So here it is, Earth Day 2010. 40 years and counting. A lifetime for many and yet it seems like a blink of an eye. Forty years ago, Kent State University (12 days before it became “famous” worldwide,) a freshman bio major and ready to let my voice be heard. The first Earth Day was a big event on campus, at least in the biology building, Cunningham Hall. Senator Gaylord Nelson had proclaimed the first Earth Day and we were ready. Ready to march, ready to learn, ready to teach and ready to change this ailing planet. That really was a lifetime ago. Well, a career’s lifetime ago. Thirty-four years in the biology classroom. Thirty-four years with approximately 100 students a year (some years less, some more.) 3400 youngsters that learned about their world, our world, THE WORLD. 3400 young folks learning about where in the world they are and how they need to understand it and take care of it. Some years we all forgot about the health of our planet. Some years it was fashionable to care. So how are we doing now? Well, the planet is still ailing. We can make a list of the wounds, but suffice it to say that an extended
stay in the critical care ward is called for. But at least it is again fashionable to care about the health of the planet. The “Green” word is good right now. Actually it is profitable for businesses to be “Green.” Maybe that is the direction we needed to go. Not “It isn’t easy being green!” as my friend Kermit always said. Now we can say “It is easier being Green than it was before” and that is a good thing.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Around the World in 80 Blogs

We know as biology teachers that the entire world is our classroom –or should be.  The Internet certainly makes that easier then it was when I started to teach.  We have been “talking” about using Internet resources to make our teaching more personal, more interactive, more current.  Here is a way to open up the other side of the world to your students–>  Read a blog that is posted by an Australian biology teacher.  My best friend is a biologist in Melbourne, Australia (or as he says–Oz.)  Over the past few years as I started to post my observations and exploits on my own Biology Teacher Blog (http://benzbiologyblog.blogspot.com/) my friend Stewart Monckton started to put together some ideas for a blog of his own.  Well, it is live now and I find it fascinating.  I love to see the biology around my own world as I walk, drive, bike or paddle around.  Now I can “see” and “hear” and learn about the biology around the environs of Melbourne, Australia.  I find that writing a blog entry makes me see better, hear better, and learn more about my environment.  When I read Stewart’s blog I find that his entries and my responses are making me see more of the world, hear more of the world and of course, learn more about the biology in other parts of the world.  Last week he described a recent trip to an area called The Grampions west of Melbourne–or as Stewart says–> “The Grampians sit West and North of Melbourne. A four hour journey by car, longer with kids, an eternity if they are bored, restless and fractious. Luckily eternity does not beckon.”  Here is a comment that his recent entry elicited from me–>

As you can see, he makes me think.  Stewart has asked if other biologist are interested in learning about his own environment.  I said “You bet they are!”  So here it is–

http://payingreadyattention.blogspot.com/

Check it out.  Learn about the environments on the other side of the world.  Oz is a fascinating place.  When you read about the wildlife, remember, they are on the “other side ” of the Wallace Line (see  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_Line)

Rich Benz (and friend)

Well, here we go again!

… WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM THIS EVENING THROUGH LATE TUESDAY NIGHT…

A WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM THIS EVENING THROUGH LATE TUESDAY NIGHT.

STEADY LIGHT SNOW WILL DEVELOP THROUGH MID AFTERNOON WITH HEAVIER ACCUMULATING SNOWS POSSIBLE AFTER DARK. THE MODERATE TO LOCALLY HEAVY LAKE EFFECT SNOWS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVERNIGHT AND CONTINUE INTO TUESDAY NIGHT. ACCUMULATIONS FROM LATE AFTERNOON THROUGH MIDNIGHT MAY BE 3 TO LOCALLY 5 INCHES. IF THE PERSISTENT LAKE EFFECT SNOW BANDS MATERIALIZE FOR TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT THERE WILL BE ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATIONS THAT WILL PUSH AMOUNTS OVER 6 INCHES. A FEW LOCATIONS IN THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF NORTHEAST OHIO INTO NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA COULD SEE SNOW AMOUNTS AROUND A FOOT.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THAT HEAVY SNOW IS POSSIBLE. IF YOU ARE WITHIN THE WATCH AREA… STAY TUNED TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OR THE LOCAL NEWS MEDIA FOR THE LATEST UPDATES AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

It is APRIL 6TH!!  Half of the schools in our area are on SPRING break!!  I just finished putting up a new Bluebird Trail at the Environmental Learning Center (more on that later.) We rushed so that they would be up in time for the birds to find their new digs and establish new nesting sites. I just returned from a lunch with a friend where we were discussing and planning an August trip to Belize with a number of other biology teachers.  I’m listening to the FIRST Major League Baseball game as I write this and then I check to see what the weather is supposed to be.  WHAT?!?  A WINTER STORM WATCH?!?   Well, I do live in Northern Ohio, near a large body of unfrozen water (Lake Erie.)  I should expect it.  But late winter or early spring snow storms are always a big surprise and a big disappointment. I thought for awhile and decided I needed to post this blog entry.  It is a recycled entry from one of my own blogs about winter weather and how it can impact the environment and how it can be used to teach about evolution, Darwin and natural selection.  I was going to hold onto it until next January or February when we had a good snowpack in my back yard.  With the above Winter Weather Advisory I decided now would be just as good a time as any.  Please note as you read it, the dates show some of the important biology education events of 2005 when it was first conceived and written.  So here it is—-

