Virginia Association of Science Teachers

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Based on member feedback, we’ve streamlined our site menu to help you quickly find the information you need most.

Finding resources, events, and opportunities is now more intuitive than ever. We’ve reorganized our top-level navigation to improve access to key areas like professional learning, awards, grants, and publications. And, if you haven't noticed, we added an interactive calendar of VAST events at the bottom of the home page.

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  • VAST RISE Awards
  • Donna Sterling Exemplary Science Teaching Award for Elementary Teachers

Grants

  • VAST Mini Grant
  • TACT Mini Grant to Enhance Teaching of Chemistry
  • Shirley Sypolt Memorial Mini-grant for Elementary Education 

2026 Professional Development Institute

November 12-14, 2026

Hotel Madison, Harrisonburg, VA


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Upcoming events

    • 03/20/2026
    • 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
    • The Founders' Inn 5641 Indian River Rd., Virginia Beach, VA 23464
    • 0
    Join waitlist

    This interactive, hands-on workshop will equip you with review strategies to enhance
    science discourse, make thinking visible through models, explore science and
    engineering practices, strengthen vocabulary instruction, and more!

    Elementary, Middle & High School levels included along with LUNCH!

    • 03/23/2026
    • 4:15 PM - 5:45 PM
    • VIRTUAL
    Registration is closed


    • 03/24/2026
    • 4:15 PM - 5:15 PM
    • VIRTUAL
    Register

    In this interactive professional development webinar, science teachers will explore how to meaningfully support students’ motivation, strategic thinking, and metacognitive skills while teaching science content and science practices. Together, we will examine how three widely used instructional models in science education - cognitive apprenticeship, explicit and reflective instruction, and the 5E learning cycle - naturally align with key phases of self-regulated learning (SRL). Teachers will see how modeling thinking, providing structured scaffolds, inviting student articulation, and building in opportunities for reflection can strengthen both science learning and student independence. By the end of the webinar, teachers will leave with practical routines, prompts, and instructional moves that make student thinking visible, develop metacognitive habits, and help students take greater ownership of their learning in science.
    During the session, participants will engage in hands-on activities that mirror the student experience:
    Modeling + Think-Aloud Demo: Facilitators will walk through a science task while verbalizing planning and monitoring strategies, offering teachers a concrete model of SRL-aligned cognitive apprenticeship.
    Scaffold Design Workshop: Teachers will collaborate to create scaffolds (e.g., planning guides, metacognitive prompts, reflection routines) that can be embedded into upcoming units.
    5E Lesson Re-Mix: Participants will adapt a familiar 5E lesson by integrating SRL subprocesses—planning in “Engage,” monitoring in “Explore/Explain,” and self-evaluation in “Evaluate.”
    Peer Reflection Cycle: Teachers will practice short reflection protocols that parallel what students might use in their own science classrooms.

    Speaker: Dr. Erin Peters-Burton, George Mason University

    • 04/08/2026
    • 4:15 PM - 6:15 PM
    • VIRTUAL
    Register

    Whether you've been teaching physics for decades or this is your first year, a refresher on the physics content can be super helpful in preparing you to teach your next unit, especially for AP and dual enrollment courses. In this webinar, we will get a conceptual primer on topics related to fluid statics (density, pressure, buoyancy, etc.), with emphasis on teaching strategies for tricky concepts, real-world applications, and what students need to be successful for their next physics class. 

    This is the third in a series, to be followed by one more webinar on Fluids later in the semester.

    When: Wednesday, April 8 |  4:15-6:15 (Zoom)

    Focus: Making sense of concepts related to fluid statics, with emphasis on effective teaching strategies for tricky topics and real-world applications

    Audience: Physics teachers, especially AP and dual enrollment

    Presenters: Tatsu Takeuchi, Physics Professor (VA Tech) and CeeCee Bishop, Physics Instructor (CBGS)




    • 04/15/2026
    • 4:15 PM - 6:15 PM
    • VIRTUAL
    Register

    Whether you've been teaching physics for decades or this is your first year, a refresher on the physics content can be super helpful in preparing you to teach your next unit, especially for AP and dual enrollment courses. In this webinar, we will get a conceptual primer on topics related to fluid dynamics (continuity, Bernoulli's equation, etc), with emphasis on teaching strategies for tricky concepts, real-world applications, and what students need to be successful for their next physics class. 

