tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7019485247334147682012-01-09T07:49:11.325-08:00A blog by Nevin Katz, author of the Dr. Birdley Teaches Science series, about science, arts, and technology in education.Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.comBlogger591100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-8807476503180124082011-12-20T13:33:00.001-08:002011-12-20T13:33:41.874-08:00

An initial map of the Byrdcraft realm!

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-30552381499833535312011-09-05T13:23:00.000-07:002011-09-05T13:26:08.555-07:00

Those buggers behind her better not try anything. She's in no mood.

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-65656789235619464472011-06-25T10:46:00.000-07:002011-12-20T13:21:47.049-08:00

A new character I designed for 'ByrdCraft'--

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-8688635285506439282011-06-03T19:11:00.000-07:002011-06-03T19:20:49.857-07:00

Summer's almost here, and I am feeling ambitious about learning more about mobile apps. Recently I designed a mobile app for my group at EDC using Actionscript. To see it wander onto my iPhone was nothing short of miraculous the first time, and it has been great fine-tuning it. However, optimizing its performance so that everything runs smoothly is a challenge - and it looks like this

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-31752043407386172322011-04-21T09:04:00.000-07:002011-04-21T10:01:55.926-07:00

One of my central roles at EDC is building applets - small web-based applications that provide the user with an interactive and educational experience. They are usually open-ended, and allow the user to manipulate something on screen and see a result - such as this seasons applet I did a while back, viewable here.In addition to building applets, I've been thinking a lot about gaming and its

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-5612336497672731952011-04-17T06:59:00.000-07:002011-04-17T07:36:00.854-07:00

Back when I was teaching, I used to draw cartoons on post-its and give them out as extra credit coupons for my students. One of the more popular ones was a scene entitled World of Byrdcraft with a Birdley-esque wizard with a robe and a staff. The character has carried over into my after-work Flash projects, as I've been working on an adventure game based on this mystical character.While the

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-39248548692035156292011-04-08T09:20:00.000-07:002011-04-08T09:49:11.932-07:00

This is my story: back in November, I was tasked with developing an app for ETLO using Flash. I was eagerly anticipating the addition of Flash CS5 for my machine, but while I waited, my group hatched the idea of a simple checklist app that participants in our courses could use to store the tasks they had accomplished on a given day. I loved the idea, but in the back of my mind I knew that the

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-57873038128203564872010-06-29T22:08:00.000-07:002010-06-29T22:45:44.829-07:00

Hello from Denver! I am writing from the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) Conference. There have been some amazing panels and workshops. My closing workshop of the day dealt with a project by Judith Beaver, Jerome Burg and Sharon Sikora Franz, PhD, in which students were taken on a science field trip to Costa Rica to conduct field research at several sites, including

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-37054878089485704782009-05-05T15:14:00.000-07:002009-05-05T15:30:28.205-07:00

The post I wrote for Boston.com today appeared and is available here. It was exciting to see this go up and I'm happy that our project is being spotlighted. Before you head off to read, I will leave you with this temple rising above the bustling streets of Bangalore.

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-26483328146450590652009-05-04T19:58:00.001-07:002009-05-04T20:43:24.634-07:00

I will now be posting some additional pictures from my journeys through Bangalore and Bhopal. The first round of pictures here are of the botanical gardens, an oasis of rare architecture and striking plant life, protected from the bustling streets of Bangalore that lay just outside. Visiting the gardens was a highlight of the trip and definitely got me thinking about earth science and botany

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-39638079013050722072009-04-22T10:36:00.000-07:002009-04-22T12:17:29.233-07:00

Today's visit to the school in Bangalore was excellent. I met with students and had them ask me some science questions, which I answered to the best of my ability. There was a question about banana reproduction that kind of stumped me, so fortunately the facilitator helped out, both with that and with other questions that related to everyday life in India. We then showed them some applets and

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-13333412580668921902009-04-21T06:08:00.000-07:002009-04-21T08:41:09.430-07:00

