2024 MAST Annual Conference

Breaking Barriers: Advancing Science Education through Equity and Inclusion

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel & Trade Center, 181 Boston Post Road W, Marlborough, MA 01752

Scroll down to register and pay for the conference and/or Awards Banquet.

KEYNOTE: Our Path to Educational Equity in Science, DESE

DESE's new Education Vision is anchored in the commitment to high-quality teaching and learning in the Commonwealth in support of ALL STUDENTS. To advance our state’s goal of promoting the educational vision, and in alignment with the 2016 MA STE Standards, DESE has developed a catalog of tools, resources, and professional learning opportunities to cultivate best practices for science instruction among educators statewide and promote adoption of aligned high-quality instructional materials (HQIM), as well as reimagine science assessment systems. These tools include instructional planning and observational tool collection, how to investigate and select high-quality instructional materials, science classroom performance assessments, the Science Curriculum Adaptation Project for Special Educators, and the Science Performance Assessment Ambassador Training. During this presentation, DESE staff will share the state's vision for education, as well as the different aligned supports to advance our vision for science education in MA.

Presentations:

• Activating Genetics using Culturally Responsive Teaching Strategies - Christine Connolly, Easton Middle School
• Attraction and Repulsion-It’s Magnetic - Lisa Ashby, Imagine Learning
• Beyond CER, Practicing with Data - Annette Laursen Brickley & Christine Adamson, Education Outreach Director/ NES-LTER
• Connecting Race and Science in the Classroom: LabXchange's RDEISE Project - Ilyana Sawka, LabXchange, Harvard University
• Data Jams: Using Creativity to Unlock Data Literacy - Katharine Hinkle (Harvard Forest) & Tiffany Davis (Asburnham-Westminster District)
• Design Talks: Classroom Conversations for Engineering Learners - Chelsea Andrews, Tufts University
• Discover Shorebirds - Clare Cunningham, Manomet Conservation Sciences
• Engaging Students in Scientific Investigation with LEGO Education - Lauren Russell, LEGO Education
• Environmental Science in a World of 8 Billion - Rebecca Webster, Greater Lawrence Technical School
• Equity-Oriented Engineering - Carrie Baldwin, Museum of Science, Boston
• Experience I am STEM - Solving Problems in Storybooks - Donna Taylor, Lee Burgess, Vanessa Haerle, STEM Education Center at WPI
• Getting Creative with Data - Christin Casali, Dedham High School
• Hands-on with Energy Forms & Transformations! - Kimberly Swan & Nancy Gifford, The NEED Project
• Improving Engagement and Sense-making in Science with Multilingual Learners in Mind - Mary Hatton, Science From Scientists
• Integrating Authentic Research Experiences into the Classroom - Donna Taylor, Rebecca Cooke, Meredith Leighton, STEM Education Center at WPI
• Integrating the Engineering Design Process into Elementary Education - Shawn O'Neill, Bridgewater State University
• Learning Blade: New Free STEM/CS Resource for MA Teachers - Michele Linch Ph.D., Learning Blade
• Phenomena First: Building Confidence and Curiosity in Science Classrooms - Bonnie Nieves, Educate On Purpose
• Massachusetts Standards Alignment Support for OpenSciEd - Casandra Gonzalez (DESE), Jacob Foster, Regan McKinnon, Clair Lombardo, Ivyrose Likis
• Mind Games For Science Educators: Think, Learn & Have FUN!!! - Ronald G. Shapiro
• Notebooks Beyond the Glue Stick - Samantha Genier, Day Middle School, Newton
• Phenomena-based instruction as a tool for equity - Leslie Knight, KnightVision Education
• Picture This! - Jennifer Welborn & Judith Newcomb, STEM Education Institute at UMass, Amherst
• Power to Go-H2O: Harnessing the Force of the Ocean, Lisa Ashby, Imagine Learning
• Reduce waste to increase equity, agency, and climate justice - Shoba Reginald, Belmont Public Schools
• Simulating your way through the new Innovative Science Assessments - Jenna Mercury, ExploreLearning
• Supporting multilingual learners to increase engagement and sensemaking - Katherine McNeill (Boston College), Heather Colantuoni (Middle school teacher, Marlboro), Samuel Lee (CSU Longbeach)
• Transforming the Science Lab into a Literacy Lair - Jami Witherell, Nantucket Elementary School
• Understanding the Science of Climate Change: Causes and Effects - Kathleen Vandiver & Amanda Gruhl Mayer, MIT Edgerton Center
• Using the 5E Model to Increase Discourse in the Chemistry Classroom - Keith Wright, Hoosac Valley High School
• Using Weather Data to Integrate Data Literacy into Curriculum - Krista Fincke, Blue Hill Observatory
• Utilizing Choice Assignments to Create Equity in the Chemistry Classroom - Elizabeth Stewart-Miranda, Greater Lowell Technical High School
• Weaving Hope Into Your Climate Curriculum - Brittany Gutermuth (Mass Audubon), Ollie Perrault, Keila Silva
• What does Culturally Responsive Instruction look like in Science? - Jennifer Feller, Mass Audubon
• Wind Can Do Work: Easy, breezy hands-on lessons! - Kimberly Swan & Nancy Gifford, The NEED Project
• You Know Science is Awesome, BiteScis Helps Convince Your Students - Stephanie Keep, BiteScis

