord, MA)

We will present the efforts of twenty secondary schools and partners at Stanford University to create authentic Drosophila-based research experiences, and how you can too!

TAKEAWAYS:
Through Stan-X, middle school and high school students learn science through authentic, open-ended, publishable research. Coordination between schools, both public and private, across the world, can enhance scientific learning and research opportunities for your students and for teachers!

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Lantz (The Lawrenceville School: Lawrenceville, NJ)

Climate Change is inevitable. Preparing students to deal with heat related change will enable advocacy and build community resilience. Building mapping literacy through use of the EPA’s EJScreen tool, attendees investigate climate risks to their communities and explore mitigation strategies.

TAKEAWAYS:
To assess heat waves’ disproportionate impact on communities, participants will gain insights into Environmental Justice issues through the use of the EPA’s EJ Screen tools to identify risk. We will also explore teaching strategies to engage students in meaningful investigations and discussions.

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Luna (North Babylon High School: No City, No State), Tamanna Shahid (Eleanor Roosevelt High School: New York, NY)

Explore how our sources of protein can affect human and environmental health. Experience hands-on, minds-on, NGSS practice-based lessons related to One Health – the connections between human, animal, and environmental health.

TAKEAWAYS:
Using a hands-on, minds-on, NGSS practice-based approach, participants will leave with classroom-ready materials to engage their students in investigating protein malnutrition and how different protein sources affect the environment. Activities focus on the science practice of modeling.

SPEAKERS:
Lisa Brosnick (SUNY Buffalo State College: Buffalo, NY)

Participants will use activities that work in CP and Honors Biology to help students decide whether and how we should genetically modify corn. Materials can be integrated into DNA (genes), evolution (artificial selection), and/or ecology (environmental impacts of GMOs).

TAKEAWAYS:
Teach kids to make informed decisions about GMOs. Learn to scaffold group argumentation and CER skills in this unit. Students work in teams to discuss data and create a speech about how we should deal with this complex issue. This curriculum closed the gap between our CP and Honors students!

SPEAKERS:
Lindsey L'ECUYER (Andover High School: Andover, MA)

Explore Retro Report’s videos and the free, high-quality classroom resources that accompany them. Participants will view a 12-min documentary on the hole in the ozone layer and act as high school science students to examine the related lesson.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how Retro Report videos can be used to infuse multiple disciplines in the science classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Jacqueline Katz (Science Teacher)

Bring your laptop or tablet for a guided tour of the public database (NCBI) and an activity on how simple bioinformatics tools can help identify threats to our food supply.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants learn basic terms and tools (DNA barcodes, bioinformatics) used for DNA sequence analysis. A simple activity demonstrates how bioinformatics tools are used to solve problems in the real world.

SPEAKERS:
Jane Hunt (Nourish the Future - Education Projects, LLC: Columbus, OH), Zack Bateson (National Agricultural Genotyping Center: Fargo, ND)

The water-flea, Daphnia, is a charismatic model organism in the life sciences. They are easy to find in lakes/ponds and to care for, making them great for classroom investigations. Here we present two interconnected curriculum units exploring the effects of pollution on Daphnia and their ecosystems.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to facilitate NGSS-aligned, inquiry-driven classroom investigations with Daphnia. We will share two examples of interconnected investigations based on our current work as science graduate students at the University of Illinois. Curriculum materials will be provided.

SPEAKERS:
Patrick Wilson (PhD Student: Urbana, IL), Barbara Hug (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: Champaign, IL), Jeannette Cullum (Graduate Student: Urbana, IL)

Bring your laptop and come explore a place-based, virtual climate change investigation. This activity uses real-world data from across the country to highlight the potential impacts of a changing climate.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees at this session will leave with a virtual activity that can be tailored to science classrooms across the country.

SPEAKERS:
Merryn Cole (University of Nevada, Las Vegas: Las Vegas, NV), Jake Johnson (Biological Science Teacher/Graduate Student: Las Vegas, NV)

We will use high-resolution images and descriptions of traits to construct evidence-based hypotheses for where two different fossils should be placed on the evolutionary tree of dinosaurs. The activity follows the same processes used by paleontologists to classify their fossil finds.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will gain access to materials that provide the backstory for an in-depth data analysis activity that can be used with students. Resources include hi-res images of fossils, descriptions and diagrams of traits that are useful for classification, and phylogenetic trees of dinosaurs.

SPEAKERS:
David Randle (American Museum of Natural History: New York, NY)

Put on your medical hat and diagnose your patients through this interactive workshop. Gain firsthand experience and learn about the phenomenon-based unit that teaches students about the cell cycle, cancer, and stem cells. Everything you need to know to implement this unit in your classroom!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will see and experience this phenomenon-based unit. They will have the tools and materials to implement this unit into their biology classes.

