In this session designed for K-5 educators, we will explore the power of phenomenon-based learning through hands-on activities that align with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Using the 5E instructional model (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate), we’ll demonstrate how authentic science content can be seamlessly incorporated into 30-minute lessons, making science accessible and engaging for students. Participants will actively engage in a real-world, hands-on lesson, gaining practical experience with inquiry-based learning that sparks curiosity and promotes deeper conceptual understanding.
Our session will showcase how these lessons are designed to align with any curriculum goals, providing strategies for integrating authentic science phenomena into your classroom. By the end of the session, participants will walk away with easy-to-implement, NGSS-aligned strategies that can transform their teaching approach and ignite student interest in the world around them. Learning objectives include understanding how to implement the 5E model, exploring ways to integrate phenomena into daily lessons, and gaining tools for delivering engaging, real-world science experiences in under 30 minutes. This session will feature presenter-audience interaction to foster discussion and encourage collaboration, ensuring participants leave with actionable insights.
How do you assess young elementary students in science? How do you measure progress in the NGSS Science and Engineering Practices? I have developed rubrics that allow me to chart the growth of my grades 1-4 students, using the SEP as my standards. I will share students' work samples from a variety of units and show how I use the rubrics to record and share their progress. My rubrics can be used with students to set goals, clarify expectations, and teach explicitly. They can also be used to share progress with parents, and they can support a standards based report card system. This session will allow participants to review the rubrics and discuss the pros and cons of using them in their own teaching practices.
In this session we will overview the recent revisions made to the LEAF K-12 Forestry Education Program’s 4th grade guide. We will explore why and how the revisions were made in an effort to produce a broader, more inclusive approach to teaching about Wisconsin’s forest history. Participants will then try some of the new hands-on activities together, then look at how an activity that has students trace the human use history of a forest plot through simple observations and measurements fits into a three-dimensional approach to teaching and learning. Finally, we will take a little time to reflect on how Wisconsin forest history and information about the Indigenous people of our state fit into their elementary science curriculum.
LEAF K-12 Forestry Education Program Outreach Educator, Wisconsin Center For Environmental Education
Nicole has a B.S. in Biology/Ecology, a secondary science teaching certificate, and an M.S. in Science Education from Northern Michigan University. She has been with the Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education since 2013, assisting with professional development for the LEAF... Read More →
Thursday April 3, 2025 10:00am - 10:50am CDT
Herietta
Participants in this session will take a hands-on approach to learning about the many free elementary resources that are offered by the Food + Farm Exploration Center that teaches science with an agricultural focus. Participants will take part in small group discussions and hands-on activities as they learn more about the connection of agriculture to curriculum.
Learning Objectives:
1. Understand the connection that agriculture has to science curriculum. 2. Explore the many ways that agriculture examples can be used to highlight content. 3. Conduct investigations and do activities that highlight the connections between agriculture and science.
Standards: 2-LS2-1 Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow.
3-LS-1 Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death.
4-LS-1 Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
5-LS-1 Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.
5-ESS2-2 Describe and graph the amounts and percentages of water and fresh water in various reservoirs to provide evidence about the distribution of water on Earth.
Education Outrerach Manager, Food + Farm Exploration Center
I have a passion to spread the word about the importance of agriculture to everyone! As an education outreach manager, my goal is to educate students and teachers about the role agriculture plays in their daily lives and to inspire a passion for the field and a desire to pursue a... Read More →
Thursday April 3, 2025 11:00am - 11:50am CDT
Herietta
Let's face it: Literacy is a top priority in most K-5 classrooms. What if science instruction could not only support your literacy initiatives, but truly help your students become better readers and writers? Whether you're a seasoned educator or just starting your teaching journey, join us for this workshop as we discover how teaching science can foster academic achievement across disciplines.
Discover innovative STEM activities tailored to complement popular read-alouds. Participants will experience firsthand three engineering challenges inspired by beloved books. This hands-on workshop empowers educators to confidently integrate STEM into their existing curriculum, enriching students' learning experiences. Leave equipped to inspire young minds with the magic of reading and the excitement of engineering. Learning Objectives · Discover how to transform activities from arts and crafts to rich, STEAM experiences that meet the NGSS engineering standards · Explore 3 popular read-alouds and 3 follow-on STEM activities · Conduct the STEM activities during the session so you leave confident and ready to implement in the classroom
Quantum information science and engineering (QISE) is the use of quantum mechanics across a variety of fields, including physics, computer science, math, and engineering. This includes quantum computing, quantum cryptography, and quantum-based measurement devices. Given the increasing relevance of quantum technology to our day-to-day lives, it is important to expose students to these topics before college. Quantum mechanics has a reputation of needing higher level math skills to understand it, but basic ideas of quantum mechanics can be taught with simple addition, subtraction, and multiplication. We will explore this simple approach for teaching the basic ideas of quantum mechanics in high school courses. We will also look at resources for incorporating QISE topics into the high school curriculum. While QISE is most applicable to the NGSS related to physics and with AP Physics, there are applications in chemistry, math, and computer science for QISE topics. Attendees will take away an understanding of how quantum mechanics can be taught using simple math, as well as a list of resources for curricular material to add into their courses.
