KEY INFORMATION

• LOCATION: CUNY City College of NY, North Academic Center (exact room will be emailed to participants)
• DATE & TIME: Sunday, February 8, 2026, 9am – 3pm
• LED BY: Qiao Feng (bio below)
• CTLE AVAILABLE: 6 hours available
• THIS WORKSHOP IS FOR: K-12 teachers who want to bring an exploratory botany project to their classroom.

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION

🌸🌺🌷🥀Just in time for Valentine’s Day and Spring! In this workshop you’ll experience an interactive classroom project that puts student curiosity and scientific thinking at the center. We’ll guide you through investigating flower structure and function as you explore angiosperm reproduction, flower anatomy, floral formulas, floral diagrams, and plant family identification—combining scientific rigor with an appreciation for the beauty of nature.

During the workshop, you’ll work hands-on in student-mode with dissection microscopes, dissection tools, and real plant specimens to model an inquiry-based learning experience. In teacher-mode, we will discuss implementation strategies, standards, timing (especially with the spring season coming up!), and more. You will leave with practical instructional resources and concrete examples that you can bring back to your classroom and adapt for any grade level, to make plant science engaging, accessible, and meaningful for all students.

A downloadable version of the agenda is available here.

WORKSHOP LEADERS

Qiao Feng is a high school science teacher in New York City with a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Columbia University. He teaches Biology, Chemistry, and AP Biology at Salanter Akiba Riverdale High School. Qiao designs innovative lessons that foster curiosity, critical thinking, and problem-solving.

ABOUT STEMteachersNYC

Since 2011, STEMteachersNYC has delivered professional development workshops for teachers, by teachers, about teaching. We are an approved CTLE and NYCPS MTAC vendor. All workshops over 2hrs offer CTLE. Below is some important information, but please see our official Registration FAQ on our website for full details and policies.

Pricing: workshop/event pricing reflects a desire to offer affordable professional learning experiences. Some workshops are subsidized and offered at a discount or for free.

CUNY & other partner campus pre-service students: If you are training to be a teacher, we want to welcome you to attend our workshops for free! Please email registration@stemteachersnyc.org for details and to see if you qualify.

Want to pay by invoice or purchase order? We encourage you to ask your school or organization if this is a possibility. Please see the Registration FAQ for the process.

Are there discounts available? Often, yes! In the summers, we offer Early Bird and Teacher discounts alongside a Full Price ticket meant for those whose school or organization is funding their ticket. In the summer, we also have full scholarships, and a Fellowship available. All year, we announce specials and discounts on our social media (@STEMteachersNYC on Instagram, LinkedIn, Bluesky, and Facebook), and in our Weekly Newsletter – sign up here. Additionally, we partner with several organizations and CUNY to offer free tickets to teachers and pre-service teachers involved, and if at any time price is a barrier to you purchasing a ticket, please contact us at registration@STEMteachersNYC.org

Refunds, cancellations, and other registration/ticketing policies or changes: Please see the full Registration FAQ for details and policies.

Please note: We take screenshots, photographs and record video of our workshops in order to publicize a positive image of science teaching, and of STEMteachersNYC – a recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit organization – and to support future teacher leaders. If you register, you are agreeing to be photographed and to have your voice and image video-recorded. You are also agreeing to relinquish all your rights to the photographs and video recordings.

If you do not wish to be photographed or video-recorded – you must inform us before the workshop starts. For in-person workshops, we may take one photograph of your face so that we can erase your image if we happen to catch it by chance during the workshop, and we will do our best to avoid you.

Have more questions? Please see the full Registration FAQ for further details and policies, or contact us directly:

• Registration or ticketing questions – registration@STEMteachersNYC.org
• Questions about invoice/PO issues – bookkeeper@STEMteachersNYC.org
• Any other questions – info@STEMteachersNYC.org