THE AMERICAN Guest Editorial BIOLOGY TEACHER Preventing Blindness

Editor: Randy Moore, Biology Department, James H. Wandersee Elisabeth E. Schussler University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, Phone: (502) 852-6490, Several studies show that U.S. students prefer to study rather E-mail: [email protected] than (Baird, Lazarowitz & Allman 1984; Wandersee 1986). Although Managing Editor: Christine Chantry this research shows girls are more interested in learning about plants than Associate Editor: Kris Collum boys are, even girls report that they prefer animals. A recent cross-age study we conducted with 4th-, 5th-, 6th- and 7th-grade urban, public Publisher: Wayne W. Carley elementary and middle school students revealed that those students, over- Editorial Staff: Kay Acevedo, Carmen all, were twice as interested in animals as they were in plants-with Altamirano, Cheryl Merrill little change as age increased. About 70o of the 274 students we queried

ABT Produiction Office: spontaneously expressed a scientific interest in plants, and of that 7%, Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/abt/article-pdf/61/2/82/48775/4450624.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 11250 Roger Bacon Drive, #19, about two-thirds were girls (Wandersee & Schussler 1998b). Reston, VA 20190-5202,Phone: (703) 471-1134, Paradoxically, plants form the basis of most habitats and all life Fax: (703) 435-5582, E-mail: [email protected], on earth (Abbott 1998). While animals frequently steal the spotlight where Web site: www.nabt.org extinction is concerned, one in eight plant species worldwide is currently threatened by extinction. Intellectually, we know that you don't get pandas without bamboo plants, but culturally this is often forgotten (Abbott 1998). Because plants differ in many important ways from animals, and Account Executive: Kerrie Brooks, because biology is taught by members of the animal kingdom, there is Network Publications, 10155 York Rd. #205, a recognized tendency, even for knowledgeable biologists, to overlook, Hunt Valley, MD 21030, Phone: (410) 628-0390 underemphasize, or neglect plants when teaching introductory biology E-mail: [email protected] courses (Darley 1990; Hershey 1993, 1996; Nichols 1919; Uno 1994). As two botanists who are concerned about the implications of this imbalance for the nation's science literacy level, we have launched a national cam- paign to increase public understanding of plants, using these catchwords: Biology Today: Maura C. Flannery, "Prevent Plant Blindness." St. John's University, Jamaica, NY 11439 Those three simple words appear on our full-color classroom poster Book Reviews: Rita Hoots, which is being distributed to more than 22,000 U.S. science teachers at Yuba Community College, 41605 Gibson Rd., state and national science teachers' conventions. The poster is designed Woodland, CA 95776 to be initially puzzling. It shows a tree-lined, riverine environment embla- Classroom Technology Reviews zoned diagonally with the words "Prevent Plant Blindness." Hovering, AV Reviews: Rachel Hays, 7020 Pueblo Ave. B., Magritte-like, in the sky above is a pair of dark-red-tinted spectacles. The implication is that someone wearing these glasses could not see the green Prescott Valley, AZ 86314 plants in the scene below-that if one's vision is "filtered," either physi- Projector Reviews: Bill Belzer, Clarion Univer- cally or conceptually, one may easily miss seeing the plants that appear sity-Venango Campus, Oil City, PA 16301 in one's field of vision. Software Reviews: Richard Duhrkopf, Baylor We consider the current state of underrepresentation as much more University, Waco, TX 76798 than just the result of zoocentrismor zoochauvinism.That's why we decided to introduce a new term, one that emphasizes the perceptual and visual- 1998, 1996, 1993 cognition bases of why plants are often overlooked and neglected-not 1992, 1990, 1989 1998 just by biology teachers, but by humans in general. Because we knew Distinguished(c o people were already linguistically familiar with blind as a metaphorical Achievement adjective (e.g. blind alley, blind ambition, blind chance, blind copy, blind Award Winner , date, blind landing, blind seam, blind spot, blind trust, snow blindness, need-blind admissions, color blindness), we settled upon plant blindness. We define plant blinidnessas (a) the inability to see or notice the plants Change of Address: Please promptly notify in one's environment; (b) the inability to recognize the importance of plants us of a change of address. Simply provide your in the biosphere and in human affairs; (c) the inability to appreciate the old mailing label along with your new mailing aesthetic and unique biological features of the life forms that belong to address and send to: TheAmericani Biology Teacher,11250 Roger Bacon Drive, #19, Reston, the Plant Kingdom; and (d) the misguided anthropocentric ranking of VA 20190-5202. plants as inferior to animals and thus, as unworthy of