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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 338 483 SE 052 209 AUTHOR Flannery, Maura C. TITLE Bitten By The Blology Bug. Monograph VI. Essays from "The American Biology Teacher." INSTITUTION National Association of Biology Teachers, Washington, D.C. REPORT NO ISBN-0-941212-08-4 PUB DATE 91 NOTE 120p. AVAILABLE FROM National Association of Biology Teachers, 11250 Roger Bacon Dr. #19, Reston, VA 22090. PUB TYPE Viewpoints (Opinion/Position Papers, Essays, etc.) (120) EDRS PRICE MF01 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS *Biology; Books; Career Choice; Communications; Entomology; *Essays; Human Body; Plants (Botany); Science Instruction; Secondary Education ABSTRACT A collection of 18 essays originally published in "The American Biology Teacher" in a column headed "Biology Today" are presented. The essays have been reprinted in chronological order and begin with an essay published in March 1982. A variety of types of writings were selected: some focus on teaching biology, othe:s on the science itself. Several deal with books and articles that have excited and interested the columnist over the years. The following essays are included: (1) "Books and Biology";(2) "Turning Teaching Around";(3) "Naturalists"; (4) "The Importance of Trivia"; (5) "Broadening Our Horizons"; (6) "Branching Out"; (7) "Things I'd Never Thought About"; (8) "Bitten by the Insect Bug"; (9) "Beginning Again"; (10) "Who Could Have Guessed It?" (11) "The Other Side of the Coin"; (12) "In the Flower Garden"; (13) "Of Chaperones and Dancing Molecules: The Power of Metaphors"; (14) "Commmicating Biology"; (15) "Eye on Biology"; (16) "Loving Biology--It's About Time"; (17) "Human Biology"; and (,18) "Telling About the Lure of Science." Most chapters include references. (KR) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *****************************, **************************************** Bitten by the Biology Bug Monograph VI Essays from The American Biology Teacher 3 Bitten by the Biology Bug Monograph VI Maura C. Flannery St. John's University Jamaica, New York National Association of Biology Teachers 1991 4 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Flannery, Maura C., 1947- Bitten by the biology bug / Maura C. Flannery. p.cm. -- (Monograph; VI) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-941212-08-4 1. Biology. I. Title.II. Series: Monograph (National Association of Biology Teachers); 6. QFI311. F56 1991 574--dc20 90-27354 CIP Published by the National Association of Biology Teachers 11250 Roger Bacon Drive #19, Reston, Virginia 22090 Copyright ©1991. by the National Association of Biology Teachers. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in its entirety byany mechanical, photographic, or electronic process or in the form of a photographic recording, nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or otherwise copied for any other use without written permission of the publisher. Printed at P & G Graphics, Herndon, Virginia. About the Author Maura C. Flannery's cclumn "Biology Today" has appeared regularly in The American Biology Teachersince 1982. A favorite among ABTreaders, it deals with critical science issues and how they affect our lives today. Flannery teaches biology to nonscience majors at. St. John's University, Jamaica, New York, where she serves as chairperson of the computer science, mathematics and science divisioi_. She earned a B.S. in biology from Maryrnount Manhattan College and an M.S. in biology from Boston College, where she studied molecular biology and conducted research with Dr. Maurice Liss. In May of 1990, Flannery completed her Ph.D. in science education at New York University under the direction of Dr. Cecily Selby. She is married to St. John's history professor Robert M. Hendrick and spends her spare time fixing up their house on Long Island and writing, her "first love." 6 BEST COPY AVAILABLE For: Henry E. Flannery and Elton J. Hendrick, two great teachers. Table of Contents Books and Biology 1 Turning Teaching Around 4 Naturalists 9 The Importance of Trivia 14 Broadening Our Horizons 19 Branching Out 24 Things I'd Never Thought About 31 Bitten by the Insect Bug 3 Beginning Again 42 Who Could Have GuessedIt? 