2017 NSTA National Conference on Science Education in Los Angeles, California

The NSTA National Conference on Science Education in Los Angeles, California was held from Thursday, March 30 to Sunday, April 2, 2017. We have a number of exciting sessions! Don't miss out on our Share-a-Thons and the events below!

Dr. Lucy Jones: American Geophysical Union Lecture: The Fault Lies Not in Our Stars

 Seismology shows us that on human time scales, the timing of big earthquakes is random and the best way to manage the risk is to consider it probabilistically. Most people do not really believe in randomness—trying to find patterns even when they don't exist and then expecting scientists to find the real cause and remove randomness from the equation. Dr. Jones will probe how science education can do a better job of empowering everyone to understand and use hazards information.

When: Friday, March 31, 2017, 2:00 - 3:00 PM
Where: Los Angeles Convention Center, Petree Hall C

Biography of Dr. Lucy Jones:

Known globally as an expert in earthquakes and resilience, Dr. Lucy Jones has dedicated her life to helping communities and leaders prepare for the inevitable. Dr. Lucy Jones retired from federal service in March 2016 after serving as a seismologist with the US Geological Survey since 1983. Most recently, she was the USGS Science Advisor for Risk Reduction, leading the USGS's long-term science planning for natural hazards research, and the SAFRR Project: Science Application for Risk Reduction, that she had created to apply USGS science to reduce risk in communities across the Nation. She continues as a Visiting Research Associate at the Seismological Laboratory of Caltech a post she has held since 1984, and is developing programs to connect policy makers with scientists and support the use of science in community decision making. In 2014, she led a partnership between the USGS and the City of Los Angeles to create solutions to four of the most significant seismic vulnerabilities in the City.

Dr. Jones has authored over 100 papers on research seismology with primary interest in earthquake statistics and integrated disaster scenarios, especially in southern California, including leading the science projects that created the ShakeOut Earthquake Scenario, the Great ShakeOut Drill and the ARkStorm Scenario. Dr. Jones received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chinese Language and Literature, Magna Cum Laude, from Brown University in 1976 and a Ph. D. in geophysics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1981.

Thursday, March 30, 2017

8:00 AM to 8:30 AM
Exploring the World as a Scientist with AMS DataStreme Courses
Presenter(s): Wendy Abshire (American Meteorological Society)
JW Marriott Los Angeles at L.A. LIVE, Platinum Ballroom Salon I

3:30 PM to 4:30 PM
Outstanding Earth Science Teacher Awardee (OESTA) Share-a-Thon
Presenter(s): Cheryl Manning (Evergreen High School)
Los Angeles Convention Center, 151

5:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Powerful and Free Online Simulations and Curriculum for Earth Science
Presenter(s): Amy Pallant (The Concord Consortium: Concord, MA)
Los Angeles Convention Center, Kentia Hall P

6:00 PM to 10:45 PM
Griffith Observatory Field Trip: Gateway to the Cosmos Sold Out
Field Trip Leader(s): Wendy E Van Norden (Harvard-Westlake Upper School)
Pico Drive entrance of the Convention Center

Friday, March 31, 2017 (All sessions in: Los Angeles Convention Center, Petree Hall D)

8:30 AM to 9:00 AM
3-D Landform Models
Presenter(s) David Thesenga (Timberline PK-8: Longmont, CO)

9:30 AM to 10:30 AM
NESTA and NOAA Climate, Weather, & Ocean Share-a-Thon
Presenter(s): Cheryl Manning (Evergreen High School)

11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
NESTA and NOAA Share: NOAA Climate Stewards - Affecting Change Through Education, Collaboration, and Action
Presenter(s): Bruce Moravchik, (NOAA, National Ocean Service)

12:30 PM to 1:30 PM
NESTA Earth System Science Share-a-Thon
Presenter(s): Michael Passow (Dwight Morrow High School), Belinda Jacobs (Cedar Ridge High School)

2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
NESTA and NOAA Share: Climate Change is Elementary
Presenter(s):Molly Harrison, NOAA, National Ocean Service

3:30 PM to 4:30 PM
NESTA and NOAA Share: Game Jams: Instructional Strategy for the Science Classroom
Presenter(s):Peg Steffen (NOAA, National Ocean Service)

5:00 PM to 6:00 PM
The Energy Budget: A Critical Lesson Review UsingNGSS and CLEAN
Presenter(s): Margaret Holzer (Chatham High School: Chatham, NJ), Cheryl Manning (Evergreen High School: Evergreen, CO)

