Welcome to the Innovative Minds Conference! Join us for professional development workshops, tours, and venue visits geared towards enhancing student learning and inventive mindsets. In our workshops, discover new tips, tricks, and techniques aimed at fostering student creativity, originality, collaborative mindsets, communication abilities, and problem-solving skills. Together we can build the “innovative minds” of tomorrow.
Please register for each day and/or tour you will attend. Add all your chosen items to your Cart and then complete check-out.
June 10-14, 2024
Amber Room
2nd Floor Mountain America Museum of Ancient Life
2929 N Thanksgiving Way
Lehi, UT 84043
Rose Room
Velvet Room
2nd Floor Tower Deli Building
3003 N Thanksgiving Way
Lehi, UT 84043
Join us for this free conference provided by Thanksgiving Point and iSEE partners. This conference is in-person and online, and all online workshops will be broadcasted through Zoom. Attendees to the Innovative Minds Conference will have the opportunity to receive relicensure points.
Schedule
8:30 – 9 am
Amber Room: Check-In and Gathering
9 – 10:15 am
Keynote
Amber Room
Presenter: Margaux Judkins, Thanksgiving Point
Explore the advantages of inquiry-based learning for student engagement and development. Through the lens of Thanksgiving Point’s own Inquiry Learning Framework, dive into the essentials of inquiry with hands-on practice and discover low-pressure methods you can use to start implementing a culture of Inquiry into your own classrooms.
10:30 – 11:45 am
Museum Collections Care
Rose Room
Presenter: Kylin Cummings, Thanksgiving Point
Learn about Thanksgiving Point Institute’s museum collection and how it helps us achieve our mission of bringing the joy of learning and wonders of the natural world in our guests. We collect scientific specimens, casts, recreations, and ephemera associated with scientific research. We don’t just have dinosaurs! Learn how we properly care for our collection and ensure their preservation for generations to come.
How To Get the Most out of Your Field Trip
Velvet Room and Virtual Session
Presenter: Leslie McBride, Thanksgiving Point
Embark on an educational adventure with these tips to maximize your field trip experience! From researching the destination to engaging with experts, discover how to make the most of every moment. Explore, learn, and create lasting memories on your next field trip!
12 – 1 pm
Amber Room: Lunch
1:15 – 2:30 pm
Kinesthetic Learning in the Classroom
Velvet Room and Virtual Session
Presenter: Jason Trump, Clark Planetarium
From Moon phases to motions of the Earth to gravity and inertia, Clark Planetarium has developed and tested multiple modalities for teaching the Utah SEEd standards kinesthetically. Kinesthetic learning, or learning through movement of the body, has received support as an effective way to engage students and to help them to process new or difficult information. In our hands-on session, we will lead you through a series of activities that demonstrate kinesthetic learning. Then we will discuss ways to incorporate similar activities in your own classroom. All levels of physical ability are welcome.
A Scientific Attitude Will Innovate Your Thinking
Rose Room
Presenter: Dr. Heath Ogden, Utah Valley University
Learn how a good scientific attitude (critical thinking) can lead someone down a path to reanalyze why the think or accept certain things to be “true”. I will use evolution as an example of this process.
2:45 – 4 pm
Wetlands in the Classroom
Rose Room
Presenter: Taylor Dewey, Thanksgiving Point
How can you teach about wetlands with limited resources? This workshop will give you ideas both for field trips or in classroom activities.
Real World Engineering Design
Velvet Room and Virtual Session
Presenter: Olivia Weinheimer, Thanksgiving Point
Learn how to teach students the engineering design process while solving real world engineering problems.
4:15 – 5 pm
Mountain America Museum of Ancient Life – Tour: Paleontology
Learn about the ancient world and Thanksgiving Point’s paleontology team while exploring the recently renovated Mountain America Museum of Ancient Life.
8:30 – 9 am
Amber Room: Check-In and Gathering
9 – 10:15 am
Botany Boxes – Uncovering Mysteries with Science
Rose Room
Presenter: Heather Paulsen, Red Butte Garden
Discover Red Butte Garden’s Botany Box program! This program is SEEd aligned and offered at no cost to educators! Materials are provided and support K-4th grade SEEd standards. Turn students into detectives as they uncover the mysteries hidden in tree rings and seeds. The kits include plant materials, a journal, and a magnifier for each student that they get to keep. Additionally, the kits supply easy-to-follow, standards-based curriculum, and optional follow-along videos for teachers.
