This session is the first of a series of four - join for one or more - focused on early childhood science and language arts integration. Engage with concrete examples of interdisciplinary connections focused on life science. Part of the NSTA Early Childhood/Lower Elementary Science Pathway.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be able to plan and implement instruction that integrates early childhood life science and language arts learning targets with fidelity.

SPEAKERS:
Jenn Brown-Whale (Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE): Randallstown, MD)

Do you feel like you are doing all the talking in class? This sessions follows Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER) format and will support you in your journey to make your classroom student-led. We will explore strategies to cultivate student agency.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will leave this session inspired and with the tools needed to give their students voice and choice. Though these strategies relate to my content, life science, they can transfer to any content and grade level.

SPEAKERS:
Alisha Salgado (Rio Rancho Public Schools: Rio Rancho, NM)

The present-day Gulf of Mexico has long been known for its amazing diversity of sharks, rays, and skates. Join the Dauphin Island Sea Lab to learn a little known fact: Alabama leads the nation in extinct and extant shark species! Learn about and "dig" through coastal Alabama's geologic history!

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn about the paleontological history of northern Gulf of Mexico sharks, and why Alabama is a hot bed of past and present shark species, while giving attendees a chance to be amateur paleontologists by sieving their own northern Gulf coastal sands for evidence of this diversity.

SPEAKERS:
Greg Graeber (Dauphin Island Sea Lab: Dauphin Island, AL)

Discover how the concept of wing loading influences the physics of airplane flight, bird wings, and wind-dispersed seeds. From aerodynamics to ecological adaptations, this hands-on lesson will explore the interconnectedness of flight across diverse organisms and systems.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to calculate and apply the concept of wing loading to the flight dynamics of airplanes, birds, and wind-dispersed seeds. Life science and physical science teachers will leave with lesson plans and resources to take back to their classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Matthew McVay (Clinical Lecturer: Auburn, AL)

Have you always wanted to try project-based learning… but you aren’t sure how to start? Join the News Literacy Project as we walk attendees through the PBL design process to create an extension for our FREE news and media literacy educator resources.

TAKEAWAYS:
Presenters will engage educators in the development of a PBL experience for their students. Attendees will receive a demonstration of “Be Health Informed,” one of NLP’s STEM Checkology® lessons, and explore creating a PBL extension. Attendees will leave with a PBL planning template and project ideas.

SPEAKERS:
Brittney Smith (The University of South Carolina: Cincinnati, OH)

Explore the relationship between adaptations and niches using an interactive lesson from the National Center for Science Education. This activity uses phenotypes and karyotypes to illustrate the complexities of creating phylogenetic trees of marsupials and placental mammals.

TAKEAWAYS:
The goal of this session is for participants to experience a lesson from students’ perspective and take the free materials back to their own classrooms. The purpose of the activity is to address the NGSS standards related to evidence for evolution, natural selection, and adaptation.

SPEAKERS:
Blake Touchet (National Center for Science Education: ABBEVILLE, LA)

Experience how discussion diamonds can help support students’ argumentation skills and Claim Evidence Reasoning writing through peer discourse. This workshop will introduce the discussion diamond protocol and allow participants to engage in the activity from the students’ perspective.

TAKEAWAYS:
The discussion diamond protocol is a versatile tool that can be adapted for students of varying skill levels and across any subject. It provides a supportive environment for students to engage in discourse and develop their argumentation skills.

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Ciccarello (Beverly Hills High School: Los Angeles, CA)

Create large scale models and diagrams on a wide variety of subjects in open spaces both on inside floors and outdoors. Learn how to get the most out of your school building spaces and engage your students’ interests using inexpensive materials and kinesthetic activities!

TAKEAWAYS:
You and your students will learn how to make and use large scale models to explore many scientific topics. Using materials like electrical tape, sidewalk chalk, rope and other simple materials, we will make and use large scale models of an ellipse, heart and body systems, cells, water cycle.

SPEAKERS:
David Ebersole (Greece Athena Middle School: Caledonia, NY)

Participants will be able to examine several practical (and budget-friendly) models for classroom hydroponics and consider ways to adapt them to fit age-appropriate lesson plans to make this activity suitable for any learning stage.

