MAINE SCIENCE
TEACHERS ASSOCIATION
Annual Conference October 10, 2014
Gardiner High School – Gardiner, Maine
Best Practices in Science and Engineering
http://msta.wildapricot.org/
MSTA Annual Conference
Friday – October 10, 2014 - Gardiner Area High School
7:15 - Registration Begins/Exhibitors
Continental Breakfast in Cafeteria
Sponsored by the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching
8:00 - 9:00 - Session 1
8:00 - 10:00 - Workshops
9:10 - 10:10 - Session 2
10:00 - 10:20 - Networking/Exhibitors - Cafeteria
10:30 - 11:00 - Plenary Session - Maine and the NGSS - Shari Templeton
11:00 - 11:15 - MSTA Updates, Elections, Announcements, Awards
11:15 - 12:00 - Keynote Speaker – Dr. Katherine McNeil
12:00 - 1:00 - Lunch and Exhibitors
1:00 - 2:00 - Session 3
2:10 - 3:10 - Session 4
3:15 – Closing & Door Prizes
Table of Sessions
Event
Session 1
Session 1
Session 1
Session 1
Session 2
Session 2
Session 2
Session 2
Presentation
Teaching K-2 Life Science Concepts with Fiction and Nonfiction Picture Books
From Local Research to Your Classroom – Science Toolkits!
Science and Engineering Outreach: Ten Years of Piquing Student Curiosity
Through a Physics Demonstration
20 Demos in 60 Minutes: Using Demonstrations to Develop Science Practices
Crime Scene Investigation
PowerHouse - Student-Driven: Real-Data, Real-Time, Real-Change
The Frontiers of Genetics: Bringing Recent Advances and Controversies to the
Classroom
NGSS Practices in Use: How to Plan Meaningful Learning Activities and
Assessments
Workshop
Workshop
Workshop
Workshop
Workshop
Workshop
Transforming the Classroom with Productive Talk
Tinkering with Gears through STEM Practices
Planetary Science: Core Ideas, Crosscutting Concepts, and Scientific Practices
Project Learning Tree
Practice #4, Analyze and Interpret data: A Framework for Teaching Data Literacy
Miss Rumphius Reports
Session 3
Session 3
Session 3
Session 3
Session 3
Session 3
Session 3
Session 3
Session 3
Session 3
Need Title (Katherine McNeil)
STEM for All: Science and Engineering Activities for All Ages and All Budgets
How Is Climate Change Impacting the Coast of Maine?
Taking Students from Field-Based Observation to Scientific Argumentation
Carolina Biological
STEMing Up Your School with Pico Turbine Education
Remember All That Work You Did For LAS: Find It!
Resources to Support NGSS Implementation
Geology of Carbon and Climate
Incorporating Civic Engagement into STEM Curriculum: Connecting K-12
Teachers with Researchers and College Faculty
Assessment
Getting Your Students Talking Deeply About Science!
ecosySTEMs™: Using Ecology as an Integrating Context for STEM Education
Rockets to the Rescue: 2014 4-H National Youth Science Day
Kid Wind
Embracing the NGSS Through Near Space Ballooning
Minecraft!-Engaging High School Students to Design Learning Extensions for
Middle School Students
College Science, Writing, and Mathematics Expectations for Entering Freshman
Old Practices VS New Practices
What does Engineering Look Like When Done by K-12 Students? NGSS Practices
in Action
Session 4
Session 4
Session 4
Session 4
Session 4
Session 4
Session 4
Session 4
Session 4
Session 4
Room
Grade
Level
K-2
5-8
K – 12
K – 12
K-6
6-8
9 - 12
9 – 12
Pre-K - 5
K-5
6-8
6 - 12
9 - 12
K–8
3–8
3 – 12
6 – 12
7 – 12
K – 12
K – 12
K - 20
K–2
2–8
3–8
5–8
7-12
7-12
9 – 12
K – 12
K - 12
Session 1
8:00 – 9:00
Teaching K-2 Life Science Concepts with Fiction and Nonfiction Picture Books
Room:
Content: Life/Literacy/NGSS
Grade: K-2
Presenter: Nancy Chesley, Retired Elementary Teacher & K-5 Science/Math/Literacy Specialist MMSA
The co-author of the newly published teacher resource, Perfect Pairs, Using Fiction and Nonfiction Picture
Books to Teach Life Science K-2, will present the rationale for developing this resource, describe the design of
Perfect Pairs lessons, including the alignment with the three dimensions of NGSS and the Common Core, show
examples of student work, and share some of the resource’s featured books.
