About Dr. Birdley

Dr. Birdley Teaches Science is a series of teacher resource books that feature reproducible comics, lesson guides, and student activities, all aligned with national standards. It was created and developed by Nevin Katz, a web and app developer in the Boston area. who is also an illustrator and former teacher.

Educational specialists have taken note of the series' potential to make tough concepts accessible: 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. It is used in classrooms around the country and also distributed abroad.

Characters

Dr. Birdley

The overly didactic professor.

Jaykes

The jazz musician and chess master.

Clarissa

The intrepid reporter.

Owelle

The skeptical Dean.

Gina

The ingenious lab researcher.

Don

The wise philosopher.

Phyll

The vocal plant.

Norman

The mischievous teaching assistant.

Books

Sample Pages

  • Why Cells

    Why Cells

  • Birds on the Run

    Birds on the Run

  • Jelly in the Cell

    Jelly in the Cell

  • Big Bang

    The Big Bang

  • Symbols and Formulas

    Earth's Layers

  • Microbes

    How Microbes Changed the World

  • The Biscuit

    The Biscuit

  • Symbols and Formulas

    Symbols & Formulas

  • Gold Foil

    The Gold Foil Experiment

About the Author

Nevin Katz is a freelance illustrator as well as a web and app developer at Education Development Center who lives in the Boston area. In this role, he develops apps and websites for a diverse range of students, educators, and researchers using Drupal, Drupalgap, Cordova, Javascript, CSS, and HTML5.

Nevin majored in Biology at Swarthmore College and went on to earn his Master's in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He taught science for eight years, during which time he developed the Dr. Birdley series.

Nevin can be reached at nevkatz@gmail.com.