Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 196
•
Trim: 6 x 9
978-1-4758-5692-7 • Hardback • September 2020 • $60.00 • (£46.00)
978-1-4758-5693-4 • Paperback • September 2020 • $30.00 • (£22.95)
978-1-4758-5694-1 • eBook • November 2020 • $28.50 • (£21.95)
After numerous research jobs and 30 years in a college classroom, Mike Tveten discovered the magic of storytelling in keeping students engaged. This book follows up on the success of his first book, Imperative Narratives: Storytelling Secrets for Teachers, Staff, and Administrators.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Section I. Scientific Method
Chapter 1. How Three Girls from Ireland Changed the World
Section II. Chemistry
Chapter 2. The Danbury Shakes
Chapter 3. The Radium Girls
Section III. Organic and Biochemistry
Chapter 4. High Fructose Corn Syrup Ruined Their Economies
Chapter 5. A Hike Across the Grand Canyon
Chapter 6. The Life and Death of Lyle Alzado
Chapter 7. Mummies and Bog Bodies
Section IV. Cells
Chapter 8. Evidence of Life in a Martian Meteorite?
Chapter 9. Lynn Margulis and the Endosymbiotic Theory
Section V. Membrane Transport
Chapter 10. Genesis Burkett
Chapter 11. Hold Your Wee For a Wii
Section VI. Enzymes
Chapter 12. The Return of Stonewashed Jeans
Chapter 13. The Death of Korey Stringer
Chapter 14. A Drink at the Pub Made Them Sick
Chapter 15. Beth’s Story
Section VII. Cellular Respiration
Chapter 16. The End of Halloween as We Knew It
Chapter 17. The Story of Johnny Appleseed
Section VIII. Photosynthesis
Chapter 18. Fall Colors Are Priceless
Chapter 19. The Magic of Maple Syrup
Section IX. Mitosis, Meiosis, Chromosomes, and Cancer
Chapter 20. Choosing the Sex of Your Child
Chapter 21. Genghis Khan’s Descendants
Chapter 22. George Washington’s Chromosomes
Chapter 23. Sigmund Freud’s Cancer
Section X. Genetics
Chapter 24. A Parent’s Weekend Surprise
Chapter 25. Nancy Wexler and Huntington’s Disease
Chapter 26. Treyvon’s Pain
Chapter 27. Charlie Chaplin’s Blood Type
Chapter 28. Are They Really Twins?
Chapter 29. Alexei’s Hemophilia
Section XI. DNA and Protein Synthesis
Chapter 30. Sometimes There is Genius in Simplicity
Chapter 31. Rosalind Franklin
Section XII. Biotechnology
Chapter 32. The Story of Dolly
Chapter 33. The First Conviction Based on DNA Fingerprinting
Chapter 34. The Telltale Palo Verde Seed Pods
Chapter 35. Kary Mullis and the Discovery of PCR
Chapter 36. Jesse Gelsinger’s Fight for Life
Section XIII. Disease and Immunity
Chapter 37. Antibiotic Resistant Tuberculosis on an Airplane
Chapter 38. The H1N1 Flu Strikes Again
Chapter 39. The Last Death From Smallpox
Section XIV. Evolution
Chapter 40. Neil Shubin and the Discovery of Tiktaalik
Chapter 41. When Did Humans Start Wearing Clothes?
Chapter 42. Why the Deer Has No Gall and the Pronghorn Has No Dewclaws
Section XV. Ecosystem Ecology
Chapter 43. The First Mammal Extinction Due to Climate Change
Chapter 44. Henry Ford’s New Car
Chapter 45. Thomas Midgley’s Legacy
Section XVI. Community Ecology
Chapter 46. The Birds of Shakespeare
Chapter 47. Egret Plume Hats
Chapter 48. The Return of the American Bison
Section XVII. Population Ecology
Chapter 49. The Lessons of Easter Island and Tikopia
Chapter 50. Colin Beavan, the No Impact Man
About the Author
Stories are the life-blood of great teaching. When we introduce students to real life scenarios, they get it---the relevance of their classwork to the world at large. If you want true stories of science that will excite the imagination of students, this is the collection that will do it. Open these pages and I guarantee you will be invigorated and charmed by new adventures for the classroom.
— Clyde Freeman Herreid, University at Buffalo, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor; director, National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science
Everyone loves stories; science, not so much. But embed biological concepts and topics in compelling narratives, and everything changes. Readers are hooked. That’s what Mike Tveten has accomplished in Biology Stories: 50 Stories for the Teaching and Learning of Biology. From history (Alexei Romanov’s hemophilia and Genghis Khan’s Y) to celebrity (Charlie Chaplain’s blood type and Sigmund Freud’s cancer) to biology’s greatest hits (the endosymbiotic theory and the invention of PCR) to the familiar (the magic of maple syrup and dangers of high-fructose corn syrup), BioStories offers a selection of eclectic topics that illuminate the basic concepts of life science. The stories follow a general introductory biology textbook’s table of contents, with minimal pedagogy (concept tie-in, teacher’s notes, questions for further thought) to interrupt the flow. Students will love it!
— Ricki Lewis, PhD, author, “The Forever Fix: Gene Therapy and the Boy Who Saved It”; senior contributing writer, Genetic Literacy Project
Many educators recognize the value of storytelling in the classroom but aren’t sure how to do it themselves. Mike Tveten’s Biology Stories is an excellent resource for such teachers. It provides a wealth of interesting and relevant materials that can easily be integrated into the biology classroom.
— Eric J. Simon, PhD, professor, Department of Biology & Health Science, New England College, Henniker, NH; author, “Biology: The Core,” “Campbell Essential Biology,” “Campbell Biology: Concepts & Connections”
I would strongly encourage any teacher of biology (or any discipline really) to just let these stories wash over you and help stimulate your thinking on how to make your subjects come to life. There is a reason Hollywood turns stories into a multi-million dollar industry. Stories stick, they inspire, they motivate, they engage, and they open up new imaginings! This book will have you moving from the scripted stories contained in these pages to your own powerful narratives in no time, and your students on the edge of their seats!
— David R. Katz III, Professor Emeritus, davidkatzpresents.com
Tveten clearly wants to help teachers connect to students. This collection of stories in biology will provide a great resource as teachers try to convince students of the importance of studying biology.
— Ike Shibley, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Penn State University; Consultant for Magna Publications, Faculty Development Consultant, and co-author of forthcoming book "The Power of Blended Learning in the Sciences"