TAKEAWAYS:
Everything you've ever wanted to know about hydroponics but were too afraid to ask! This session is designed for anyone looking to implement hydroponics into either the formal or informal learning environment, appropriate for all ages of learners.

SPEAKERS:
Caleb Bagby (Senior Director of Engineering, Technology, and Design: Chattanooga, TN), Jessica Dobrin (McCallie School: Chattanooga, TN)

Chat GPT is a powerful language model that can be used to create background knowledge for lessons. By using Chat GPT, educators can help students get a starting point for their research and provide them with the necessary information to explore various topics such as periodic table, environment issu

TAKEAWAYS:
One takeaway from this session is that you will understand that ChatGPT is a powerful tool for teachers. This application will allow you to answer questions or ideas you have and improve research activities that might be difficult for students.

SPEAKERS:
Ricardo Padilla (Brookhurst Jr HIgh School: Placentia, CA)

Participants will receive a worm culture to interact with, record observations, and conduct research to determine and list facts about the worms. They will then use the results of this research to write a nuanced claim about the worm culture, using facts as evidence to explain their reasoning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about hands-on activities that engage students in science and research, and strategies to improve evidence-based writing in the science classroom including a CER checklist, scaffolding techniques for struggling writers, vocabulary banks, sentence frames, and peer feedback.

SPEAKERS:
Maureen Barclay (Captain Shreve High School: Shreveport, LA), Amy Douglas Kendrick (Jena High School: Jena, LA)

In this workshop, you’ll discover nature-themed elementary storybooks and their free book guides. We’ll learn while having fun with activities that meet NGSS, Math, ELA, and Art standards. These engaging activities will increase science vocabulary and literacy.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be able to use engaging storybooks and activities centered on nature and birds to boost their diverse students’ science vocabulary, increase their connection to nature and science, and teach integrated STEAM content.

SPEAKERS:
Susan Licher (Cornell Lab of Ornithology: Blacksburg, VA)

Led by members of NSTA Early Childhood-Elementary Committee, the session addresses the relationship between the NSTA book series and natural phenomena providing an interactive platform for educators to discover how this series of books can support & enhance SEPs in the classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore the integration of this series with science and engineering practices through cross-disciplinary connections and hands-on activities. Resources provided.

SPEAKERS:
Simone Nance (University of Southern Indiana: Newburgh, IN), Jenn Brown-Whale (Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE): Randallstown, MD), Katie Morrison (University Child Development School: Seattle, WA), Jennifer Williams (Isidore Newman School: Belle Chasse, LA)

Empower students to take action with an in-depth study of biodiversity and sustainability of urban forests. Use iNaturalist’s Seek App and analyze data from a comprehensive study to examine challenges to urban forests’ sustainability and advocate for communities by developing possible solutions.

TAKEAWAYS:
A lesson that can be used with students to use understanding of biodiversity and sustainability to advocate for their local communities, including use of a free app to collect species data, opportunities to utilize AI tools, and suggestions for community-facing products that students can create.

SPEAKERS:
Laurie Jack (Humble ISD: Humble, TX), Elissa Griffin (Humble ISD: Kingwood, TX)

This session explores how productive uncertainty in science investigations can support meaningful engagement in science practices and conceptual understanding. Participants will engage with uncertainty, analyze examples of elementary students grappling with uncertainty, and explore tools for use.

TAKEAWAYS:
Uncertainty is core to sense-making at all ages. We can elicit and build from specific forms of uncertainty as children move between phenomenon, investigation, evidence, and explanation to support productive classroom sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Annabel Stoler (Boston University: Malden, MA), Eve Manz (Boston University: Boston, MA)

And imagine futures better. Pair dreams, plans, strategies, and goals with climate science in this expansive lesson that utilizes computer simulations and the principals of climate literacy to expand students’ views of what is possible and build system understandings of the climate crisis.

TAKEAWAYS:
Build confidence in helping students personalize what climate modeling means for their own life.

SPEAKERS:
Luke Gliddon (Teacher: Minneapolis, MN)

This workshop engages participants in using AI and data tools to monitor seabird behavior and restoration. Participants will explore datasets to find trends in population growth and use AI to identify birds and their calls.

TAKEAWAYS:
Data is the bedrock of scientific investigations, but is not yet fully incorporated into the classroom. This workshop provides tools and strategies for the seamless incorporation of data and AI into the study of seabird restoration.

