Video: Are There "Male" and "Female" Brains?
This SciShow video reviews data concerning differences in the brains of biological males and biological females. The writers are careful to mention that research on this topic does not account for transgender or intersex individuals, and that neuroscience research as a whole is heavily focused on studying the brains of male humans and animals. You may also wish to discuss with students about the definition of “biological sex” and how that definition has changed throughout history.
Glossary resources, sports access, and new podcast appearances [Apr]
Hello, educators! You are in our thoughts during this challenging time. Here is our newsletter for April 2020.
Hi, everyone!
You are in our thoughts during this challenging time. Though we are physically isolated from our students and each other, the Gender-Inclusive Biology team would like to share gender-inclusive resources for remote learning and support.
Please email us if you have other suggestions or are seeking help.
Check the end for an invitation to the first of a series of informal social hours on Zoom.
Useful gender-inclusive resources for teaching remotely: Here are a few assets that we think will be useful for teachers distributing lessons remotely during this time. Please email us if you have other suggestions to add to this list!
Activity: Sex verification in athletes This activity guides students through analyzing data and the history of how sex verification in athletes has changed over time. When using with students, you can emphasize the idea that "biological sex" is an ambiguous, non-scientific term with a definition that has changed over time.
Video: There are more than two human sexes This engaging video (mostly geared towards the high school level) is a great introduction to diversity of sex characteristics and distinguishes the differences between sex and gender identity.
Video: Secrets of the X Chromosome This video and lesson addresses the differences between sex chromosomes and autosomes, including high-engagement topics like colorblindness, identical twins, and cats, all while approaching sex and gender using more accurate language than most online resources.
Gender-inclusive Biology Talkspace/Social hour: We will be hosting our first informal check-in space for educators interested in Gender-Inclusive Biology on Thursday, April 16th at 3 PM Pacific/6 PM Eastern via Zoom. If you are interested in joining us, please email Lewis (fishyteaching@gmail.com) for the link to join in!
Upcoming appearances:
Many in-person conferences have been canceled in the coming months. However, there are some exciting opportunities to connect with Gender-Inclusive Biology Education and related work in online and remote settings.
Sam gave a 30-minute webinar about Gender-Inclusive Biology on the STEM Village on Monday, April 6th - you can check out the video recording here!
Jamie Kubiak, a chemistry teacher in New York City, gave a recent webinar on creating LGBTQ-inclusive classrooms. You can view the recording and see the slide deck here.
Sam has been doing a Twitter series focused on dispelling common stereotypes and misconceptions about Asian-Americans by sharing his own stories and the stories of Asian-American heroes in STEM and beyond. You can check the project out using the hashtag #ExpectAsianVsReality
Sincerely,
Lewis, Sam, and River
The Gender-Inclusive Biology Team
What We Wish Our Teachers Knew - Brochure from InterACT Advocates
This brochure gives best practices for educators addressing the topic of intersex in classrooms, sex education classes, and school health centers. This resource was created by InterACT Youth and informed by their personal experiences.
Jamie Kubiak's Queer Your Classroom Webinar
Jamie Kubiak, a chemistry teacher in New York City, hosted a webinar in April 2020 in lieu of his cancelled NSTA conference presentation. The webinar video and slide deck are available below.
Jamie Kubiak's Queer Your Classroom Resources
Jamie Kubiak, a chemistry teacher in New York City, hosts a crowdsourced database of teaching resources for a diverse range of content areas.
STEM Village Webinar
Join Sam Long for a 30-minute webinar on Gender-Inclusive Biology on Monday, April 6th. The time is 4 pm BST or 9 am Mountain time. Thank you to STEM Village for hosting. DM @TheStemVillage for the meeting password.
Gender-Inclusive Biology Curriculums Sam Long takes us through an enlightening and insightful journey of how to build gender-inclusive curriculums, in a way ...
interACT Letter of Concern for Chromosome/Barr Body Staining Lab
Some schools do a lab exercise where students stain their own cells and determine their sex chromosomes (X and Y). This is a letter from the Executive Director of interACT that can be used to advocate for not doing this exercise due to the potential harm it can cause for intersex individuals.
