After receiving my Broadfield Science certificate from the State of Montana in the spring of 1994 I accepted a position teaching at the Northern Cheyenne Tribal School in Busby. I taught biology, chemistry, earth and physical science, astronomy and biological illustration for grades 9- 12. Busby is on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in southeast Montana twenty-three miles east of the Little Big Horn National Monument. The students were Northern Cheyenne and Crow in what may be considered an alternative school setting. We used the block system of teaching which involved two classes per day, three hours and forty-five minutes in length, four days a week. My observations during the year made me realize that better methods of communicating the information were needed. This summer I am fortunate to have an opportunity to hopefully rectify this situation. I am working for Bill Dyer and Bruce Maxwell in the Plant, Soil and Environmental Sciences Department at Montana State University and part of my job is to develop a supplemental biology curriculum incorporating biotechnology for secondary science classes. I want to be able to offer options to teachers who want to add some biotechnology to their classes. Because I believe that lessons are more effectively learned through repeated contact, I am designing this supplement so that it can be used for the whole school term. This is necessary as I am incorporating long term hands-on labs that deal with germinating plants to use in future labs.
The curriculum starts traditionally with the introduction of biology as the study of life and the importance of plants. This leads into the cultivation of the plant species selected for the year. Ideally this would be a rapidly maturing plant with easily manipulated traits enabling the students to raise at least three generations during the school year. After plants are in, the class can concentrate on other aspects of biology until the plant flowers. Just before this occurs lessons on plant genetics and reproduction will be taught. This will inform the students about the next progression steps that can be taken with their plants, namely crossing for the expression of simple characteristics such as flower color. After the plants are manipulated there will be time to introduce biotechnology while waiting for the second generation to mature. This series will include historical and modern technology in an effort to show that technology is not just a present day creation. Examples of Native Americans and other native peoples from around the world will be examined. Before the plants mature and after the lessons on biotechnology, the students will design their own labs to experiment on the last generation of plants. After this is accomplished all of the information the students have accumulated will be written up and presented to the other students at the end of the year. The majority of the labs will be hands-on and as much as possible, use inexpensive and common materials. I am also designing this curriculum so that each teacher can use their regular texts to control expenses.
With the development of this curriculum I hope to enable students to explore the vital and fast growing fields of biotechnology and genetics in plants. It will allow them to make the important decisions that will face them in their future. This will also help me in my future teaching career in several ways; it gives me a good foundation of materials and information that I can use to build a solid interdisciplinary curriculum for my future teaching career, it allows me to investigate what educational materials can be found on Internet and will also save me time that I can use for other aspects of teaching .
Arthur E. Stendel
520 South 5th
Bozeman, MT 59715