| In his third year of teaching science, Dr. Birdley's creator, Nevin Katz, was searching for a new way to get across tough
concepts using visual media. He began designing a comic strip which featured a bespectacled cartoon bird with a quirky enthusiasm
for teaching science. And so, in the summer of 2002, "Dr. Birdley" was born. As he illustrated the
comics, he also designed a set of assignments that assessed how well students "got it," as well ask lesson guides that outline the
main ideas and key vocabulary in a given cartoon. The cast of characters also expanded over time.
Today Dr. Birdley has flown into a growing series of teacher resource books that feature reproducible comics, lesson guides, and student activities, all aligned with national standards. Educational specialists have taken notice: The Massachusetts Department of Youth Services (DYS) has purchased and distributed the Dr. Birdley series to all of their educational programs across the state and incorporated it into the instructional guide for DYS science teachers. |