Thursday, March 22, 2012

Announcing the National Geographic supported Lizard Project’s partner educators!


The Lizard Project is thrilled to announce our partner educators who will be working with us to bring evolutionary biology from the field to their classrooms.  They are all outstanding educators who work hard every day to share the wide world of science with their students. We are looking forward to virtually visiting their classrooms through live video chats from the field.  In no particular order they are:

Adam Taylor, John Overton High School, Nashville, TN- We first found out about Mr. Taylor when he was live-casting his evolution lecture to his class over the internet! How cool is that?  He enthusiastically uses technology including twitter in class to get his students excited about learning.  He has also been involved with the National Science Foundation’s GK12 program which brings early career scientists into the classroom to share real science with teachers and kids. You can follow him on twitter @2footgirrafe

Erin Nash, Benton High School, St. Joseph, MO- Erin teaches a very cool zoology course to high schoolers where kids are “exploring the animal kingdom, one phylum at a time” through all sorts of exciting hands on methods. Her students share their experiences in her class with the world at http://nashzoology.ning.com/ and she blogs about innovative science education at http://nashosphere.edublogs.org/ You can follow Erin on twitter @erinlynnnash

Nick Riemann, A. Blair McPherson School, Edmonton, Alberta- “Put simply, Nick Reimann loves school and at times it can be difficult to distinguish between his excitement and passion for learning about science from that of his students.” That’s according to the Government of Alberta, which awarded Nick its highly prestigious Excellence in Teaching Award in 2011. It is that passion for science that drives Wide World Science and exactly what we are looking for in a partner educator!  Nick blogs at http://rieportingwow.blogspot.com/ and you can follow him on twitter @scimann

Alan Goldberg and Will Reed, Kelly High School, Chicago, IL-
 I am lucky enough to work with these guys every day back home in Chicago.  Alan and I have been team teaching inclusion biology classes for the last six years.  Mr. Goldberg works tirelessly for his students, no matter what their needs.  In 2011 he was awarded an Oppenheimer Family Foundation grant to conduct innovative lessons with live animals and last year he was instrumental in running the test program for The Lizard Project’s live communications. Will, who holds a degree in chemistry from the University of Chicago and is currently student at U of C’s Urban Teacher Education Program, is student teaching in my room and is on his way to an outstanding classroom career in the classroom. You can follow Will on twitter @greedotron

Youngzine.com - Youngzine, an engaging and interactive CNN-like website for kids has quickly become one of the very best online current event resources for classrooms.  We are super excited to have them as partners and we will be posting updates from the field on their site and fielding online questions from kids. I think these kids said it best when talking about Youngzine.
"Wow...... That's just all I can say. Its pretty cool but... Wow"
"Really really really!!!!!!!! awesome! I love animals all together!!! The world is just so amazing! Great article!"
"This is crazy awesome ! One of my favorite Youngzine articles . Made my jaw legit drop."
"Great story for such a young age! Keep writing you have gift and are meant to share it with the world! GREAT JOB!"
Check out Youngzine at: http://www.youngzine.com/ or to learn more about the great team behind Youngzine go to http://www.youngzine.com/page/about-Youngzine#Team

Gary Morris, Meredith Middle School, Des Moines, IA- Gary has worked with the National Science Foundation and Iowa State University’s Symbi GK12 program for two consecutive years.  Through this he has brought real science to his classroom in a unique way and helped to train two early career scientists in the art of science communication with the general public. We are super excited to have Gary hooked up with us this year!

Not a partner educator, but still wondering if you or your class can follow our adventures in evolutionary biology online?  You can indeed.  Drop me a line at aaronmreedy@gmail and we can talk about your class following Youngzine.com, this blog or following on twitter with: #lizardproject 

1 comment:

  1. 3rd Period Zoology; I think it's amazing how all of you guys are working together from different places. It is astonishing just to know someone that is working on this project and I never thought I'd ever meet scientists like you guys. The project you guys are working on has inspired my group's project on cockroaches. We hope to work as efficiently as you guys and as precise.

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