Sometimes I wish I lived a bit closer to school. As it is, I have a 25 minute drive to school and a 30 minute drive home. Why the difference? Well, going to school I take a pretty direct route via Interstate and main roads (except the day it was really snowing hard and I didn’t make one of the turns because it was difficult to see the road and realized I was lost about ten minutes into the trip. This is a very strange feeling and might be the subject of a later wandering blog.) On my way home I take the back roads. You might think I would be in a hurry to get home, but actually this is a nice time of the day. I drive on a variety of backcountry roads that remind me of my travels through the countryside of rural Vermont. (Those of you that live in rural Vermont might not think that this is so special, but believe me, it is.) The extra 5 minute drive is a small price to pay for a daily Vermont vacation. I also get to “hunt” for biology as I make my way through the country. It is not unusual to see small groupings of whitetail deer, along with any number of soaring and perched red-tail hawks. I also have to watch out for the occasional wild turkey or two. One day two years ago I turned a corner near the Holden Arboretum (one of the largest arboretums in the world,) and saw a field filled with over 50 wild turkeys. Certainly worth 5 minutes out of my day!!

Actually, I think the 25 minute drive is a good thing. On the way to school, it provides me with the time to switch gears, to remember what happened the day before, and to create. We are teachers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but sometimes our thoughts are focused on other things. The drive to school allows me to refocus. Most importantly, it is the time I use to create new stories. I am sure that the reason I have been able to stay in this profession for 32 years is that it has provided me the opportunity to be creative.

On Friday (1/28/05) it was -3 degrees F. on the outside thermometer when I got up and got ready for work. I looked out into my woods and wondered about the wildlife. How did the birds do? How about the rabbits and deer? Just a passing thought. I went out to get my paper and felt the cold. Now I really wondered how the animals were fairing. But the hour was getting late and I needed to get on the road.

The creative part of my drive was about to begin. How could I use the cold temperature in my classes? I have been thinking a lot about evolution over the past few weeks. It HAS been in the news quite a bit (the Dover, PA. schools decided that the students in their biology classes needed to have the district administrators read a short non-science statement regarding evolution at the start of their unit on evolution and natural selection.) But also, I have been putting together some thoughts about how I teach about evolution since Darwin Day is coming and I am speaking at our local natural history museum’s Darwin Day celebration. So naturally, I thought about the effects of our current weather on the survival of the wildlife. Well, what I really thought about on my cold drive in was Darwin’s thoughts after a similar icy blast in Downe. It is told that Darwin saw dozens of dead birds on his own property at Down House (note the town is Downe and the house is Down.) In Chapter Three of The Origin Of Species, Darwin writes that nearly 4/5′s of the birds on his property failed to survive the winter of 1854-1855. Now how can I slip that bit into the students’ inevitable complaints about having school when the temperature was so low????? Simple, I start my class talking about how I decided if it were two degrees colder I was rolling over and pulling up the blanket. (This way I can say it was actually a bit too warm for me this morning.) So that’s what I did, I taught a little about natural selection to a group of sleepy, crabby, cold 9th graders. I got in a little history of science and even a bit of how birds actually do stay warm on such cold nights. As part of the story  I threw in the expression that it was a “three dog night.” Of course I thought they would instantly recognize the expression because of the music group by the same name. You guessed it–I’m showing my age. No one knew either the expression or the band !!! I had to add to the story a bit, but I threw in some biology about body temperature and animal size. I even ventured into thermoregulation and body covering. I finally got around to a dog’s body temperature and the insulating qualities of fur verses feathers verses skin. I could have gone on and on, but the point was made. Animals have evolved strategies to survive the extremes in their environments. Also, if it is -5 degrees I’m rolling over and pulling up the blanket.

See what can come from a 25-minute drive to work!!

So there it is, we are storytellers.  In fact when people ask me what I do for a living I always tell them that I am a storyteller.  I usually tell stories about biology (not always,) but telling stories is what I do.  My job is to get my audience to listen, to enjoy, and to learn from the stories I tell.  Think about your stories.  Where do you get the info for you own stories?  What adventures can you weave into your teaching?  We take classes to get more stories.  We travel to collect topics. We join organizations like NABT to swap stories and acquire new tales of biology.  What stories do you use in your teaching?  Now we have the BioBlog as a forum for swapping and collecting stories from all over the Biology Education World.  After you read this little tale formulated from the latest NE Ohio weather report, think about sharing one of your own bio-stories and add it by posting a Comment below.