Focus Workshops are multi-day professional learning opportunities that provide a deep dive into content and inquiry investigations focusing on one STEM discipline. Read on to learn more about our current Focus Workshops, or visit our Past Focus Workshops page to learn more about past offerings!
Ready, Set, Access: Preparing for the Performance-Based MCAS
Starting in Spring 2025, all students in grades 5 and 8 will take a performance-based STE MCAS. Educators and leaders in grades 3-5 and 6-8 are invited to attend our one-day workshops this winter to learn more about these shifts in the STE MCAS, the implications for instruction and assessment in your classroom, and how best to prepare your students.
You will walk out of this program with:
- An understanding about the upcoming shifts to the grades 5 & 8 STE MCAS, the principles behind them, and the implications for instruction in grades 3-8
- Insight into students’ experiences when taking the new STE MCAS
- Tools and resources to make the necessary shifts in science instruction to support students
- A plan to support your school and your students
- Collaboration with grade-level colleagues
- 10 PDPs for attendance at both virtual and an in-person session
Separate workshops are offered for educators and leaders in grades 3-5 and 6-8 to best meet the needs of each grade band.
| Grades 3-5 Teachers and Administrators | Grades 6-8 Teachers and Administrators |
|---|---|
| In-Person Workshop Date: Wednesday, January 29th, 2025 (8:00 AM – 3:00 PM ET) |
In-Person Workshop Date: Thursday, January 30th, 2025 (8:00 AM – 3:00 PM ET) |
| In-Person Workshop Location: Fitchburg State University, Fitchburg, MA |
In-Person Workshop Location: Fitchburg State University, Fitchburg, MA |
| Virtual Workshop Sessions: Thursday, January 23rd, 2025 AND Thursday, February 6, 2025 (7:00 PM – 8:30 PM ET) |
Virtual Workshop Sessions: Thursday, January 23rd, 2025 AND Thursday, February 6, 2025 (7:00 PM – 8:30 PM ET) |
Registration Information:
Registration Cost:
$250 (includes continental breakfast and lunch)
PDPs: 10 PDPs available for full attendance at both virtual sessions and one grade band appropriate in-person
session.
This is a hybrid program – with both required virtual online and in-person components.
Waiting List Information:
The Grades 6-8 Workshop is now full, and we are accepting submissions for the waiting list only. Please use the registration form to submit your information, and we will get in contact via email if a spot opens up!
Rise to the Challenge Focus Workshop Series
Get ready to Rise to the Challenge in this Focus Workshop series based on the Wade Institute’s Massachusetts STEM Week Challenges!
In each workshop you’ll experience a variety of hands-on, inquiry-based STEM activities designed to support your students in using the Science and Engineering Practices. You’ll also explore how phenomena can spark curiosity, drive investigation, and make the learning relevant for students. The Challenges are designed for middle school students but are easily adaptable to upper elementary or high school settings. You have the option to take one or both workshops. At the conclusion of each workshop you’ll receive a curriculum packet and materials kit to implement the Challenge in your classroom. PDPs and optional Graduate Credits are offered for both workshops.
Animal Adaptions and Bioengineering
Challenge: Your team of engineers specializes in creating prosthetics for injured animals. You have been hired by a local organization that providesthis service and need to create a prototype for a specific injured animal. Investigations include understanding prosthetics, what they are used for, and why they are necessary; exploring animal adaptations and using new knowledge to create a new species; researching a specific terrestrial or marine animal and creating a fact sheet for it; and the final Challenge.
Collaborating Partners: Lloyd Center for the Environment; Buttonwood Park Zoo
Hurricane Heroes
Challenge: A category 4 hurricane has hit fictional Storm City, Massachusetts. The city faces several problems that can only be solved by your engineering team. Investigations include evacuating citizens, building emergency shelters, moving floodwaters, and designing alternative energy sources. The Challenge culminates in a redesign of the city’s resources to prevent future disaster. Along the way, you’ll engage with the science and engineering practices, inquiry-based learning, and the integration of STEM disciplines to inspire students in your own classroom. Join us to explore how to guide students through real-world problem-solving while addressing critical topics in disaster preparedness, sustainability, and resilience!
Dates: April 11th and April 12th, 2025 (8:30 AM – 3:30 PM ET)
Location: Hitchcock Center for the Environment, Amherst, MA
Collaborating Partner: Hitchcock Center for the Environment
Rise to the Challenge Focus Workshop Series Registration Info:
Registration Cost: $250 per workshop; $450 for both workshops
PDPs and Optional Graduate Credit for Each Workshop: 14 PDPs available without graduate credit.
22.5 PDPs and 1 graduate credit from Cambridge College available for $75. Additional work is required for credit.
How Does Your Oyster Grow? Exploring the Science and Engineering of Aquaculture
A 2-Day Focus Workshop for Grades 6-12 Educators
Enter the fascinating world of aquaculture and explore one of the only oyster shellfish hatcheries in the northeast! With a focus on raising oysters as a sustainable food source, Island Creek Oysters raises oysters from seedlings to adults. Through inquiry-based, hands-on investigations, explore shellfish life cycles, oyster reproduction, juvenile rearing, the technology used in aquaculture and the process of transferring oysters to grow-out facilities. Learn about the critical role oysters play in protecting ecosystems and the marine microalgae culturing that supports shellfish growth. Gain insights into aquaculture as a career path your students can explore. We will model using the Science & Engineering Practices, inquiry-based learning, and using phenomena in the classroom as you explore the fascinating world of aquaculture and how you can start a small aquaculture program in your own school. You will leave the workshop with resources and tools to use in your classroom that support the MA Science, Technology and Engineering Standards.
Registration Information:
Collaborating Partner: Island Creek Oysters
Dates: Thursday, February 27th, 2025 and Friday, February 28th, 2025 (8:30 AM – 3:30 PM)
Location: Island Creek Oysters, Duxbury, MA; and The Duxbury Senior Center Classroom Space
Registration Cost: $300/educator
PDPs and Optional Graduate Credit: 14 PDPs available without graduate credit. 22.5 PDPs and 1 graduate credit from Cambridge College available for $75. Additional work required for credit.
Earth’s Place in the Universe
A 2-Day Focus Workshop for Grades 3-8 Educators
Launch into an exploration of the Earth’s place in the universe, among the other billions of galaxies! Engage in using all fields of science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) to explore how big a billion is, identify stars and constellations, explain the life cycle of stars, and create scale models of our solar system and parts of the universe. Experience a variety of hands-on investigations, including identifying your cosmic address, generating scaled models of the universe and solar system and examining the life cycle of high-mass stars. Investigate how these stars created the heavier earth elements and create a supernova paint model.
Through inquiry-based investigations and a series of out-of-this-world planetarium experiences, we will weave art, inquiry, phenomena, and the science and engineering practices of using models into the science concepts explored. You will leave the workshop with more tools to explore and teach a subject that young and curious earthlings are eager to learn.
Registration Information:
Collaborating Partner: EcoTarium Museum of Science and Nature
Dates: Friday, March 28th, 2025 and Saturday, March 29th, 2025 (8:30 AM – 3:30 PM)
Location: EcoTarium Museum of Science and Nature, Worcester, MA
Registration Cost: $300/educator
PDPs and Optional Graduate Credit: 14 PDPs available without graduate credit. 22.5 PDPs and 1 graduate credit from Cambridge College available for $75. Additional work required for credit.