Sometimes tossing out the agenda and responding to the surroundings on a given day yields great things - and today was one of those days. I went in prepared to run a dry science brainstorming session, consisting of me up on stage for several hours writing core science topics on the board. But when we entered the focus group room, we saw the teachers already at the computers, working with the

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-30775638214041531122009-04-20T07:43:00.000-07:002009-04-20T08:29:10.291-07:00

Great day today. Held a focus group on Physics with some teachers. We figured out their core topics for forces and motion and light - and we will be asking them for feedback on electricity, magnetism, and heat tomorrow. The campus we held the group at was beautiful and the teachers seemed pretty intellectually curious. In addition to getting their feedback on the core topics, I had the

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-47199410150710222362009-04-19T09:35:00.000-07:002009-04-21T12:00:46.668-07:00

As I walked the streets of Bangalore, the city was full of activity. Also visited the Botanical Gardens, a sprawling arboretum full of amazing flowers, plants, and altars - as well as an impressive geological formation composed of igneous rock. A few pictures are below.

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-87361927496523671532009-04-17T21:17:00.000-07:002009-04-18T04:20:10.416-07:00

Before I go on about Bangalore, I wanted to offer a quick flash back to a school visit I had on Thursday in Bhopal before my evening flight. Below are some pictures of this amazing place: This is a mask I made with a group of kids in an art class. Bulbul, the girl who helped me on it, was an expert with this. She must have been no older than 7 or 8 but demonstrated considerable expertise.One of

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-75879528840021985452009-04-17T21:06:00.000-07:002009-04-17T21:12:35.609-07:00

After an astounding school visit on Thursday, I took a flight to Delhi Friday evening and stayed overnight in a hotel for about three hours. I then woke up and caught a flight to Bangalore. It is a beautiful city and the traffic is a little more orderly than in Bhopal. I went on a nice long run this morning through the city and got the lay of the land. It was a nice change to finally

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-40536352335369050212009-04-15T09:46:00.000-07:002009-04-15T09:54:17.099-07:00

The past two days have been pretty packed. We had a two day focus group with local teachers where we showed them a lot of our multimedia and got their feedback on what they thought worked, and what needed to be modified. Despite the long hours, they were very receptive and seemed to enjoy the experience. Despite cultural and linguistic barriers, we had a lot of common ground due to our mutual

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-53871254720791272282009-04-13T11:23:00.001-07:002009-04-13T11:26:53.869-07:00

Visited two middle schools today in Bhopal. The surroundings are modest, but both are very well run and have some exceptional teachers. The students' behavior was also remarkably good. In between visits, I spoke with various members of the project team about storyboarding the CD. Planning the Physics CD will involve taking elements from earlier projects and adapting them for a middle school

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-53626804944475176042009-04-12T09:42:00.000-07:002009-04-18T01:08:09.660-07:00

I managed to get out to Delhi before my flight and see a bit of the city. President's House, India Gate, and the Lotus mall. Truly amazing sights. The stately quality of the President's mansion was striking, and it was interesting to see people milling about around the India gate. I imagine the U.S. equivalent might be the crowds in D.C. -- if there IS a U.S. equivalent. The bottom floor of

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-12969121166262998332009-04-11T17:34:00.000-07:002009-04-18T01:12:03.801-07:00

I left Logan at 5:45 pm and got into Charles de Gaulle at about 5:00 in the morning. It was a surreal experience getting into Paris - we all left the plane and stumbled into a dark, red interior with flight screens and narrow, labyrinthine corridors. Large windows revealed the early morning sky, and the only glimpse of Paris I would see that day. After I got my bearings and walked a bit, I ended

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-41257717412583945182009-04-10T12:59:00.000-07:002009-04-10T13:06:38.911-07:00

I am here at Logan airport about to depart for India! I will be there for about two weeks gathering info that will assist us in designing a physics CD for teachers in India. My trip will be packed with school visits, teacher focus groups, and meetings with technology specialists. Updates and pictures to follow!

