In partnership with individual Educational Service
Districts, Washington Green Schools (WGS) is sparking climate science knowledge
and action in diverse schools across the state.
Speakers: Becky Bronstein, Program Coordinator, Washington Green Schools Nayiri Haroutunian, Program Manager, Washington Green Schools
Session Topic:
Earth and Space Science, Engineering-Technology-and the Application of Science, Life Science
Session Type:
Presentation
Track:
Building Partnerships for Effective Science Education
Explore the parallel processes in science and literacy
learning for young students that helps to build capacity for lifelong learning
in both areas. Handouts.
Speakers: Ana Houseal, Associate Professor and Science Outreach Educator, University of Wyoming Clare Gunshenan, University of Wyoming
The development of CRISPR as a gene editing tool is one of the most exciting biotechnology breakthroughs of the past decade. Now you can incorporate this amazing technology into your classroom. We will review the biology behind CRISPR-Cas technology and examine the use of gene therapy to treat a patient suffering from cystic fibrosis. You’ll design guide RNAs to target a mutation in an essential gene, and then use electrophoresis to analyze pre-prepared DNA after CRISPR treatment.
Speaker: Kelly Barford, Edvotek Inc.
Session Topic:
Engineering-Technology-and the Application of Science, Life Science
Explore the role literacy plays in the IQWST classroom.
Take part in a science lesson that demonstrates the integration of literacy
strategies in the context of science. This includes the incorporation of
academic language in written responses and oral discourse in conjunction with
investigations using an interactive word wall. Reading and differentiation
strategies highlighted.
Speaker: Ellen Mintz, PD Facilitator, Activate Learning
Room: Ballroom 6B, Washington State Convention Center
Feeling overwhelmed by all there is to see and do at an
NSTA conference on science education? Join us for an interactive exploration
through the program, the conference app, and NSTA’s social media. By the end of
the session, you will know just how to get the most from your conference
experience in addition to building new networks with science
colleagues.
Speakers: Christine Anne Royce, NSTA Retiring President, and Professor and Co-Director of MAT, Shippensburg University Korei Martin, Senior Manager, Social Media & Marketing, NSTA
Find out how to blend career-connected learning with
science learning using a suite of career awareness and exploration resources
featuring diverse STEM professionals and STEM workplaces.
Speakers: Becky Howsmon, Institute for Systems Biology Claudia Ludwig, Education Program Manager, Institute for Systems Biology
Students see themselves reflected in phenomena-based
science curricula. Receive replicable units and guidelines for life science
curriculum that centers students’ identity and investment.
Speakers: Lewis Maday-Travis, Independent Consultant and Curriculum Designer, Educurious Partners Christine Zarker Primomo, Science and STEAM Teacher, Lake Washington Girls Middle School
Journals, notebooks, and trade books are featured in outdoor science lessons—with indoor options. Use work samples and kids books to learn how. Free seeds.
Speaker: Steve Rich, Science Author/Consultant, University of West Georgia
Session Topic:
General Science Education, Life Science
Are you a K–12 science teacher in need of a science lab makeover? Attend this
Shell Science Lab presentation and learn how you can apply to win the Shell
Science Lab Regional Challenge! You will have an opportunity to actually begin
to complete the application and have your questions answered.
Speaker: Ruth Ruud, Adjunct Instructor, Cleveland State University
Model stellar evolution processes using NASA images, plot H-R diagram
transitions, and determine the chemistry and physics of supernovas using NASA
STEM image analysis tools.
Speaker: Donna Young, NASA/NSO UoL Coordinator
Session Topic:
Earth and Space Science, Engineering-Technology-and the Application of Science, Physical Science
Port Townsend School District will share their process
for building ocean acidification projects in collaboration with community
partners, teachers, and students at multiple grade levels.
Speakers: Brandi Hageman, Teacher, Port Townsend High School David Kelley, Teacher, Port Townsend High School
Shelton School District students participate in outdoor
learning experiences every year. Find out how these experiences prepare grades
5–8 students for high school STEM pathways in the natural
sciences.
Speakers: Don Welander, Director of Career Connected Learning, Shelton School District Toni Ochoa Pierson, 8th And 9th Grade Science Teacher- Cte, Oakland Bay Junior High School Michaela McCoy, Oakland Bay Junior High School
The Boeing Academy for STEM Learning at The Museum of Flight in Seattle presents best practices and tips on how to facilitate relationships between STEM companies and professionals and educational organizations.
Explore citizen-science projects that can engage diverse
students, especially girls, in authentic data collection and inspire scientific
investigations.