SPEAKERS:
Caitlin Harrigan (Teacher/District Assessment Coordinator: Portland, ME), Jacob Sagrans (Senior Research Associate: Weston, MA)

This workshop will introduce key strategies for supporting students with different learning needs (kinesthetics, visuals, hands-on activities, explicit instruction, simplified language) in order to meet NGSS standards. The workshop will include specific examples from a unit on honeybees.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will experience firsthand how the above-mentioned strategies for special education support learning for all students in an elementary classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Lindsey Marx (Stephen Gaynor School: New York, NY), Cristina Fabricant (Science Specialist: New York, NY)

Explore global, environmental challenges with hands-on lessons that build skills in science, math and social sciences, while applying learning to authentic problems. Engage in collaborative problem solving, simulation and 3D modeling related to Human Impacts on Earth’s Systems.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will come away with interdisciplinary strategies for addressing ecology topics in the middle school classroom, with an emphasis on 3D learning, data literacy and student inquiry. They will also be able to align the presented activities to NGSS.

SPEAKERS:
Chantal Correll (Ascension Parish Schools: Prairieville, LA)

From wolf to husky to chihuahua, the genetic relationships between wild canids and their diverse domesticated descendants provide a fascinating window into the science of evolution and heredity. We'll explore strategies for using the story of dogs to engage students and teach genetics.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will walk away with lesson plans that can be used to support mastery of standards related to genetics and heredity, including how genetic variation leads to physical and behavioral differences and how evolution can only take place in the presence of this variation.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Slack (I.S. 223 Montauk Intermediate School: Brooklyn, NY)

ASSET, an NIH SEPA funded program at WashU STL, offers modules that nurture students’ innate curiosity through hands-on exploration of biology using safe, easily manipulated model organism, Tetrahymena. Modules are paired with FREE lending materials designed to stimulate inquiry-based learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be introduced to ASSET and will conduct modified lab activities to see how ASSET can be used in the classroom to address topics like microscope use, cell parts and processes (phagocytosis & osmolarity), chemotaxis, and the effects of smoking, vaping, and alcohol on living cells.

SPEAKERS:
Courtney Hausner (Oakville Senior High: Saint Louis, MO), Anne Deken (John Burroughs School: St. Louis, MO), Alexandra Forgerson (Instructional Specialist: University City, MO)

Learn how to use low-cost materials to effectively teach biology students how to use a cladogram model to interpret and test predictions of evolutionary relationships.

TAKEAWAYS:
Identify key features of cladograms and learn to create a cladogram model using pipe cleaners and using plastic pony beads given provided different character states.

SPEAKERS:
Mark Little (Broomfield High School-Retired: Arvada, CO)

Use agriculture to showcase evolutionary relationships with cladistics. Look at the shared characteristics of plants to construct cladograms and interpret data. Free classroom materials and prizes.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learners will engage in an argument from evidence as they discuss the evolutionary relationships of corn and will identify unique traits between corn species, create outgroups to build a cladogram, and create an explanation for evolutionary relationships.

SPEAKERS:
Heather Bryan (Nourish the Future - Education Projects, LLC: McComb, OH)

Experience the fascinating world of color perception through two intriguing phenomena: colored shadows and afterimages. Experience light color through hands-on exploration and captivating demonstrations. These are ready-to-implement activities for your class (NGSS-aligned).

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers engaging in this fun activity will gain insights into the mechanisms of human color perception, providing them with engaging ways to use these hands-on experiments and captivating demonstrations into their curriculum to enhance students' understanding of waves, light, color and vision.

SPEAKERS:
Sophia Crook (LIGO Livingston Observatory: Livingston, LA), Mishael Sedas (LIGO Livingston Observatory: Geismar, LA)

Come experience a new way to review that will have your students saying, "YES! IT'S REVIEW DAY!" Teachers will be introduced to a variety of games that can be applied to any subject area! These games have proven to increase student engagement with material and retention of knowledge.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will leave with new ways to engage students in reviews through using games in the classroom which support students of all levels and lead to increased retention of information.

SPEAKERS:
Amanda Goodwin (Olive Branch H.S.: Southaven, MS)