This year’s annual conference will be in Newport , and features these extremely interesting sessions, among others:  

Mealworm Mania: Hands-on experience with mealworms that every classroom can manage. 

Extreme Graphing!  Pick up a trick that you can use with your students so they can take data and create a line graph that works (almost) every time.

The Joys of Toys: Celebrate national Chemistry Week 2005.  Learn how to incorporate National Chemistry Week 2005 in your classroom, with make and take projects and lab ideas.

Inquiry Made Easier?  Learn a few tips and get some templates for turning regular lessons into inquiry lessons.  Bring your challenging topics!

Oregon InvenTeam:  5 Oregon InvenTeams will receive $10,000.  Through a special Oregon project, Saturday Academy will recruit and select 5 additional Oregon teams in 2006-2007.  Come find out how to apply!

AWSEM (Advocates for Women in Science, Engineering and Mathematics).  Come find out how to start your own club or purchase and AWSEM class for your school.  Inspire young women to pursue careers in science, math and engineering through hands-on activities and exposure to professional role models.

Maps on Steriods: GIS Technology in the Science Classroom

Free and Reasonably-Priced Science Equipment.  Come and find out how to order your supplies for physical science laboratories from various sources.

Lynn ’s Gimmicks:  Come and learn a new demonstration that will “ooh” and “aah” your students.

Shallow-Water Ocean Waves.  This session will provide a teacher-tested module for teaching about shallow-water waves and can be adapted for all grade levels.

AP Chemistry – What Is New?  Experienced Question/Table Leader with 10 years of  AP exam reading experience will outline recent and impending changes in the AP Chemistry test.

Model the Motions of the Planets.  A man and his dragon lead you through the steps of creating a model of the orbits of the planets.

Extreme Distances.  Get a firmer handle on the immense, incomprehensible distances of space.

Extreme Gravity.  Examine current data on Black Holes and get several models to help your students analyze and understand these amazing gravity machines.

Kangaroos, Koalas, or Galapagos Tortoises?  Come see how knowledge gained from a natural history field experience to Australia , New Zealand , and the Galapagos Islands can be used directly in your classroom to motivate student interest and spark teacher enthusiasm.

Naturescape:  How community volunteers, businesses, contractors, and students used landscaping to cool a hot school.

Let’s Read!  A treasure chest of cooperative learning and higher-level reading activities that integrate reading, writing and science.

Extreme Mission :  Design a Mission to MARS!  Just like NASA mission planners, you must design a potential mission to the Martian surface, solving issues of mass, power and cost. 

Toying Around with Science:  This workshop introduces effective strategies for use in K-6 classrooms, designed to guide students through a scaffold of discovery from “toying” with scientific concepts to applied understanding of their discoveries.

Inquiry that’s All Wet!  Pour water down a string to learn about adhesion and cohesion.  Try out simple experiments that use common materials to create inquiry work samples in your classroom.

Inquiry that’s Electrifying!  Simple teacher demonstrations to introduce static electricity.  Make paper and string jump and dance.  Simple experiments that use common materials to create inquiry work samples in your classroom.

I Can’t Wait to Take the Test!  Come play simple math and science games that review basic facts while having fun!

Field Tripping for Elementary/Middle School Science:  This workshop will address issues and techniques necessary for planning and delivering quality field trips for elementary and middle school teachers.

Community as a Context for Learning.  This session will explain a process whereby teachers can contextualize student knowledge and skills.  Specific examples of this community-based approach will be highlighted.

Wilderness-Based Science Education in the Ancient Forest .  Come learn about the Opal Creek Ancient Forest Center and their hands-on, inquiry-based educational opportunities for students.

Fire in Oregon ’s Forests: A Burning Issue.  Participants in this session will examine the role of fire in the ecosystem.  All participants in this session will receive a set of 6 “Burning Issues” CD-ROMS, Forest Ecosystem Stewardship, and copies of the activities used in the session.

Fire in Oregon ’s Forests: eXtremely “Hot” Science.  Participants in this session will examine the characteristics, attributes and behaviors that contribute to fires in Oregon ’s forest.  Participants will be engaged in experiments with the fire triangle, and create a simulated forest fire.

Minedras & Bronilla Bears, Oh My!  Using a made-up ecosystem, learn how to teach the concepts of food chains, food webs, changes in the environment and niche.  You will not be allowed to pet the animals.

Technology Enhanced Student Assessment (TESA).  A hands-on demonstration of Oregon ’s online assessment system.  Come and check out the science sample tests and obtain information on TESA.

Drinking Water Hazard Game:  This activity introduces students to a spectrum of drinking water quality hazards.  Students learn the sources of the hazards, route(s) of exposure, associated health symptoms, and methods for hazard control. 

What’s the Competition Doing?  Science Ed in Europe .  This presentation will explore teaching methods, hours of instruction and other difference between Oregon and European science instruction, graduation requirements and school structure.

Hands On Plastics:  Come and explore this great free resource designed to use inquiry instruction and meet national standards.  The science of everyday polymers is a valuable subject for all students to explore.

My NASA Data and S’COOL:  Explore some of NASA’s easily available resources.  See how the Internet can be used for inquiry research. Involve students in gathering data for a weather-related project.  All for free!

The Science of National Board Certification.  Come and discuss adventures, misadventures and quandaries you have about the process and survival of the certification challenge.

Partners in Science:  A golden opportunity for high school science teachers to do research for 2 summers and be paid for it!

Astrobiology: Extreme Science!  In two sessions, explore resources/weblinks and lesson materials on the ASTRO and BIO of Astrobiology.

Framing Student Success After High School:  Curricular designs for integrating science and mathematics in vocational technical programs.  A partnership among Portland Community College, Oregon State University , and Portland area high schools.

Become a FIRST Team:  Look at how several Oregon high schools approached the design challenge of the 2005 FIRST robotics season.  Mentors and students will be available to show off their robots and provide information about how you can start a FIRST team.

Got Fat? Explore a variety of lab activities and techniques using fats and oils.  Measure the rancidity of oils and make a sample of biodiesel.

How Safe Is Your Food Supply?  Labs will be demonstrated that explore the safety of hamburgers that are undercooked and the possibility of e-coli being left undetected.

A Common-Sense Approach to Increasing Test and Work Sample Scores.  Yes, it IS possible to increase your school’s OSAT test scores and science inquiry work sample scores!

Low-Cost Science with Film Cans and Floppy Disks:  These free/recycled materials can readily take the place of much traditional lab equipment such as beakers and ring stands.  Come see, make and take.

Learn How to Use a New Digital Physics Textbook and Virtual Physics Labs.  Learn how a fully integrated digital physics curriculum can aid your instruction.

The Making of the Water Garden :  A 50-minute journey in how a small number of students and parents transformed an abandoned tennis court into a refuge for native plants and wildlife.  Hear about how students created a living machine to digest juice and milk from their cafeteria.  Pick up ideas and tips in how you can lead your school in an environmental adventure.

Owl Pellets:  Hands-on experience in how to use owl pellets in the classroom. 

Aquarium:  Set up a new living world in your classroom.  Walk away with a new inquiry lesson for your classroom.

Orographics:  Learn how to set up your own orographic mountain system.  Information on how to procure materials for your classroom locally, at a bargain price.