Speakers: Kelly Schaeffer, Education Specialist, BirdSleuth K-12, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology Casi Herrera, Educational Programs Manager, National Girls Collaborative Project
Session Topic:
General Science Education, Informal Science Education, Life Science
Learn how to access and explore NOAA’s data-rich
resources, lesson plans, and visualization tools to help you build student
proficiency in scientific data analysis.
Speakers: Jeannine Montgomery, Education Coordinator, NOAA Office of Education Bekkah Lampe, Education Outreach Specialist, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Explore and discuss strategies for deepening the
NGSS competencies of secondary science through ongoing PD with a focus
on meeting teacher PD needs using data collection and learning progressions to
shift teacher practice.
Speaker: MaryMargaret Welch, Science Program Manager, Seattle Public Schools
Teachers from Beijing middle and secondary STEM schools
will demonstrate unique integrated projects and activities. Participants will be
actively engaged in model lessons that authentically include all STEM
components.
Speakers: Judith Lederman, Director of Teacher Education, Associate Professor, Illinois Institute of Technology Norman Lederman, Professor, Illinois Institute of Technology
Come engage in a quick engineering challenge that
demonstrates how your students can define problems, create criteria and
constraints, and engage in evidence-based engineering
argumentation.
Speaker: Kim Weaver, STEM Coordinator, Olympic Educational Service District 114
What makes it rain? M&Ms vs. Skittles? Baking soda
vs. baking powder? Free online lesson plans of hands-on activities and
animations help your elementary students build foundational concepts in
chemistry.
Speaker: James Kessler, Manager, Office of K-8 Science, American Chemical Society
Central to scientific argumentation is the relationship
between claims and evidence. We will model how to observe trees to discover the
many types of organisms that use them as habitats and answer the question, “Do
trees provide habitats for a variety of organisms?” Discussion centers on
categorizing organisms, creating graphs to analyze data, and using talk moves to
discuss claims and evidence.
Speakers: Pat Otto, Education Manager, Pacific Education Institute José Rios, Associate Professor, University of Washington Tacoma
Join us to explore permeable and impermeable surfaces
with a science and math integrated activity used to engage learners in locally
relevant, watershed-based investigations.
Join us to learn how to anchor student learning in
hyper-local and relevant phenomena using the anchoring phenomenon
routine.
Speakers: Brian MacNevin, Regional Science Coordinator, Northwest Educational Service District 189 Cheryl Lydon, STEM Program Manager, Puget Sound Educational Service District Jeff Ryan, Regional Science Coordinator, Olympic Educational Service District 114
Session Topic:
Earth and Space Science, Life Science
Explore the concepts of metabolic budgets and oxygen
minimum zones and how human activities may be affecting organisms that live in
these extreme environments.
Speaker: Beth Callaghan, Teacher Programs Supervisor, Monterey Bay Aquarium
In 2019, Achieve launched a network of districts in
Tennessee with the goal of building their collective capacity to move toward
their vision for science education for all students. Find out how the network
used a collective need for better assessments as a key lever for change to
simultaneously improve assessments, increase teacher capacity, and advance
equity in science.
Speakers: Vanessa Wolbrink, Senior Associate, Achieve, Inc. Jenny Sarna, Director, District Support, Achieve, Inc.
What does pH actually measure? In this investigation, you will measure pH
indirectly using indicators and absorption using the Lab-Master. Using their
data, participants generate a graph of absorbance versus pH. This graph can be
used to determine the pH of solutions, within the measured pH range. Join us for
this activity from The Natural Approach to Chemistry program.
Speaker: Andrew Uy, Science Teacher, Loyola High School of Los Angeles
The word “assessment” can strike fear into the hearts of students. Join FOSS developers to learn how assessment can be transformed into an integrated teaching tool that grades 3–8 teachers and students can both embrace to create a classroom culture of growth mind-set that motivates effort to improve learning.
Speaker: Brian Campbell, Curriculum Developer, The Lawrence Hall of Science
ENGAGE your students in investigating enzyme structure/function using multiple modeling strategies. EXPLORE and EXPLAIN catabolism, anabolism, competitive and noncompetitive inhibition with hands-on/minds-on instructional materials. ELABORATE on insecticide inhibition at an enzyme active site resulting in unintended consequences. EVALUATE student learning with an enzyme molecular story. Handouts provided!
Speakers: Tim Herman, MSOE Center for BioMolecular Modeling Gina Vogt, Secondary Education Program Manager, 3D Molecular Designs
Session Topic:
Engineering-Technology-and the Application of Science, Life Science, Physical Science
Explore how to adapt a classic science activity,
strawberry DNA extraction, to allow students agency in experimental design and
emphasize the importance of collaborative argumentation.
