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

I will make sure to share examples for each of the 4 standards for 8th grade, while including some online, written, & hands on based. I will prioritize the first 2. Many teachers feel more comfortable with shifting a lab to an assessment, but doing a written or online that is 3D is harder to think of and put together effectively. I can present on something different, but this kind of thing would be the most helpful to me so that's what I would share.

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.

Determining the most essential standards is the most important part of science storytelling. If you are to teach your students about science you first need to know what you are teaching, and what proficiency looks like on that skill. From there you can design lessons and activities that are inquiry-based and reflective allowing students to implement the CCCs and SEP during instruction and assessment. Once clarity is reached students understand what they need to know, and all the teacher has to do then is facilitate the understanding. The story line does the rest of the work. This approach also makes grading and lesson planning simplified and less vague.  In this multi-grade-level workshop I will focus the storytelling on 7th grade science units in 7.2 and 7.1, but the information involved is applicable for any upper-elementary and/or middle school classroom.

Middle School Students, acting as scientists, will analyze and interpret potential and kinetic energy data as they “Explore the Potential Energy behind the Origami Frog”. Students will make an origami frog and then perform several jumping tests depressing the back of the frogs with differing amounts of force while recording the data observed from the tests.
After analyzing the data, students will be able to interpret the results by creating a graph comparing the results from various other frogs. With this information, students will interpret the data to include their understanding of the relationship between energy and forces

During the 2023-24 school year, Clark Planetarium developed, tested, and implemented a kinesthetic and computer modeling approach to teaching Utah SEEd Standard 6.1.2 in classrooms across the state of Utah. In the kinesthetic portion, four participants will represent the inner planets of our solar system. Starting in a line, they will revolve around our Sun in periods of two weeks showing how Mercury travels fastest in its orbit. Using this evidence, we will demonstrate how to lead participants to construct explanations for the role of gravity and inertia in orbit. We will support these explanations using computer models of our solar system and by asking participants to make predictions given the absence of gravity, inertia, or an imbalance between them. Through an established partnership, Clark Planetarium is pleased to be able to offer the software we will be using to teachers at no cost for use in their classroom.

As rural science teachers participating in the 3-Dimensional Rural Science Teacher Grant during this last year, we have designed an intentional lesson applying the Science and Engineering Practices, Cross Cutting Concepts, and Disciplinary Core Ideas. Our example lesson will show students how to: Utilize knowledge of reliable and unreliable sources to obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about structures and behaviors animals and plants use to successfully survive and reproduce (7.4.2)

Symbiosis and Other Relationships is a multimedia curriculum module that uses a three-part symbiosis between a wasp, its caterpillar host, and a virus to highlight the varied and sometimes complex ecological relationships. It includes an opportunity for students to analyze data through a simulated experiment involving the wasp parasitoid and its host, interweaving this example with more general information in a way that builds a deeper understanding of ecological relationships. Students learn about competition, predation, parasitism, commensalism, and mutualism through examples of 2-way relationships, and tease out the types of relationships at play in examples of 3-way relationships. The module supports SEEd standard 6.4.2, Stability and Change in Ecosystems and is freely available on the Teach.Genetics website. The module’s materials can be used independently to supplement existing curriculum materials, or used alone in a suggested sequence over 1-2 weeks of class time.

This is an interactive session with materials that you can take with you! Come participate in an engineering design challenge centered around one of Utah's invaluable natural resources: Natural Gas. Discover how your students can seamlessly blend principles of physics and earth science to delve into the intricacies of this vital resource. Explore optimal conditions for phase changes, utilizing water as a tangible model to grasp the complexities of natural gas transformations! (PS1.B, PS3.A, ETS1.A, ETS1.B,ETS1.C) Free equipment provided!

This unit is so popular with the students that the 9th biology teacher said the students who did this in 7th grade know punnet squares so well she didn't have to teach it this year! This unit was specifically designed to align and teach all of the standards in 7.4 as well as 7.5.1. It slowly works the students into it so that they get the hang of learning genetics as well as talking about sexual and asexual reproduction, mutations and how they could be beneficial or negative or neutral. The students get to create punnett squares for each mutation that occurs and use dice to determine which dragon is born as well as using dice to determine if they survive the natural hazards the students get to design.

Students make long-lasting connections to content when they engage with a phenomenon before direct instruction. In this workshop, participants will dive into a lesson that introduces the concepts of kinetic and potential energy before those terms are formally defined for students. This activity also provides an excellent opportunity to develop your student's skills with the practice of planning and carrying out investigations. It has multiple options for scaffolding to meet diverse student needs. Use this lesson at the beginning of your energy unit for an engaging and memorable launch point that students will connect back to in future lessons.

This session would be more about using a strategy for Obtaining, Evaluating and Communicating information than it is about a specific SEEd Standard. This strategy can be applied across a variety of concepts and core ideas