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In this webinar video, an expert panel discusses how to represent wide-ranging family structures and personal identities using the latest pedigree nomenclature
Personal Genetics Education & Dialogue (PGED) raises awareness about genetics and discuss how genetic technologies impact people’s lives now and in the future.
This lesson uses athletics as a lens to examine the biology of sex differences, and how societies react to individuals with these differences. Through readings, slides and discussion, students will examine the history of sex confirmation in elite athletic competition and learn why dividing people into two sexes is not as clear-cut as it seems. Students consider the practice of defining sex by anatomy, DNA, and hormones and then think about the various viewpoints on fairness, diversity and inclusion in sports and society. The classroom activity asks students to imagine being a doctor responsible for verifying the sex of athletes in an international track and field competition while considering the realities of genetic complexity as well as the impact of their decisions on athletes and other stakeholders.
The lesson plan includes a Do Now, slideshow, and a classroom activity.
There is also video lesson that includes a Do Now question and prompts to pause and answer questions.
Personal Genetics Education & Dialogue (PGED) raises awareness about genetics and discuss how genetic technologies impact people’s lives now and in the future.
In this set of three lessons from Galactic Polymath, students will learn that hybrids are not flukes—they’re commonly found in the wild and our grocery stores! By playing and reflecting on Foraging Frenzy (a research-inspired memory game) students will appreciate how climate change affects species ranges and the direction of evolution.
Students will be exposed to diverse scientific researchers, including a queer scientist who reflects on his journey and the impact of role models.
TESTED: A Surprising History of Women's Sports is a series produced by CBC, NPR's Embedded, and Bucket of Eels. The series is hosted by Rose Eveleth (they/them).
Through history and the ongoing cases of current athletes, TESTED explores the surprising story of who gets to compete in the women's category of sports.
The TESTED website contains episode transcripts and links for further reading
From homosexual penguins and sex-transitioning fish to pregnant male seahorses and sexually dominant female bonobos, there are thousands of species that defy our expectations of gender and sexuality. Director Drew Denny takes the nature documentary to a whole new level in this eye-opening and entertaining expedition to the places David Attenborough overlooks, where giant duck penises and corkscrew vaginas take center stage.
Turns out Darwin wasn’t right about everything. He nailed that theory of evolution, but his understanding of gender and sexual diversity in the animal kingdom was more than a little misguided. Turns out the natural world is way more diverse and complex than he — or your high school biology teacher — may have led you to believe. Meanwhile, many unsung contemporary scientists, like evolutionary biologists Joan Roughgarden and Patricia Brennan and primatologist Amy Parish, have been zealously studying animal behavior and anatomy and exposing the myth of the gender binary for decades, despite ongoing resistance to their findings from the research establishment.
In Science News Explores, Laura Allen summarizes the recent findings of education researchers about errors in describing sex and gender in genetics textbook chapters. This article is student-friendly and discusses common misconceptions perpetuated by science education materials.
Queer Planet is a documentary that showcases a wide variety of animal (and plant) species that exhibit queer behaviors or physical characteristics. Experts share insights on the observed mechanisms of these queer traits and their functional impact on survival and reproduction. Scientist also explain why institutions of science have traditionally ignored or mischaracterized this aspect of diversity in the living world.
This documentary was produced for an adult audience and the narration occasionally references human sexual topics and slang.
Thank you for your interest in the Inclusive Biology Curriculum Research Project. I am Charlie Blake (they/them), an Assistant Research Professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. I am leading a research study along with contributions and support from partners and advisors, including the folks at Gender Inclusive Biology (https://www.genderinclusivebiology.com/). I am currently recruiting high school life science teachers for the 2024-2025 school year. If you are able to participate, I would supply you with four activities (NGSS-aligned) that you would use whenever they fit into your teaching schedule. I would then invite your class to participate in some short pre- and post- surveys and invite a few students in each class to do interviews. The topic areas of the lesson materials are: Reproductive Life Cycles, Genetic Inheritance, Animal Bodies and Mating Behavior, and Sex Determination and Development. Even if you can’t do all the lesson topics you can still participate. A small stipend is available for all participating teachers!
“Inclusive Biology Curriculum Impacts on Students” IRB approved protocol #2171
If you would like to use the lesson plans but are unable to participate in the study, I will still share the activities with you, but I hope you will consider joining the study!