6:30 PM to 8:00 PM
Friends of Earth Science Reception
JW Marriott Los Angeles at L.A. LIVE, Platinum Ballroom Salon C

Saturday, April 1, 2017 (All sessions in: Los Angeles Convention Center, Petree Hall D)

8:00 AM to 9:00 AM
NESTA and NSTA Aerospace Education Advisory Board Space Science Share-a-Thon
Presenter(s): PaulNordhaus (Daniel Wright Junior High School), Carla McAuliffe (TERC)

9:30 AM to 10:30 AM
The Augmented Reality Sandbox: Experiences of Use in the Classroom
Presenter(s): David Thesenga (Timberline PK-8: Longmont, CO), Sarah Jane Delaney (Timberline PK-8: Longmont, CO), Miranda Reynolds (Timberline PK-8: Longmont, CO)

11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Promoting Elementary Science Literacy in Three Dimensions with the 2017 U.S. Total Solar Eclipse
Presenter(s): Charles Fulco (Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES: Yorktown Heights, NY)

12:30 PM to 1:30 PM
NESTA Geology Share-a-Thon
Presenter(s): Belinda Jacobs, Cedar Ridge High School, Michael Passow

2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
NESTA, UCAR, and NASA Share: Bringing the Science of Climate Change to Young Learners with Elementary GLOBE
Presenter(s): Lisa Gardiner (UCAR Center for Science Education: Boulder, CO), Tina Harte (NASA Langley Research Center: Hampton, VA), Jessica Taylor (NASA Langley Research Center: Hampton, VA)

3:30 PM to 4:30 PM
NESTA and PRI Share: The Teacher Friendly Guides to the Earth Science of the United States™
Presenter(s): Robert Ross (Paleontological Research Institute)

5:00 PM to 6:00 PM
National Earth Science Teachers Association (NESTA) Shares: Rock, Mineral, and Fossil Raffle
Presenter(s): Wendy E Van Norden (Harvard-Westlake Upper School), Michael Passow (Dwight Morrow High School)

Sunday, April 2, 2017

8:00 AM to 9:00 AM
NESTA and HHMI Share: Welcome to the Anthropocene: Teaching Resources for a New Epoch
Presenter(s): Carla McAuliffe (TERC: Cambridge, MA), Mark Nielsen (Howard Hughes Medical Institute: Chevy Chase, MD)
Los Angeles Convention Center, 511 AB

9:30 AM to 10:30 AM
NESTA and CZO Share: The Critical Zone (CZ)-Where Rock Meets Life
Presenter(s): Don Duggan-Haas (Paleontological Research Institution: Ithaca, NY), Robert Ross (Paleontological Research Institution: Ithaca, NY), Leslie Flynn (The University of Iowa: Iowa City, IA)
Los Angeles Convention Center, 309

11:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Using Google Earth to Teach Earth Science
Presenter(s): Wendy E Van Norden (Harvard-Westlake Upper School)
Los Angeles Convention Center, 501 AB

11:30 AM to 12:00 PM
Teaching with Screen-Capture Podcasts
Presenter(s): Wendy E Van Norden (Harvard-Westlake Upper School)
Los Angeles Convention Center, 501 AB

Other Earth Science-related presentations by NESTA Members

Friday, March 31, 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM
Soils and NGSS—Perfect Together: Let's Dig In!
Presenter(s): Margaret Holzer (Chatham High School: Chatham, NJ), Clay Robinson (Alliance of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Science Societies (ACSESS): Madison, WI), Emily Fuger (Alliance of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Science Societies (ACSESS): Madison, WI), Julia Lieberman (South Middle School: Morgantown, WV), Susan Chapman (Soil Science Society of America: Fitchburg, WI)
JW Marriott Los Angeles at L.A. LIVE, Diamond Ballroom Salon 6

Friday, March 31, 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM
Evaluating the Quality of Models in Science
Presenter(s): Margaret Holzer (Chatham High School: Chatham, NJ), Vicky Pilitsis (Hopewell Valley Regional School District: Pennington, NJ)
Los Angeles Convention Center, Kentia Hall C

Friday, March 31, 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM
NSTA Press® Session: Big Data, Small Devices
Presenter(s): Donna Governor (University of North Georgia: Dahlonega, GA), G. Michael Bowen (Mount Saint Vincent University: Halifax, NS), Eric Brunsell (University of Wisconsin Oshkosh: Oshkosh, WI)
JW Marriott Los Angeles at L.A. LIVE, Diamond Ballroom Salon 6