You know that science isn’t just beakers, wires, and safety goggles—it’s a part of many life experiences, such as how we travel to school from home. It is in everything we cook or microwave. It is in the sleep we crave at the end of the day. It’s in every cell of our bodies and every minute of our day.
Meanwhile, our understanding of how to teach science is constantly advancing. By connecting adventures in science to revelations in life and infusing teaching with the latest pedagogical and scientific developments, science teachers can engage budding scientists every day. Through K–12 science education, we can cultivate student science proficiency in life, and for life.
That’s why we brought a visionary group of science thinkers and educators together for our 2024 Science Symposium. Together, this group produced a collection of free science resources and professional learning opportunities that’s still available to you on demand!
Take advantage of this invaluable opportunity for educator professional development by watching the symposium. You’ll learn:
- Why giving science the instructional time it deserves boosts student performance overall.
- How to strengthen and celebrate student thinking around complex issues.
- What successful science and literacy integration looks like in science classrooms.
Take a sneak peek at the sessions below, and then sign up to watch!
Experiment Design in the K–8 Classroom
Led by Amplify Director of STEM Specialists Tom Gantt
What’s the effect of weightlessness on worms? Session leader Tom Gantt found out in a highly hands-on—or, shall we say, feet-off—way, through a simulated zero-gravity space flight through NASA’s Teaching from Space program. “You don’t have to take things as far as I did by flying on what was nicknamed the ‘vomit comet,’” he said. “We’re going to look at it in more of a K–8 space where we can inspire students to create things, and be the astronauts of the future.”
In this session, Gantt described the importance of experimental design in fostering creative, critical, and active thinking among students. He also stressed how embracing a multimodal teaching approach that includes doing, talking, reading, writing, and visualizing can help educators make the content click for students with different learning styles, and make science come alive for all. These techniques align with the Next Generation Science Standards’ (NGSS) science and engineering practices, and help prepare students to navigate and appreciate the wonders of science inside and outside the classroom.
Some tips from the session:
- Incorporate hands-on learning: Spark curiosity by offering experiments that encourage students to actively engage with real-world scientific concepts.
- Use the Control of Variables Strategy (CVS): Teach students to focus on one independent variable while keeping others constant. This foundational technique can improve students’ abilities to conduct valid scientific investigations and interpret results accurately.
- Use guided inquiry to facilitate student-led exploration and problem-solving: By initially guiding students and gradually introducing more open-ended questions, you can help them develop confidence and independence in scientific investigation.
Strengthening Reading and Improving Science Learning: Disciplinary Literacy, 3D Science Instruction, and the Science of Reading
Led by Amplify Director of Multilingual Initiatives Alestra Flores Menéndez
Intentional literacy practices in science pulls double duty: It bolsters reading skills and scientific understanding. Actually, make that triple duty: “Literacy and science integration is essential for fostering scientific literacy, because…ultimately, it promotes equity,” said session leader Alestra Flores Menéndez.
As the Science of Reading confirms, knowledge and reading/writing skills reinforce one another, so communicating about science helps students improve both at once. And when teachers use multimodal resources with supportive scaffolds, they help all students access grade-level content and express scientific ideas effectively.
Some more session specifics:
- A study by WestEd showed that using NGSS-designed curricula in first-grade classrooms improved students’ performance in science and vocabulary without reducing their literacy capabilities.
- Using diverse instructional methods such as the Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize model helps students make significant gains in both reading comprehension and scientific knowledge.
- Inquiry-based activities and hands-on investigations give students the chance to apply literacy skills like reading, writing, and reasoning to real-world scenarios.
- Promoting the integration of literacy and science instruction can help achieve educational equity, ensuring that all students develop essential science and reading skills—and can access STEM opportunities in the future.
