2022 Chicago National Conference - Sessions

The Meaning Beyond the Words

For years, research on the language of classrooms explored how the way we say things impacts students’ sense of belonging. This session uses the NSTA Teacher Tip Tuesday—The Meaning Beyond The Words: How Language, Race, and Culture Impact Science Teaching and Learning web seminar to consider how we signal to students that we value their ideas and how they communicate those ideas in the science classroom and what we can do as educators to help ensure our students know they belong in the classroom and can do science. Participants will learn about opportunities to continue the learning after the session ends through NSTA’s new Professional Learning Units.

Takeaways: 1. Become aware of how we signal (or don’t signal) to students their ideas and how they communicate their ideas are valued in the science classroom; and 2. Learn strategies to support students in building on their ideas and each other's ideas to move toward building deep conceptual understanding of big ideas in science (disciplinary core ideas).

Speakers

Michelle Phillips (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Kate Soriano (NSTA: Arlington, VA)

Presenter Materials for this Session:
(Please login with your NSTA account to view the materials)

What Is Sensemaking? Exploration and Consensus-Building Tasks for Individuals and Teams

Join us to learn what sensemaking is and how to use research-based resources to engage students in making sense of the world around them. Leave with a collection of resources to move your professional learning forward no matter where you are on the sensemaking continuum.

Takeaways: Develop an understanding of what sensemaking is and how it can help build classrooms where students are able to make sense of the world around them. Leaders walk away with a consensus-building exercise for their team.

Speakers

Tricia Shelton (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Elizabeth Allan (University of Central Oklahoma: Edmond, OK)

Using the NSTA Sensemaking Tool to Support Creating, Revising, and Selecting High-Quality Science Lessons

Gain experience using the NSTA Sensmaking Tool to become critical consumers of curricular materials and support creating/revising lessons for sensemaking.

Takeaways: 1. Learn how to use the NSTA Sensemaking Tool to review science lessons for the four critical aspects of sensemaking; and 2. Understand how to use the Sensemaking Tool to support creating and revising existing science lessons for sensemaking.

Speakers

Kate Soriano (NSTA: Arlington, VA)

Presenter Materials for this Session:
(Please login with your NSTA account to view the materials)

Exploration Generation: Sensemaking in Rocketry from AIAA, Estes Rockets, and NSTA

This session will introduce participants to the Exploration Generation Middle School NSTA Playlist. It provides equitable STEM experiences to students and increases educator confidence in teaching rocketry. This two-lesson playlist brings Sensemaking to rocketry by cultivating student curiosity about rockets to drive learning about science ideas related to physics topics. Participants will investigate forces through hands-on engagement, while also learning about rocket safety. Learn how to develop critical skills within your students to prepare them for the careers of tomorrow.

Takeaways: The excitement and curiosity generated by model rocket launches can be used to drive student learning about a variety of physical science ideas.

Speakers

Michelle Phillips (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Patrice Scinta (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Nicole Bayeur (Estes Industries: , United States)

Presenter Materials for this Session:
(Please login with your NSTA account to view the materials)

3D Assessment that Leverages Interest & Identity

Phenomenon-driven assessments can be aligned to standards and engaging to students. This session will answer the question, “How can a 3D assessment engage students’ interest and identity while promoting high-quality science learning?” We call this “5-dimensional” assessment. We will present several examples of phenomenon-driven assessments in grades 5-12 and deconstruct them. What makes them engaging? How does a 3D task unfold over several questions? Where are the big science ideas? Then, we will analyze the student work that 5-dimensional assessments can generate in order to see what 3D learning can result from aligned tasks. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of how to construct a 3D task, investigate student interests, and give meaningful feedback to students that goes beyond “right and wrong” multiple-choice questions. The final part of the presentation will offer examples of tools participants can use to adapt their own assessments by 1) finding meaningful phenomena, 2) connecting the DCIs, SEPs, and CCCs, and 3) writing prompts that integrate all dimensions.

