BHP Team
Bookmark this page! BHP teachers are lifelong learners by nature, and monthly Exchanges are opportunities to connect with academics and educators on the front lines of research. Got questions about stars content from Unit 3? Enter: University of Michigan astrophysicist Cameron Gibelyou. Wondering about facilitating productive classroom discourse? We bring in instructional experts, too. Exchanges are three-day, ongoing conversations that occur on Yammer – so you can participate even with the craziness of a teacher’s schedule.
Keep an eye on upcoming Exchanges – simply follow the link to Yammer and pose a question or comment.
Upcoming Exchange
Topic: BHP and Literacy: Three Close Reads Best Practices
Host: Annette O’Boyce
- Chief Academic Officer, Urban Teachers
Exchange will be live between 11/19 – 11/21.
Past Exchanges
Though these are no longer live, they’re still worth reading through!
Getting Started with BHP
Topic: What is Big History?
Host: David Christian
- BHP co-founder
- Author, Origin Story
Topic: The why and how of Big History
Host: David Christian
- BHP co-founder
- Author, Origin Story
Topic: Starting off the school year on the right foot
Hosts: BHP Teachers
[Go to the Yammer Exchange]
Topic: Planning and lesson modification
Hosts: Kathy Hays
- BHP veteran teacher, ninth grade, Arizona
Erik Christensen
- BHP veteran teacher, special education, California
Topic: Discussion techniques and productive classroom conversations
Hosts: Beth Dankert Sattes
- Co-developer of Questioning and Understanding to Improve Learning and Thinking (QUILT)
- Co-author of Inside School Improvement
Jackie Walsh
- Lead consultant to the American Board of Professional Counselors
Topic: BHP Score, writing Investigations, and conferencing in your classroom
Host: Jason Manning
- BHP veteran teacher, ninth grade, New York
Topic: First semester teacher reflections
Hosts: BHP teachers
[Go to the Yammer Exchange]
Unit 1: What Is Big History?
Topic: Where did Big History come from, and what is its future?
Host: Dr. Cynthia Stokes Brown
- Instructor: Dominican University (California)
- Author of Big History, Small World: From the Big Bang to You
Topic: Thinking across scale
Host: Craig Benjamin
- Professor of history: Grand Valley State University (Michigan)
- Big History instructor
Unit 2: The Big Bang
Topic: Are we made of star stuff?
Host: Brian Keating
- Professor, UC San Diego
- Inventor of the BICEP
Topic: Where are we in the Universe, and how is the Universe changing?
Host: Cameron Gibelyou
- Educator: University of Michigan
- Astrophysicist, BHP “star stuff” expert
Unit 3: Stars and Elements
Topic: Star explosions, the Big Bang, and more!
Host: Cameron Gibelyou
- Educator: University of Michigan
- Astrophysicist, BHP “star stuff” expert
Topic: Black Holes!
Host: Cameron Gibelyou
- Educator: University of Michigan
- Astrophysicist, BHP “star stuff” expert
Unit 4: Our Solar System
Topic: How do minerals make our planet unique?
Host: James Lee
- Executive director (International) and professor of geology: University of Saskatchewan
- Specialist in geochronology
Unit 5: Life
Topic: What about dinosaurs?
Host: Dr. Steve Salisbury
- Teacher and researcher: University of Queensland
- Research associate: Carnegie Museum of Natural History (Pennsylvania)
- Vertebrate paleontologist
Topic: Is evolution evolving?
Host: Emily Monosson
- Ronin Institute
- Writer, environmental toxicologist
Unit 6: Early Humans
Topic: Lucy and other early humans
Host: Dr. Donald Johanson
- Paleoanthropologist and evolutionary anthropologist
- Founding director of the Institute of Human Origins
Topic: How has the climate changed in the past?
Host: Dr. Michelle Tigchelaar
- Research associate: University of Washington
- Climate scientist
Topic: How will we feed the world when the world is changing?
