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We will highlight productive talk strategies in middle school and high school classes along with recommendations for creating a culture where productive talk is used by students.

Sticky situations require slick solutions! Challenge students to create a real-world plan to manage oil spills. Learn hands-on methods of demonstrating oil spills, explore cleanup methods and materials, and help students develop critical-thinking skills by using the engineering design process to develop an oil spill management plan.

How do you write grants when time is as limited as budgets? Learn grant writing basics including how to select the right grants to target, where and how to gather necessary information, and how to structure efficient responses that minimize time on task.

Make astronauts cool again! Tackle the challenges of teaching a nighttime topic during the day by learning tools to engage students including portable telescopes that can be loaned out for nighttime use, teaching aids that simulate a nighttime setting, and products that are designed to work in sunlight.

Climate change has become a hot topic but finding the right resources for teaching environmental literacy can be challenging. We will focus on linking environmental basics like pH, meteorology, and acid rain to larger climate change issues.

SynDaver—the world’s leading manufacturer of hyper-realistic, synthetic human and animal surgical trainers—has developed a new simulated whole-body frog model called a SynFrog™, which can replace the use of frog cadavers completely in classroom dissection exercises. Join us to be one of the first to dissect the amazing SynFrog!

More than just dirt, soil is a vital to life on the planet. Join us as we explore the how’s and why’s of soil-life connections.

Make the conceptual leap from 2D to 3D and make teaching topography, topographic maps, and topographic profiles a concrete, engaging, hands-on learning experience.

Surveyors and astronomers of the 18th century defined precise measurement unseen before the Enlightenment. This session will share the interaction of scientific measurement and mathematics.

Join more than 20 NSTA and NESTA members and other education specialists as they share their favorite NGSS-congruent classroom space science activities. Lots of free resources!

Dive into uncovering factors that lead students to feel compelled to engage in positive ocean behaviors and learning to be empowered to take action.

Join more than 20 NESTA members and other education specialists as they share their favorite NGSS-congruent classroom activities. Lots of free resources!

NESTA offers a chance to win one or more display- and classroom-quality rock, mineral, and fossil specimens, as well as other Earth science-related materials.

Take away two ready-to-use lessons and receive an overview of the EARTH website to find additional lessons that fit your NGSS needs.

Join more than 20 NESTA members and other educational specialists as they share their favorite NGSS-congruent classroom activities. Lots of free resources!

Access free PD from NOAA scientists, collaborative online tools, and funding streams to put your knowledge into action. NOAA Planet Stewards engage students in three-dimensional learning challenges to increase their science literacy and have them respond to real-world environmental threats. Find out how you can become a NOAA Planet Steward today!

Explore classroom-tested simulations that help students make observations and hypothesize about how tectonic plate motion has shaped Earth’s features.

Bring your own device and explore the Infiniscope Digital Teaching Network; providing free, collaborative, compelling, NGSS-focused learning experiences using NASA data and imagery.

Explore classroom-tested curriculum that help students explore hurricanes, wildfires, and flooding, as well as the factors that contribute to risk and human impact.

Explore techniques to analyze NASA Earth data using the improved data literacy cubes and differentiated questions to meet the needs of all students.

Discover and communicate Earth’s plate boundary types using scientific evidence! Engage student critical thinking, critiquing, and argumentation by analyzing earthquake and GPS plate motion data to determine plate boundary types around the world.

This innovative and rigorous Ocean Literacy is anNGSS-focused document that details why teaching ocean concepts is integral and essential to achieving the vision of NGSS.

Hook students with digital storytelling and data-based three-dimensional activities on phenomena impacting them right now. Jump-start discussions with dramatic videos! Engage students with TRULY interactive data-based three-dimensional activities! Return to school with 300+ free videos and NGSS activities from NOAA!

DNA barcoding is becoming a key piece to solving the puzzle of species identification. Learn how your students can participate in global efforts aimed at species identification at the molecular level, and how these efforts connect to conservation, local marketplace regulation, and biodiversity.