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-72228865418068160522009-02-16T07:43:00.000-08:002009-02-17T16:46:29.406-08:00

The tropical leaf frog Cruziohyla calcarifer, which resides in Costa Rica, is one of the many amphibian species around the world that have been pushed to the brink of extinction by elimination of habitats and the spread of disease. In 2007, Scientists started to study this species in order to better understand the effects of the environment and diet on its health, in hopes that the resulting

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-81357427484376284522009-01-26T20:00:00.000-08:002009-01-26T20:07:16.710-08:00

Now with 9 books done, I am working on developing the foundation for a series of animated webisodes that will appear on the Birdley site. So far I have finished walk cycles for the core characters: Dr. B, Owelle, Norman, Gina, and Jaykes. As I develop storyboards, I'm developing the habits, quirks, and "golden poses" that make these characters who they are, as well as bringing a few more of

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-1215444984484412852009-01-10T21:36:00.000-08:002009-01-10T21:44:30.407-08:00

With book 9 done, I have returned my focus from the printed page to the online medium. In addition to updating the publications page, I have opened up an online store at cafepress.com and put up a mug featuring the infamous Dr. Birdley. You can also find dressware and stickers. I plan to add it to the Birdley site's page soon, but for those of you who want to check it out, you can visit the

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-74477593105017842882009-01-07T16:33:00.001-08:002009-01-07T17:04:44.383-08:00

On this cold New England night, Mysteries of the Earth was sent off to press. Known to my inner circle as the infamous Book 9, this is a groundbreaking book for Dr. Birdley that chronicles his travels to far off places where he and the other characters explore the wonders of the natural world. It's always hard to believe that so many months of work fit onto just one CD - but such are the times

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-91151547267089901242009-01-03T10:16:00.000-08:002009-01-03T10:23:14.960-08:00

Happy New Year, everyone. I hope everyone is looking forward to a fantastic 2009. This promises to be a landmark year for Dr. Birdley - the two long awaited earth science books will be coming out this year: Mysteries of the Earth and Constructing the Earth. Constructing is due out sometime in the early Spring, and I'm about to send Mysteries off to press. I think you'll find that the books

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-77374465586044463552008-11-11T20:29:00.000-08:002008-11-11T21:36:37.467-08:00

It has been a while since i have written a post, mainly because it has been a huge time of transition. I recently made the switch from teaching to being an online curriculum developer at EDC (Educational Development Center). I am now facilitating online courses and designing applets - small online learning applications that add a dynamic, interactive element to online courses. My current applet

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-91279697591514598502008-10-01T10:59:00.000-07:002008-10-01T11:13:55.084-07:00

Here is the first installment in a how-to-guide to draw Dr. Birdley. This was suggested to me by Kristen, a student in my sixth period class. I know it would work better with pictures, so those are coming. But in the meantime, see if you can figure it out with these steps. This is how to draw him turned slightly to the right side of the paper (or papyrus, if that's what you're using.)First, start

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-86471469902590520572008-09-26T11:09:00.000-07:002008-09-26T11:36:11.559-07:00

I'm psyched. I just got some glass from a neighboring teacher for testing the hardness of rocks. This will make for an awesome lab for next week in both classes - environmental science as well as physical science.Two kids from last year came to my class and asked if they could sit in on some of my classes next week during their study hall to catch up on stuff they may have missed last year.

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-12342583924622954762008-09-24T11:53:00.001-07:002008-09-24T12:22:39.707-07:00

A top student of mine from last year stopped by and encouraged me to introduce Birdleys to other teachers. "Tell them to use the Birdleys," she said, "because they're GOOD." Perhaps it was the visual aspect, but it may also have been that we read the comics aloud alot, which helped get students get involved and remember the comics. This post will mainly introduce a few techniques I use in having

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-52744319700670029292008-09-22T12:11:00.000-07:002008-09-22T12:20:51.810-07:00

