Science Teacher
St. Joseph’s Academy
Over the next three years, Katie Lodes will take on the role of bringing evolution education to teachers across St. Louis as the “David and Marilyn Kirk Teacher Fellow.” In this capacity, she’ll facilitate the evolution book club and plan evolution education events. Lodes is a science teacher at St. Joseph’s Academy, where she’s taught for 18 years. She teaches Honors Biology and AP Biology.
Lodes has a degree in Animal Science and Secondary Biology Education from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She earned a Masters of Arts in Biology in 2005 from Washington University.
HISTORY & SUPPORT
The evolution education program at the Institute for School Partnership was made possible by David and Marilyn Kirk, who were longtime members of the WashU community. The pair established the ISP Kirk Teacher Fellowship with the purpose of empowering a science teacher to act as a leader in evolution education in the St. Louis area. Through their generous endowment, the ISP is able to support not only the teacher fellowship, but also the annual Darwin Day celebration and Evolution Education Book Club.
Evolution education resources
Literature:
- Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science by the National Academies of Science
- The Teaching of Evolution position statement by the National Science Teachers Association
Websites:
- American Museum of Natural History of Darwin Exhibit
- Understanding Evolution – excellent resource for teachers at all levels
- What did T-Rex taste like? – National Science Foundation & University of California Museum of Paleontology
- Becoming Human – interactive media
- California salamander illustration – University of California Museum of Paleontology
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute Biointeractive Evolution Resources – short films, click & learn interactive, virtual labs and other resources
- Case studies in evolution –presentations and interactive games
- National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science
- Darwin Online – view Charles Darwin’s notebooks (historical site with copies of original documents)
- Wallace Online – historical site
- PBS NOVA Evolution Resources – video clips, interactive tutorials and other resources
- Learn Genetics: Variation + Selection & Time – video tutorials and interactive activities
- Tree of Life – site will calculate the time that two species have been separated and can be used to create cladograms
- Peppered Moths – interactive activity for students
- Learning From the Fossil Record – background information for teachers
- The Origin of Species – HHMI BioInteractive videos and classroom activities
- Evolution and Natural Selection – Khan Academy videos
- Evolution SMARTBoard lessons
- MOSART – Misconceptions-Oriented Standards-Based Assessment Resources for Teachers (must register)
- What does it mean to be human? – Smithsonian Natural Museum of History
- Evolution and Natural Selection AAAS Science Assessment – provides great practice test questions and more
- PBS evolution resources
- Science Channel Evolution Game
- PBS evolution series – films are fairly long, but there are helpful animations and tutorials on the site
- Next Generation Science Standards related to evolution
- Variation + Selection & Time – interactive activities for students at Learn.Genetics, University of Utah Genetic Science Learning Center
- Evolution education resources – Discovery Education free resources
- Discovery Education
- Evolution and Natural Selection AAAS Science Assessment – questions and data on misconceptions about evolution and natural selection
- NSTA Evolution Resources
- ENSI/SENSI – many different lesson plans for middle and high school
- NABT Evolution Resources
Videos: (view before showing to judge if appropriate for class)