CATCA 2025

Are you an educator in Alberta passionate about integrating environmental, climate, and sustainability action into your school curriculum? Join the Alberta Council for Environmental Education for a workshop that focuses on the EcoSchools Canada certification program—a curriculum-linked framework designed to empower students, educators, and schools to take meaningful environmental and climate action. Discover practical strategies, resources, and best practices for implementing EcoSchools in your educational setting and fostering a culture of environmental stewardship and sustainability.

Learning Outcomes:
- Understand the curriculum connections that the EcoSchools program provides
- Understand the interdisciplinary potential of the ecoSchools program
- Sign up on the ECA platform and create and EcoAction Plan

Energy is a foundational concept in science. However, many students struggle to understand what energy is, and to correctly analyze situations using the concept of energy. Join us as we explore how using energy representations, such as energy-flow diagrams and work-energy bar charts, allow our students to describe the storage and transfer of energy in various familiar contexts. The visualizations described in this session work for multiple subjects and for students at various levels. A Deeper Understanding of Energy is the product of collaboration between classroom teachers and Perimeter Institute researchers. The resource is available in English and in French. Target audience: grades 7-12 general science, chemistry, biology and physics

Secondary students often assume that Religion and Science are inextricably at odds. Even if they can’t articulate exactly why, it is often taken for granted that a person of faith cannot embrace the scientific method and vice versa. This talk dispels caricatures of faithful flat-earthers, delves into the complex relationship between science and religion, considers seminal figures like Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Darwin, and Georges Lamaitre, and gives a framework for understanding how science and religion are not mutually exclusive.

This session dispels perduring caricatures about science and religion, explores seminal thinkers in the field like Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Darwin, and Georges Lamaitre, and gives teachers of Religious Education a framework for understanding how the respective domains of science and religion are by no means mutually exclusive.

Join Inside Education for an introduction to agriculture in Alberta's Grasslands region, exploring ecosystem health, impacts on wildlife and agriculture practices addressing climate change. This session covers biodiversity, climate change, and conservation agriculture, aligning with grade 5-6 Earth Systems, grade 6 Living Systems, grade 7 Interactions and Ecosystems, and grade 9 Biological Diversity. In addition, we’ll highlight our full suite of additional support through classroom programming, field trips, youth summits, learning resources and teacher PD.

We will showcase 3 interactive low-equipment Monday-morning ready classroom activities, adaptable by grade:
-An active reflection game that explores students' connections to agriculture and the food system.
-An immersive group game on habitat in the grasslands
-A high-energy game show about native grasslands species, innovation in the region, and more!

In the last decade thousands of exoplanets have been discovered. In this session, we will share hands-on activities you can have your students do to learn about how exoplanets are detected. We’ll also share the latest on exoplanet discoveries! Collaborations between Perimeter Institute researchers and classroom teachers have produced this classroom ready resource, Exploring Exoplanet Breakout Activity.