SPEAKERS:
Kristin Ambrose (Walhalla High School)

Come see a model of modeling! Engage in an Earth Science and a Biology activity, experience how models can be used to help student sense-making, and reflect on how to improve modeling in your classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore how modeling can be used to improve student sensemaking of science concepts.

SPEAKERS:
Lily Fettkether (Ms.: Dunkerton, IA), Janell Wright (Waterloo Schools: No City, No State), Jesse Wilcox (University of Northern Iowa: Cedar Falls, IA)

We will use sets of essays and videos to follow the work of marine biologists studying blue whales. A web-based interface gives students the ability to analyze whale dive data to understand how the largest animal that ever lived evolved by eating small crustaceans.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will gain access to materials that provide the backstory for an in-depth data analysis activity that can be used with students. Data includes time series graphs of blue whale dives, and video from forward and backward mounted cameras on the back of a whale.

SPEAKERS:
David Randle (American Museum of Natural History: New York, NY)

Reinforce genetics concepts by exploring the molecular processes technologies employ to understand genetic disorders. Experience an interactive curriculum module that is a window into biochemical processes at different levels from DNA to protein, and the technologies that illuminate them.

TAKEAWAYS:
How to access and use a free, NGSS-friendly curriculum module that helps students gain a deeper understanding of molecular genetics and the ways genetic disorders affect the pathway from DNA to a functioning protein by exploring the biochemical processes that technologies employ to detect a disorder.

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

NGSS alignment is quite challenging for most teachers. We have designed open-source materials that achieved NGSS-aligned outcomes for 80-90% of students while reducing the challenges of instruction. We will guide participants through example materials that support NGSS implementation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with specific strategies and options to improve NGSS alignment without significantly adding to the day-to-day burden of classroom instruction. This will also broaden their understanding of the goals and objectives of NGSS alignment.

SPEAKERS:
Abigail Helmke (Biology teacher: , WI), Craig Kohn (Waterford Union High School: Waterford, WI)

Engage in 3-D sensemaking by investigating the patterns and distribution of lactose intolerance inheritance worldwide using mathematical and computational thinking models. Briefly learn how technology-mediated lesson study has helped rural science teachers collaborate to design 3-D lessons.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will see how patterns of inheritance, and mathematical and computational thinking skills, can be used to make sense of why the distribution of traits for lactose intolerance follow certain worldwide patterns.

SPEAKERS:
Douglas Morris (Carbon High School: Price, UT), Joshua Stowers (Brigham Young University: Provo, UT)

Talking about science is an integral part of “doing science.” Together teachers will experience a phenomenon to explore talk formats, talk moves, and monitoring tools. Teachers will consider how these tools support students to clarify, build, and share their ideas with others.

TAKEAWAYS:
Supporting student talk that meets the targeted learning goals for your instruction requires a plan for classroom talk and practice facilitating learning conversations. Teachers will choose talk formats, employ talk moves, and develop monitoring tools to support students in talking about science.

SPEAKERS:
Laura Shafer, PhD (Knowles Teacher Initiative: Moorestown, NJ)

How do scientists identify harmful algal blooms and other aquatic microbes? Bring your laptop or tablet for an introductory lesson and discussion on DNA analysis using free web-based tools.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants learn basic terms and tools (DNA barcodes, BLAST) used for sequence analysis. The activity explores the public database (NCBI) used by educators and scientists around the world.

SPEAKERS:
Jane Hunt (Nourish the Future - Education Projects, LLC: Columbus, OH), Zack Bateson (National Agricultural Genotyping Center: Fargo, ND)

Learn to integrate science and engineering practices into proficiency scales for evaluating student performance in assessments. Explore how classroom educators calibrate student assessments and how to report scores into a gradebook that communicates to all stakeholders.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will learn how to integrate the SEPs into proficiency scales that can be used in a standards-based model, including instruction, assessments, and in PLCs through calibration and reporting.

SPEAKERS:
Erin Sinner (Davies High School: Fargo, ND), Alexandra Kollman (Fargo Public Schools: Fargo, ND)

When you get it right, students are engaged and making sense for themselves. Your lessons are aligned to standards and include scaffolded supports. Here's how to plan those lessons!

TAKEAWAYS:
SEPs, DCIs, and CCCs are the three legs of the stool that support a cohesive lesson. By being immersed in a sensemaking experience, participants define the most important elements and how to plan. Electronic resources are provided.

SPEAKERS:
David Jacob (Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES: Yorktown Hghts, NY), Harry Rosvally (Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES: Yorktown Heights, NY)

Bees are dying! Investigate the causes of declining bee populations and how this loss can affect your food supply. Experience hands-on, minds-on, NGSS practice-based lessons related to One Health – the connections between human, animal, and environmental health.