From Local Research to Your Classroom – Science Toolkits!
Room:
Content: NGSS
Grade: 5-8
Presenters: Laura Wilson, 4-H Professional, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Sarah Sparks, 4-H Professional, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Alice Philbrick, 4-H STEM Ambassador, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
The University of Maine Cooperative Extension offers science toolkits, materials and curricula, for loan to
formal and informal science educators. As the result of a partnership with Maine EPSCoR at the University of
Maine, we have added new kits, aligned to NGSS and Common Core standards, based on cutting edge research
conducted at the University of Maine. Come experience an activity or two from one of these toolkits, and learn
how you can engage your students with local research!
20 Demos in 60 Minutes: Using Demonstrations to Develop Science Practices
Room:
Content: Life/Physical/Earth/Space/NGSS
Grade: K-12
Presenters: Grace Eason, University of Maine Farmington
Jennifer Cartier, Unity College
UMF & Unity Science Education Majors
Can demonstrations be used to develop the science practices described in the Framework for the NGSS? Yes!
Come to this fast paced session and see examples of demonstrations that will promote student development of
the science practices. Audience participation expected.
Workshop
8:00 – 10:00
Transforming the Classroom with Productive Talk
Room:
Content: STEM/NGSS
Presenters: Travis Hall, Maine Elementary Science Partnerships
Erika Allison, Maine Elementary Science Partnerships
Lauree Gott, Veazie Community School
Grade: PreK-5
This workshop will guide participants through a research-based set of classroom tools to support a classroom
culture of productive talk. Through a series of talk moves, teachers will learn how to support students in
expanding and clarifying their own ideas, listening to each other, deepening their reasoning, and reasoning with
others. These productive talk techniques strengthen students’ abilities with the NGSS practices of asking
questions, constructing explanations, engaging in argument from evidence, and obtaining, evaluating, and
communicating information. The Maine Elementary Sciences Partnership (MaineESP) uses a unique model of
teacher-led professional learning communities to share best practices in science teaching and learning
throughout the state. A panel of teachers from the partnership, who have been implementing this productive
talk program in their classrooms for the past year, will share their experiences. For more information on how
you can get involved with the MaineESP, please visit umaine.edu/maineesp.
Tinkering with Gears through STEM Practices
Room:
Content: STEM/NGSS
Grade: K-5
Presenter: Ann Putney, Science Coordinator Biddeford School Department
Diana Allen, Sanford Junior High School
Come and build various constructions using a set of toy gears, examining them from each of the perspectives of
S-T-E and M in order to discover how these disciplines integrate in practice (whether in the classroom or on the
job). On a more formal level, we will piece together relationships between the NGSS and Common Core Math
Practices along with Common Core ELA Capabilities. We'll share the different connections we've made and
discuss ways in which integrating these aspects of NGSS can provide context in Math and ELA.
Planetary Science: Core Ideas, Crosscutting Concepts, and Scientific Practices
Room:
Content: Earth/Space/NGSS
Grade: 6-8
Presenter: Kathi Brown, Delta Education
Introduce your middle level students to core ideas in Earth Science while engaging them in the described
scientific and engineering practices described in Next Generation Science Standards. Participants will engage in
sample investigations and find out how research has led to current instructional practices for the middle school
student and information on the cosmos. Study the Earth, Sun and Moon relationships, the organization of the
solar system, the reason for the seasons, the electromagnetic spectrum, eclipses, gravity and tides as well as
current planetary research.
