Science is a social endeavor! Gain strategies to transform your classroom into a community of learners in which students and teachers actively try to make sense of the natural and built worlds.

TAKEAWAYS:
Leave this session with strategies for developing classroom norms in collaboration with your students.

SPEAKERS:
Kate Soriano (NSTA: Jersey City, NJ)

Use A-I to create a fictional planet in order for students to make connections between settling on a foreign planet and early American civilization of Jamestown. How will you choose where to settle? How will your colony be sustainable? How do you ethically interact with native species?

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees are going to learn how to utilize A-I by exploring settlement on a fictional planet mirroring Jamestown addressing sustainability, ethical interaction with natives, citizen science, robotics, and lessons for Earth's care.

SPEAKERS:
Jesse Wren (Riverfield Country Day School: Tulsa, OK), Lisa Robinson (4/5 Grade Educator: Bixby, OK)

In this interactive lesson, participants become health advocates, analyzing and interpreting scientific research to propose effective solutions for barriers to prenatal care access.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this interactive session, participants will use scientific research to uncover how socioeconomic factors and policies impact healthcare while developing a deeper appreciation for the intersection of science and society and the role of scientific knowledge in addressing societal needs.

SPEAKERS:
Ashley Burkart (Estrella Mountain Community College: Avondale, AZ)

Far too often, equity efforts are relegated to the sidelines instead of being embedded in core curriculum leadership tasks. Join us to consider how anchoring science leadership in equity principles can remove barriers to science teaching and learning through curriculum implementation efforts.

TAKEAWAYS:
The implementation of HQIM can lead to more equitable systems when barriers to equity are confronted and removed. The process of confronting barriers includes collaborating for justice, taking small actions to learn, and continual reflection and revision of implementation plans based on data.

SPEAKERS:
Susan Gomez Zwiep (BSCS Science Learning: Long Beach, CA), Jenine Cotton-Proby (BSCS Science Learning: Waldorf, MD), Janna Mahfoud (BSCS Science Learning: Laveen, AZ)

Take a deep dive into the practice of developing and using models! We’ll explore how creating and using models help students build science ideas and can support students’ in developing and writing explanations. Experience the power of building science ideas together as part of a learning community.

TAKEAWAYS:
Developing models individually, in groups and as a class makes all students essential members of the knowledge-building community.

SPEAKERS:
Kristin Rademaker (NSTA: Freeport, IL)

Elementary teaching can be very busy. This session will have engaging activities and practical strategies for making time for elementary. We will provide examples of long-term investigations, how science can be a foundation for math/literacy, how teachers can utilize science station work, and more!

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn practical strategies and see examples of making time for science in elementary.

SPEAKERS:
Rebecca Abbott (The Lawrence Hall of Science: Berkeley, CA), Deanna Taylor (Interactive Learning Solutions LLC: Columbia, SC), Leah Litz (Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium: Omaha, NE), Jesse Wilcox (University of Northern Iowa: Cedar Falls, IA)

Elementary-age children come to science learning with expansive resources that we must leverage for sensemaking. If you are considering adapting or creating your own instructional materials, join us as we learn to frame investigations from students lived experiences.

TAKEAWAYS:
Many curriculum materials minimize elevating students’ brilliance with teacher directed, pre-designed activities. COESEE envisions classrooms where students’ ideas are foregrounded andn learning is centered in students’ lived experiences.

SPEAKERS:
Mary Starr (Michigan Mathematics and Science Leadership Network: Plymouth, MI), Carla Zembal-Saul (Penn State: State College, PA), Miranda Fitzgerald (University of North Carolina Charlotte: Mint Hill, NC)

Explore how leaders can use the new BSCS Anchored Inquiry Learning (AIL) instructional model to support teachers in creating learning experiences that motivate students with significant, real world phenomena and problems! Learn how AIL cycles of inquiry and sensemaking culminate in student agency!

TAKEAWAYS:
The research-based BSCS Anchored Inquiry Learning instructional model succeeds the 5Es and forms the basis for high-quality instructional materials. Leaders can leverage this model to support teachers in creating a student centered classroom that provides effective teaching and learning for all.

SPEAKERS:
Cynthia Gay (BSCS Science Learning: Steamboat Springs, CO)

We will explore expansive ways we can notice students’ sensemaking assets and use those ideas to engage students in deeper learning. This session supports educators who are exploring modification or creation of instructional materials to better serve all students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Explore the expanded ways of communicating and negotiating meaning children use as they engage in sensemaking at all ages. Work with us as we share ways to becoming more attuned to the multiple ways children engage in meaning making

SPEAKERS:
Mary Starr (Michigan Mathematics and Science Leadership Network: Plymouth, MI), Miranda Fitzgerald (University of North Carolina Charlotte: Mint Hill, NC)

Learning in Places is an OER that helps educators engage with students in field-based transdisciplinary learning. It is the perfect way to start science learning from students’ places while engaging with families and communities. This session is perfect for educators developing their own materials.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learning in Places envisions science learning as a vehicle to ethical decision making. Educators will become familiar with the Learning in Places storylines and how to use them with their students.

SPEAKERS:
Mary Starr (Michigan Mathematics and Science Leadership Network: Plymouth, MI)

This immersive and engaging workshop is designed to empower and cultivate teacher leaders in science education. It will provide participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to become effective leaders in their schools and communities, driving positive change in science education.

