Conference Sessions

KSTA is proud to offer a variety of outstanding workshops and featured sessions.

All sessions will be held at the University of Louisville Event and Conference Center at Shelby Campus. Schedule is subject to change.

SESSION 4 - Friday, November 3 - 2:10PM - 3:10PM

Cereal City Science Presents: So You Think You Can See in the Dark…

Come experience a phenomenon-based approach to learning about light and sight. Join Sandy Erwin from Cereal City Science (CCS) and Barbara Stegman, a 4th Grade Teacher from Boone County as they take you through a short lesson from the 4th grade CCS unit, Structure, Function, and Information Processing. Experience firsthand, a three-dimensional lesson that engages students in science and engineering practices such as asking questions, developing and using models, and arguing from evidence. Barbara will share student artifacts, videos, and her personal experiences piloting and implementing the Cereal City Science unit in her classroom this past spring. You’ll walk away with a deeper understanding of what a high-quality science program looks like from a teacher perspective. This session is a must for anyone interested in adopting a science curriculum or who is interested in learning more about what NGSS science looks like in an elementary classroom.

Speakers: Sandy Erwin & Barbara Stegman

Grades: K-8

Education Project Presents: Nourish the Future: Tomorrow’s science is looking for leaders

Experience hands-on activities in plant science and biotechnology from the free resources on NourishTheFuture.org. These activities engage students through the lens of agriculture. Participants will discuss the differences between two major plants grown for food in KY, and discuss solutions to some of agriculture’s most pressing problems. Nourish the Future lessons are geared toward students in grades 6-12 life science, chemistry, and environmental science—and aligned to the NGSS national science standards so that they can be incorporated into any setting. Participants will also learn about Nourish the Future workshops, the Teacher Leader Community, and our year-long leadership program. Join us to inspire students to see the possibilities of STEM careers in agriculture!

Speakers: Jane Hunt

Grades: 6-12

Developing Science Vocabulary as a Part of the Sensemaking Process

This session will explore planning for vocabulary development as students are involved in the sensemaking process, as they are figuring out and applying science ideas. We’ll look at how to plan for authentic learning of science vocabulary and increase the vocabulary development tools and strategies in your teacher toolkit. As a part of this session, we’ll focus on using interactive word walls to make vocabulary come alive and “stick” for your students.

Speakers: Patti Works 

Grades: K-8

MORE INFORMATION COMING SOON

Speakers: Phillip Bell 

Grades: TBD

Incorporating CER Responses into Your Elementary Classroom

At the elementary level, it is difficult to teach students how to form a written response to science content. They often do not use critical scientific thinking in their responses so they are not clear or detailed. However, explicitly teaching students a strategy to write their responses, such as CER (claim, evidence, reasoning), allows them to work through their explanation in a structured way. In this session, teachers will become the students and practice creating their own CER responses to some funny commercials, such as Audi ”My Dad’s a Space Alien.” They will first learn how to use these non-content-specific commercials to introduce CER to their students. Secondly, we will learn how we can take that foundational understanding of this strategy and use it on simple science content before they incorporate it into their own classroom curriculum. Teachers will walk away with resources to use in their classrooms such as lesson examples, anchor charts, and assessment checklists.

Speakers: Rachel Grider & Melissa Conlin, Southeast South Central Educational Cooperative

Grades: K-5

Building Bridges: Encouraging Community Involvement in STEAM Education

In this session, we will explore the power of community involvement in STEAM education. We will discuss innovative outreach programs that have successfully engaged low-income students in STEAM learning and inspired them to pursue careers in these fields. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about exciting initiatives like the STEAM bus, which brings hands-on learning opportunities to local events, and the Super Saturday program, where high school students plan and teach STEAM lessons to elementary-aged children. Come share your ideas and learn how to build strong partnerships with your community to ensure that all students have access to the world of STEAM.

Speakers: Madison Staton, Jennifer Davis, Emily McAfee, & Kayla Spurgeon

Grades: K-12