Project Learning Tree
Room:
Content:
Presenter: Pat Maloney, Maine Project Learning Tree Coordinator
Lynne Richard, Project WET Coordinator
Grade:
Watersheds provide us with ecological life-support systems and offer teachers a deep well of cross cutting and
cross curricular learning and place based projects. Dive into systems and system models that address and
compare scale, structure and patterns of two major Maine watersheds . Consider the engineering of buffers,
bridges and culverts within sensitive ecosystems. Join Projects WET and PLT coordinators for this hands-on
and exploratory adventure.
Practice #4, Analyze and Interpret data: A Framework for Teaching Data Literacy
Room:
Content: NGSS
Grade: 6-12
Presenters: Molly Schauffler, UMaine Center for Research in STEM Education and Climate Change Institute
Kate Drummond, Chemistry Teacher Skowhegan Area High School
Mary Finnemore, Chemistry Teacher Skowhegan Area High School
Hannah Webber, Education Products Manager Schoodic Institute
Ryan Weatherbee, UMaine School of Marine Sciences and Center for Research in STEM Education
MST Student
How can we help students improve telling the story of their data? In this workshop we will share activities,
tools, and insights developed by the Maine Data Literacy Project. In our work over the last four years we have
recognized several limitations in how middle and high school students graph and attempt to make sense of
data. We’ve developed a framework for teaching data literacy emphasizes recognition of variability in data,
developing language for describing variability and for talking about data and graphs, and a tool for deciding
what kind of graph to make. In the workshop we'll try several activities that start students thinking about
variability and graph type, we'll review strategies for making box and whisker plots, and we'll practice scoring
student work using a rubric we developed for assessing students' proficiency in creating and interpreting
graphs. We’ll share how we’ve used the Graph Choice Chart and the Maine Data Literacy Project framework
in our teaching. (You do not need to bring a computer for this workshop).
Miss Rumphius Reports
Room:
Content: NGSS
Presenter: Margo Mallar,
Grade: 9-12
This presentation will show how high school science reports can be reformatted as children's stories (with
student written glossary and author's notes) that promote science literacy in elementary school readers and
develop technical writing and communication skills in high school students, This model can be used to present
any of the disciplinary core ideas or cross cutting concepts of the NGSS and requires the science and
engineering practice of obtaining, evaluating and communicating information. The project addresses Common
Core ELA standards and allows for productive collaboration between teachers and students at the high school
and elementary school levels. It also allows for the integration of art (or instructions to the artist), with
illustrations designed to support science concepts presented in the story. A template will be presented for
educators to use to craft a story based on their interpretation of simple experiments conducted at the beginning
of the session.
Session 2
9:10 -10:10
PowerHouse - Student-Driven: Real-Data, Real-Time, Real-Change
Room:
Content: STEM/NGSS
Presenters: Molly Meserve, Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Gayle Bodge, Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Grade: 6-8
PowerHouse, GMRI’s newest education program, connects students to their home electricity consumption data
through CMP smart electrical meters. Students collect and analyze data, make evidence-based claims about
their household electricity use, and gain a meaningful voice in family discussions about energy use at home.
Our carbon equivalent emissions tool empowers students to make informed decisions about how they use
electricity at home and engage productively in the quest for climate change solutions. Explore how the use of
individualized electricity data can enhance students’ explanation and argumentation skills, and ultimately
inform behavior change – bringing personal meaning and an interdisciplinary approach to the NGSS, ELA and
Math common core.
Crime Scene Investigation
Room:
Content: STEM/Physical/NGSS
Presenter: Carole Lee, University of Maine Farmington
Grade: K-6
Forensic science is important in crime scene investigation and it involves scientific and technological
knowledge. Two investigations are introduced – Fingerprinting and Chromatography. Through the activities,
the “Engaging in argument from evidence” in Scientific and Engineering Practices and “Patterns, Cause and
Effect” in Crosscutting Concepts and “Matter and its interactions” in Physical Sciences are emphasized.