Takeaways: How to design meaningful, interest & identity driven 3D assessments for secondary students

Speakers

Kerri Wingert (University of Colorado Boulder: Boulder, CO)

Phenomenal STEM: Finding Authentic Problems to Solve in the K–8 Classroom

Are identifying and choosing relevant, authentic problems to put in front of your students holding you back from providing opportunities to engage your students in engineering design? In this workshop, gain insight into what makes a problem instructionally productive. We’ll also explore resources available to support you in selecting problems to put in front of your students and strategies to help students identify problems they want to pursue individually or in small groups for STEM competitions or their own interests.

Takeaways: Explore authentic problems to solve in your STEM classrooms.

Speakers

Michelle Phillips (NSTA: Arlington, VA)

Science Is Social! Student Ideas at the Center of Phenomenon-Driven, Three-Dimensional Teaching and Learning (Elementary)

Explore how NSTA’s phenomena-driven lessons/units motivate students to engage in science practices to make sense of science ideas they need to explain how or why the phenomenon occurs.

Takeaways: 1. Understand the critical attributes of sensemaking; 2. Strategies for intentional sequences of student interactions to provide access to participation and learning for all students; and 3. Students’ strategic use of modalities (talk, text, gestures, drawings, etc.).

Speakers

Kristin Rademaker (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Holly Hereau (NSTA: Arlington, VA)

Science Is Social! Student Ideas at the Center of Phenomenon-Driven, Three-Dimensional Teaching and Learning (Secondary)

Explore how NSTA’s phenomena-driven lessons/units motivate students to engage in science practices to make sense of science ideas they need to explain how or why the phenomenon occurs.

Takeaways: Understand the critical attributes of sensemaking. Strategies for intentional sequences of student interactions to provide access to participation and learning for all students. Students’ strategic use of modalities (talk, text, gestures, drawings, etc.)

Speakers

Kristin Rademaker (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Holly Hereau (NSTA: Arlington, VA)

Alexa for Astronauts: Bring Space and Voice Artificial Intelligence to Life Science This Year!

This session will introduce participants to the Alexa for Astronauts: Using AI to Monitor Health lesson set. We will explore how the instructional sequence exposes high school students to ideas about artificial intelligence (AI) and computer programming, using Amazon Alexa and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) App Inventor, while applying previously built life science ideas to begin to address the problem of monitoring astronauts’ physical health. Participants will gain experience using the Alexa-MIT App Inventor to program custom Alexa skills and learn how to sign up for access to the instructional materials. No accounts needed; bring a laptop or device to access the Alexa-MIT App Inventor.

Takeaways: The Alexa-MIT App Inventor platform and teacher supports found in the lesson plans make it possible to incorporate computer science and artificial intelligence ideas in Biology class.

Speakers

Patrice Scinta (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Michelle Phillips (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Kate Soriano (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Garrett Dorfman (Amazon Future Engineer: Nashville, TN), Kristin Rademaker (NSTA: Arlington, VA)

Presenter Materials for this Session:
(Please login with your NSTA account to view the materials)

Our Beautiful Planet: Climate Change Films and Lessons from NSTA, The Climate Initiative, and Kikim Media

This session will introduce participants to Our Beautiful Planet, a collection of classroom-ready films and lesson plans that highlight the science and engineering practices scientists use to explain the phenomenon of climate change. The collection of over 10 lessons brings Sensemaking to environmental science by cultivating student curiosity with engaging and eye-popping phenomena. Participants will generate questions and use model data as evidence to construct an explanation of how increases in global temperature could shift infection rates of mosquito-borne diseases. Using their explanation and information provided in the film, participants will consider the effect of this shift on humans.

Takeaways: Providing students with an engaging and relevant phenomenon can be used to drive student learning about climate change and inspire them to examine critical climate issues in their own communities.

Speakers

Patrice Scinta (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Kristin Rademaker (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Holly Hereau (NSTA: Arlington, VA)

Presenter Materials for this Session:
(Please login with your NSTA account to view the materials)