Teaching Biology at the Secondary Level

Abstract

BIOLOGY TEACHING AT THE secondary level until recent years was fairly standardized. Routine study of cells, organs, organ systems, and phylogenetic groups constituted, in one combination or another, a typical biology course. Laboratory sessions were organized around dissections and microscope work with the resulting meticulously labeled drawings. In some of the metropolitan schools with larger student populations, somewhat diversified curricula were practical, including advanced courses in botany, zoology, or physiology. Traditional courses are still offered, of course, but for the most part, biology has changed its focus. This change began in the post-Sputnik era when science educators frantically sought to strengthen their science curricula. New discoveries were brought into high school classrooms, and the emphasis shifted to an inquiry and problem-solving approach. To meet the needs of educators, new curricula were designed for all of the sciences, complete with acronyms: in biology, the BSCS (Biological Sciences Curriculum Study); in chemistry, the CHEMS (Chemical Education Material Study) and the CBA (Chemical Bond Approach); in physics, the PSSC (Physical Science Study Committee) and the HPP (Harvard Project Physics); in earth science, the ESCP (Earth Sciences Curriculum Project). New textbooks were written to be consistent with the revised curricula, and today the market is flooded with a bewildering array of texts theoretically designed to answer any and every need. In fact, all of the texts are amazingly similar variations on one theme: here is what scientists need to know. Now there is a new cry-one that is long overdue: What about the social implications of biology? And, currently much is being written to describe the needs of 20th Century students who will be living in the 21st Century, and who will not be scientists, much less, biologists.