Inquiry-Based Equity: Science Success With Multilingual Learners
Led by BSCS Senior Science Educator and Program Area Director of Equitable Impact Susan Gomez Zwiep
The way we teach science—and everything else—has evolved significantly since session leader Susan Gomez Zwiep started out in a mostly bilingual biology classroom. “We no longer think about simplifying content or simplifying language,” she said. “We think about amplifying language. It’s no longer about English words and English grammar, it’s about all the rich ways we can communicate our ideas.” We also know now that creating an inclusive, language-rich—and languages-rich—environment in science class encourages social learning and leverages the power of students’ diverse linguistic skills and resources.
Some more session specifics:
- Curiosity fuels communication: Science naturally taps into students’ curiosity, providing a rich context for language development as classmates communicate their ideas to explore scientific phenomena.
- Learning is social: Students benefit from collaboratively developing ideas within communities, building both language skills and scientific understanding.
- All language counts: Instead of simplifying for English learners, embrace diverse modes of communication, including native languages and non-standard dialects.
- It’s important to encourage agency: Letting students make decisions about learning and language use in science fosters ownership of ideas and supports sophisticated communication and reasoning skills.
What Successful Science and Literacy Integration Looks Like in Practice
UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and science educators
In this session, educators and session participants Anne Pradk, Beth Fox, and Tierra Jackson shared innovative strategies for integrating science instruction with literacy for next-level student learning and engagement. Each educator highlighted their unique approaches within their districts, but all focused on leveraging science to improve literacy skills (and vice versa) and emphasized the importance of cross-collaboration between subject areas.
Some more session specifics:
- Integrate science and literacy: Fox discussed creating a “Science Swap” tool in the Lodi Unified School District, allowing teachers to replace certain ELA units with science units that cover the same writing standards. This integration not only saves time, but also enriches student learning by connecting literacy skills with scientific inquiry.
- Align rubrics and language across subjects: Jackson explained how her district streamlined writing rubrics and language used in both ELA and science classes, leading to improved student confidence and writing performance. Aligning language and expectations across subjects can reduce student confusion and bolster writing proficiency.
- Use cross-disciplinary professional development: Encouraging collaboration between science and ELA departments fosters a unified approach to literacy. Pradk highlighted her ELA Connections Guide, which helps teachers find overlapping standards and use resources from both areas.
- Focus on authentic scientific practices: Emphasize that being a science teacher involves supporting students’ understanding of scientific texts and concepts rather than teaching traditional reading skills. As Abbott noted, this approach helps students connect hands-on experiences with theoretical knowledge, enriching overall learning.
- Provide ongoing support and flexibility: Continuous professional development and support help teachers adapt to integrated teaching methods. All speakers addressed the need for supportive environments where educators have the flexibility to tailor teaching strategies to meet their students’ needs.
Closing Keynote: What Science Champions Sound Like: How Our Classrooms Have Made the Shift
The Lawrence and science educators
Science education is in the midst of a profound shift toward a more interactive, relevant, and inclusive approach. By adopting the NGSS and diving into phenomena-based and three-dimensional learning, educators create environments where students actively engage in scientific inquiry, sparking genuine curiosity and engagement. As one speaker, Faith Bullock, put it: “My teaching has evolved from thinking about what [students] cannot do, to empowering them with what they can do.”
Other session highlights:
- Shift teacher mindsets: Bullock and fellow speaker Sherita Wiliams both stressed the importance of moving beyond perceived limitations to unlock new student potential. Williams described the strides she’s seen students make when they engage deeply with the material and apply it beyond the classroom.
- Use a multi-layered support system: Speaker Nell Williams discussed creating opportunities for collaboration and shared practices across schools to support teachers, while fellow speaker Lauren Allen emphasized the need to listen to feedback and adapt support structures at the district level to ensure teachers have the resources they need for successful implementation.
- Prioritize educator professional development: Williams also underscored the importance of providing educators with the training necessary to facilitate student-led learning, and noted the need for a shift from traditional teaching methods to a more facilitative role that encourages student engagement.
- Promote equity and accessibility: Allen also highlighted her district’s pursuit of equitable access to high-quality materials and resources, pointing out the need to address barriers to implementation and create conditions that allow all students to access effective science education.
More science teacher resources to explore:
