Saturday Sessions

This presentation explores how race, culture and language intersect to create the condition of contemporary learning. For years, research on the language of classrooms explored how they way we say things impacts students’ sense of belonging. Despite this research, Science and Technology Education have failed to adequately explore how issues of race, language, and culture shape the outcomes of teaching and learning in science. Through a sequence of research, this presentation explores the theoretical and pragmatic aspects of this dilemma. From a theoretical perspective, the talk will explore the Language-Identity dilemma. As students learn, the way academic language is taught to them can present a cognitive and cultural conflict. From a cognitive perspective, if science is taught without respect to the implications of how language is learned students can be misunderstood and misunderstand the teacher’s complex discourse. From a cultural conflict perspective, students’ may feel they are cultural outsiders when the language of the classroom positions them as outsiders. The presentation provides an overview of a series of qualitative and quantitative experiments that document the realities of this complex interaction.

We will focus on the defining feature of CRISPR technology – the ability of the Cas9 endonuclease to find and cut DNA at a unique site in the 3.2 billion base-pair human genome. We will also explore CRISPR-based coronavirus diagnostics.

Hands-on modeling kits to allow students to discover the molecular intricacies of DNA anatomy, replication, transcription and translation, inspiring curiosity, questions, and discussion.

Discover how teachers fawn over certain models for their Swiss Army knife flexibility and utility in engaging students throughout all units of instruction.? You’ll learn which stories the models work well with, plus practical activities to reveal student learning.

Feeling any lower back, neck, and shoulder pain from all those long hours of synchronous distance learning? Join me for an hour of therapeutic yoga. You will feel energized and equipped with tools that you can use to deal with the discomfort of teaching online. 

Come and engage in a thoughtful discussion and ideation on how we can interrupt district systems and structures in order to ensure consistent, high-quality science for all students.

Participants will engage in an interdisciplinary, NGSS-aligned lesson on Ocean Acidification- as an effect of Climate Change- that utilizes empirical data explored in the Science classroom to reground critical literacy practices that their students experience in the ELA classroom.

Our session highlights how administrators from Kings Canyon USD, an NGSS Early Implementer district, are identifying TK-8 students who are receiving little or no science in the classroom and taking steps to ensure that all students receive quality science instruction.

The struggle to find time to teach all content areas is real! Come experience the learning impact of a standards-driven STEM lesson that utilizes the true integration of all four STEM components. #beyondMakerspace

Real-time video interaction with “animal ambassadors” provides relevant motivation for understanding animal corridors. Participants will view curriculum that builds empathy and engages an engineering design problem: preserving animal corridors. This interdisciplinary unit illustrates the 3 dimensionality of the NGSS.

Come see how a science department has shifted to standards based grading in order to develop assessments and promote equity in the classroom. Examples of assessments and rubrics will be provided.

With minimal equipment and a quick protocol, you will use BioBits™ cell-free technology to visualize transcription and translation in real-time through fluorescence. This activity serves as an excellent interactive tool for learning the central dogma of molecular biology.

We do students a disservice by not introducing AI understanding into education. Learn strategies, hurdles, and resources for AI integration (and digital assistants) and algorithmic thinking. Free Resources, nuts and bolts examples for building understanding of AI and algorithmic thinking.

We do students a disservice by not introducing AI understanding into education. Learn strategies, hurdles, and resources for AI integration (and digital assistants) and algorithmic thinking. Free Resources, nuts and bolts examples for building understanding of AI and algorithmic thinking.

Human activity has slowed due to a pandemic. Will it make a difference in carbon dioxide levels on Earth? Get a lesson sequence that explores carbon cycling and online-based satellite data visualization tools to look for patterns in carbon levels.

Chemicals and chemical reactions are used to make and power useful products but they also create waste. How can our understanding of science and engineering improve product design and methods to clean up waste?

Focus on community-based climate action to learn about the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Project-Based Science framework for inspiring conservation of the ocean and developing a sense of agency through local environmental action projects. Leave with a new framework and ideas!

Experience an engineering design challenge that engages in the design process, building mindsets around collaboration, perseverance and critical thinking. Take away resources for implementing NGSS connected, real-world challenges in one session or over several months for a variety of environments.

Experience an engineering design challenge that engages in the design process, building mindsets around collaboration, perseverance and critical thinking. Take away resources for implementing NGSS connected, real-world challenges in one session or over several months for a variety of environments.

