Introducing Biology to Sophomores

One of the frustrating aspects of teaching sophomores biology is their attitude toward science before they even enter your classroom. I cannot count the number of times I have told a younger student that I teach biology to which they reply "Oh, I don't like science." It is so heartbreaking to know that somewhere along the line these students' nature curiosity and interest has been crushed before I get a chance to teach them. It would be interesting to poll elementary teachers on what their favorite high school subject was and see how many of them loved science.  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/17HGJ5m7f4jMHLRrAgZrKXXF2YVpL-gh85-bopZaQBEw/viewform


I try to overcome this obstacle by telling them that they have never had biology before so they cannot possibly know that they don't like it. Typically the thing they don't like about science is being bored reading sections out of a textbook and then answering review questions about them. They also do not like getting a packet of material for them to figure out on their own while the teacher sits back and waits for them to finish. When they get the chance to actually make their own experiments and test hypothesis how they want they start to realize that science isn't all that bad. 

To me, however, the most challenging group of students to excite are those students who have a strong grasp on what they want to do with the rest of their life and going to college is not part of that equation. Their attitude is that I am never going to use these concepts for the rest of my life so I am not going to learn them. Instead, I am going to do just the bare minimum to pass this class so I can graduate. This is one of the challenges of teaching a class that is required for everyone to take before they graduate. Sometimes I think it would be easier to just teach an upper level science class where every student is in the class because they chose to take it. However, it is vital to get these students to be engaged more than just the bare minimum. 

One thing I try to do is to forget about the science and figure out what skills are absolutely essential to have after you get out of high school. You may never use a Punnett square  the rest of your life, but are there skills you can develop during that unit  regardless of the content. I think the most important skill students can have is the ability to think critically. My students may not care one bit about photosynthesis in spinach leaves, but can they apply prior knowledge to come up with a way to get it to go faster? That is a skill they will need no matter what career they end up going into. It is also super important for them to be able present information in front of a group. If  my high school science class would have presented information on a regular basis using speeches, powerpoint presentations, iMovies, or scientific papers, how much easier would have my college speech class been , or having a leadership role in a college group, (Check out page 3 Homecoming court as Navigators' president)http://wildcat.wsc.edu/stater/archive/2011/september_28_2011.pdf or my teaching career? If they plan on going to college they better be able to take notes in a way that is useful for them, why not start practicing now? They also need to be able to collaborate and work in groups throughout their lives and high school biology gives them a great place to do that!

What other important life skills do you teach? What are other ways you get your students excited to learn?