Science teacher : biology

"No ideas but in things"

doyle — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:07:00 GMT

"No ideas but in things." --William Carlos Williams Stuff comes from stuff. That's a big deal. Everything you touch came from something else. If we ever truly taught science as knowledge, instead of as a means to magical goals, we'd get this. If we ever...(read more)

Intelligent curriculum?

doyle — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 02:08:00 GMT

When anyone suggests that we not teach evolution in school, he is suggesting that we not teach biology, and in a broader sense, science. So let's be more frank about the discussion--do we teach science, or something else pretending to be science (which...(read more)

Letting go

doyle — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 00:15:00 GMT

I'm letting go this year. I'm going to trust the collection of young humans sitting in my class, brains honed by countless generations before them, each and every child with a lineage going back as far as the first protobionts that globbed together in...(read more)

On matters of faith

doyle — Thu, 05 May 2011 23:23:00 GMT

Morning storm clouds. The light bit at edges, accentuating the few colors that poked through the gray dawn gloom. A brisk wind swirled from the northwest, a breeze out of Chocolat . A cherry tree dumped its blossoms like a snow squall, surrounding me...(read more)

An afternoon on the dredge spoils

doyle — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 20:10:00 GMT

It's silly season--a pope getting beatified, royalty getting married. We need costumes for these, lots of costumes. And music! And, oh, isn't it all so grand! And under the Delaware Bay stir the ancient longings of ancient critters, crawling up from the...(read more)

Science snob

doyle — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 21:44:00 GMT

This one's for me. N o need to read it, nothing to see. Move along, move along.... Everywhere plants Flourish among graves, Sinking their roots In all the dynasties Of the dead. Seamus Heaney , from "A Herbal" I believe, truly believe, that if you pay...(read more)

Melomel, cosmos, and teaching biology

doyle — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 21:21:00 GMT

Yes, I know, same old same old...I write for Leslie. When I walk, I walk with Leslie. When I eat, I eat with Leslie. When I sleep, I sleep with Leslie. When I share melomel, I share it with Leslie. This morning I watched a couple of bees trying to suck...(read more)

A dandelion's life

doyle — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 01:08:00 GMT

Here's a question I would love to pose to my sophomores: Is the spark of human life more valuable than a dandelion's? I am not asking which organism is more valuable, more productive, more useful, or more sacred.... though you might be surprised at how...(read more)

Courage, NJ biology teachers!

doyle — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 00:12:00 GMT

I saw Willa Spicer, the Deputy Commissioner of the N. J. Department of Education, at an AP conference Tuesday. She made the opening remarks, with platitudes on the courage of teachers. It doesn't take a whole lot of courage to not be laid off, so I was...(read more)

Know your place

doyle — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 21:39:00 GMT

I once knew an educated lady, banded by Phi Beta Kappa, who told me that she had never heard or seen the geese that twice a year proclaim the revolving seasons to her well-insulated roof. Is education possibly a process of trading awareness for things...(read more)

6th Great Extinction? (Don't scare the kids....)

doyle — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 00:27:00 GMT

What do you teach a young adolescent? How much of the truth do you dare bare? We are in the midst of the Sixth Great Extinction. Technology got us here, and I have my doubts it will get us out. I have faith in life--creatures live in the deepest depths...(read more)

Our horseshoe crab trip

doyle — Sat, 22 May 2010 12:47:00 GMT

What did you imagine lies in wait anyway at the end of a world whose sub-substance is glaim, gleet, birdlime, slime, mucus, muck? from Why regret? Galway Kinnell Yesterday we took over 160 high school students to Sandy Hook to see horseshoe crabs. A few...(read more)

Androcles and the green crab

doyle — Sun, 09 May 2010 00:13:00 GMT

My son and I went to Sandy Hook today to scout for our multi-class horseshoe crab trip scheduled later this month. We solved the more pressing issues (a Park Ranger will open the latrines, we'll bring the toilet paper), then meandered around the park....(read more)