The TIME process is rich and complex but can be difficult to navigate. Join us in examining the pitfalls and opportunities we have experience in the TIME process so that you can help teachers gain a deeper understanding of NGSS.

Experience Chemistry takes a “radical” approach to teaching stoichiometry by building understanding through multiple representations – forcing students to understand ratios as opposed to “using” equations. Learn how to combine California NGSS and Common Core Math to construct understanding.

Engage students with a fire tornado demonstration! Use fire tornadoes as an anchoring phenomenon with investigative phenomena that students can use to create a culminating model of how fire tornadoes are formed.

In the CA K-8 NGSS Early Implementers Initiative, eight districts have been working for six years to achieve districtwide NGSS implementation. We’ll share four of the main lessons learned about districtwide NGSS implementation from the 6-year effort.

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). Come try out the same biotechnology astronauts use aboard the ISS.

Are you looking for a way to incorporate science, technology, engineering, art and math all in one project? Then this is the session for you! In this session you will be the student; designing and creating your own sailboat.

How do you assess 3-dimensional learning in the classroom? Participants will have the opportunity to learn about different types of rubrics and will include an opportunity to apply and reflect on how a rubric can provide meaningful feedback to students.

Participants will explore and discover how to design explicit language connections in science instruction. Grounded in theory and deep expertise in classroom practice, the methods used in this session support English language development and academic discourse for all students.

Don''t be intimidated by giving students the actual ability to engineer and build a project. Learn to let go and give the students the freedom to explore and build. They will inspire and surprise you!

Low Floor, High Ceiling experiences are those with BOTH easy access points AND the potential for expansive thinking for all learners. Come explore how using this lens can help you make small changes that drastically improve your existing science curriculum.

NGSS Evidence Statements contain observable features articulating how students use the SEPs to demonstrate understanding of the DCIs through the lens of the CCCs. Learn how these observable features can guide and inform 3D teaching and learning in your classroom.

Showcase the amazing NGSS aligned, project-based learning, and interdisciplinary STEM studies at your school with a re-imagined science fair, STEM expo, or family science night. Learn tips on running a successful program, engaging families, and finding community education partners.

How was air quality affected by C19 stay at home measures? Engage in a learning sequence that gives learners access to local data. By developing questions and designing investigations, learners can take informed action in their communities.

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.

Argument-Driven Inquiry is an 8-stage instructional approach that can be integrated into any STEM curriculum in Grades 3-12. Teachers can use ADI to provide students with authentic, student-centered lab activities that are aligned with NGSS and promote Three-Dimensional Learning.

Learn what makes student talk a productive part of positive classroom culture by practicing with strategies you can use to teach and reflect! • Deepen your understanding of the benefits of productive discourse. • Experience processes, tools, and activity-based investigations.

This workshop models an afterschool STEM program as a collaborative partnership between an elementary school and a teacher education program. The program mutually enriches students in STEM learning and future teachers in STEM pedagogy. Participants will experience an example activity.

Scientific knowledge is continually built by a community of learners called scientists. A nature of science frame supports the NGSS shifts and pedagogy. Explore the social and human side of science to support students working as scientists to construct knowledge.

Learn about an innovative partnership between Mt. Diablo Unified and their local sewer district, Central San. We’ve teamed up to provide NGSS curriculum so students can learn what happens to their dirty water after it goes down the drain.

Experience several digital strategies and tools in a fun, engaging, accessible way for the TK-8 student to showcase their understanding of a science phenomenon in a digital world, including resources for digital publishing and integration of literacy and ELD.

Primary teachers play a critical role in helping K-5 students develop a solid science foundation before middle school, yet many feel overwhelmed with when and how to integrate the NGSS. Come explore strategies for tucking NGSS in throughout your day.

Using a novel piece of apparatus that you can build, we''ll show you a way to help students understand changing velocities that bridges the gap between qualitative and quantitative by tearing up their measuring tools.

If you're using STEMscopes in the online or on-site classroom setting, this session is for you. Come meet the team behind the digital curriculum during this virtual open-house with help-desk breakout rooms. Stop by to catch quick tips, have your questions answered, check out the new additions to STEMscopes, and much more! We are here to help.
 

Science-based student-centered instruction can embrace the specific needs of students with special needs. Learn how to create accommodations for each of your students and walk away with a completed lesson that meets the diverse needs of students with all abilities!

Experience three-dimensional learning with TCI through immersion in a Bring Science Alive! investigation. Examine how to rivet students with Science and Engineering Practices and apply Crosscutting Concepts for deeper understanding in a birds hunting moths simulation.

