Session III
11:00 - 11:45 am
Embedded Files
Elevating Multilingual Learners in Science
Elevating Multilingual Learners in Science
This session highlights ways to support, include, and elevate multilingual learners in science through scaffolded instruction to promote comprehensible input, clear language objectives to develop both language and content, and the use of AI to help support science planning and teaching with MLs in mind. Participants will also explore inclusive language, identity affirmation, and culturally sustaining practices through engaging phenomena and driving questions in science.
Room: 115
Audience: Pre-K to 12
Presenter(s): Helen Brandon (ISTA Regional Director - Region 4)
From Standards to Success: Professional Learning Pathways for All Educators
From Standards to Success: Professional Learning Pathways for All Educators
This presentation will showcase the comprehensive professional learning opportunities available through the Standards & Instruction Department, highlighting offerings designed to support both science educators and educators across all content areas. The session will demonstrate how professional learning experiences build instructional capacity, strengthen standards-based practices, and improve student outcomes.
Room: 117
Audience: All Teachers
Presenter(s): Meagan Budke (ISBE)
From Wonder to Why: Using Phenomena to Spark Scientific Discovery
From Wonder to Why: Using Phenomena to Spark Scientific Discovery
Transform your science instruction by anchoring learning in real-world phenomena that connect classroom learning to authentic challenges and opportunities. Explore how asking questions, analyzing evidence, and constructing explanations can engage students in critical thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving skills needed for future success. Leave with strategies that foster deeper scientific understanding while preparing students to thrive in an ever-changing world. As an added bonus, discover how real-world careers and workforce connections can be seamlessly integrated into science instruction to enhance relevance and engagement.
Room: 119
Audience: Grades K-12, Supervisors and Administrators, PreService Teachers, Teacher Educators
Presenter(s): Ryan Thomas
Discovery Education: http://discoveryeducation.com/ rthomas@discoveryed.com
Cultivating Sensemaking in the 9-12 Classroom
Cultivating Sensemaking in the 9-12 Classroom
When students investigate phenomena that spark curiosity, science learning transforms. This session highlights how to design lessons where students ask their own questions, construct models and revise ideas through evidence-based reasoning. Participants will explore real high school examples and leave ready to shift instruction from “covering content” to fostering authentic scientific thinking.
Room: 121
Audience: Grades 9-12, Teacher Educators, Supervisors & Administrators
Presenter(s): Matt Bulman (ISTA Regional Director - Region 1)
What can grow in the space between your climate emotions and pedagogy?
What can grow in the space between your climate emotions and pedagogy?
In this session we will examine how emotions about climate change (e.g., hope, anxiety) intersect with teaching and learning. Teachers will engage in a reflective activity to identify and connect their own emotions to their pedagogy. Teachers will explore opportunities for deeper and more holistic approaches to climate change education within their classrooms. This session encourages transdisciplinary approaches and dialogue across curricula.
Room: 162
Audience: Pre-K to 12, Preservice Teachers, Teacher Educators. Supervisors & Administrators
Presenter(s): Bryan Lake and Dr. Samantha Lindgren
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Transformative Approaches to Teaching Honors Biology To Cultivate Awe, Wonder and Equitable Student Challenge.
Transformative Approaches to Teaching Honors Biology To Cultivate Awe, Wonder and Equitable Student Challenge.
Transformative Approaches to Teaching Honors Biology To Cultivate Awe, Wonder and Equitable Student Challenge.
This session explores innovative strategies for designing and implementing an Honors Biology experience that balances rigor with curiosity, ensuring all students are both challenged and inspired. Participants will examine how to intentionally set up the Honors classroom environment to promote inquiry, intellectual risk-taking, and a culture of awe and wonder.
The presentation will highlight practical approaches to lesson development aligned with the NGSS standards, including how to design cohesive, multi-day learning experiences that build conceptual understanding over time. Emphasis will be placed on scaffolding complex scientific skills so that all learners can engage in high-level thinking and authentic scientific practices.
Attendees will gain insight into structuring instruction that carries learning from day to day, fostering deeper connections rather than isolated activities. The session will also showcase a full year of Honors Biology curriculum, demonstrating how to maintain rigor while supporting equitable access to challenging content.
Participants will leave with ready-to-use strategies, sample lesson sequences, and tools to transform their Honors Biology classrooms into spaces where curiosity thrives and all students rise to meet high expectations.