Use Tool 4 of the Five Tools and Processes to design a NGSS learning sequence integrating the three dimensions using the BSCS 5Es Instructional Model.

Explore a virtual study group model for supporting a professional learning community of teachers working together to implement NGSS-designed storyline units in their own classrooms.

Come write with us! Develop and practice writing techniques that will help you reflect on your teaching with honesty, clarity, and a sense of humor.

Do your students ask, “What do I have to remember about this?” or do they clearly not understand the big concept behind the activity you prepared? See how to design a series of activities that help students make connections and build a deep understanding of the major concepts being conveyed.

Extend your students'' understanding of CRISPR, experimental design, and scientific controls without the need for sequencing! In this hands-on workshop, you will perform bacterial colony DNA extraction and PCR, and learn how to use gel electrophoresis to genotype Out of the Blue CRISPR Kit results.

Come learn how drugs like Humira are brought to market. Protein analysis can be easily integrated into student-centered biology classrooms and solidify the connection between DNA, RNA, and proteins in students’ minds! Time for Q&A with research scientists!

Opioid abuse is prevalent in the United States. In this activity, students take on the role of physicians assessing patient histories, including environmental factors, when prescribing pain medication and then consider genetic factors influencing the risk of opioid dependence. Students use a fast electrophoresis protocol of pre-amplified DNA samples to simulate a genetic research study.

Come learn how to use the results of protein electrophoresis as a phenomenon to engage students. The skill of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) will be used to engage the lesson and elicit questions about similarities and differences in living organisms. Time for Q&A with research scientists!

CRISPR gene editing has revolutionized science. Now you and your students can use CRISPR-Cas9 technology safely, affordably, and ethically in the classroom. In this hands-on workshop, use CRISPR to edit a gene found only in bacteria with basic biotechnology techniques and equipment. The activity integrates modeling, math, bioinformatics, and ethics.

CRISPR has created a buzz in the world of science with its potential to revolutionize medicine, agriculture, and everyday life. Learn about CRISPR-Cas9 history, science, technology, ethics, and the numerous crosscutting concepts that you can integrate into your CRISPR lessons.

Use algae beads in a colorimetric assay to study photosynthesis and cellular respiration. Learn how students can observe a phenomenon, ask meaningful questions, and then design and carry out their own experiments to understand how these processes are connected.

Many who engage with the NGSS recognize the importance of locating good phenomena. Get tips and examples of phenomena to anchor your lessons/units.

We will focus on an overview of inclusive educational practices to implement in the science classroom. Emphasis is placed on including students with disabilities.

CRISPR gene editing has revolutionized science. Now you and your students can use CRISPR-Cas9 technology safely, affordably, and ethically in the classroom. In this hands-on workshop, use CRISPR to edit a gene found only in bacteria with basic biotechnology techniques and equipment. The activity integrates modeling, math, bioinformatics, and ethics.

Teach photosynthesis and cellular respiration together in the context of the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Using algae beads together with an algae bloom case study, your students can engage in authentic inquiry investigations to learn about two connected processes and their ecological and economical implications.

Incorporate NGSS science and engineering practices into your biology class by engaging students to define the problem of world hunger. Considering constraints, students design a treatment plan (solution), in the form of an evidence-based argument, for protein-energy malnutrition.

With rising levels of greenhouse gases, bioengineers apply observations in mushroom ecology toward finding a biofuel solution. In this hands-on workshop, use an inquiry-based approach as you extract enzymes from mushrooms and optimize reaction rates for biofuel production.

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 high school and undergraduate biotechnology education how to build your bioscience lab program step by step with equipment, supplies, and student credentials.

Disease can spread like wildfire through populations. In this hands-on workshop you will become an epidemiologist and track diseases like coronavirus, Ebola, measles, and HIV to name a few. See if you can track down patient zero.

Can your students save the Giant Pandas? See how your students can explore challenging topics such as homeostatic regulation, cell-to-cell communication, and the effect of reproductive hormones, immunological responses, and ecosystem balance by engineering a hormone detection system that can be used for Giant Panda population conservation efforts.