Both of these activities were developed by a high school teacher in the Teach Quantum fellowship at UW-Madison. Using a bird navigation storyline in chemistry, learn how to incorporate electrons, configurations, and spectrum to understand the Zeeman effect and its role in migratory behaviors of birds and even grazing patterns in cattle. You will also learn how to use quantum physics in an electron escape room using flame tests to explore superposition. I will provide the full lesson plans and list of materials to run activitites. Both activities showcase making chemistry equitable for all learners with basic strategies and promote group discourse and concesus modeling throughout the units. Its a great way to expose students to quantum chemistry in a unit that is difficult to come up with examples for.
We have a 0.5 credit Science Intern Course at Hartford Union High School which allows students the opportunity to learn alongside a science teacher. They are responsible for laboraory set up, preparation and clean-up for our department in addition to being a teaching assistant during labs or activities in our introductory level courses. We have an application and interview process along with a reflection document that is filled out during their internship. Several former students have secured lab interns jobs as freshman at their respective universities. Learn how to propose and execute this course to help develop students as leaders in science.
Literacy is often the focus of instruction in elementary classrooms, but it doesn’t have to be at the exclusion of science! Join educator and presenter, Cassondra Kauppi, to explore the mutually supportive aspects of phenomena-based science instruction and literacy skill development. This session will provide you with innovative ideas, tools, research insights, and strategies for teaching students to read, write, and think like scientists. Ultimately, these skills will empower students to enhance their literacy capabilities across all areas of life.
With nearly 20 years in education, Cassondra brings a depth of knowledge spanning literacy, mathematics, and science content. She has worked as a classroom teacher, intervention specialist, curriculum specialist and now STEM Product Specialist. Whether she is teaching in the classroom... Read More →
After receiving a WSST "Back to School" grant, a small science library consisting of both nonfiction and fiction books. These books were checked out by students throughout the year, used as semester exams, and used for curriculum ties in the classroom. Participants can expect discussion about the use of trade books, a list of those books used in this library, and links to resources to help integrate reading in the classroom to aid with science literacy.
Approximately 30-35% of Americans self-identify as birders. Birds are amazing...and they are EVERYWHERE!!! While many elementary students can identify dozens of species of fictitious or long-extinct organisms, most cannot correctly identify even a handful of local birds. Birding is recognized as a gateway activity for caring about nature; because birds are so diverse, they are present in every possible habitat. Using a WSST Milton Pella grant, we were able to purchase a classroom set of binoculars, field guides, and a heavy-duty carrying case. Students learned about binoculars beginning with classroom and paper activities. We then practiced using our equipment safely and properly in the classroom and in the gym. Once students were comfortable with the equipment, we learned about basic bird anatomy and bird identification. We spent a couple classroom periods out in the school grounds finding and identifying our resident birds. These activities can easily extend over several weeks and were very enthusiastically received by our students. This presentation will provide an outline of our activities as well as paper copies of all lessons. This is a great way to get students outdoors and active in nature while (hopefully) encouraging interest in our local birds.
The main focus of the presentation is encouraging students to lead discourse in the elementary classroom, using the skills and ideas from the book Ambitious Science Teaching. The key elements we will focus on are planning for engagement, student discourse, and eliciting ideas from the Ambitious Science Teaching framework. Teachers learn how to lead conversations, the next step to aspire to is to teach students to lead the discussion. By doing so, a teacher can encourage the student’s intellectual engagement while also attending to equity issues teachers face. We plan to share and discuss successful examples in the elementary classroom. Younger students require more scaffolding, reinforcement, and encouragement to be successful in the classroom. We will share how to plan for student conversation using an anchor chart, talk scaffolds, and talking circles. In this presentation, we will also allow time for educators to practice the shared strategies with each other.
Are you using the Illinois Learning (IL) Science Storylines? Would you like to share your experiences and connect with others who are also implementing them in their classrooms? Then join this session to network with fellow educators, exchange ideas, and discuss best practices for using the IL Storylines to enhance science teaching and learning. Whether you're a seasoned user or just starting out, this session offers a supportive space to collaborate and learn from one another.
This informal session will begin with a brief introduction of myself, my role as a director, and my journey with WSST. Following this, participants will have the opportunity to share insights and hear from other members in our district. Together, we’ll network and exchange ideas on staying connected year-round, organizing socials, and planning professional development opportunities tailored to the unique needs of educators and enthusiasts in our district.
Several high school science teachers in the Chequamegon Bay area who share a common desire to make student learning experiences locally relevant have been connected through their involvement in the Rivers2Lake program. Rivers2Lake, run by the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve, offers year long professional development and mentorship in inquiry-based, place-centered, outdoor learning to regional teachers. Among other support offered through the program, teachers gain access to a library of NGSS-aligned lessons and field trip opportunities. In this session, teachers will share stories of how they are involving local rivers, estuaries, and Lake Superior in student investigations this school year, offer space for attendees to share their own stories about how they’re creating connections to local watersheds, and offer inspiration for where those ideas could lead them. Together the teachers are collaborating on using the stories they share, the Rivers2Lake curriculum library, and Rivers2Lake partner resources to build a NGSS aligned storyline unit investigating local waterways that could be used by regional teachers and start an annual symposium for their students to connect and share their investigations with one another.
I am a secondary science teacher who has taught in Minnesota, Alaska, and Wisconsin. My special interests include the integration of STEAM, experiential, and place-based learning. For the past seven years, I have been working with Argument-Driven Inquiry as a strategy for integrating... Read More →
