Workshops
Thursday, April 21
W1
9 am 11:50 am
Teaching Climate
Change Science
W2
9:30 am 3:30 pm
Engineering is
Elementary
W4
9am – 12
pm
Competency on the
Bluffs
This hands-on workshop will present lessons based on
materials developed by the American Chemical Society and
American Meteorological Society. Materials will be provided
for use in your classroom. The workshop will introduce
teachers to the basics of climate science and provide classroom
ready materials and demonstrations that can be used in the
classroom as a laboratory experience for students or as
outreach activities in the community. Free, downloadable
resources including the ACS Climate Science Toolkit and
authoritative booklets from the US National Academy of
Sciences, the American Association for Advancement of
Science, The National Climate Assessment and the American
Meteorological Society designed for students and interested
citizens will be provided in .pdf format that can be freely
downloaded and distributed to students and the public.
This hands-on workshop will prepare you to use the
Engineering is Elementary curriculum in your classroom. We
will focus on developing an understanding of the structure and
pedagogy of the curricular materials by actively participating in
a variety of actual classroom activities. You will also have the
opportunity to browse many of the EiE modules and learn how
they support the Next Generation Science Standards at
different elementary grades. This workshop is valuable even if
your school does not adopt EiE. You will learn about
engineering design at the elementary level and its relation to
the Science and Engineering Practices in the NGSS. Eric
Brunsell is a trained Engineering is Elementary presenter. This
workshop is sponsored by UW-Oshkosh.
Learn how to create personalized student centered program of
learning in your own classroom! I will show you how to
develop this in your room! First I will show you the
competency based model I created and implemented this year.
I will also share the learning n targets I have written based on
Next Gen, Common Core, and ACT Science Standards. These
will be useful in any science classroom. You will bring your
curriculum, learning targets, and a laptop. We will work
together to develop a competency based model that you can
implement in your classroom. We will work side by side
listening to cool tunes, enjoying snacks and camaraderie, and
create something you can take back and use right away. I will
share the pitfalls and problems that have occurred and the
solutions. We will have a spirited conversation about ways to
make this work in a variety of classrooms and across
disciplines. Incorporated into this workshop will be an
introduction to on line learning. (Establishing a digital footprint
–W5-is a great follow up to this workshop)
$0
$0
$6
W11
9 am –
noon
Modeling the
Molecular World
Experience a variety of tactile, physical models of proteins and
other tactile teaching tools that make the invisible molecular
world come alive for your students. This workshop will
introduce teachers to a broad variety of physical models of
proteins and student-centered, tactile teaching tools that can be
used in middle school and high school bioscience classrooms.
Teachers will be introduced to (1)Three different models of
double-stranded DNA, (2) Paper Gene Maps – emphasizing the
connection between the sequence of nucleotides in mRNA and
the sequence of amino acids in the encoded protein. (3) A
protein folding kit that emphasizes the basic principles of
chemistry that drive protein folding, (4) The Molecular
Landscapes of David Goodsell, (5) A Genomic Story – of the
Beery Family and the role of whole genome sequencing
reaching a molecular diagnosis of a neurological disorder.
$0
The materials presented in this workshop will be available for
teachers to borrow from the MSOE Model Lending Library. We
will also inform teachers of the opportunity to participate in a
week-long summer course at MSOE in which the topics of this
workshop will be explored at a deeper level.
W3
1 pm –
4 pm
BYO Fast Plant
Grow Chambers
Using common hardware store supplies, participants will make
and take a practical, versatile and portable classroom grow
chamber to augment both current and future Fast Plant
research. In this workshop, participants will use supplies
commonly found at local hardware store to create their own
economical countertop grow chamber for Wisconsin Fast Plant
experiments. Grow chamber plans utilizes two milk crates as
the foundation upon which a recessed lighting system is
attached to provide the 24-hour cool "natural" white
fluorescent light and vertical space needed for traditional Fast
Plants to grow and develop using traditional watering systems.
The use of heavy duty aluminum foil and clear shelf paper
provide a more uniform lighting environment and a flexible
door system. Participants will be provided instructions on how
to modify this “control” chamber to accept narrow range
chromatic filters for testing the effect of monochromatic light
on the growth and development of Brassica rapa.
$60
W5
1 pm –
4 pm
Establishing a
Digital Footprint
Bootcamp
Bluffside
$3
W10
1 pm –
4 pm
Making Workshop:
Fabricating
Electrical Circuits
Do you need a tutorial to get your professional profile set up?
Do you want to set up a LinkedIn, Twitter, and or Google Site?
How about a Learning Management System? "In today's
world as professionals we need to present ourselves on line in
a professional manner. In this workshop we will get you set up
with a Twitter account and a Linked in account and explore
these worlds together. We will also learn how to set up and
manage a Google Site. We will also explore setting up an LMS
and the ins and outs of that opportunity. Please bring a laptop
and your phone in you wish. Tablets are welcome too! This
session is not specific to science
In this hands-on workshop, learn how to find and utilize
repurposed and cheap components for fabricating electrical
circuits in grades 3-12. "The materials for creating simple
$15
from
electrical circuits are easy to find, and often free or cheap. In
Repurposed/Cheap the spirit of the Maker Movement, participants will learn how
Components
to identify and repurpose electrical components by reverse
engineering, or dissecting, common and often discarded
devices found in homes and schools. Components such as
motors, speakers, switches, LED's, wires, resistors, and
capacitors can be found in cd/cassette players, audio and video
machines, 35mm cameras, telephones and small appliances.