Neuroscience is one of the fastest growing fields in science today. Bring it directly into your classroom and make your students neuroscientists for the day! You’ll explore the neurodegenerative disorders Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s. First, we’ll run a genetic analysis on a family who may carry the Huntington gene using PCR and gel electrophoresis. Then, we’ll run an ELISA to explore the biology behind Alzheimer’s disease.

Attention will be paid to strategies that develop and nurture a curiosity-rich learning environment. Use curiosity journals to stimulate student curiosity and guide students toward self-guided inquiry.

Help! The principal has been attacked in the art room! Your students become forensic scientists as they walk into a crime scene. Inspect the location of the crime 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.

Help! The window has been broken and the school laptops have been stolen! Your students become forensic scientists as they walk into a crime scene. Inspect the location of the theft using blood spatter analysis and then catch the criminal using simulated DNA fingerprinting. This exciting workshop will include ways to incorporate biotechnology and gel electrophoresis into your middle school classroom.

Transforming bacteria with plasmids that express brightly colored or fluorescent proteins is an unforgettable way to teach the central dogma of molecular biology. Why not take it a step further and see the art your students can create using their transformed bacteria? We’ll review tips and tricks to maximize classroom success and also ask you to dust off your painting skills! Artistic? Our favorite designs will win a free kit.

How are scientists able to identify genetic mutations and infectious agents? What technique is indispensable to both medical and life science labs? The answer is the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)! Today, we can easily perform PCR in the classroom laboratory. We will amplify a small region of the bacteriophage lambda genome using PCR and analyze it using gel electrophoresis. This quick-and-easy experiment has been optimized so that the entire experiment can be completed in one 75-minute lab period.

Cancer contributes to almost one in every four deaths in the United States. Fortunately, innovations in biomedical research have improved our understanding of the differences between normal and cancer cells. We will use microscopy and electrophoresis to explore the hallmarks of cancer.

How will we provide food to secure the future for our growing population? Compare food production practices along with breeding techniques and potential ecosystem impacts. Be a part of the solution—these engaging problem-based, hands-on activities allow students to investigate this important issue. Free classroom materials!

The development of CRISPR as a gene editing tool is one of the most exciting biotechnology breakthroughs of the past decade. Now you can learn how to incorporate this amazing technology into your classroom. We’ll 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 preprepared DNA after CRISPR treatment.

The development of CRISPR as a gene editing tool is one of the most exciting biotechnology breakthroughs of the past decade. Now you can learn how to incorporate this amazing technology into your classroom. We’ll 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 preprepared DNA after CRISPR treatment.

Engage in a real-world biotechnology application relevant to agriculture, environmental science, and the food industry and foster evidence-based discussion on the genetic engineering of food. Learn how you can test foods from Doritos to soybeans for the presence of common DNA sequences found in genetically modified organisms.

We will introduce you to classroom-ready biotechnology activities that will have all of your students pipetting with confidence and exploring authentic molecular techniques like PCR, gel electrophoresis, and the use of fluorescence. Introducing biotechnology into the classroom doesn’t need to be intimidating—we’ll show you how!

Hear about a digital storytelling platform that connects classrooms across the globe and guides them on a journey to address sustainable development goals.

Engage students by introducing a family navigating the realities of sickle cell anemia. Connect genotype to phenotype, trace inheritance, explore the molecular basis of disease, and learn how molecular tools like restriction digest can be used for diagnosis. Rich extensions make this an excellent lab from biology through AP and beyond.

Use PCR and gel electrophoresis to test for antibiotic resistance genes in environmental soil samples. With the PARE (Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance in the Environment) project, you can help monitor the spread of antibiotic resistance in the environment while also bringing authentic research and modern molecular methods to your classroom.

With BioBits cell-free systems, students visualize biological concepts in ways never before possible. Watch RNA and protein be produced in real time; then, in a separate activity, directly investigate the relationship between amino acid sequence and protein structure and function—all without specialized equipment, cell cultures, or time-consuming protocols.