Host: Dr. Michelle Tigchelaar
- Research associate: University of Washington
- Climate scientist
Topic: What is the Little Big History Project?
Host: Esther Quaedackers
- Professor of Big History: University of Amsterdam
- Original developer of the Little Big History Project
Topic: Little Big History ideas
Hosts: BHP teachers
[Go to the Yammer Exchange]
Topic: Where would we be without bugs?
Host: Dr. Michael Wall
- Curator of Entomology: San Diego Natural History Museum
- Director: Biodiversity Research Center of the Californias
Unit 7: Agriculture and Civilization
Topic: Climate change and global food security
Host: Dr. Michelle Tigchelaar
- Research associate: University of Washington
- Climate scientist
Topic: The rise and fall of ancient civilizations
Host: Hillary Olcott
- Assistant curator, Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
- Institutional curator for special exhibition at the de Young: “Teotihuacan: City of Water, City of Fire”
Topic: Do civilizations collapse?
Host: Guy Middleton
- Author of Understanding Collapse: Ancient History and Modern Myths (2017)
- Visiting fellow: Newcastle University in the School of History, Classics, and Archaeology
Unit 8: Expansion and Interconnection
Topic: How are ecological landscapes altered by human interaction?
Host: Dr. Eric Sanderson
- Senior conservation ecologist: Wildlife Conservation Society
- Part-time instructor: NYU and Columbia University
Topic: A History of the Magnetic Compass
Host: John Vardalas
- Former “Senior Historian” at the IEEE History Center
- Industry Associate Professor, in the College of Arts & Letters, Stevens Institute of Technology
Unit 9: Acceleration
Topic: How long will human impacts last?
Host: David Biello
- Science curator for TED
- Author of The Unnatural World: The Race to Remake Civilization in Earth’s Newest Age
Topic: Is it human to automate?
Host: Antone Martinho-Truswell
- Dean of Graduate House at St Paul’s College at the University of Sydney
- Zoologist
Unit 10: The Future
Topic: How could we save humanity?
Host: Dr. Bryan J. Mendez
- Astronomer, astrophysicist
- UC Berkeley Space Science Laboratory
Instructional Resources
Topic: How can an understanding of history help us predict the future?
Host: Cameron Gibelyou
- Educator: University of Michigan
- Astrophysicist, BHP “star stuff” expert
Topic: Implementing Universal Design for Learning
Host: Dr. Katie Novak
- Assistant superintendent: Groton-Dunstable Regional School District, Massachusetts
- Designs and presents workshops on the implementation of Universal Design for Learning
Topic: Reading and Writing in BHP
Hosts: Bob Bain
- Associate professor: University of Michigan
- Faculty lead, BHP
Anita Ravi
- Founder and executive director: We the People High School
- Curriculum design and professional development expert
Topic: Writing pro tips
Host: Rachel Hansen
- BHP veteran teacher, ninth grade, Iowa
Topic: Modeling expert learning: letting go of knowing it all
Host: Lisa Carey
- Assistant director: Center for Innovation and Leadership in Special Education: Kennedy Krieger Institute
- Studied neuroscience, behavior science, school law, and scientific inquiry with faculty of Kennedy Krieger Institute and The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Topic: How do people learn?
Host: Rachel Phillips
- BHP learning scientist
- Former K-12, university instructor
Topic: Grading, feedback, and assessment
Host: Rachel Phillips
- BHP learning scientist
- Former K-12, university instructor
Topic: Grading, feedback, and assessment
Host: Rachel Phillips
- BHP learning scientist
- Former K-12, university instructor
Topic: Teaching practice: Reflecting on ourselves
Host: Rachel Phillips
- BHP learning scientist
- Former K-12, university instructor
Topic: Deep learning
Host: Rachel Phillips
- BHP learning scientist
- Former K-12, university instructor
Topic: How to connect Big History learning with United States history
[Go to the Yammer Exchange]
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