NSTA is headed to Atlanta for our 2018 National Conference on Science Education, March 15-18, and we have incredible things in store for elementary teachers!

The first thing you’ll want to put on your schedule is the Elementary Extravaganza on Friday, March 16. Here’s video from a recent extravaganza, and this year’s promises to be just as exciting.

Cultivate Curiosity

Make time for the Mary C. McCurdy Lecture: Cultivating Every Child’s Curiosity in the Natural World, taking place Thursday, March 15, 2:00–3:00 PM, in the Georgia World Congress Center, B309.

Young children are naturally curious about how the world works and are capable of sophisticated thinking and reasoning. In the age of an ambitious framework and the Next Generation Science Standards, there is a compelling focus on young children—nurturing their wonder about phenomena and equipping them to engage in scientific discourse and practices for investigating the natural world. Presenter Carla Zembal-Saul (professor of science education and the Kahn Professor of STEM Education at Penn State University) will share the approaches that elementary teachers are using to leverage children’s natural curiosity in early grades to support three-dimensional learning in science. Special attention will be given to approaches intended to engage English language learners.

Sink Your Teeth Into These Sessions

Just a few of the sessions we can’t wait to join:

• Georgia Science Innovation Exposition Share-a-Thon
• Connecting Makerspaces to the NGSS and CCSS
• The Virtual Vet: Elementary Learners (Grades 3–5) as Scientists in a Serious Educational Game
• Use Science, Coding, and Robotics in the Elementary Classroom to Solve Real-World Problems
• Bird Enthusiasts Engineer Mindful Science
• Train Like an Astronaut with STEM
• Butterfly Gardening Using Native Plants
• NSTA Press® Session: EUREKA! Grade 3–5 Science Activities and Stories
• CSSS-Sponsored Session: Supporting Language and Literacy Through 3-D Science Instruction in Early Grades
• Fake News! Helping Students Understand the Process of Science
• iPads to Support Literacy in Science
• Science on the Go: Using Museum Resources to Support Place-Based Learning
• CESI-Sponsored Session: Transforming and Creating “Predict, Observe, Explain” Sequences for Lower Elementary Science
• Failure Is NOT an Option—It’s Required
• Fun Weird Science Phenomena
• NARST-Sponsored Session: Investigating and Designing Paper Airplanes
• Science at the Dollar Store: 2018 Version!
• Integrating Crosscutting Concepts and Math Using NSTA Recommended Trade Books
• Underrepresented Groups in Educational Science Comics
• Paul F-Brandwein Lecture: Citizen Science: How Ordinary People Are Changing the Face of Discovery

More About the 2018 National Conference on Science Education

Browse the program preview, or check out more sessions and other events with the Atlanta Session Browser/Personal Scheduler. Follow all our conference tweets using #NSTA18, and if you tweet, please feel free to tag us @NSTA so we see it! Need to request funding or time off? Download this letter of support.

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

• 2018 National Conference

  • Atlanta, March 15–18

  “Dive into Three-Dimensional Instruction” Workshops

  • Atlanta, March 14–15, 2018

  2018 STEM Forum & Expo

  • Philadelphia, July 11–13

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