Skilled trades through apprenticeship pathways have long provided people with exceptional means to successful careers both ‘on the tools’ and beyond into management, entrepreneurship, and other exciting roles. These pathways require significant intellectual and mental capacity which is often overlooked. The demands of every trade in areas of numeracy and literacy cannot be overstated. Red Deer Polytechnic’s School of Trades and Technology is proposing an engaging and insightful look at the work being done to raise awareness and recognize the expectations both of industry and the post-secondary institutions that support them.The fundamental nature of work that Trades people do relies upon broad numeracy and literacy skills in every activity encountered. From measuring and estimating, to calculating and projecting; trades people employ diverse and complex skills in those traditionally academic areas. It is not good enough to be a journeyperson without having key working knowledge and applied competencies in mathematics and communication skills. Presentations will share deeper insights into daily applications and requirements necessary on job sites and workplaces across the Trades spectrum. Multiple presentation deliveries highlighting different areas by a variety of trades faculty will demonstrate how numeracy and literacy is essential across the board. As an added bonus, we will clearly demonstrate how these tried and tested learning applications can be used beyond those seeking a pathway in the skilled trades. The use of practical hands-on relevant learning activities is immensely powerful in engaging and inspiring learners of any persuasion. Cooking can teach physics, chemistry, and biology in practically every activity. Geometry and trigonometry are vital in all construction areas. Calculations of volume, flow, pressure, and capacity abound throughout Plumbing and Pipe related trades.Faculty from four program areas including Carpentry, Cooking, Electrical, and Welding have created highly informative and detailed presentations emphasizing and reinforcing critical rationales for the importance of academic skills, otherwise perceived as only for university driven learners, in the trades. These presentations will be enhanced with Alumni Success Stories speaking about how math, science, and other skills helped them transition from high school to successful careers in the trades. Industry Partners who hire graduates will discuss the skills they look for in apprentices and the importance of foundational education in high school to emphasize real-world applications of what students learn in school. Interdisciplinary Faculty speaking about trades integration into other subjects like physics, engineering, technology, education, and essential critical thinking areas so teachers can prepare students for trades careers by connecting curriculum subjects that mirror real-world problem-solving. Hands-on Learning and Technology in Trades (such as VR, AR, & simulations) showcasing how new tools are changing the way apprentices learn, making subjects more engaging for students such as our welding simulators. Workforce Development and Career Path speakers addressing workforce trends and how teachers can guide students toward stable, rewarding career paths.All these presentations align well with goals of building relationships and understanding the value of trades education for future success, both for the individual, and the community at large.

Join Inside Education for an engaging and interactive session where we will equip teachers with essential strategies to foster stronger critical thinking skills, informed stewardship, and a deep understanding of natural resource education among their students. We will demonstrate how experiential learning opportunities benefit all learner levels and leave you feeling empowered to teach across a diversity of literacy and numeracy skills. This session focuses on sharing practical, hands-on approaches and activities that Inside Education integrates into each program, empowering students to critically navigate and evaluate diverse perspectives while inspiring ethical decision-making through real-world environmental issues.

Are you looking for ways to connect your students with current physics research? Join us in performing an experiment and collecting observations from uniform circular motion to introduce students to dark matter. The materials are straightforward and teachers will be able to bring it to their classroom next week. The Mystery of Dark Matter resource is the product of collaboration between classroom teachers and Perimeter Institute researchers.

The new parts are in Bold.
In this session, educators will delve into the evolving landscape of educational technology with a focus on integrating LLMs - Large Language Models, like Google Gemini, Claude, Copilot, ... into the classroom. Participants will gain hands-on experience with LLMs' innovative digital tools designed to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes. This beginner to intermediate session will cover practical applications, including the integration of LLMs interactive platforms and digital resources into various curricula. We will also explore strategies for fostering digital literacy and critical thinking with students, ensuring ethical and effective use of technology in the classroom. This session will now cover the topic of AI "detectors" and plagiarism.

In this dynamic session, educators will delve into the evolving landscape of educational technology with a focus on integrating Magic School into the classroom. Participants will gain hands-on experience with Magic School innovative digital tools designed to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes. This beginner to intermediate session will cover practical applications, including the integration of Magic School interactive platforms and digital resources into various curricula. We will also explore strategies for fostering digital literacy and critical thinking in students, ensuring ethical and effective use of technology in the classroom.

Come and see how you can enhance literacy skills in your STEAM (Science Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) classes. Teachers are storytellers, we weave together concepts with relatable stories to help make learning more exciting, but also more memorable. In this session, you will learn how to engage your students in active listening exercises while listening to a variety of stories about STEAM concepts. This will also include a focus on Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Being in STEAM as well as suggestions on a variety of authors and books to fit your curriculum. this session is for all grade levels, although more appropriate for Division 2-4.

This workshop explores a number classroom assessment strategies that have been utilized in the high school classroom to improve student learning. These include introducing students to the cognitive expectations framework, designing formative assessment questions and the active use of whiteboards. The session will culminate with introducing rubrics and their use with summative assessment questions.