Google form to request the activities https://forms.gle/u5G6MbygvqunXH366
Thanks for all your help,
Charlie
Dr. Charlie Blake (they/them)
Assistant Research Professor
STEM Center for Research, Education, & Outreach
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
The Narwhal Rainbow Alliance is a not-for-profit committed to protecting biodiversity and promoting diversity. The Alliance uses queer narratives as their foundation.
The Narwhal Rainbow Alliance aims to support biodiversity protection through empowering local communities and projects.
Queerly Natural is a science-based podcast about the diversity of sexuality, sex, and gender in the natural world. Join three queer biologists as they chat about the huge array of LGBTQIA+ diversity among animals, plants, fungi, and more.
Episodes are released the first Wednesday of every month. The website contains episode transcripts and timestamps for topics.
This SciShow video tells the story of Sue the T-Rex and the tricky task of determining the sex of fossilized animals using evidence.
Striped Dolphins
Striped dolphins have three types of bodies we say look like girl bodies, like boy bodies, and bodies that look like both!
The same is true of Bowhead Whales and Fin Whales.
Updated from: “All Genders Are Perfectly Natural” (K-5) poster by Reflection Press, from the Gender Now Coloring Book © 2011.
Spotted Red Hyena
The boys and the girls look AND act so much alike, it can be difficult to tell them apart, even if you look closely. One girl hyena usually is the strongest hyena in the family, and she leads the pack.
Updated from: “All Genders Are Perfectly Natural” (K-5) poster by Reflection Press, from the Gender Now Coloring Book © 2011.
Kangaroos
Many Red and Gray Kangaroos, Euros, Tammar Wallabies, and Quokkas have bodies we say look like girl bodies, boy bodies, and bodies that look a little bit like both. In all their bodies, they have a pouch. That way, the Joey can ride in the mama or papa’s pouch. Baby kangaroos are called Joeys. Girl kangaroos often adopt another kangaroo’s baby, just like wolves, elephants, and fathead minnows do!
Caption: A quokka and a baby quokka in its pouch.
A wallaby sits alone in a clearing in the forest.
Updated from: “All Genders Are Perfectly Natural” (K-5) poster by Reflection Press, from the Gender Now Coloring Book © 2011.
Big Horn Sheep
Some of the boy Big Horn Sheep, while looking like the other boy sheep, will act much more like the girls. The other boy sheep still treat the boy sheep like a boy sheep. Some scientists think this improves friendship, because most of the year, the boy sheep live together separate from the girl sheep.
Updated from: “All Genders Are Perfectly Natural” (K-5) poster by Reflection Press, from the Gender Now Coloring Book © 2011.
White-Tailed Deer
The boy and girl White-Tailed Deer often look like each other, even though they act differently! These deer have 5 different bodies that have different mixes of boy and girl-looking parts, and how much they look like a boy or a girl’s. Black-Tailed, Red-Tailed, Swamp, Sika and Roe Deer, Moose and Elk all have more than just boy-looking and girl-looking bodies.
A roe deer in the snow.
An elk lifting its head in a dry field, while other elk eat with heads lowered.
Two sika deer, one standing, one sitting, in the woods.
A moose lies down in a field.
Updated from: “All Genders Are Perfectly Natural” (K-5) poster by Reflection Press, from the Gender Now Coloring Book © 2011.
Bats
Bats create long-lasting families where everyone takes care of each other. They do not have boy/girl ways to act or look. Bats are most concerned with everyone being strong.
A bat with brown skin sticks out its pink tongue while hanging upside-down from a tree branch against a background of green leaves.
A bat with brown skin spreads its wings while it hangs from upside-down a tree branch against a white background.
White-Throated Sparrow
These birds have boy bodies that act in two different ways and girl bodies that act in two different ways. This means they have four genders and two body types!
Caption: Zonotrichia albicollis #ML63894671. Image credit (C) 2015 Keenan Yakola, taken on Seal Island, ME (Asset available at https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/63894671)
Clown Fish
The girl Clown Fish body is larger than the boy body. And if the girl goes away and leaves the boy Clown Fish with the little fishes, he changes his body into a girl Clown Fish.
Beluga whales
Beluga whales have three body types: boy bodies, girl bodies, and boy-and-girl bodies. Oh whale!