    When: Wednesday, April 15 |  4:15-6:15 (Zoom)

    Focus: Making sense of concepts related to fluid dynamics, with emphasis on effective teaching strategies for tricky topics and real-world applications

    Audience: Physics teachers, especially AP and dual enrollment

    Presenters: Tatsu Takeuchi, Physics Professor (VA Tech) and CeeCee Bishop, Physics Instructor (CBGS)



    • 11/12/2026
    • 11/14/2026
    • Hotel Madison and Shenandoah Conference Center, Harrisonburg, VA
    Register


    • 11/12/2026
    • 11/14/2026
    • Hotel Madison and Shenandoah Conference Center, Harrisonburg, VA
    Register

    • 11/12/2026
    • 10:00 AM - 3:30 PM
    • Hotel Madison and Shenandoah Valley Conference Center
    • 100
    Register

    PDI Pre-Conference

    When: November 12, 2026; 10:00 am - 3:30 pm

    Where: Hotel Madison

    Registration Cost: $100.00 (Lunch is Included)

    Please note, this is a separate registration from the PDI!


    From Strategy to Student Impact: AI-Enhanced Science Instruction That Works

    Presenters: Tyler Hunt, Jessa Miles, Eric Rhoades, and Cary Wright

    In an era of rapid technological change, the heart of science education remains the same: a student’s ability to ask “Why?” and “How?” This preconference session explores the powerful connection between student-centered inquiry and the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence. Rather than viewing AI as a replacement for critical thinking, we will examine how it can serve as a cognitive scaffold that strengthens and accelerates scientific and engineering practices.

    Participants will explore practical strategies for maintaining a truly student-first environment, transforming AI from a tool of passive consumption into one that supports active, student-driven experimentation and discovery.



    Past events

    03/16/2026 Planning Accessible, Phenomena-Driven Instruction for ELs
    03/12/2026 Accessible Environmental Science Labs!
    03/05/2026 Accessible Biology Labs!
    03/03/2026 The Virginia Academy of Science: A Collaborative Partner for Professional Development
    02/24/2026 "Sensemaking & the Virginia Science SOLs Supporting Deep Understanding Through Inquiry-Based Instruction "
    02/11/2026 Introduction to Data Science
    02/10/2026 Science and Literacy Integration: The Science Classroom Meets the Science of Reading
    02/03/2026 Physics Content Primer: Rotational Motion
    11/13/2025 Exhibitor Registration: VAST 2025 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE (PDI)
    11/13/2025 VAST PDI Pre-Conference
    11/13/2025 VAST 2025 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE (PDI)
    02/24/2025 Elevating Middle School Science Teaching and Learning
    11/14/2024 Exhibitor Registration: VAST 2024 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE (PDI)
    11/14/2024 VAST 2024 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE (PDI)
    11/16/2023 2023 Donna Sterling Institute:
    11/16/2023 2023 ANNUAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE (PDI)
    11/10/2022 Donna Sterling Institute: Finding Smart Solutions in Energy and Climate Science
    11/10/2022 2022 ANNUAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE (PDI)
    11/16/2021 2021 ANNUAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE (PDI)
    10/03/2021 Donna Sterling Institute
    11/12/2020 2020 ANNUAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE (PDI)
    10/05/2020 Donna Sterling Institute 2020
    12/07/2019 Better Together: Region 2 PD Day
    11/14/2019 Donna Sterling Institute
    11/14/2019 2019 ANNUAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE (PDI)
    11/13/2019 2019 VAST Board Preconference Dinner
    11/15/2018 2018 VAST STERLING PRECONFERENCE
    11/15/2018 VISTA Alumni Registration at VAST 2018 PDI
    11/15/2018 2018 ANNUAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE
    11/14/2018 2018 VAST Board Preconference Dinner
    11/16/2017 2017 ANNUAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE AND PRE-CONFERENCE
    11/16/2017 VISTA Teachers Link for Registration at VAST 2017 PDI
    11/15/2017 VAST Board Preconference Dinner

    Virginia Association of Science Teachers

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