UtSTA 2024: Out-Of-This-World Science Teaching

To help students use their creativity to engage with space science, Clark Planetarium is hosting a Space Science Communication Competition for sixth-grade students that is aligned with Strand 6.1 of the Utah SEEd standards. Students will create their own media projects in eight categories: digital images or illustrations; desktop published documents such as newsletters. Infographics, or brochures; audio podcasts or songs; presentations or slide shows; videos including PSAs, documentaries, and narrative films; 2D animations or stop-motion; 3D models or animations; and interactive websites or games. In this session, you will practice using three-dimensional choice (choice of topic, choice of medium or software, and choice of approach) to design your own potential projects and learn how to implement student-created digital media into your classes at all grade levels. We will also discuss the results of our pilot program last year and how it enhanced student engagement, creativity, and test scores.

This lesson is alligned to standard 5.1.1 in the 5th grade standards. The participates will experience making sense of a phenonmenon as they learn how to recognize layers in core samples and understand the necessity of core samples. They will learn how to identify the location of an oil deposit based on the patterns they are seeing. Free equipment provided!

This presentation explores some of the pitfalls and challenges associated with rubrics and how to overcome them. It walks through how to turn a mediocre rubric into an excellent rubric that can be reused in multiple contexts. Rubrics allow the grader to focus on the underlying SEP's and track student mastery over time. We will also look at how AI can be leveraged to get students immediate formative feedback and decrease teacher work load.

Discover ways to blend language arts, programming, and exploration. The NASA First Woman graphic novel series follows the fictional adventures of Callie Rodriquez and her colleagues as they search for solutions to the challenges of Moon exploration. Engage in a hands-on robotics and programming learning experience from the First Woman Camp Guide. From camps to classrooms, we will learn how to adjust the lesson to your students’ needs.