Assessments take many forms, from qualitative observations to assignments and tests. All of these are opportunities for feedback not just for students, but also for teachers. So how can you take advantage of that, and improve what you’re doing in your classroom, without adding a bunch more work to your life? This workshop will explore how you can use the results from all types of assessments to improve your teaching. The facilitators, Jason Cooper and Laura Pankratz, have decades of classroom and assessment experience. Participants in this workshop will engage in discussion and exploration of what is currently working in Alberta classrooms.

In this dynamic session, educators will delve into artificial intelligence and its potential to transform teaching and learning. Participants will gain hands-on experience with innovative digital tools designed to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes. This intermediate/advanced session will cover practical applications, including the integration of LLM and digital resources into various curricula. We will also explore strategies for fostering digital literacy and critical thinking in students, ensuring ethical and effective use of technology in the classroom.

NEW: For ease of use in this session, bring a device that makes it easy to select text and copy/paste content from published Google Docs to your favorite AI.

Are you interested in authentically weaving Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Being into your STEM lessons but don’t know where to start? Are you mindful of avoiding tokenism and teaching reconciliation with respect and authenticity? If so, then this is the session for you! Amanda Green will share her journey in learning from Indigenous people and appropriately implementing a variety of lessons that you can then use either on your own, or with guidance of a community member. Please remember that this is from the point of view of an ally, who sometimes makes mistakes, but ultimately wants to help others learn from them and do better. Amanda primarily focuses on Junior High (both in English and French), but has many ideas you can use with students of all ages.

We expect students to show up in our classes ready to learn, ready to incorporate new ideas into their canon of knowledge, skills and attitudes. But often students show up having been trained to perform on assignments, quizzes and tests for marks. There is a disconnect between these two expectations that can often lead to frustration for both teachers and students. This workshop will explore building a classroom culture that will have students valuing assessments as a measure of their learning rather than as a hoop to hop through. The facilitators, Jason Cooper and Laura Pankratz, have decades of classroom and assessment experience. Participants in this workshop will engage in discussion and exploration of what is currently working in Alberta classrooms.

Developing and applying foundational knowledge about First Nations, Metis, and Inuit for the benefit of students has been a new task challenging teachers in the classroom. In this session, Erin reviews a simple, effective and interesting project that makes these FNMI Connections for students, yet isn’t too complicated or time consuming and can be used across any subject area or grade level. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about what Wintercounts are, their value in the classroom and will engage in the Wintercount process first hand. Exemplars will be shared along with templates that are ready to use in classrooms on Monday morning. If you are a teacher that values inclusion, creativity and literacy, then this session is for you!

So, you have just finished scoring your students’ tests. You have a bunch of data! What do you do with that data? This workshop will explore some key tools for interpreting assessment data and discuss how they can be used to build assessments that are fair, reflect a range of student understanding, and provide meaningful feedback to students. The facilitators, Jason Cooper and Laura Pankratz, have decades of classroom and assessment experience. Participants in this workshop will engage in discussion and exploration of what is currently working in Alberta classrooms.

Strengthen your students’ problem-solving skills and engage creatively with the curriculum by creating games in Microsoft MakeCode Arcade! This session will provide you with the foundational knowledge to help your students design their own video games, then bring those games to life through block-based coding. Learn how computational thinking skills such as pattern recognition, algorithm design, and debugging are necessary when coding and how to connect games to cur-ricular concepts in any subject. This session explores connections to the Computer Science curriculum for grades 4 and up.

One lucky participant will head back to class with a new Micro:bit!
A laptop, Chromebook, or tablet is required for this session.
Some devices will be available for loan on a first come, first served basis.

Micro:bits are little pocket-sized computers packed with infinite possibilities! Come and see how to use this powerful tool to build engaging lessons around sustainability and energy conservation. Amanda Green will show you a variety of projects that focus on energy sources, environmental monitoring and coding for climate change. She will introduce you to InkSmith Climate Action kits and connect you with local energy organizations like Inside Education and the Alberta Emerald Foundation for free resources and potential funding. Amanda primarily focuses on Junior High (both in English and French), but has many ideas you can use with students of all ages. If you would like to try a Microbit please make sure to bring your own laptop or Chromebook.