48 The Other Side of the Coin 54 In the Flower Garden 61 Of Chaperones andDancing Molecules: The Power ofMetaphors 68 Communicating Biology 75 Eye on Biology 82 Loving Biology-It's About Time 89 Human Birylogy 96 Telling About the Lure ofScience 103 I Introduction When I was asked to gather a collection ofmy columns for reprinting, I was flattered and looked forward to the task, butit turned out to be a more difficult assignment than I had expected. Writing these columnsis hard work; now I have found that dealing with thema second time isn't easy either. First, it required rereading my work, something I religiouslyavoid. Second, it involved selecting those pieces which would be most interestingto readers, but how was I to judge this? And third, it meant findinga rational way to organize the articles and give the collection structure. Science isan ordering process, so as a scientist, I feel a need to organize, but as evexy scientist knows, orderis often difficult to find in a chaotic world! I survived the rereadingprocess and discovered, to my relief, thatmany of the columns have aged better thanI had expected. One of the aims of "Biology Tot" had been to discusssome of the latest findings in biology. But today's news is what becomes most quickly dated, especiallyin such fast-moving fields as molecular biology. However, I've been able to findpieces that still seem sufficiently fresh to bear reprinting. Theamount of editing I've done is minimal. I removed a couple of sentencesI disliked and a few very dated items. Atother points, I added a sentence or two to update thematerial in the article. For all the columns, the date of publication isgiven as a guide for the reader. In an effort to select columns that wouldbe most interesting to readers, I chose a variety of types of writings.Some focus on teaching biology, otherson the science itself. Several deal with booksand articles that have excited and interested me over theyears. I included these because I don't think there's anything more valuable toa teacher than information on where to findsources of ideas and inspiration. One of the firstessays I wrote, Books and Biology, is in- cluded for this reason. I havea few authors whom I find particularly exciting,so their names keep poppingup in different contexts in these articles; thoughnot, I hope, to the point that the repetitionbecomes excessive. Several pieces I chose because, frankly, I like them. They dealwith ideas that I find particularlyinter- esting, and I hope others will feel thesame way about them. And a few have been omitted because I found them deadly! In attempting to order these columns,I initially tried grouping togethel- those with similar themes. But readingseveral essays on the same themecan be tedious. I opted instead for chronologicalorder, so there is at leastsome b rationale to the aequence, and yet the conscientic us reader who tackles the book from beginning to end will find at least some variety in approach in going from one essay to the next. For example, in the first few essays, references are listed throughout the body of the essay, whereas later on referencesare listed at the end of each article. I hope these articles will prove interesting and helpful to biology teachers, but the rewards teachers may gain from reading these pieces willnever equal the joy I derived from writing them. Though writing each columncauses severe anxiety, I truly love the process of coming up with an idea, researching it and then finding the words to express it. I will always be grateful to Alan McCormack, the ABT editor who took a chance and gaveme the "Biology Today" column. And I appreciate the continued support and assistance of hissuccessors, John Jungck, Randy Moore and Dan Wivagg, and NABT ExecutiveDirector Patricia McWethy. I am also very grateful for the editorial assistance of Michelle Robbins, who has to deal with all my mistakes, and Cheryl Merrill for her workon this publication. At St. John's, the Dean of St. Vincent's College,Catherine Ruggieri, has always provided great support and encouragement. And thoughit is de rigueur to thank one's spouse, in this case it is absolutelynecessary because, before Bob came along. I had never published anything longer thana paragraph. He has greatly improved my English andmy life. Maura C. Flannery St. Vincent's College 1 0 Mareh 1982 Books and Biology Biologists make good miters. Of course, there are some writers in biology who are as boring and obtuse as they come, but they shall remain nameless. I want to concentrate on the wealth of good biology writing that is available to teachers. These works can be used to inspire our students and, even more importantly, to prevent ennui in ourselves. I am not speaking of textbook writing, though a well-written text is as valuable as gold; I am talking instead of what may be called *popular" science writing, writing geared to the layperson, but writing so perceptive that it stirs the expert as well. There are good writers in other fields of science-astronomy and physics especially-but I think biology still has an edge. Rene Dubos, Lewis Thomas and Stephen Jay Gould, for example, each combine depth of insight with a smooth, articulate writing style. Their writing is more than informative, it is a ple .isure to read. I aul an essay addict. Perhaps because my brain cells can only absorb ideas in small doses, I find a short, well-written piece, developing one theme, a joy. When I read or reread the essays of Lewis Thomas (The Lives of a Cell and The Medusa and the Snail) or Harold Morowitz (The Wine of Life and Other Essays on Societies.
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