Science notebooks give students ownership of their learning and scientific thinking. In this session, participate in a hands-on investigation and build your repertoire of strategies to support students in constructing explanations, communicating ideas, and tracking their own learning.

Hear from an informal education expert about ways you can incorporate community science and purposeful crafting into fun, engaging (& NGSS-aligned) lessons! You will learn to use iNaturalist, engage with the outdoors, & engineer an insect using upcycled materials.

This workshop introduces teaching science concepts through storytelling. Using a storyline in science drives motivation, student-centered learning and sense making. Experience a hands-on physics storyline using a zombie apocalypse to learn essential physics concepts and engineering skills to survive.

Food quality flows from the biodiversity at our feet. Earthworms are yucky? Think again! Healthy soil stores lots of H2O and draws tons of CO2 right out of the atmosphere. Let’s explore how this happens!

What does chemistry have to do with climate change? Everything! Learn how carbon changes form in Earth''s closed system. Compare fuels for carbon output and evaluate geo-engineering solutions using math based chemistry.

Attain resources to support stakeholders in NGSS implementation: Communicating to parents, considerations when providing professional development to teachers, tools to support growth around SEPs for coaches, and resources for administrators to help understand NGSS and provide resources to support teachers

Access to STEM learning and careers is still limited for youth from historically under-represented backgrounds. This workshop looks at innovative approaches towards equitable pathways into STEM built into the NGSS science program Twig Science.

In this workshop you will create your own Google Earth Tour. We will also discuss ways to use it in the elementary, middle and high school classrooms. We will also share data and project examples from our remote learning experience.

Making has the power to authentically engage ELs while building language proficiency. Come engage in discussion and activity to develop a deeper understanding of how to pair NGSS-aligned maker lessons with Integrated ELD strategies to engage and support English learners.

Stereotypical images of scientists hinder diverse students from envisioning the positive contributions they can make to science. Providing diverse students with opportunities to engage in science through the NGSS promotes cultural responsiveness and emphasizes the contributions of diverse scientists.

The CA Science Framework encourages teachers to swap out generic phenomena for local phenomena. Come learn what makes good phenomena so you can customize your lessons to your students regardless of what curriculum you are using. We’ll also discuss the three types of phenomena (everyday, investigative, and anchoring) and practice framing guiding questions using crosscutting concepts in this fun, hands-on workshop that will use examples of literature, photos, video, and hands-on discrepant events! We’ll be raffling off a few fun phenomena too!

 

Using Virtual Content with Online Instruction
Conducting classes online still presents opportunities for students to explore with virtual environments. In this section, we'll look at opportunities available to online teachers to allow their students to see phenomena and explore via virtual field trips. Online teachers can guide their students through this content using existing student computing resources.

Introduction to Augmented Reality for Face-to-Face and Online Classrooms
Similar to virtual reality, augmented reality presents an opportunity eo expand the learner's world through digital technology. Tools that can be used in class and online will be discussed and teachers will have the opportunity to evaluate the technology themselves.

Using Virtual Content with Online Instruction
Conducting classes online still presents opportunities for students to explore with virtual environments. In this section, we'll look at opportunities available to online teachers to allow their students to see phenomena and explore via virtual field trips. Online teachers can guide their students through this content using existing student computing resources.

Introduction to Augmented Reality for Face-to-Face and Online Classrooms
Similar to virtual reality, augmented reality presents an opportunity eo expand the learner's world through digital technology. Tools that can be used in class and online will be discussed and teachers will have the opportunity to evaluate the technology themselves.

Start highliighting the practice of mathematics and computational thinking! See how to authentically integrate this SEP into your classes. We'll utilize BioInteractive resources that allow students to engage in traditional and less traditional ways, including data analysis, inforgraphics and more.

HHMI Biointeractive features high-quality online resources designed to inspire your students to think like scientists. Come see some favorites and learn how to adapt and use these resources during distance learning with your students.

During this session, Dr. Sami Kahn will address the essential role that collaboration among science educators, special educators, and others has had in her journey as an educator, parent, and attorney. She and her colleagues, Dr. Michele Koomen and Dr. Jonte’ Taylor, will then lead participants through mini-master classes focusing on three critical topics of inclusion and collaboration: strengths-based teaching, disciplinary literacy, and assessment, drawing from their book, Towards Inclusion of All Learners through Science Teacher Education.