Training Quantitative Thinkers by Using Spreadsheets as Simulation Drivers for Biology Classes: Selective Predation Effect on Prey Gene Pool

Abstract

Science classes need to produce better quantitative thinkers. I teach biology and chemistry. Many students who do well in biology flounder on the numbers and calculations in chemistry. They just aren't practiced in thinking about their world in numbers. Most biology textbooks present very few numbers. However, many biological concepts rest on quantitative foundations. Genetic drift, natural selection, population dynamics and interactions, concentration, and distribution of organisms or traits are but a few. For teachers with at least one computer in their classrooms, a spreadsheet can help them open a new window on these ideas and help students gain a quantitative grasp of life. The spreadsheet is generally overlooked as a tool for teaching biology. One reason little math is used in most biology courses at the high school level is that biology is often the first high school science course. Frequently the students are ninth or tenth graders with few of the math skills necessary to do most required calculations easily and rapidly. Another concern is that there is so much biology and so little time in class. Thus having them calculate is not an effective use of precious biology minutes. The spreadsheet is a great tool for solving both of these concerns. The teacher can enter any formulas, which are truly beyond the students, into the spreadsheet. Also, for some applica-