Join Us for Our Next Webinar Featuring Kathy Biernat founder of Zanilu Educational Services, LLC and Science Kit Ambassador

 

Connecting Big Ideas: Human Health & Ecosystem Systems

Monday, October 5, 2026

7:00 p.m. ET, 6:00 p.m. CT, 5:00 p.m. MT, 4:00 p.m. PT

Middle schoolers engage most deeply when life science topics directly connect to human health and the world around them.

This session dives into how pre-packaged lab activities (featuring Science Take-Out materials) can serve as powerful anchors for phenomenon-based learning that links human body systems, disease transmission, and environmental health. Using real-world examples like tick-borne  illnesses and disease vectors, we will walk through model lessons that explore the One Health framework—the vital link between human, animal, and environmental health. You’ll leave with concrete ideas on how to facilitate student-led data analysis, drive scientific discourse, and   help students see the big-picture impacts of human health.

 

 

Key Takeaways:

●       How to use tactile kit models to make micro-level disease dynamics and body system interactions visible to middle schoolers.

●       Frameworks for guiding Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning (CER) writing around human health phenomena.

●       Practical methods for connecting standard life science curriculum (ecosystems, cell biology, human body) to real-world disease prevention and health literacy.

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Presenter

Kathy Biernat

Kathy Biernat, M.S. is an award-winning STEM educator, curriculum designer, and founder of Zanilu Educational Services, LLC (http://zanilu.org), where she leverages over 30 years of expertise to create dynamic, "hands-on, minds-on" K–12 science curricula and professional development centered on real-world phenomena.

Kathy currently serves as the K–8 Science Lab Instructor at St. Alphonsus. School in Greendale, WI. With more than two decades of classroom experience and a Master’s degree in Health Education, she is a published author and longtime advocate for inquiry-driven learning who serves in the inaugural cohort of Science Take-Out Ambassadors—championing accessible, kit-based wet-lab investigations that bring authentic life and environmental science into any learning environment regardless of lab constraints (sciencetakeout.com).

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The presentation will be recorded and placed on the NMLSTA website https://nmlsta.wildapricot.org/ where it will be available for members.

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2026-2027 Webinar Schedule

September 

Bertha Vazquez: The Survival Curve: A 220-Year Story of Scientific Wonder

October 5, 2026

Kathy Biernat: Connecting Big Ideas: Phenomenon-Based Learning with Hands-on Models 

 November 10, 2026

Elizabeth Shreeve: DINOSAURS TO DRAGONS: Bringing Myths to life!

  

December 1, 2026

DeeDee Okamoto: Not Your Average Slinky Demo

 January 12, 2027

Katy Garvey, Kevin Bower, Jesse Nolan: MySciLife

 February

Nicole Sjoblom: Enhancing Middle School Science with Free interactive Lab Simulations by LabXchange

March 17 - 20, 2027

NSTA National Conference

Boston, MA 

April 20, 2027

Melinda  Campbell: Shifting Mindsets and Practices: Navigating the Challenges of Grade Reform

The presentations will be recorded and placed on the NMLSTA website where it will be available for members.

To access the recordings of previous webinars, click on the "Members-Only" link  in the header strip.