The Frontiers of Genetics: Bringing Recent Advances and Controversies to the Classroom
Room:
Content: Life Science
Grade: 9-12
Presenters: Maria Palopoli, Harriet Beecher Stowe School
Dana Bateman,
Join us for an interactive session where we provide updates from the constantly changing field of genetics,
including news about the genome editing tool, CRISPR, recent advances, successes and controversies in gene
therapy, and some real-world tools and examples to engage not just high school students, but also middle school
(including 5th graders) in lively discussions about the scientific concepts as well as the social and ethical
implications.
NGSS Practices in Use: How to Plan Meaningful Learning Activities and Assessments
Room:
Content: NGSS
Grade: K-12
Presenter: Karen Whisler, Measured Progress
As educators become more familiar with A Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation
Science Standards, the next step they face is figuring out how to embed this new vision into their classrooms.
This session will introduce a method for designing activities and assessments that focus on the NGSS Practices.
We will begin with a discussion of evidence-centered design and the concept of focal knowledge, skills, and
abilities. From there, using a guided example, participants will learn how to identify and evaluate potential
activities or assessments that provide meaningful opportunities for students to engage in the Practices and
provide teachers the ability to gauge students’ level of proficiency with the Practices. Participants should bring
a notepad or computer in order to work through the design methodology.
Session 3
1:00 – 2:00
Supporting Students in Scientific Argumentation Across Talking, Reading and Writing
Room:
Content:
Grade:
Presenter: Katherine McNeil
The Next Generation Science Standards and the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts
stress the importance of having students engage in argumentation using evidence. In this workshop, I will focus
on how to support students in this important scientific practice. I have worked with teachers successfully using a
framework that consists of four components: claim, evidence, reasoning and rebuttal. A claim is a conclusion
about a problem. Evidence is scientific data, such as measurements and observations. Reasoning explains why
the evidence supports the claim using important disciplinary core ideas. Finally, a rebuttal critiques the quality
of alternative claims using appropriate evidence and reasoning. During the session, I will illustrate how the
framework can be used to support students in argumentation across talking, reading and writing. Specifically,
we will look at three different classroom activities. First, we will examine a classroom transcript from a science
seminar in which students talked directly to each other as they built on and questioned each others’ ideas. Next,
we will examine scientific texts that students critiqued to determine the quality of the evidence supporting the
competing claims. Finally, we will analyze student writing and discuss common strengths and weaknesses.
STEM for All: Science and Engineering Activities for All Ages and All Budgets
Room:
Content: All/STEM/NGSS
Grade: K-8
Presenter: Jennifer Therrian, Education Director Challenger Learning Center of Maine
Come hear about numerous resources and programs available for science teachers and K-9th grade students
throughout Maine. Topics will include free, low-cost, and grant-funded science and engineering activities for
classroom use and activities available at the Challenger Learning Center of Maine. An overview of activities
and resources that meet NGSS in science and engineering will be presented. The session will include giveaways
from the NASA Educator Resource Center.
How Is Climate Change Impacting the Coast of Maine?
Room:
Content: All/NGSS
Presenter: Mary Cerullo, Friends of Casco Bay
Grade: 3-8
Learn about current and future impacts of warming ocean temperatures, sea level rise, and ocean acidification.
We will explore four activities that illustrate how these changes impact our coastline and marine ecosystem and
leave with things we can do to address these threats locally.
Taking Students from Field-Based Observation to Scientific Argumentation
Room:
Content: All/STEM/NGSS
Grade: 3-12
Presenter: Christine Voyer, Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Thanh Le, UMaine
Engaging students in field-based science research, from ecology to geology, is a rich and complex learning
opportunity. Fieldwork requires students to make scientific observations of the world, sort through their
observations to construct data, and use that data to build a scientific argument that supports a claim. The Gulf of
Maine Research Institute’s Vital Signs program offers a case study to examine what this work looks like and
how we can better support it. See examples of students at work, explore tools that have been generated to
support their efforts, and consider how you might use those tools in your own field-based investigations.
Integrated STEM Learning
Room:
Content: STEM/NGSS
Presenter: Gina Wooford, Carolina Biological
Grade: K – 8
Engage in disciplinary core ideas from the Next Generation Science Standards and learn how to incorporate
Science and Engineering Practices and Crosscutting Concepts. Learn how science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics can be integrated as part of your STEM school model.