Conductors can be fabricated from lead pencils, aluminum foil,
Play Dough and other common materials. What cannot be
found at hand can usually be purchased inexpensively from
local sources or the internet. Participants will also learn how to
use plug-in breadboards to connect their components into
working circuits. In addition to breadboard circuits,
participants will make Alarming Alarms, Bristle-Bots, Earbud
Microphones, CD Circus Stunts and Striking Strobe Lights; they
will take home a shoe box of stuff for future fun in their
classrooms
Friday, April 22
W6
8 am –
11 am
Inspiration
Through Birds
W7
9 am –
11 am
You Be The
Chemist Essential
Elements℠
Workshop
$25
Engage students in science through bird education. Learn
about Flying WILD and receive your own educators’ guide!
Experience educational techniques indoors and out. Flying
WILD is a program of the Council for Environmental Education,
sponsored in Wisconsin by the Wisconsin Society for
Ornithology and the Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative. The
Program introduces students to bird conservation through
standards-based classroom activities and environmental
stewardship projects. The activity guide, Flying WILD, an
Educator’s Guide to Celebrating Birds, arms educators with
well-organized activities for engaging students in learning
through bird education. The guide is a sibling of Project WILD,
one of the nation’s most popular environmental education
activity guides. Participants will receive a copy of the Flying
WILD Guide in addition to literature connections and other bird
related resources. The focus of the workshop will be for
participants to learn how to use this guide, experience some of
the activities, and learn about bird conservation issues.
Participants will be engaged in fun, hands-on activities they can
use in their classroom. Susan Schuller works at the Wisconsin
Center for Environmental Education at the University of
Wisconsin-Stevens Point and serves as Wisconsin’s Flying WILD
state coordinator.
$0
This is a professional development workshop designed to
provide K–8 educators—our “essential elements” in
education—with methods for teaching chemistry concepts
through hands-on learning and real-world connections.
Essential Elements is based on the 5E learning cycle approach
to teaching. This cycle allows students to build their own
understanding of new concepts from both old ideas and their
W8
2 pm –
3:30 pm
Up, Up and Away
with the lessons
from the Civil Air
Patrol
own experiences. Each part of the cycle describes a phase of
learning: engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate.
During an Essential Elements workshop, the instructor will lead
educators through a full 5E learning cycle utilizing a lesson
from CEF's Activity Guides. Educators then get a chance to
collaborate and plan their own 5E lesson from additional
Activity Guides, and will receive resources to take back to their
learners.
Looking for free STEM materials and programs? Come and join
this presentation where you can find out details of becoming
an educator member of the Civil Air Patrol, the official civilian
auxiliary of the United States Air Force. An AEM (Aerospace
Education Member) is a special CAP member who receives
products and programs designed especially for teaching
aerospace and integrating this fascinating subject into the
curriculum. Your membership provides lasting benefits that
include access to hundreds of K-12 activities and curriculum, a
free airplane flight at your local airport, and the opportunity to
apply for grants and FREE STEM Kits including flight simulators,
robotics and telescopes for your classroom. Join me in this
workshop where we will go through the benefits of CAP
membership, see students working on the activities and you
will have an opportunity to participate in several of the
activities yourself. We will build and fly foam rockets,
demonstrate Bernoulli’s principle and send some airplanes
flying. This workshop will give you everything you need to
know to become a member and implement the CAP education
curriculum in your classroom.
$10
Saturday, April 23
W9
9 am –
11 am
The Case of the
Missing Babysitter:
An Experience in
the Science of
Criminal
Investigation
Using the context of a real-life crime, this classroom tested unit
places middle school students at the center of the investigation
using scientific inquiry, standard lab procedures, technological
resources, organizational skills, and good discipline. In the
mid-1900’s, an abduction occurred in Wisconsin which caught
the attention of media all over the Midwest. The subsequent
search and investigation involved hundreds of people, and
thousands of hours. Because it was an ordinary young girl,
doing an ordinary task (baby-sitting), in an ordinary, peaceful
city, the case was particularly electrifying to “ordinary”
children throughout the area. In the process of creating,
testing, and improving this classroom project, we have learned
from our students how important that sense of connection is.
Perhaps we should not be surprised that they demonstrated
their interest and concern by an almost universal and sincere
effort to solve this case. This classroom-tested unit places
middle school students at the center of the investigation;
scouring the crime scene for clues--using the best available
technology of that day. More importantly, students are
challenged to use methods that directly integrate scientific
$10
inquiry, standard lab procedures, good technological
resources, organizational skills, and discipline into a “real
world” experience. Because the unit has been developed by
teachers who actually led their students through the
investigative process, it is presented and organized from the
perspective of the teacher. We are confident that you will find
this unique learning package and your adventure in
Criminology, a teaching/learning experience which will engage
you every bit as much as your students. We believe that they
will respond as our students have at the end of a class, “We
can’t stop now! We’ve got to keep following this clue!” And,
guess what? You’ll be tempted.... Participants will have the
opportunity to ""experience"" the scene of the crime, the
investigation, and the scientific processes that can help to
solve the case. Books and other materials will be provided.