Sample Highlights Include:
Classroom setup strategies that promote inquiry and student ownership
A multi-day lesson sequence aligned to NGSS that builds toward mastery
Techniques for teaching challenging scientific skills through scaffolding and modeling
A year-long Honors Biology curriculum map with embedded assessments and phenomena
Student work samples demonstrating depth, rigor, and growth
Room: 164
Audience: Grades 9-12
Presenter(s): Gina Milanesio, Amina Hasan, Michael Page, Susan Schram, Chris Barnett, and Katie Fortune
Niles West High School
Curiosity Without Boundaries: Using Digital Communities to Deepen Scientific Thinking
Curiosity Without Boundaries: Using Digital Communities to Deepen Scientific Thinking
Curiosity shouldn't end when the bell rings. In this interactive session, participants will experience how digital learning communities extend inquiry through identity-based role play, scientific discourse, and collaborative sense-making. Explore practical strategies to empower students to ask better questions, develop evidence-based explanations, and deepen their scientific thinking beyond the classroom.
Room: 166
Audience: Grades K-12
Presenter(s): Jesse Nolan
MySciLife: myscilife.org , jnolan@sflinc.org
Energize Your Classroom Through the Science of Energy
Energize Your Classroom Through the Science of Energy
Bring energy to life with hands-on STEM investigations your students will love! Explore forms of energy and energy transformations through engaging, NGSS-aligned activities. Leave energized with free, classroom-ready curriculum, resources, and strategies to spark curiosity and deepen student understanding.
Room: 256
Audience: Grades K-12, Teacher Educators
Presenter(s): Cori Nelson
Exploring the Phenomenon of Lactase Persistence Using HHMI BioInteractive Resources
Exploring the Phenomenon of Lactase Persistence Using HHMI BioInteractive Resources
Explore the phenomenon of lactase persistence in humans while engaging in the science practices of asking questions, analyzing data, and developing scientific explanations with HHMI BioInteractive. Explore the underlying genetic mechanism and analyze data from human populations to make sense of how natural selection drove its evolution. Educators will walk away with new strategies and classroom-ready resources.
Room: 256
Audience: Grades 9-12
Presenter(s): Kathy Van Hoeck
HHMI
Why Science Matters. Now, More Than Ever!
Why Science Matters. Now, More Than Ever!
While preparing students for high stakes science tests is important, science serves a greater purpose by providing students with essential workforce and life skills. Through an interactive challenge, participants will discover how critical thinking, collaboration, prediction, resilience, and creative problem-solving are fostered by science instruction. This session also highlights how active engagement in science builds crucial background knowledge, which is essential for improving literacy skills by helping students make connections.. A good science curriculum should offer an open-ended inquiry approach, promoting investigation and the use of evidence. It should also bridge the gap between science and literacy by offering cross-curricular resources, and connect learning to real-world phenomena.
Help your students apply science to make sense of the world around them, and prepare them to be future problem-solvers.
Combating Teacher Burnout Through Awe-Inspired Science Instruction
Combating Teacher Burnout Through Awe-Inspired Science Instruction
High school science teachers face increasing demands that can lead to burnout, diminished creativity, and a loss of joy in the classroom. This session explores practical, research-informed strategies to help educators reduce burnout while rekindling a sense of awe—both for themselves and their students. Participants will examine how incorporating moments of wonder, curiosity, and meaningful scientific phenomena can transform classroom culture and teacher well-being.
Through real classroom examples, simple instructional shifts, and reflective practices, attendees will learn how to design learning experiences that are both sustainable and inspiring. The session will highlight ways to leverage awe as a tool for engagement, deepen student thinking, and reconnect teachers with the passion that brought them to science education.
Room: 167
Audience: Grades 6-12
Presenter(s): Maggie Moore (ISTA President)
Illinois Science Teaching Association and Hononegah High School
Beyond the Simple Answer: Using AI to Spark Curiosity and Critical Thinking in Young Minds
Beyond the Simple Answer: Using AI to Spark Curiosity and Critical Thinking in Young Minds
This session reframes elementary technology integration by transforming artificial intelligence from a passive information provider into a dynamic tool that engages young learners in deeper scientific sensemaking and questioning. Participants will discover practical strategies to design three-dimensional classroom materials that challenge students to critically evaluate AI outputs, test predictions, and think like true scientists.
Room: 261
Audience: Grades 3-5
Presenter(s): Dr. Christine Royce
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