Scaffolding Critical Thinking
Velvet Room and Virtual Session
Presenter: Russ Duffield, Dancing Moose Montessori
A workshop to explore what critical thinking is and how educators can structure their classroom to support skill development.
10:30 – 11:45 am
Games in the Classroom
Velvet Room and Virtual Session
Presenter: Caitlin Shirts, Thanksgiving Point
Games in science and math classrooms can increase engagement and scientific reasoning skills. However, some studies indicate that certain game designs help high performing students more than low performing students and increase gender disparities. In this workshop, we’ll review scientific literature on the impacts of cooperative and competitive games, and attendees will have the opportunity to discuss their own experiences, good and bad, with classroom games.
Think Like a Scientist!
Rose Room
Presenter: Julie Hartley, Thanksgiving Point
Learn how to help your students develop critical thinking skills through engaging inquiry learning activities.
12 – 1 pm
Amber Room: Lunch
1:15 – 2:30 pm
What’s the Matter With Fun? Engaging in Chemistry with the Children’s Museum
Rose Room
Jonathon Campbell, Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum
Chemistry and fun collide with the Children’s Museum. We’ll be discussing a few of the fabulous scientific and chemistry-based phenomena out there and how to engage students with them. Experiments include: Density Columns, Foam Gnomes and Elephant’s Toothpaste. Content covered will deal with Utah SEEd Strand 5.2.
Density in the Inquiry-Based Classroom
Velvet Room and Virtual Session
Presenter: Jason Trump, Clark Planetarium
In our hands-on session, you will learn how to lead students through a series of inquiry-based activities aligned with the Utah SEEd standards for sixth grade. Engage your natural curiosity while your explore how temperature affects the density of air and water, and learn about the role of density in weather patterns, the water cycle, ocean currents, sunspots, and more. Participants will be offered a kit of take-away materials to replicate the activities in their classroom (one kit per school). More information can be found at here.
2:45 – 4 pm
Junk Drawer Engineering
Velvet Room and Virtual Session
Presenter: Michele Gunnel, Thanksgiving Point
There’s no need for expensive or high-tech materials to teach your students engineering skills. All the materials you need can be found in your junk drawer! Come explore effective and inexpensive engineering lessons.
Cultivating a Curious Classroom
Rose Room
Presenter: Peter Hansen, Thanksgiving Point
At Thanksgiving Point we are all about learning through asking questions and being curious about the natural world. Learn how you can facilitate more impactful scientific questioning in your classroom.
4:15 – 5 pm
Butterfly Biosphere – Tour: Butterfly Conservatory
Learn about our exotic butterflies and the work our entomologists do to help them thrive in the Butterfly Biosphere.
8:30 – 9 am
Amber Room: Check-In and Gathering
9 – 10:15 am
Inquiry in Action
Velvet Room and Virtual Session
Presenter: Margaux Judkins, Thanksgiving Point
Take a closer look at Thanksgiving Point’s Inquiry Learning Framework. Receive help and resources to directly apply it to your own classroom and lesson development. Work alongside our Curator of Curiosity, Thanksgiving Point’s learning expert, and other teachers as you practice inquiry application.
10:30 – 11:45 am
Conservation in the Classroom
Velvet Room and Virtual Session
Presenter: Sarah Lambson, Ogden Nature Center
Come engage with Ogden Nature Center as we show you how to bring STEM learning, community science, and conservation to your students. We will go over methods and materials for 3 different conservation projects. Level 1: simple seed bombs-perfect for a short lesson. Level 2: Composting in the classroom-a low cost year long project that helps reduce waste. Level 3: Creating a pollinator garden for your school-a longer term project that requires planning and investment. Whatever your classroom age or level of time and commitment, we have something for you. So come learn how to engage your students in conservation and come ready to get your hands a little dirty!
Introduction to Entomology
Rose Room
Presenter: Tanya Minott, Thanksgiving Point
This workshop offers a quick introduction to the science of entomology, or, the study of insects. Universally misunderstood, insects play vital roles in our ecosystems. This presentation will cover the basics of the science.
12 – 1 pm
Ashton Gardens: Tour: Ashton Gardens
Learn about Ashton Gardens, its history, and the plants within from our garden designer.