consideration (Wan- dersee & Schussler 1998a). To Submit Articles: All articles should be Those persons afflicted with the condition known as plant blindness sent directly to Editor Randy Moore. Editorial exhibit symptoms such as the following: (a) thinking that plants are merely guidelines are available by contacting NABT directly at 11250 Roger Bacon Drive, #19, the backdrop for animal life; (b) failing to see, notice or focus attention Reston, VA 20190-5202. on plants in one's daily life; (c) misunderstanding what plants need to stay alive; (d) overlooking the importance of plants to one's daily affairs (Balick & Cox 1996); (e) failing to distinguish the differing time scales of plant and animal activity; (f) President:Richard Storey, The ColoradoCollege, Colo- lacking hands-on experiences in growing, radoSprings, CO 80903 observing and identifying plants in one's own geographic region; (g) failing President-Elect:Philip J. McCrea, New TrierH. S., 385 to explain the basic plant science underlying nearby plant communities- WinnetkaAve. Winnetka,IL 60093 Past President: VivianLee Ward, Access Excellence- including plant growth, nutrition, reproduction, and relevant ecological Genentech, 460 Point San Bruno Blvd., Mail Stop 16B, considerations; (h) lacking awareness that plants are central to a key bio- South San Francisco,CA 94080 chemical cycle-the carbon cycle; (i) being insensitive to the aesthetic Secretary/Treasurer: Catherine Wilcoxson, Northern Arizona University,P.O. Box 5640, Flagstaff,AZ 80611 qualities of plants and their structures-especially with respect to their Director at Large: Patsye D. Peebles, LouisianaState adaptation, coevolution, color, dispersal, diversity, growth, pattern, repro- University,University Lab School,Baton Rouge, LA 70803 duction, scent, size, sounds, spacing, strength, symmetry, tactility, taste Director at Large: Betsy Ott, TylerJunior College, 1400 East Fifth St. Tyler,TX 75711 and texture (Wandersee & Schussler 1998a). Director/Coordinator:Ann S. Lumsden, Dept. of Bio- Why do humans overlook plants? Most people think they see all of logical Sciences, FloridaState University, Tallahassee, FL 32306 their surroundings by merely opening their eyes and looking. There is, Director/Coordinator:Brad Williamson, OlatheEast H. however, much scientific evidence to the contrary (Catell 1895; Nickerson S., 14545 W. 127th,Olathe, KS 66062 & Adams 1979). Norretranders (1998) points out that the human eye, during visual perception, generates more than 10 million bits of data every AwardsCommittee: Phil Poppleton, 43326 236thAvenue, second for visual processing, from which our brain ultimately derives S.E., Enumclaw,WA 98022 approximately 40 bits per second for our conscious vision to consider; Constitution& Bylaws Committee:Nancy Van Vranken,

TeachersClearinghouse, Box 264, Jericho, NY 11753 thus, "the bandwidth of our consciousness is far lower than the bandwidth Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/abt/article-pdf/61/2/82/48775/4450624.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 Education Committee: Susan Phillips Speece, Fresno of our sensory perceptors." City Colege, 1101 E. UniversityAve., Fresno, CA 93741 In our and Marsha Matyas, American Physiological Society, plant blindness presentation, we demonstrate that this is so by 9650 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20814-3991 asking our audience members to make a sketch of both sides of a U.S. Election Teller: Edward L. Frazier, 5007 W. 14th St., penny (1 cent coin), using only their unaided memory. After a few minutes Speedway, IN 46224-6503 Honorary Membership Committee: Philip J. McCrea, of "graphic exasperation," and after generating only a partially correct New TrierH. S., 385 WinnetkaAve. Winnetka,IL 60093 representation at best, we ask them to examine the (dependably flawed) InternationalActivityCommittee: Leonard C. Blessing, sketches made by others in the audience as well. Finally, we tell them to 103 PrimroseDrive, New Providence,NJ 07974 Long Range Planning Committee:VivianLee Ward, Ac- compare their drawings to a real penny that they extract from their own cess Excellence-Genentech, 460 Point San BrunoBlvd., pocket or purse. Smiles and consternation are evident throughout the Mail Stop 16B, South San Francisco,CA 94080 room. Everyone wonders: How could I possibly fail to recall the details Nominating Committee: Elizabeth Carvellas, 93 Wil- I derness Rise, Colchester,VT 05446 of something I look at and handle almost every day of the year? Publications Committee: Bob Melton, Putnam City "We... .tend to be surprisingly bad at recalling details of objects we see Schools, 5401 NW 40th, OklahomaCity, OK 73122 TechnologyTask Force: Betsy Ott, TylerJunior College, or use daily," notes acclaimed memory researcher Alan Baddeley (1982). 