I attended Colin Tedford's and Marek Bennett's talk at the Zine Convention yesterday, which was a great talk on how to publish and promote comics, specifically those developed by student groups, organizations, and after school programs. Colin had some great examples of comics with a political message, such as "Great Moments in Nuclear History," that can prove to be valuable for specific types of

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-48816104480727030982008-09-19T11:15:00.000-07:002008-09-19T11:44:08.328-07:00

I will be going to a Zine convention in Boston this weekend to hear Marek Bennet, another teacher-cartoonist, speak about the use of cartoons in education. Other comic artists, including Colin Tenford and E.J. Barnes, are likely to appear at the convention. Should be a good time.Between chasing my 3-year old around, book #9 is evolving. Its major include rocks, geologic time, volcanoes, and the

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-86101544588574218062008-09-18T10:40:00.000-07:002008-09-20T17:34:45.437-07:00

One of my students from last year came to my class and asked for a Dr. Birdley comic, just for old times sake. This was a student of mine who had been pretty enthusiastic about reading the Birdley comics and playing the characters last year. I gave him one on the role of cyanobacteria in the oxygen revolution (viewable at www.birdleymedia.com/samplechoice.html. ) Within 30 minutes he completed it

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-30232396895316837832008-09-15T11:44:00.000-07:002008-09-15T11:55:40.812-07:00

I have here what some imagine to be a sprawling Precambrian landscape. My lessons this year on the precambrian were influenced by Lynn Margulis's lecture on geomicrobiology and symbiogenesis at Woods Hole this summer. Make no mistake, a lot of stuff happened in the first several billion years of earth's history. Birdley books 8 and 9 will have comics on this. In our class we talked a good deal

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-37527842957462857442008-09-12T11:17:00.000-07:002008-09-15T11:54:52.942-07:00

It is Friday again, and what a great week it has been. A busy week, as you can tell by the eclectic title. Much has been accomplished both with classes and with Birdley book 9. Hang in there, earth science teachers, a couple Birdley Earth books should be coming soon. I've heard a few requests for the new link to the Birdley site and the link to the home page is the same as before: http://

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-71819860359668255142008-09-03T10:20:00.000-07:002008-09-15T11:08:33.567-07:00

This summer I had the opportunity to attend the "Living in a Microbial World" workshop in Woods Hole and we did some fascinating work with slime molds. We cultured them on petri dishes and without knowing much about them, brainstormed some questions and developed our own experiments. Our specific experiment dealt with how pH affects the growth of a slime mold. IT was difficult to achieve

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-12918151744993943792008-08-31T20:25:00.001-07:002008-08-31T20:34:48.842-07:00

After many long hours, the Dr. Birdley site has been relaunched using CSS. I used Dreamweaver to redesign these core pages and tried to centralize most of the main styles on a CSS page. The major advantage to this is that it is easier to update. Major changes include:-A "sample pages" page that is viewable in either Flash or Javascript-An updated "Birdley in the News" page-An expanded list

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-7157516318502575922008-04-22T05:50:00.001-07:002008-04-22T05:56:37.685-07:00

Last week I was putting together my students' exams for the forces & motion unit of my course, and at the last minute I decided to attach a comic template to the exam and offer it as an extra credit option after they had finished the exam. Although not all of them tried it, those who did produced some great stuff! Knowing that I'll have a few comics to page through makes the prospect of grading

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-74808269539056072292008-04-11T18:50:00.000-07:002008-04-11T19:11:34.414-07:00

What a day. When I was getting ready to leave in the darkness of the 5:30 dawn, I did not realize what a tremendous experience the rest of the day would bring - but the conference at the University of Massachusetts Medical School was a great opportunity to meet and network with educators and health care professionals. Birdley actually took a back seat this time, as the focus of my panel and

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-24280102709284439262008-04-08T18:32:00.000-07:002008-04-08T18:55:20.066-07:00

The reception at the Greenfield art gallery was a blast. The event took place at Greenfield community college, and numerous artists had work on display. There was also a table were artists were selling their cards, mini-comics, and other works. It was great to connect with so many other artists who did such a variety of work - to think that without events like these, we could all be passing

