This a video of myself Student Teaching at Pekin High School, in Mr. Dave Eidahl's Biology class. I am using a Power Point presentation; in fact all my classses employ either Power Point or Overhead Projection Transparencies, as I firmly believe that a picture is worth a thousand words. In this unit, Chordata, I am teaching the different animal phyla and their interconnectedness with each other; the previous phyla from Protozoa onwards have all been reviewed.

In this clip, I have reached Echinodermata, and am telling my students how the Echinoderm's exoskeleton is an attempt to bestow stiffness in the body, a necessary step in evolution. I briefly review the previous phylum, Mollusca, to reming my students that the Molluscs have a shell. The phylum after Echinodermata is Chordata, where a Notochord, a stiff dorsal rod, has developed. The Notochord allows the animal much more power and ability to move. Towards the end of the clip, I have begun discussing the characteristics of Chordates.