Virginia Association of Science Teachers

Sustaining Science!

As teachers of science, we need to continue to support and encourage one another to create quality lesson plans, activities, and experiments to be used in all teaching environments. Our goal, as teachers, is to help all students fall in love with learning and to encourage these students to ask questions about how things work and how they make these things better. By doing this, we can create a sustainable future through science education.

Proposals to Present

Consider sharing your expertise and experience by submitting a proposal to support one of the 2013 VAST PDI strands. If you have LOTS of ideas to share, you can submit multiple proposals. Please submit your proposal before June 17, 2013! To submit, click here.

PDI Strands

Strand #1: Understanding Environmental Literacy Across the Disciplines

Understanding how our environment connects us to everything around us is critical.  Share your passion about the environment through presentations of ideas and methods that inspire students to increase their own levels of environmental literacy.

Strand # 2: Empowering Science Learning Through STEM

Share your great ideas and activities about connecting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics into their established curricula.  Using STEM-related processes, students will become innovative learners to enhance the sustainability of life on Earth.

Strand # 3: What Works in Today’s Science Classrooms

Contribute to this strand’s patchwork of hands-on and minds-on activities and instructional methods that work in both formal and informal teaching situations and support the science of sustainability at all levels of education. 

Upcoming Conferences

TBA

Previous Conference Materials

2012 PDI Presentations and Notes 

• The lesson plans, including PowerPoints and supplemental worksheets, from the "Inquiry on a Shoestring: Preservice Teachers Sharing Inquiry-Based Lesson Activities" session, presented by Dr. Jacqueline McDonnough and Preservice Teachers from Virginia Commonwealth University, are now available online here.
• Notes from session "Energy as a Unifying Concept" found here
• Unedited presentation was captured in a video can be found here
• "Einstein’ Special Theory of Relativity" is available here