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-30141397324334764762008-04-05T11:41:00.001-07:002008-04-05T11:49:26.648-07:00

As the U. Mass Conference approaches, I am busy making the final preparations on the lesson demo and the panel presentation. The Conference will be on Friday, April 11th, at the Medical School in Worcester, MA. My presentation will focus on a range of methods for integrating tie-ins to health care careers into science lessons. Although I have been using case studies since my student teaching

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-61434508436622988132008-03-30T21:45:00.000-07:002008-03-30T21:50:29.435-07:00

I did. Just put some of the 11 x 14 Bristols into frames for the Gallery Opening in Greenfield tomorrow. It's total shift in thinking when you're preparing art for a Gallery opening as opposed to publication. For one thing it's very difficult to use Photoshop! It's also hard to with lettering if you don't do it by hand. The featured Birdley comics, are all originals that were used for Dr.

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-82834354043692033322008-03-30T07:13:00.000-07:002008-03-30T07:29:54.535-07:00

We're back from the NSTA conference, and it was a great success. The conference took place at the Boston Convention Center, which initially had the look of an airport with its larger-than-life hallways and seemingly mile-long corridors...but it was the perfect place to hold a convention of such magnitude. Over 12,000 teachers attended, who arrived in fleets of bus shuttles. I was their for

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-89054850591849352292008-03-26T15:53:00.000-07:002008-03-26T16:03:56.258-07:00

The NSTA (National Science Teachers Association) Conference in Boston is fast approaching. I will be attending this Friday and Saturday to talk with other educators and publishers about new developments in teaching and curriculum. Naturally, Dr. B will be making an appearance as well. And starting March 31st, there will be a Gallery showing Greenfield, featuring three original source

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-35011297641649923552008-03-16T09:50:00.001-07:002008-03-16T09:57:46.647-07:00

Upon finding a wealth of inspirational quotes online, I've started working some of them into my lessons. Sometimes I ask my students to write a quick paragraph about its meaning, but more often I'll just post them and ask students what they mean. It started with a quote of the week, but now I think I have enough to give them a new ones more regularly. My track coach in high school used to give

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-69712737783114360242008-03-06T07:05:00.000-08:002008-03-06T07:11:28.329-08:00

Recently as I was driving to work, I thought of an art-based activity to do with my Environmental Science class that has so far worked out well. We've been reviewing biomes, so I had my students fold some poster paper into four quadrants, and in each quadrant, draw a specific type of biome. Students have to draw and label four abiotic factors, four biotic factors, include a description on climate

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-53062796927333744782008-03-04T10:26:00.000-08:002008-03-04T10:36:49.738-08:00

It appears there is a new development in the Katz household as of late: Dr. Birdley cookies. Upon molding and icing these tasty treats I was struck by how we were able to get them to look like the characters. Birdley, Jaykes, Norman, Owelle, and Gina all appeared as cookies. We hope to have some ready for the NSTA Conference.In addition to the cookies, the two upcoming books are taking shape

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-70778742259736632272008-02-16T10:24:00.000-08:002008-02-16T10:36:40.762-08:00

As February break begins, I am finalizing the outline for the U. Mass Medical School Conference in April. My goal as one of the panelists is to assist educators in developing teaching strategies for integrating more of the health sciences into their lessons, as a means of exposing students to health-related professions and making science more relevant to "real life." In planning the panel and

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-38891804748175771992008-02-08T10:11:00.000-08:002008-02-08T10:33:43.219-08:00

As we finish the chemistry part of physical science, I've started throwing a lot of organic molecules at my students that somehow tie into real life. My hope is that by giving them some real-life relevance to the abstract material they'll remember some of it better. A favorite molecule we discussed this week was the buckyball, a spherical cage made up of 60 carbon atoms. I pointed out that

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-81218701648896304922008-02-02T10:52:00.000-08:002008-02-02T12:03:03.305-08:00