The miniPCR Sleep Lab links the genetic control of circadian rhythms to students’ own DNA. Use PCR to amplify a locus associated with preference for morning vs. evening activity, and DNA gel electrophoresis to read your own circadian genotype. Students explore a genetic association in this authentic research investigation.

Space travel challenges physiology in unprecedented ways. Genes in Space engages students in grades 7–12 in solving space biology challenges through biotechnology innovation. Winners launch their experiments to the International Space Station (ISS). Join us to learn more and try out the same biotechnology astronauts use aboard the ISS.

A single nucleotide change in your DNA can make you a supertaster. Join in to explore the molecular genetics of taste using PCR and gel electrophoresis. Learn how to amplify and analyze your own genes, linking your own PTC taste receptor DNA sequence to your taster phenotype.

Join us to explore hands-on ways to engage your students with CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing. Improve your understanding of this revolutionary technology that is being investigated as a potential cure for diseases ranging from sickle cell anemia to cancer and learn about CRISPR systems that may be adapted to educational settings.

Give your students modern hands-on lab experience with PCR and gel electrophoresis. This introductory activity explores the molecular basis of cystic fibrosis while using genetics to solve the mystery of the missing Missy Baker. Biotechnology in your classroom is closer, faster, and easier than you may think! Forensics teachers encouraged.

Hear about an informal STEM program digitally connecting students from different grades and school districts. We will share lessons learned, including ideas for program replication.

Gain instructional strategies geared toward improving the connection between scientific literacy and NGSS SEP 4: Analyzing and Interpreting Data.

Active learning is more than doing labs. See how role-playing can be a vital learning strategy. Our curriculum director, a veteran biology teacher, will share some of his favorite activities designed to get students out of their desks and role-playing biological processes. We won’t try to sell you anything!

Join in for a novel approach to studying DNA and enzyme activity in the classroom. Using fluorescence, you will directly visualize the effects of temperature, pH, and genetic sequence on DNA structure and hydrogen bonding. Experimentally test how inhibitors, concentration, temperature, and pH affect the rate of enzymatic reactions. Go beyond building models!

Ticket Price: $52 advance; $57 on-site

Add your tickets when you register online or via the Attendee Service Center if you’re already registered.

Join a Freedom Trail Player®—18th-century costumed guide—on a Historic Pub Crawl and visit the real headquarters where the American Revolution was brewed—Blackstone Block. Revolutionary ideas may have come from fiery speeches at Faneuil Hall or a meeting of the Sons of Liberty, but their courage and inspiration came from Boston’s taverns. Experience Boston’s first taverns and enjoy Samuel Adams’ beer products. Note: Must be of legal drinking age: 21 or older; no substitutions. This 90-minute tour includes four pints of beer. Group will take public transit.

Meet your educational trip leader in the Northeast Lobby of the BCEC on the Exhibit Level at least 15 minutes prior to departure time. *Group will then walk to the Boston subway and board the train to the Faneuil Hall metro stop.

Geologists found a mysterious fossil in a rocky outcrop. How did it get there? Explore how students figure out this anchoring phenomenon and investigate questions about rock formations and past environments. Join UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science to experience an exemplar from Amplify Science for grades K–5.

The ANATOMY IN CLAY® Learning System has provided the most effective, informative, and relevant anatomy education through the power of hands-on learning. Give your A&P and Health Science students a kinesthetic experience at building various anatomical structures in clay on handheld skeletal models. In this workshop, we will build the ligaments and cartilages of the knee.

TeachEngineering is a free collection of more than 1,700 classroom-tested K–12 engineering lessons and hands-on activities that explore science and math in a design-focused fashion. In this interactive workshop, you’ll engage in a hands-on engineering activity to experience the delivery of NGSS-focused engineering design in the K–12 classroom.

What makes a coherent storyline in a science unit? Experience exemplars from Amplify Science K–8 units and explore how conceptual progressions, anchoring phenomena, and multimodal evidence sources can be carefully integrated to achieve deep, 3-D learning. Join this interactive session led by experts from UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science.