Share-a-thon Presenters:

• BiteScis: Real Science For Your Classroom - Stephanie Keep, BiteScis
• DESE tools and supports
• Honeybees as a tool to teach science - Mary Duane, MTA retired member
• MAST Resources
• Microplastic: Tiny pieces, big problem - Annie Haven, Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School
• Modeling Biotechnology Lab Techniques with the MIT DNA/RNA Set - Kathleen Vandiver & Amanda Gruhl Mayer, MIT Edgerton Center
• Science Ambassadors’ Outreach Activities that Empower Younger Students to Be Scientists - Raksmey Derival, Innovation Academy Charter School, Caleb Derival, Matilda Nguon, Alexandra Porter, Ava Thielo, Abigail Uwase, Binum wa Muthumbi
• Teaching Paleoclimatology with AMS Project Ice - Brian Casey, Swampscott High School
• Using Spreadsheets to Teach Chemistry (and Science) Inquisitively and via Differentiation - Sean Regan, Chemistry Teacher - Framingham Public Schools

Commercial Exhibitors:

Amplify, Biozone, Discovery Ed, Educate on Purpose, ExploreLearning, Grand Classroom, Imagine Learning, Lab-Aids, Learning Blade, LEGO Education, MiniOne Systems, Phenomenon Science Education, Savvas Learning Company, STEMPilot, Visible Body

Non-Profit Exhibitors:

ARMI | BioFabUSA, BiteScis, Bridgewater State University, Connecticut and Massachusetts Invention Convention, Cuttyhunk STEAM Academy, Mass Audubon, Massachusetts Envirothon, Massachusetts Marine Educators (MME), Massachusetts Science & Engineering Fair, Massachusetts/Rhode Island Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation, MassRobotics, Inc., Merrimack College, MSELA, New England Dairy, Roger Williams University, Science from Scientists, STEM Education Center at WPI, The NEED Project, Wade Institute for Science Education

Conference Committee:

Betsey Clifford - MAST Vice President, General Conference (vicepresident@massscienceteach.org)

Jayne Kerner - MAST President Elect, Presenters (presidentelect@massscienceteach.org)

Sandy Pearl - Registrar (registrar@massscienceteach.org)

Valerie Finnerty - Commercial Exhibitors (middlesex1@massscienceteach.org)

Barbara Ferri - Non-Profit Exhibitors (nonprofits@massscienceteach.org)

Marilyn Richardson - Hospitality (marilyn@pcom.com)

Bob Gilmore - Sponsorship (sponsorship@massscienceteach.org)

Laura Carlin - Awards (awards@massscienceteach.org)

Caryl Adamowitch - Volunteer Coordinator (assistanttreasurer@massscienceteach.org)

Questions? Email Betsey Clifford at vicepresident@massscienceteach.org