STAO 2026: STEAM Driven

Move beyond “cookbook labs” with Tiny Earth, a well-established curriculum that brings real science into the classroom. Students explore microbes, apply the scientific method, and investigate antimicrobial resistance. Work through how this could fit your context while identifying key barriers and supports for implementation.

Étude de la biodiversité en SBI3U par une sortie terrain : observation de la faune et flore, échantillonnage de plancton, identification du zooplancton et analyse de la qualité de l’eau, avec réflexion sur les limites des données et les impacts humains.

When individuals use AI, there are times when they are “offloading” some of the cognitive work involved in the task, to the tool being used. As Science educators, we need to be careful that we are certain about what types of cognitive work we want our students offloading.We also need to continually ask ourselves what is the goal of the task being assigned, is it to obtain a completed work, or is it to move the student through a learning journey, through stages that help “construct” knowledge or skills?In this session we will consider the big picture of AI in  science education and ask questions related to how students learn and when it’s appropriate for our students, and ourselves, to use AI. We will consider the positive struggle sometimes involved in learning and the need to ensure that this opportunity still exists for our students. We will also consider how knowledge and skills are developed and the impact that the use of AI tools might have on this process.

Regardless if you are using inquiry based, phenomena modelling, Thinking Classrooms or other approaches, small group learning is a staple in science education. But have you ever wondered why some groups work better then others? Some classes gel more? Have you ever stopped to think about what skills students need to be able to effectively work in groups and how we can teach them these skills? In this session participants will engage in a series of hands on activities designed to teach students the skills they need to work in groups. Such wonderful rich learning can come from transforming your class into a community and this session is all about how to build that!

Explore how to engage students in solving real-world housing and climate challenges with emerging construction technologies. Receive curriculum-aligned resources to bring innovation and sustainability investigations into your classroom.