This article by Liza Brusman is available in English and Spanish, text or read loud.
NSTA Engage: Spring21 Session (Online)
We are excited to present our session "Gender-Inclusive Biology Curriculum: Small Tweaks and Big Shifts” at the NSTA Engage Spring21 Conference. Ours is a live session on May 6, 2021, 06:30 PM - 07:15 PM Eastern time.
Article: Transgender People and “Biological Sex” Myths
In this Medium article, biochemist and writer Julia Serano discusses the myth of a binary biological sex, and its implications for oppression and social justice.
Equity Guidance from Next Generation Science Standards
The Next Generation Science Standards include an appendix which discusses why and how science teachers must provide equitable learning opportunities for students from diverse backgrounds, including diverse genders. Two pertinent quotes from the appendix are as follows:
“To engage all students in learning the NGSS, it is important to understand the context that influences science learning by diverse student groups.”
“Science teachers need to acquire effective strategies to include all students regardless of racial, ethnic, cultural, linguistic, socioeconomic, and gender backgrounds.”
NABT Position Statement on Equity in Science Education
The National Association of Biology Teaching adopted this position statement in 2003, last revised 2009. The statement supports gender-inclusive biology teaching through two key points:
“We have a fundamental, active, and obligatory role in creating, ensuring, and promoting meaningful education environments that reflect the full spectrum of human dimensions so that diversity, unity, and equity are able to flourish in science education.”
“Diversity contributes to the richness of biological science understanding and ways of knowing, enhances our educational and scientific discourse, [and] places historical, cultural, and philosophical frames of reference in context.”
The macho sperm myth: Article by Robert D. Martin
Image source: LetsTalkSex.net
“Human fertilisation is a gigantic lottery with 250 million tickets: for healthy sperm, it is the luck of the draw.”
In this popular science article, Martin debunks a series of myths and double standards in human reproduction, including the pervasive, heteronormative belief that sperm cells "race" to reach an egg.