This past Friday my first period class was reading the comic A Polar Molecule, in which Jaykes and Birdley shrink themselves to the size of an atom and observe the polar qualities of H2O. After we read the comic, there was yet another question my class about whether or not Jaykes is blind, or was blind at one time. He wears dark glasses, which I think gives them that idea. This time I actually

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-39559867172590703172008-01-30T11:21:00.000-08:002008-01-30T11:33:27.760-08:00

At this point of the year, some students start to lose focus.... so I have been devising a few strategies to keep them motivated and attentive. As I wrote earlier, the coupons still seem to help. It's hard to get to every student who deserves it, but I enjoy recognizing the hard work. I also found that simply writing statements on a small strip of paper (about the size of a fortune cookie

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-61202396610909478512008-01-26T10:20:00.001-08:002008-01-26T10:36:23.249-08:00

Over the years I've had a lot of students who have surprised me with the way they combine art and science. Whether its through comics, posters, flipbooks, or other media, these students have been able to convey science ideas in artistic ways that grab the interest of the viewer. In the Dr. Birdley strip this quality emerges in Neil, an artistic student is initially jaded with science and is

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-4969498650061806622008-01-19T13:42:00.000-08:002008-01-19T15:30:10.316-08:00

It all started a few months ago, when a colleague of mine recommended I show "The Lorax" to my environmental science class. Predictably, some of them were tempted to write it off as "just a cartoon," but it sparked some great discussion in the class and serves as a reference point now when we talk about the human impact on our world's ecosystems. Just prior to showing it to my class, I

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-67336440764664738112008-01-17T09:50:00.000-08:002008-01-17T10:12:42.886-08:00

This week is mid-term week, which is a great opportunity to catch up on grading and reflect on the progress this year. It's also a nice time for accomplishing small things that make a big difference, like getting some of the overhead lights fixed in my classroom. My students were nearly blinded by the lighter interior! One of them asked to take the exam with the lights off. Generally, though, my

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-40709122557061689842008-01-11T08:48:00.000-08:002008-01-11T09:02:45.231-08:00

I have been working on the first Earth & Space Science book over the past months. My initial audience has been my son Jeremy, who is almost 3. He seems to like them so far. Having mainly designed comics on quick processes such as fast-acting chemical reactions, it has been a shift figuring out how to tell stories in comic form that span billions of years using the characters. It has also

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-7281789103499934162008-01-09T09:00:00.000-08:002008-01-09T09:07:45.792-08:00

Today in my environmental science class we read an article from sciencedaily.com entitled " 'Deep-sea Species' Loss Could Lead to Oceans' Collapse, Study Says." (In other words, "Save the Seas!") I chose it because it served as a good example of how the level of biodiversity in an ecosystem affects the rest of the world. In this case, the amount of species diversity on the ocean floor has a great

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-63397672839040380232008-01-05T10:54:00.001-08:002008-01-05T10:57:31.227-08:00

With the start of the New Year, I decided to start rewarding exceptional work with some Dr. Birdley coupons. They're basically post-it notes that I drew the characters on and gave to the students. I told students that on the next quiz they could exchange their coupons for extra points. I think it helped students get more motivated and added a fun aspect to the classroom climate. One of the

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-78373885992120962502007-09-21T12:20:00.000-07:002007-09-21T12:22:17.134-07:00

I recently discovered that the Dr. Birdley Teaches Science series has been purchased by and distributed to all of the educational facilities run by the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services (DYS). The series has also been incorporated into the department's instructional guide for teachers.

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701948524733414768.post-45185840950736098462007-09-16T07:21:00.001-07:002007-09-21T12:34:20.225-07:00

I am finishing up the seventh installment of the Dr. Birdley Teaches Science Series: Forces and Motion. This book, geared for students in grades 5-12, develops the core cast of Birdley, Clarissa, Gina, Jaykes, and Norman, and focuses primarily on athletics. A good number of source cartoons explore the physics of basketball, hockey, tennis, golf, baseball, camel racing, and other sports. Birdley

Nevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07822630989135399130noreply@blogger.com0