Posted by Richard Durham on April 1, 2006

Q: The concept of labels is indeed stifling to the enthusiasm of young learners, particularly high school students. To what depth do you recommend students at that level learn the labels of organisms? Obviously they are not expected to be working-professionals in the field, so is it alright just to learn the importance of labeling to differentiate between organisms?

State: New York

A: I think it's especially important for students to find science "fun" and not be intimidated or bored with it. Initially, it's fine to keep the nomenclature simple and direct but as students become more and more knowledgeable, the labeling should increase to keep pace with what they're learning but not be an end in itself. Learning lots of names just for the sake of learning them or for the sake of a test is not conducive to enjoying science nor in retaining what one does "learn". I do think that high school students can and should learn some of the basics in biology but it should also be relevant so they can see how what they're learning applies to their own lives. As an example, I'm not so sure that learning the steps of DNA replication is all that valuable although learning what DNA is, is important. Thanks for writing and I hope you and your students will continue to use the Electronic Naturalist.

John Wiessinger ( April 1, 2006)