TEP is sponsoring a two-day symposium at Biosphere 2 this month to help K-12 science teachers increase their knowledge and classroom skills.

TEP’s support for the Arizona Science Teacher’s Association’s Structure & Function Science Teacher’s Symposium will offset some registration and lodging costs for teachers and defray hosting expenses.

“Arizona suffers from a shortage of teachers with strong content background and teaching experience in science,” said Sara Torres, ASTA Executive Director. “By deepening teachers’ understanding of the crosscutting concept of structure and function and specific content knowledge, teachers become more effective and confident in connecting the concept to the content they teach to their students.”

Crosscutting concepts are applicable to all science disciplines and provide a framework for students to interrelate their knowledge. Some of the seven crosscutting concepts include patterns, cause and effect, structure and function and energy and matter.

The symposium will include presentations on the structure and function of coral, insects, light waves, Grand Canyon geology and solar systems, among other topics. STEMAZing teacher leaders from Pima County also will facilitate hands-on lessons about wind turbines and insects.

About 80 science teachers from across Arizona are expected to attend the symposium.