STEMing Up Your School with Pico Turbine Education
Room:
Content: STEM/NGSS
Presenters: Michael Burghoffer, CEO Pico Turbine International
Damian Nodal, Pico Turbine International
Grade: 6-12
Combine 3D Printing, Renewable/Alternative Energy, and Robotics all under one curriculum to take your
schools STEM Program to new heights! With our new program any school can start or improve their current
STEM program. STEM, STEAM, & STREAM grants available!
Remember All That Work You Did For LAS: Find It!
Room:
Content: Life/Phys/Earth/Space/NGSS
Grade: 7-12
Presenter: Tom Keller, Co-Director Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance
Are you in a conundrum about assessment and the proficiency based education? A recent article found in the
Portland Press Herald on May 4, 2014 stated, “One researcher commended the state for its efforts to raise
education standards but said many teachers, administrators and parents remain unclear about how evaluations
will be conducted under the proficiency guidelines – or how to define proficiency.” This flexibility provides
great opportunity with little handholding. Fortunately many of us have deep experience from earlier work. In
this session, we will review the basics of assessment literacy and a proposed assessment scheme using re-tooled
MAP (Maine Assessment Portfolio) and LAD (Local Assessment Designs) tasks for grades 7-12. We will use
some of the oldies, but goodies from MAP and LAD.
Resources to Support NGSS Implementation
Room:
Content: NGSS
Grade: K-12
Presenters: Pamela Thompson, Retired Elementary Teacher/MSTA President Elect
Laurette Darling, Albert S Hall School
Do you need support as you explore the Next Generation Science Standards? This session will introduce you to
a variety of resources to guide you on your journey. You will have the opportunity to investigate the resources
and narrow the options to suit your teaching/learning needs.
Geology of Carbon and Climate
Room:
Content: Earth/Space/NGSS
Presenter: Doug Reusch, University of Maine Farmington
Grade: K-12
How will the next generation of citizens manage their energy needs as Earth’s climate changes? The geologic
record provides both the context and suggests some possible solutions to the challenge of transitioning to a lowcarbon economy. Field investigations naturally integrate many of the NGSS practices, cross-cutting concepts,
and core ideas. This session highlights a number of professional development opportunities to explore the rich
geologic record in our backyard while participants conduct several complementary hands-on activities for use in
their classrooms.
Incorporating Civic Engagement into STEM Curriculum: Connecting K-12 Teachers with Researchers
and College Faculty
Room:
Content: STEM/NGSS
Grade: K-20
Presenter: Laurie Bragg, Maine EPSCoR University of Maine
Sally Slovenski, Maine Campus Compact
Jill Braceland, STEM VISTA Volunteer, Maine Campus Compact
Maine EPSCoR at the University of Maine and Maine Campus Compact with support from the National
Science Foundation EPSCoR program (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research), are working
collaboratively to advance civic engagement in STEM courses and connect Maine college faculty, professional
educators, pre-service teachers and non-profit organizations. Join us to discuss the results of our recent
statewide survey of educators and learn more about our Best Practices Toolkit and upcoming series of free
professional development workshops and field trip experiences.
Session 4
2:10 – 3:10
Getting Your Students Talking Deeply About Science!
Room:
Content: NGSS
Presenters: Susan O’Brien, Weatherbee School
Hillary Hoyt, Smith School
Grade: 2-8
Students can lead and carry on productive science discussions raising the classroom rigor. Watch while students
discuss the NGSS crosscutting concepts while thinking deeply. This session showcases classrooms where
productive science talk is expected of all students. In these classrooms, students are expected to talk so
everyone can hear while directing their thoughts to their classmates not the teacher. These students engage their
peers by questioning each other, asking their classmates to elaborate. As a result, students become deeper
thinkers as they articulate the grade level NGSS crosscutting concepts in their talk and as they learn through
these student-to-student interactions. In this session the presenters will share video clips of their students as they
engage in productive talk. Susan and Hillary will share successes as well as struggles. After working with
several published programs, they will share their experiences, telling what they do to make these researched
programs their own.