TAKEAWAYS:
Using a hands-on, minds-on, NGSS practice-based approach, participants will leave with classroom-ready materials to engage their students in investigating why bee populations are declining. Activities focus on the science practices of constructing an explanation and designing solutions.

SPEAKERS:
Lisa Brosnick (SUNY Buffalo State College: Buffalo, NY)

This session is intended for secondary science teachers with multilingual learners (MLLs). MLLs bring important science ideas that contribute to learning. This session will emphasize meaningful language instruction for all students and provide ideas for how to support emergent multilingual students.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this session, participants will engage with meaningful examples of teaching techniques to support higher-level thinking for all students, especially multilingual learners. These examples can be implemented in any secondary science classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Amber Snapke (Middle School Science Curriculum Developer: , WA), Angela DiLoreto (Bellevue School District: Bellevue, WA)

Engage in conversations for how to use the three dimensions of the NGSS and the NRC Framework, storylines, driving questions, formative and summative assessments, and hands-on activities to learn science and engineering skills while making sense of one of our most basic needs – FOOD.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will engage in a morsel of a storyline on producing the perfect apple. In this storyline, students notice and wonder about different varieties of apples and are challenged to explain why it took 30 years for the Honeycrisp apple to be available to consumers.

SPEAKERS:
Shane Cullian (Whitewater High School: Whitewater, WI)

Join me as we engage with many high-leverage SEL strategies I regularly incorporate into my high school classroom. I use these strategies to foster a sense of belonging and support strong development of the NGSS SEPs. We’ll discuss successes and strategize your adaptations of my ready-to-use tools.

TAKEAWAYS:
One core SEL strategy I’ll share is a “temperature check” in which students take 5 minutes of class weekly to fill out a digital (or paper) survey to let me know how they’re doing. I’ll share my rationale behind the questions I use and how they have increased my ability to support students.

SPEAKERS:
Andrea Ames (Meridian High School: Bellingham, WA)

This session will inspire you to take your classes outside by featuring a high school ecology class that promotes student discovery of local ecosystems, campus stewardship, and engagement with the science community (professional partnerships on grants/projects to explore & restore native habitats).

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will be inspired to put textbooks aside and get outside to create meaningful experiences that connect students to local ecosystems, deepen understanding of concepts, & build community in/around their school. Participants will be able to identify essential steps to creating a similar course.

SPEAKERS:
Jim Ardoin (Pinelands Regional High School: Tuckerton, NJ), Kimberly Clark (Pinelands Regional Junior High School: Little Egg Harbor, NJ)

To deepen our connections with our students, community, and place, educators must be committed to social justice and culturally sustaining pedagogies. In this session, educators will have an opportunity to cultivate new perspectives and skills to provide a meaningful science education.

TAKEAWAYS:
One main takeaway is that educators will understand that Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and that teaching science can be aligned to indigenous knowledge systems, different languages, community assets, and indigenous/cultural values.

SPEAKERS:
Phillippe Fernandez-Brennan (Halau Ku Mana Public Charter School (Hawai?i Department of Education))

Investigate the spread of tick-borne diseases in humans and animals. Experience hands-on, minds-on, NGSS practice-based lessons related to One Health – the connections between human, animal, and environmental health.

TAKEAWAYS:
Using a hands-on, minds-on, NGSS practice-based approach, participants will leave with classroom-ready materials to engage their students in investigating the problem of tick-borne diseases and climate change. Activities focus on the science practices of analyzing data and constructing explanations.

SPEAKERS:
Lisa Brosnick (SUNY Buffalo State College: Buffalo, NY)

Is crash-testing biased against women? Join science education professor Griff Jones and IIHS Vehicle Research Center staff to learn about the latest research regarding equity issues and crash-testing, and participate in a live Q&A with crash test dummy research experts.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn why ensuring equity in crash-testing research is more complex than simply putting a female dummy in the driver’s seat and how IIHS’s “Deep Dive with Dummies” free video series can be used to teach grade 5-12 students about the nature of science.

SPEAKERS:
Joe Young (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Highway Loss Data Institute: Arlington, VA), Griff Jones (University of Florida: No City, No State)

A major aspect of the NGSS is the inclusion of 3D summative assessments. However, this is something with which all teachers struggle. Using the National Center for Science Education’s free, high-quality assessments as a model, learn how to use phenomena to create assessments for your own students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will walk away with the confidence to select appropriate phenomena to use as the foundation for a summative assessment and an understanding of how to build a 3D assessment using a phenomenon.