1400 East Fifth St., Tyler,TX 75711 Just because we looked doesn't mean that we saw everything. Harvard i 1998 Convention Program Committee: Eric L. Ander- University psychologist Stephen Kosslyn (1993) reminds us that "the mind son, NV Dept. of Education,700 E. Fifth St., CarsonCity, NV 89701 is not a camera, the brain is not a VCR." Rugg (1998, p. 1151) points out that "all events are not equal; they differ in how they are [initially] encoded Elem./Mid.School Secfion: Middleton Squier, American into memory." He says that two critical factors determine whether or not Schoolin Japan, 1 -12-17 Osawa, Mitaka-Shi, Tokyo, 181 Japan we will remember an event: the degree of attention we give to it, and the Four-Year College Biology TeachersSection: John Rushin, meaning or importance we ascribe to it. 4525 DownsDr., St. Joseph,MO 64507 MulticulturalAffaisSection: PamelaHarrell,905 Crest View, In seeking a better explanation for plant blindness, we have compiled Bedford,TX 76021 the following characteristics of human perception and visual cognition to Role & Statusof Womenin BiologyEducation: Toby Horn, answer the do ThomasJefferson H.S., 6560 BraddockRd. Alexandria,VA question: Why humans overlook plants? 22312 1. People typically know less about plants than animals. Persons who Two-YearCollege Biology Section: EdAlcamo, SUNY, Nathan have had few meaningful educational experiences involving plants have Hall,Fannington, NY 11735 RetiredMembers Section: Nancy Van Vranken, Teachers little basis beyond popular culture for plant recognition. We can only Clearinghouse,Box 264, Jericho,NY 11753 recognize what we know. Psychologists would say that plants have low signal value for most humans today. Once objects have acquired meaning Region I (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT): Susan Plati, for an observer, they are more likely to be perceived (inattentionalblindness). BrooklineH.S., 115Greenough St., Brookline,MA 02146 In other words, inattention becomes attention if a stimulus has meaning Region HI(NJ, NY, PA): Mary Colvard, RRI, Box 39, Cobleskill, NY 12043 (Mack & Rock 1998). Also, the stimulus must actually be present-yet Region III (IL, IN, MI, OH, W1):Carl Koch, Riverside/ approximately half of the biomass of many plants (the root system) is BrookfieldH.S., 160Ridgewood, Riverside, IL 60546 found underground and rarely seen by most people. Region IV (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD): Brad Williamson, OlatheEast H. S., 14545 West 127th,Olathe, 2. When flowering plants are not flowering or have inconspicuous KS 66062 flowers, the homogeneity of their green leaves and stems does not serve Region V (DE, DC, KY, MD, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV): I Michele Powell, MyrtleBeach H. S., 3300 CentralPkwy., to visually label them or make them pop out chromatically from their Myrtle Beach, SC 29577 background. If objects are not sufficiently different from their backgrounds, Region VI (Al, FL, GA, LA, MS, PR): Ann S. Lumsden, they blend in with their surroundings and nothing is perceived. The visual Dept. of Biological Sciences, FloridaState University, Tal- lahassee, FL 32306 cortex continuously filters out much more of the information the retina Region VII (AZ, AR, NM, OK, TX): Carole Anne sends it than it retains for conscious analysis. Without our intention to Barsaloux, Edmond Puhlic Schools, AministrationCen- preserve it, visual plant-related data is likely to be discarded. ter, 1001 W. DanforthRd., Edmond,OK 73003 iRegion VIII (CO, ID, MT, NV, UT, WY):Michael Sipes, 3. Members of plant populations often grow in close proximity to each 2065 Miller Street, Lakewood, CO 80215 other (whether cultivated or natural) and appear relatively stationary- iRegion IX (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA, Pacific Territories): lLeonard C. Smith, 18438 MineralSprings Rd., Huhbard, in contrast to the mobility of most animal population members. Static OR 97032 proximity is a visual cue humans use to group objects (Zakia 1997), 50 Region X (Canadian Provinces): Robert Malyk, Ridley individual plants and different plant species tend to be de-emphasized, ICollege, P.O. Box 3013, #2 Ridley Rd., St. Catharines, iOntario, CanadaL2R 7C3 with the totality merely categorized as "plants." This helps to explain the "plants as backdrop"phenomenon. Contraryto the cliche, Functionally,plants remain"the primarymediators between we are actually more likely to see just the forest, and not the physical and biologicalworld" (Niklas 1995,p. 11). That the trees. is certainly no small feat, and it alone is worth modifying 4. For humans, plants are generally nonthreateningele- introductorybiology teachingto "PreventPlant Blindness!" ments of an ecosystem and can usually be ignored without dire consequences. Visual habit and general familiarity References diminish the conscious attentionwe give to objects.If vision operatesto minimize expended effort,then lowlevel attributes Abbott, C. (1998, April 9). Extinction threatens 1 in 8 plants may be discarded to make visual processing easier. Note globally. Yahoo News, pp. 1-2. how our visual search is suddenly directed and intensified Baddeley, A. (1982). Your Memory: A User's Guide. New by the knowledge that poison ivy may be present where we York: Macmillan. are walking! Balick, M.J. & Cox, P.A. (1996). Plants, People, and Culture: 5. Visual experiencesare structuredin the brainby space, The Science of Ethnobotany. New York: Scientific Ameri- time and color. As a consequenceof their differentmode of can Library. nutrition, plants typically offer fewer spacing-based,time- Baird, J.H., Lazarowitz, R. & Allman, V. (1984). Science based, and color-baseddifferentiators for humans to observe choices and preferences of middle and secondary school than animals do (Zakia1997). The brain is basically a differ- students in Utah. