2024 PDI Strands
Rocking out the New Standards in an Ever-changing World!!
Strand: As the world turns: bringing the spheres together
Educators are invited to share groundbreaking lessons that rock the classroom. Participants will explore activities that help students connect Earth and Environmental Science to other disciplines including Chemistry, Physical Science, and Biology. Educators will demonstrate how to use scientific inquiry to model the effect of forces, structures, and processes on the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere while honing skills in collecting evidence, evaluating, and communicating the impact of human behaviors on Earth’s resources.
Strand: Strategies for engaging learners to meet the new science standards
Educators are encouraged to share inquiry-based lessons that align with the latest science standards. These lessons should cultivate reasoning and problem-solving abilities, allowing students to acquire hands-on experiences that make sense of phenomena in science. The curricular resource(s) should provide opportunities for students to engage in the science and engineering practices through:
- questioning.
- developing and using models.
- planning and carrying out investigations.
- analyzing and interpreting data.
- using mathematics and computational thinking.
- constructing explanations.
- engaging in argument from evidence.
- employing effective scientific communication skills.
Lessons would ideally surface a cross-cutting concept (CCC) to help students make sense of the phenomena or topic. Patterns; cause and effect; scale, proportion, and quantity; systems; energy and matter; or structure and function relationships may provide a framework for enduring understandings. The purpose of the strand is to share lessons that allow students to experience content by engaging in active science practices as outlined by the new standards, while using an accompanying sense-making lens (CCC).
Strand: Meeting the needs of our diverse learners
Educators are encouraged to contribute to an exploration of inclusive science education, where we aim to empower teachers with the culturally relevant pedagogical tools needed to create classrooms to ensure equitable access to high-quality science education for every learner. Participants will gain practical insights into creating inclusive science classrooms that address the unique needs of students including students with disabilities and multilingual learners. Sessions will illustrate approaches to differentiate by process, product, or content in order to reach all learners.
