Help students understand WHY they study the science topics we give them. Use real-world issues to make the science content relevant to their daily lives and the decisions they make. Students engage with the topics, research on a deeper level, and evaluate evidence as they prepare to debate each other on current science controversies.
STEM is based in an integrated approach to problem-solving, using mathematics as the language of scale and proportion of systems. Join us as we model a science-based force and motion study that integrates the math standards seamlessly in explaining the phenomenon.
Take a closer look at electoractive microbes found in common soil. Simple equipment can help us see the current generated by microbes in soil samples from your neighborhood. Change the conditions to assess the impact. Learn from Harvard scientists how this fits into current research.
Presenters will provide activities to participants that were developed to address the middle school energy unit for the new state standards. Lessons will include hands on labs, Phet simulations and online resources.
Come learn how Intro Chemistry students at Hopkinton HS are using chemistry, engineering and the Design Thinking Process to solve water issues around the world. Inspired by UN Global Goal #6, this semester long project has sparked a passion for problem solving and creative engineering in our classroom.
Project-based Learning can be challenging the first time you implement it. Come experience a hands-on, engaging PBL that reveals the strategies for seamless facilitation. Allow your students the autonomy to solve problems that interest them and see high levels of engagement that leads to high levels of learning.
Phenomena drive our curiosity in science and should be what drive student learning. Come learn how to plan a Storyline that includes a specific anchor phenomenon and lesson specific phenomena to help our students explain the natural world. SEP 2: Developing and Using Models will be discussed.
Transitioning to the 2016 MA Standards for Science gives us the opportunity to revitalize some of our “tried and true” laboratory activities. In this session, we will look at ways to modify our favorite labs so that they apply the Science and Engineering Practices and support student inquiry.
Participants will engage in hands on activities addressing specific content areas of the new MA state frameworks using the 5E learning cycle approach to teaching (Engage, Explore, Explain Elaborate and Evaluate). Educators will each receive a thumb drive containing the Essential Elements Activity guide with over 50 lessons using inexpensive readily available materials.
One of the challenges for districts as they transition to the 2016 MA STE standards has been the selection and implementation of instructional materials that meet these new standards. Designing new materials requires content and pedagogical expertise that most elementary schools do not have. The Smithsonian Science Education Center has developed new kit-based science and technology units that meet the Next Generation Science Standards and the 2016 MA STE standards. Using materials from the Engineering, Technology and Applications of Science strand, participants will engage in hands on activities from 5 units.
The 5E’s - Engage, Explore, Explain, Extend, Evaluate - facilitate conceptual development while providing many opportunities for formative assessment during the lesson. Participants will experience the 5E’s while investigating the speed of marbles at the bottom of a ramp. Teachers will learn how to bring the 5E’s into their own classroom.
Participants will explore resources developed by the Boston Public Schools Science Department that we are using to deepen teachers' and students' understanding of the science and engineering practices (SEPs)? We will share resources that support school-based professional learning sessions as well as a resource for families and students that support learning of the SEPs.
Investigate and challenge students to think about the new waves standards and practices. This workshop will engage participants is concrete observations, mathematical relationships and graphical models suited for the middle level student. This new FOSS short course includes new investigations and materials to engage student thinking and engineering applications and real-life connections.
Review...test...corrections...retakes...what if there was a way to break this time consuming cycle? Enter kinetic conversations. Kinetic conversations is a conferencing-style means of formative and/or summative assessment that addresses misconceptions right from the start. Using practicals and Velcro board, punny badges allow meaning to really stick!
The Curiosity Challenge invites K-8 students to share their curiosity about STEM through drawing or writing; 120 entries are selected for publication. See examples of Curiosity books, and learn how your students can enter. Bonus! See engaging hands-on STEM ideas from Science on the Street and the Cambridge Science Festival.
How can students go beyond memorizing and repeating scientific facts in an elementary or middle school classroom? Use Socratic dialogue: students pose questions, challenge assumptions, and use evidence to support arguments. Learn how classrooms are already doing this with the new 2016 STE standards. Please bring an Internet device.
Ever finished a school year feeling worn out, over-tested, and spiritless? Come hear from colleagues about how they refreshed their science instruction and invigorated their classrooms. Discuss with your peers how to use summer learning opportunities to expand your knowledge base and set the stage for a stellar year.
Dr. Can-Do Science - Science Power! I present hands-on science experiments/curriculum for our youngest learners and for children with special needs of all ages. Curriculum includes: air pressure, water, gravity, snow and ice, static electricity, air power, inertia, chemical reactions, bubbles, & magnetism. Unique: We feature a Home Component which involves parents in their child's learning. Science Power!
EverFi is the leading education technology company that provides online, co-curricular STEM lessons (aligned to STE Frameworks, Common Core, and NGSS). Learn about these resources that engage students (grades 4-10) in STEM applications and careers through interactive games and activities. All resources are free and provided by EverFi and our sponsors. Learn more at www.everfi.com/k-12
CER is a way for students to explain, in a scientific way, how observations and data from an investigation are connected to science knowledge. This acclaimed and highly successful instructional strategy is changing how lab instructions are written and finally making science investigations meaningful for students.
Dynamic is defined as “a process or system characterized by constant change, activity, or progress”. Science classrooms should exemplify this definition, and look like what the working environment of a scientist or engineer looks like. See how science notebooks can drive this process using the work of National Geographic Explorers.