What does it mean to talk like a scientist? Explore discourse routines and classroom discussion protocols that support students in engaging in authentic practices of science and engineering as they work to figure out a phenomenon. Join UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science to experience exemplars from Amplify Science.

Student-created NGSS-focused lessons on serendipitous events in science are shared. We will emphasize how to facilitate students teaching students. Activities included.

Why did tests of a magnetic spacecraft launcher not go as planned? Explore how students figure out this anchoring phenomenon and investigate questions about the relationship between magnetic fields and energy. Join UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science to experience an exemplar from Amplify Science for grades 6–8.

Deepen your understanding of how crosscutting concepts and science and engineering practices build in complexity and sophistication through the grade levels. Dive into curricular exemplars and the NGSS as you join this Amplify Science session, led by curriculum developers from UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science.

What is the role of hands-on in an era that requires engagement with a full suite of science and engineering practices? Join the Lawrence Hall of Science to discover how a multimodal approach allows students to gather evidence and grapple with phenomena and real-world problems like real scientists do

Come hear how we worked together to forge equitable classrooms. We also want to learn from you, so bring tips along to share.

Whether you are looking for ways to integrate STEM in your science curriculum, add a STEM class, or start an afterschool STEM program, FlinnSTEM has a solution for you! Learn how to successfully integrate engineering, physical, life, and Earth / environmental science topics. Take part in hands-on activities designed to engage the energy of early adolescent students and help them make real-world connections. Handouts for all activities.

Experience the chemistry of kombucha. Get students excited about the fermentation processes with Flinn Scientific and Experience Chemistry. Watch a demonstration on brewing kombucha and participate in a hands-on activity with yeast. Serve up new learning as students gain a better understanding of a modern biochemical model of cellular life.

Come join Flinn as we go through interactive and fun activities for your first-year Chemistry students! Discover multiple ways to keep class interesting and ensure students understand the concepts. Entice students with the beauty of chemistry! We’ll go over labs, demos, and guided-inquiry activities, sure to keep your classroom buzzing! Handouts and door prizes.

Learn about the various free resources—games, lesson plans, grants, and more—available from the American Chemical Society (ACS). Walk away with resources.

The persistence of hazardous laboratory accidents demonstrates the need for strengthening the culture of safety in school science labs. We will share simple things you can do to make the laboratory a safer environment for your students. These include the use of digital safety courses, integrating safety into every experiment and demonstration, and impactful communication with administrators. Also, hear about academic institutions at the forefront of safe laboratory practice.

Engage your students with quick demonstrations that teach common physical science topics, including force and motion, waves, light and color, energy, pressure, and scientific inquiry. Great demos to stimulate student interest, arouse curiosity, increase observational skills, and reinforce the learning process in a fun and positive way! A dozen effective demonstrations will be performed. Handouts provided for all activities.

Turn the traditional prescriptive lab on its head, adapting the learning style to meet your students as they explore and do science around real-world phenomena. See how you can combine videos, simulations, virtual reality experiences, flexible assessments, and editable laboratory procedures to create custom, hands-on science curriculum. Check out our pre-built storylines that help students make sense of cool phenomena, including “Drought and Rising Sea Levels.”

Bring authentic engineering practice into your inquiry-based science instruction! With the applications of WhiteBox Learning. Discover how the process of informed iteration and how it drives students into deeper levels of scientific inquiry. You’ll also see firsthand how this robust digital and hands-on experience is turn-key instruction that dynamically puts the “E in STEM!”

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.

FlinnPREP courses combine videos, animations, quick quizzes, simulations, and assessments to enable the deepest possible engagement with the Big Ideas and Learning Objectives set forth by the College Board. FlinnPREP labs are available digitally with pre-lab, how-to, and summary videos that help students perform experiments and relate the procedures and concepts to exam questions. Used together, FlinnPREP courses and labs give your students the best possible edge. AP® is a trademark of College Board.

Use videos, essays, and data analysis tools to investigate how blue whales, the largest animal to ever live, survive by eating some of the smallest.