Speakers: Regina Wu, Program Manager, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Hanako Osuga, Science Resource Coordinator, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Jeanne Chowning, NSTA Director, District XVII, and Director, Science Ed Partnership, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
In this short course, discover how to use Arduinos to build a working Artificial Neural Network. ANNs are currently used in fields such as data mining, internet search engines, and machine vision applications (e.g., Google’s self-driving cars). ANNs differ from conventional computer programs in that they are designed to “learn” to accomplish a task based upon the principles that underlie learning in biological neural networks. Hands on with free student-tested curriculum available! Bring a laptop with Arduino software preloaded (www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software). For more information, visit Center for Neurotechnology.
Speaker: Lawrence Bencivengo, Teacher, Mercer Island High School
Session Topic:
Engineering-Technology-and the Application of Science, Life Science
In this short course, we will explore the integration of engineering into science classrooms in ways that motivate deep learning of science and engineering via doable instructional shifts. This research-based and reality-driven approach is based on tested resources built on a research foundation for layering the NGSS engineering design process into elementary classrooms and secondary science courses.
Speakers: Jennifer Eklund, Project Manager, Institute for Systems Biology Brian Fabien, University of Washington Todd Snyder, Elementary Math and Science TOSA, Chief Leschi Schools Amanda Henry, Sacajawea Middle School John Paul, Tiffany Park Elementary School
Session Topic:
Engineering-Technology-and the Application of Science
Come learn about a partnership between the North
Cascades Institute, Western Washington University, and Bellingham Public Schools
to support students in learning about forest ecosystems. We’ll share lesson
plans and lessons learned!
Speakers: Deborah Hanuscin, Professor, Western Washington University Amy Schultz, Western Washington University Megan Robinson, Western Washington University Jordan Bivins, Western Washington University Julia Jones, Student, Western Washington University Katherine Kindlund, Western Washington University Mariah Fahrney, Western Washington University Drew Schwarzer, Western Washington University Paige McAtee, Western Washington University
Session Topic:
Life Science
Session Type:
Presentation
Track:
Building Partnerships for Effective Science Education
Attention will be paid on identifying theories and
specific STEM activities that may be applied within preschool classrooms to
promote children’s development.
Speaker: Hannah Mechler, Early Childhood Education Faculty, Gray’s Harbor College
Room: Ballroom 6E, Washington State Convention Center
How might we engage students who seem uninterested in
science? Join Nalini as she describes her approach of “tapestry thinking,”
weaving the ecological values of the tropical rainforest trees she has studied
for three decades with other societal values, such as sports, religion, the
arts, and social justice. Her programs inspire a sense of wonder and stewardship
for forests and nature in groups who do not or cannot gain access traditional
venues for science education. She has engaged urban children, faith-based
groups, policy-makers, incarcerated adults, and youth in custody by partnering
with “ambassadors” of these groups and then bringing engagement events to the
venues where they naturally gather. Similarly, formal science educators might
find common ground with their unengaged students by recognizing and weaving
their students’ passions with the scientific way of knowing to create an
inclusive tapestry of understanding of our world.
NSTA wishes to thank National Geographic Learning | Cengage for
sponsoring this speaker.
Speaker: Nalini Nadkarni, Professor, Dept. of Biological Sciences, The University of Utah
STEM learning requires integration! Powerful questions
and coherent storylines help solve the integration challenge. PBIScience is
built around interesting and meaningful Big Questions and Big Challenges,
supporting the integration of science and engineering, engaging ALL students in
high-quality STEM learning, and embracing the vision of the Framework
and NGSS.
Help! The principal has been murdered in the art room! Your students become crime scene investigators as they walk into a murder scene. Inspect the location of the murder using blood spatter analysis and then catch the criminal with DNA fingerprinting. This exciting workshop will include ways to incorporate biotechnology and gel electrophoresis into your classroom.
Get your students to do more than just read a graph, chart, or statement! Join TCI and take on the role of students in an engaging Bring Science Alive! Investigation in which you analyze and interpret data and construct an argument based on research.
Scientific argumentation is more than filling in boxes.
Experience how students grapple authentically with competing claims, evaluate
evidence quality, and are supported in the struggle to make their reasoning
clear—all with examples from the newest curriculum from UC Berkeley’s Lawrence
Hall of Science, designed from the ground up for
NGSS.
Speaker: Leslie Stenger, The Lawrence Hall of Science
Seeing is believing! Flinn Scientific presents a variety of easy to perform and exciting chemistry and physical science demonstrations. Come see Flinn’s new demonstrations and some of your old favorites—all guaranteed to make your science classroom come alive. Handouts provided for all demonstrations. www.flinnsci.com
Speakers: Megan Leifker, Flinn Scientific, Inc. Matt Anderson, Flinn Scientific, Inc.