SPEAKERS:
Lin Andrews (National Center for Science Education: Oakland, CA)

Storylines led by phenomena improve student engagement and understanding of overarching biological concepts. We will model using phenomena to anchor and lead instruction.

TAKEAWAYS:
Storylines provide an equitable, culturally-responsive learning experience that support long-lasting learning for all students.

SPEAKERS:
Michele Koehler (Riverside Brookfield District 208: Riverside, IL), Shane Cullian (Whitewater High School: Whitewater, WI), Kathy Van Hoeck (Retired Educator: Marion, IA), Charlie Pozen (Gateway High School, Aurora CO: No City, No State)

Scientists rely on data to describe nature and uncover relationships. In this workshop, you will learn how to access data and how to graph and analyze the data in EXCEL and use online statistical tools to test hypotheses and uncover significance.

TAKEAWAYS:
The USGS has an archive of data and collects real-time data from a variety of locations throughout the United States. Learn to introduce data science in authentic ways that connect students’ interests. People of all ages can engage data in ways that are useful and meaningful.

SPEAKERS:
Pamela Joslyn (Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow: No City, No State)

Discover a 360-degree VR intervention implemented in inclusive biology classrooms, showcasing significant score differences between students with and without disabilities. Gain insights into data analysis, limitations, practice implications, and future research plans.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with the six free resources used in the study and expectations to support their use in the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Shalece Kohnke (Auburn University)

Discover BioTrek, a free project-based learning program that introduces your students to regenerative science through advanced technologies, entrepreneurship and career pathways in the biofabrication industry. Learn how to bring this dynamic inquiry-driven experience to your classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees gain insight into cutting-edge tissue engineering concepts and free NGSS-aligned curriculum. Learn how ARMI is shaping the industry and empowering the future workforce of biofabrication through BioTrek, a program that exposes students to exciting careers via transdisciplinary learning.

SPEAKERS:
Alanis Vicente (ARMI / BioFab: Manchester, NH), Gabrielle Mourousas (ARMI / BioFab: Manchester, NH)

How can engineering design invite student creativity and choice in a science classroom? Come learn about a teacher-developed tool for scaling student autonomy both up and down within engineering practices into your science class. Leave with new activity ideas and a new strategy for developing more.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this presentation, teachers will look at several examples of integrated-STEM instruction on a continuum of student-centricity and complexity. Teachers will use a Project Complexity Rubric to consider modifications to the examples and to their own engineering-oriented math and science instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Kylie Bertram (Science Teacher: Willingboro, NJ), Emily Berman (Global STEM Challenges Program)

In this session, participants will engage with the NGSS-aligned Henrietta Lacks: Cervical Cancer and the HPV Perspective unit, interconnecting Henrietta Lacks’ life and experiences with our current understanding of science and society.

TAKEAWAYS:
How to use classroom-ready, standards-aligned materials connecting science and society. Learning Objectives include: 1.) Discuss the history and legacy of Henrietta Lacks ; 2.) Understand the causes of cervical cancer and the role of HPV; and 3.) Assess the pros and cons of the HPV Vaccine.

SPEAKERS:
Beth Tuck (Education & Community Involvement Branch Chief: Bethesda, MD), Rosann Wise (National Human Genome Research Institute/National Institutes of Health: Bethesda, MD)

This session will provide strategies on Teaching with Primary Sources in the science curriculum to promote student a.) inquiry and discourse b.) critical thinking and analysis and c.) understanding of scientific history.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will engage in teaching strategies that exemplify how analyzing primary sources can support critical thinking and the scientific method of observation, hypothesizing, and analysis.

SPEAKERS:
Dat Le (Arlington Public Schools: Arlington, VA)

Engage students in climate science and nature exploration using Budburst, a community science project, to collect data on plants near you. Address the NGSS through real science and empower your students to investigate climate change impacts on local ecosystems (Adaptable for all grades).

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn to engage students in local plant phenomena and real-world climate change science using the Budburst resources; gain strategies to create a phenology trail near your school, which students can use to connect with nature while collecting data on seasonal change in plants.

SPEAKERS:
Katelin Gaeth (Denver Botanic Gardens: No City, No State), Julie Reiske (Assistant Manager of School and Plains Programs: Denver, CO), Julie Reiske (Assistant Manager of School and Plains Programs: Denver, CO)

Looking for ideas to ensure sensemaking access for all students? Participants will immerse in science lessons to explore numerous scaffolding strategies and ideas. The facilitator and participants will model how to allow every student to engage in rigorous science tasks.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn strategies for scaffolding instruction that allows students access to rigorous science tasks in whole group, small group, and individually. They will leave with ideas for planning/implementing equitable sensemaking so that every student in their classroom can engage.

SPEAKERS:
Anthony Goad (Hamilton County Schools: Chattanooga, TN)