ecosySTEMs™: Using Ecology as an Integrating Context for STEM Education
Room:
Content: STEM/Life?NGSS
Grade: 3-8
Presenter: Meg Edstrom, The Ecology School at Ferry Beach
The days when environmental science education was limited to nature hikes are over. This workshop will
challenge you to think beyond traditional STEM definitions and boundaries. This workshop proposes an
education model that fosters 21st Century thinkers who take a systematic approach to learning and applying
STEM skills. Alignment to Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards will be also addressed.
Rockets to the Rescue: 2014 4-H National Youth Science Day
Room:
Content: STEM/Physical/NGSS
Presenters: Sarah Sparks, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Laura Wilson, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Grade: 5-8
4-H National Youth Science Day (NYSD) is an exciting, interactive learning experience that engages thousands
of youth across the country in conducting the National Science Experiment. The University of Arizona
developed the 2014 National Science Experiment, Rockets to the Rescue!, which explores the field of aerospace
engineering. This year, youth will be tasked with the same mission: in light of the recent natural disasters such
as Typhoon Haiyan, National 4-H Council is asking youth to design and build an aerodynamic food
transportation device that can deliver a payload of nutritious food to disaster victims. Youth will learn
engineering concepts, develop math skills, learn about nutrition and help solve a relevant, global issue.
Embracing the NGSS Through Near Space Ballooning
Room:
Content: STEM/Physical/Earth/Space/NGSS
Presenter: Josh Delcourt, Thornton Academy
Grade: 7-12
Near-space ballooning is a great way to generate student interest in STEM based fields as well as meet Next
Generation Science Standards in a variety of core areas including physical sciences, earth/space sciences, and
engineering/technology and applications of science. This session will focus on project based learning through
near-space ballooning with students of various ages and ability levels.
Minecraft!-Engaging High School Students to Design Learning Extensions for Middle
School Students
Room:
Content: STEM
Grade: 7-12
Presenters: Katie Flavin, Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Kim Little, Gulf of Maine Research Institute
“Sandbox” computer games like Minecraft offer exciting potential for engaging students in creative, productive,
social, and technical activities that build important skills for life, work, and learning. This summer the Gulf of
Maine Research Institute (GMRI) engaged a team of high school students in developing a learning extension, or
mod, in the game Minecraft for 5th and 6th graders that attend our LabVenture! program. Building off
published design process curricula and our own iterative content development process, with the science and
engineering practices in mind, GMRI staff designed and guided the high school students on a six-week
experience intended to create a safe and optimally productive space. Explore how students designed,
created, and tested their Minecraft extension and learn some of the insights we gained from watching and
working with high school students in this space.
College Science, Writing, and Mathematics Expectations for Entering Freshman
Room:
Content: STEM
Grade: 9-12
Presenter: Rob Sanford, University of Southern Maine
This is a 20-minute PowerPoint followed by a discussion on student needs/abilities and improving connections
between college STEM and high school STEM faculty for better transitions of students into college.
Achieving the Vision of the Framework in the High School Lab Setting
Room:
Content: NGSS
Grade: 9-12
Presenter: Shari Templeton, MDOE Science & Technology Specialist
If we make the mistake of looking at the content strand of a standard without looking at the embedded practices
and cross-cutting concepts, we are missing the intent of A Framework for K-12 Science Education. In this
workshop, we will examine the necessity to transition from traditional high school “cookbook” labs to lab
experiences that better exemplify the shifts demanded of our students in the 21st century.
What does Engineering Look Like When Done by K-12 Students? NGSS Practices in Action
Room:
Content: STEM/NGSS
Grade: K-12
Presenter: Cindy Sweetser, Director National Center for Technological Literacy
This hands-on session will present an overview of the concepts and practices frequently included in student
engineering experiences. Video clips from classroom engineering lessons will demonstrate the NGSS Science
& Engineering practices in action as students work through a variety of engineering lessons.