You are a great teacher! You engage your students in rich learning tasks, and your students are successfully learning. How do you make sure your assessments reflect the breadth of student learning, and that feedback to students, parents and school administration helps them make informed choices moving forward? Blueprinting assessments (and class time) can help you. This workshop will explore the ideas of intentionally addressing mandated curriculum outcomes and cognitive load through blueprinting. The facilitators, Jason Cooper and Laura Pankratz, have decades of classroom and assessment experience. Participants in this workshop will engage in discussion and exploration of what is currently working in Alberta classrooms.

In this session, teachers will learn about the structure, function and application of science journals that can be used in the Secondary Science classroom. Including resources that support Assessment For Learning practices and FNMI connections, these journals serve 2 large purposes. They are a "guided home study program" to supplement student classroom learning (especially useful for chronically absent students or student athletes), and they serve the larger purpose of becoming evidence of a student's learning for parents/guardians to be displayed during parent meetings or conferences. Exemplars of these journals will be shown as well as tips, ideas and templates for teachers to start to use them in their own classroom immediately with their own diverse learners. Science 9 and 10 journals will be specifically shown during this session but Science Journals can be implemented in any 7-12 classroom with the templates and resources shared in this session. If you are a teacher that values student hard work, dedication, organization, pride in work and good study habits, then this session is for you!

Like a lot of teachers in Science I had no idea what to do when The TQS was updated to include teaching about First Nations, Metis and Inuit perspectives. This session will focus on my beginning of and still continuing journey to develop the competencies listed in TQS 5. The goal of this session is to help teachers find a place to start in their journey understanding First Nations, Metis and Inuit perspectives, especially in a science classroom.
Many teachers, especially in math and science really struggle to include First Nations, Metis and Inuit knowledge into their classes. Because this is a difficult task and teachers are afraid to do something wrong, it is often simply ignored. I want to help teachers understand that we don’t have to be perfect right off the bat, we are going to make mistakes and that is ok! By talking about my journey and the things that I’ve tried and learned about that I can help other teachers find a place where they fit and are willing to try something new. Being willing to try is an important part of reconciliation and being able to create schools that are safer for all students, particularly those who are affected by the legacy of residential schools.

Embark on a transformative cultural journey with Elder Phillip Campiou from Treaty 8, as we delve into the sacred teachings and traditional practices centered around the Tipi. Experience the profound connection to the land as we participate in the hands-on process of setting up a full-size Tipi. Through immersive storytelling, we'll uncover the timeless wisdom embedded in these teachings, offering invaluable insights that resonate deeply in our contemporary lives.

Enhance scientific literacy using the CER approach and ExploreLearning Gizmos, the 2024 CODiE Award Winner for Best STEM Instructional Solution for Grades K-12! This session introduces the pedagogical approach of CER, claim-evidence-reasoning, to promote scientific understanding and discourse. Participate in a modelled lesson using online science simulations to experience firsthand the strengths of a CER approach. Teachers are encouraged to bring a device.

Come and see how you can teach students about the periodic table of elements and chemistry concepts using games! Make your chemistry class fun and interactive and trick your students into learning their elements with gamification. Although this session is primarily for grade 9 science, there will be ideas that transcend many levels. You will get to try out games like periodic table Battleship & Jenga, atomic Uno and check out a variety of other commercial science board games. Amanda will share her resources to make some of the games as well as a plethora of other Chemistry ideas and tools you can use in your classroom Monday morning!

The real world doesn’t exist in silos so why do we expect our students to learn in them? Project Based Learning provides an opportunity to blur the lines between subject disciplines and allow students and teachers to collaborate on meaningful tasks, but how do we even begin? This session will provide guidance for different planning methods used to develop cross-curricular project based learning initiatives at the secondary level with science at their core.