TAKEAWAYS:
One key takeaway related to leadership in science is the importance of raising awareness of implicit bias in science education. Implicit bias refers to the unconscious attitudes and stereotypes that influence our perceptions and actions, often leading to inequities in educational settings.

SPEAKERS:
Dr. Kay Williams (KEDE Educational Business, LLC: Woodstock, GA)

Experience how classroom agreements can create productive and safe spaces for elementary students to share their ideas, let those ideas change and grow, and engage with each other as a community of learners.

TAKEAWAYS:
Elementary students can co-construct classroom agreements that support an environment where they recognize that science can be done in many ways, feel safe and compelled to share their ideas and questions, listen/look/respond to others' ideas, and let their ideas change and grow.

SPEAKERS:
María González-Howard (The University of Texas at Austin: Austin, TX), Amy Belcastro (Science Educator/Grad Student: Fort Collins, CO), Janna Mahfoud (BSCS Science Learning: Laveen, AZ)

Engage in a new OpenSciEd Elementary unit and see how classroom discussions can support ALL students’ in using their ideas, experiences, and evidence for collective sensemaking.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about how to engage elementary students in classroom discussion to share initial ideas, build understanding and come to consensus about the phenomenon they are trying to collectively figure out.

SPEAKERS:
Janna Mahfoud (BSCS Science Learning: Laveen, AZ), Susan Gomez Zwiep (BSCS Science Learning: Long Beach, CA)

This session highlights cultural dimensions of meaningful science learning. It showcases a powerful instructional technique for formative assessment called “self-documentation”—where students collect information related to a particular theme or topic in their everyday lives.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers learn how to promote equity by focusing on learning and teaching as an inherently cultural process. They develop a shared understanding of how cultural formative assessment can reveal the interests, experiences, and identities of students.

SPEAKERS:
Philip Bell (University of Washington: Seattle, WA), Tiffany Neill (OpenSciEd: New York, NY), Ximena Gallegos Gutierrez (PhD student, Learning Science and Human Development: Seattle, WA)

Want to improve student analyzing and interpreting data skills but don’t know where to start? This workshop makes data analysis fun and accessible for you and your students. Learn to interpret and understand real-world data while incorporating math and science concepts. BYOD for optimal impact.

TAKEAWAYS:
Build expertise in nurturing elementary students’ ability to confidently infer meaning from real-world data, bolstering their math and science comprehension.

SPEAKERS:
Jocelyn Foran (Tuva)

We have developed a framework of pedagogical practices that can be leveraged to support teaching with the NGSS no matter what curriculum is being used. Come hear about our research-backed framework, and experience a sense-making lesson that models high leverage pedagogical strategies!

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will experience and gain a deeper understanding of high leverage pedagogical practices that directly support teaching with the NGSS, and strategies to implement some of these practices in the science classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Katy Fattaleh (Griffin Museum of Science and Industry: Chicago, IL), Tara Flett (Sr. Educator IQST: Chicago, IL), Karin Klein (Museum of Science and Industry: CHICAGO, IL)

Students are more excited to learn science when they see the ways the learning experience is motivated by their own curiosities. Come interact with and explore strategies to anchor your students’ sensemaking throughout a science unit in questions that the class community has collectively developed!

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will leave with strategies to 1) elicit, 2) make public, and 3) value all students’ questions about a unit’s anchoring phenomenon, and to 4) collaborate with students to shape their questions into investigable questions that can motivate their ongoing sensemaking throughout a unit.

SPEAKERS:
María González-Howard (The University of Texas at Austin: Austin, TX), Carla Robinson (The University of Texas at Austin: Austin, TX), Sage Andersen (The University of Texas at Austin: Buda, TX)

Wondering how to make science more meaningful? Learn how to easily adapt a unit to affirm student experiences in daily lessons. We'll show you how to create a student survey and use the data to make small but impactful changes to your plans. See examples and leave with a template for trying it out!

TAKEAWAYS:
We’ll show participants how to choose a focus unit and create a survey focused on the same theme. We’ll use the collected data purposefully to make upgrades to our lessons by incorporating student experiences and interests into the learning, all while expanding their scientific understanding.

SPEAKERS:
Jessica Harrell (UnboundEd: West Orange, NJ), Amber Woods (UnboundEd: Glen Burnie, MD)

Join us to master the art of leading interactive and impactful workshops with facilitation checklists and planning templates.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will use a facilitation checklist and planning template to plan, deliver, and receive feedback on a mock professional learning activity for disseminating best practices for NGSS instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Kayla Cherry (Loyola University Chicago: Chicago, IL), Sarah Stults (Loyola University Chicago: Chicago, IL)

Discover NASA's Astro Camp Program: free STEM resources and lessons on space exploration. See how one school created a week-long, community-building STEM Challenge for Pre-K to 5th grade, reinforcing the S.E.P.s and sparking interest in NASA careers.

TAKEAWAYS:
NASA’s ASTRO CAMP Community Partners Program provides collaboration opportunities for youth service organizations, museums, libraries, and schools interested in presenting NASA’s ASTRO CAMP activities in their community with training and resources provided by NASA ACCP specialists. Free resources.

SPEAKERS:
Elaine Sevin (Isidore Newman School: New Orleans, LA), Jennifer Williams (Isidore Newman School: Belle Chasse, LA)