THE AMERICAN Guest Editorial BIOLOGY TEACHER Preventing Plant 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 animals rather E-mail: [email protected] than plants (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 animal 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