Explore a new, atomically accurate model of double-helical DNA that can be
untwisted into the familiar two-dimensional ladder and separated into two single
strands to model the processes of replication and transcription! Engage students
with manipulatives that allow them to convert deoxyribose to ribose sugars and
generate the universal currency of energy, ATP.
Speakers: Tim Herman, MSOE Center for BioMolecular Modeling Gina Vogt, Secondary Education Program Manager, 3D Molecular Designs
Session Topic:
Engineering-Technology-and the Application of Science, Life Science, Physical Science
Come see Simulation Curriculum’s award-winning Starry Night! Classroom-ready NGSS lessons for all grade levels engage students with interactive simulations as well as current astronomical phenomena. Now running in the browser using all platforms, including Chromebooks.
Speaker: Herb Koller, Consultant, Simulation Curriculum Corp.
Students need to experience and make sense of relevant science phenomena that connect to and define standards—a challenging task for teachers. Learn strategies for providing direct experience with phenomena and guiding students to constructing explanations and developing models to explain everyday phenomena around them using the FOSS program.
Speaker: Brian Campbell, Curriculum Developer, The Lawrence Hall of Science
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.
We distill water to purify it, or so we think. So why does the clear
distillate from apple cider smell like apples? Join us and find out! Using a
clever test-tube distillation apparatus, we will distill the essence of vanilla
and the scent of mint…and even show you how to make brandy from wine!
Distillation is a crucial process in chemical engineering and technology, yet
few students ever get to explore the process.
Speaker: Andrew Uy, Science Teacher, Loyola High School of Los Angeles
The NGSS have raised the bar for scientific rigor and thinking. In
grades 3–5, students define problems using criteria for success and constraints
or limits of possible solutions. Learn how Building Blocks of Science 3D helps
students use criteria and constraints to solve real-world problems. Take home
lesson and workshop materials.
Explore the role literacy plays in the Science Companion
Prime classroom. Participate in a lesson that demonstrates the integration of
literacy strategies in the context of science. This includes the incorporation
of academic language in written responses and oral discourse in conjunction with
investigations using an interactive word wall. Reading and differentiation
strategies highlighted.
Speaker: Ellen Mintz, PD Facilitator, Activate Learning
Glowing cats? Personalized medicine? Designer babies! Empower and prepare
your students to think critically as modern biology revolutionizes medicine,
industry, and human lives. Learn from a leader in biotechnology education how to
build your bioscience lab program step-by-step with equipment, supplies, and
student credentials.
Speaker: Damon Tighe, Curriculum Training Specialist, Bio-Rad Laboratories
Engage in activities using lasers and optical fibers and concepts of refraction and reflection in the FOSS Next Generation Waves Course for middle school. Explore the phenomena that allow information transfer by fiber optic technology, and identify connections to the three dimensions of NGSS.
Speaker: Jessica Penchos, Curriculum Developer, The Lawrence Hall of Science
Looking for lab activities that work every time, not just periodically?
Explore easy, engaging, and safer chemistry activities that will produce a
reaction in your students. Whether you’re new to chemistry or feeling out of
your element, you’ll learn new ways to create excitement with hands-on labs,
demonstrations, and digital content.
With shows like CSI and NCIS, forensics is popular with
students. Come experience some hands-on forensic activities that you can take
back to your classroom. Don’t commit the crime of letting this workshop pass you
by! Also, learn about the AEOP GEMS and UNITE programs that give students the
chance to experience STEM enrichment over the summer!
Speakers: Jarod Phillips, NSTA Matthew Hartman, eCYBERMISSION Content Manager, NSTA
Explore how instructional sequences designed around
real-world problems can lead students to figure out phenomena using the three
dimensions of science and engineering. Leaders from UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall
of Science will showcase an example from the Hall’s research-based pedagogy and
curriculum.
Speakers: Sophia Lambertsen, The Lawrence Hall of Science Leslie Stenger, The Lawrence Hall of Science
Come discover how our 360Science Lab Solutions differentiate instruction through student-driven, blended learning. Our uniquely leveled lab instructions support prescriptive, guided-inquiry, and open inquiry lab exercises that you can even customize. Meets the NGSS. www.flinnsci.com
Speaker: Mike Marvel, Senior Chemist, Flinn Scientific, Inc.
What does a three-dimensional assessment look like? Join us as we explore different ways TCI helps teachers assess the three-dimensions throughout the entire unit. Walk away with a better understanding of the different assessments created around 3-D and ways to implement them throughout lessons.