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, ence detector, and when it finds none, the perceptualfield 21, 47-54. is not perturbed.For example, invasive plants capture our Cattell, J.M. (1895). Measurement of the accuracy of recollec- Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/abt/article-pdf/61/2/82/48775/4450624.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 attentionbecause they grow with vigor in places where we tion. Science, 20, 761-776. don't expect or want to find them. Darley, W.M. (1990). The essence of 'plantness'. The Ameri- Couplethose factswith these characteristicsof nonhuman can Biology Teacher, 52, 354-357. animal life and you can understand why the students we Hershey, D.R. (1993). Plant neglect in biology education. queried responded as they did. Animals can move quickly BioScience, 43, 418. via appendages;have to eat regularlylike we do; have eyes Hershey, D.R. (1996). A historical perspective on problems for vision;exhibit many interestingbehaviors; have dramatic in teaching. The American Biology Teacher, 58, and easily observablelife cycles; mate, give birth, and raise 340-347. their young; and interact with, and sometimes play with, Kosslyn, S.M. (1993, September/October). The mind is not humans (Wandersee1986). Beginning in the first six weeks a camera, the brain is not a VCR. Aldus Magazine, of infantile life, humans develop a propensity to respond pp. 33-36. first to things in their environmentthat have faces, and ani- Mack, A. & Rock, I. (1998). Inattentional blindness. Cam- mals best meet this search criterion. bridge, MA: MIT Press. Nichols, G.E. (1919). The general biology course and the The BotanicalSociety of America (Niklas 1995, p. 3), in teaching of elementary botany and zoology in American its turn-of-the-centuryreport titled: Botanyfor the Next Millen- colleges and universities. Science, 50, 509-517. nium, "... situates the importance of plant studies within Nickerson, R.S. & Adams, M.J. (1979). Long-term memory three major areas of biological inquiry- the and for a common object. Cognitive Psychology, 11, 287-307. diversityof life, the developmentof organisms,and the struc- Niklas, K.J. (Ed.). (1995). Botany for the Next Millennium. and function It "In ture of ecosystems." notes, tantalizingly, Columbus, OH: Botanical Society of America. each area, plants offer a wealth of compelling materialand Norretranders, T. (1998). The User Illusion. New York: systems that have been underexploredor unintegratedwith Viking. the main questions of biology, largely because of biologists' Rugg, M.D. (1998). Memories are made of this. Science, narrow training." 281, 1151-1152. If we are to escape from the intellectual,perceptual and Uno, G.E. (1994). The state of precollege botanical education. visual processing traps that lead to plantblindness, those of The American Biology Teacher, 56, 263-267. us who teachintroductory courses must work to expand our Wandersee, J.H. (1986). Plants or animals: Which do junior students' botanicalhorizons. While the life sciences may be high school students prefer to study? Journal of Research reorganizingthemselves along the line of common themes in Science Teaching, 23, 415-426. ratherthan clustersof organismsstudied, plants remaindis- Wandersee, J.H. & Schussler, E.E. (1998a, April 13). A tinctly different life forms that have, historically,rewarded Model of Plant Blindness. Poster-paper presented at the 3rd our focused study, observationand investigation.There are Annual Associates Meeting of the 15 Degree Laboratory, good scientificreasons why botany, like the plants it studies, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA. needs to maintainits visibility and identity. Wandersee, J.H. & Schussler, E.E. (1998b). Plants or Animals: We have argued that, instead of invoking the bugbearof Which Do Elementaryand Middle Students Prefer To Study? zoological conspiracy, there is actually a visual-cognitive- Unpublished manuscript. Louisiana State University, 15 societal basis for why plants (and the plant sciences) are Degree Laboratory, Baton Rouge, LA. frequentlyignored in everyday life, in the introductorybiol- Zakia, R.D. (1997). Perception and Imaging. Boston, MA: ogy curriculum,and as a key componentof scientificliteracy. Focal Press.

86 THEAMERICAN BIOLOGY TEACHER, VOLUME 61, NO. 2, FEBRUARY1999