Letters

Poster Available ThatDepicts Mapping of Human Chromosomes Dear Editor: Florida Science Teachers Association bers. Contact: Promega, 2800 Woods I enjoyed reading Susan Offner's annual conference and called the 800 Hollow Rd., Madison, WI 53711-5399, article "A Plain English Map of Hu- number listed on the poster. The 1-800-356-9526. man Chromosomes" (February,1992). poster is published by the Promega One of the strengths of your journalis corporation and they were nice Mrs. Carol Leonard that it brings useful materials. enough to send free copies my way. Science Program Planner I saw a poster of the mapping of the Perhaps you could contact them about Lemon Bay High School human chromosomes displayed at the the availability of this to all the mem- Englewood, FL 34224-5298

Bioluminescent Phytoplankton Demonstrate Significant Science Concepts Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/abt/article-pdf/55/4/197/46098/4449630.pdf by guest on 28 September 2021 Dear Editor: erable success is bioluminescence- for the past year. They are available I enjoyed the article, "MaterialCy- light generated by living organisms. from some of the standard biological cles in Nature," in the September, Certain bioluminescent phytoplank- supply houses. They have also been 1992, issue of ABT. My colleagues and ton are very easy to grow, are essen- packagedin a well-designed and effec- I in the Center for Integrated Science tially plants, multiply by cell division tive science kit called NIGHT-LIFE- Education at the University of Utah every 5-7 days, emit a beautiful blue Science in the Dark, available from have also experienced this myopic bioluminescence when mechanically Protein Solutions, Inc. (PSI), 390 compartmentalizationof scientific dis- agitated, are robust and easy to cul- WakaraWay, Room 65, Salt LakeCity, ciplines and the inability of students, ture, and generallyare highly effective UT, U.S.A. 84108;(801) 585-3128. and indeed the inability of university materials and tools with which to I would be pleased to provided ad- instructors, to integrate or bridge the teach the concepts of photosynthesis disciplines, or even to bridge funda- as well as many other topics in mod- ditional informationto your interested mental basic science concepts. ern biology, chemistry and physics. readers. We have been searching for unique Your readers may wish to consider and highly motivational means to these remarkableorganisms as living J. D. Andrade, Ph.D. present and discover science concepts specimens and cultures for their Director, Centerfor Integrated in an integrated, multi- and inter- classes. We have used them exten- Science Education disciplinary fashion. One phenome- sively in inservice courses and in ele- University of Utah, 2480 MEB non with which we have had consid- mentary and junior high classrooms- Salt LakeCity, UT 84112

Critique on Origin of Life & Evolutionin Biology Textbooks Is Criticized Dear Editor: of proteins that is not only rife with This "critique"charged currentbiol- When I received the February1993 errors,but also misses the entire point ogy textbooks with errors, overstate- issue of ABT, I immediately turned of functional success as opposed to ments and omissions, and offered out- with interest to the article on p. 78, structure per se. On the very next dated, error-riddenarticles with bald "Originof Life & Evolution in Biology page, the authors claim that the biol- assertions for conclusions in support Textbooks-A Critique," by Gordon ogy books reviewed are "clearlyout of of that thesis. Conspicuously lacking C. Mills, Malcolm Lancasterand Wal- date and ignore a growing body of in this article were any scientifically ter L. Bradley. As I read through the scientific data," and then reference a testable, intellectually compelling first page of the article, I found myself 1971 article by de Beer on the lack of ideas stated in a positive format. I referring back to the cover to make homologous genes for homologous suspect that the Creationistposition of sure I had the correct journal. By the structures, that was discarded years Walter L. Bradley accounts for the third page, I had progressed from con- ago for a total lack of evidence to fusion, to surprise, to incredulity. support conclusions. In fact this article tone of the article:My question is, how In the same paragraphon p. 80, the was written as an Oxford Reader for did it come to appear in TheAmerican authors criticize biology textbooks for high school students so it qualifies as BiologyTeacher? disregarding recent studies into the neither a research paper nor a schol- origin of life and then fail to mention arly monograph. I fully expected the RobertH. Hertzler those studies. Further, the paragraph next page to include references citing ScienceSupervisor cites a 1977 article by Yockey on the the Paluxy man-tracks or polystrate HempfieldHigh School probabilityof spontaneous biogenesis trees. Landisville,PA 17538-1299

LETTERS197