Check out this great article co-written by our favorite Biology Teacher/Artist, Caryn Babaian.

The article is very interesting in its own right. And it’ll help you get in the mood for the “vegetarian/scientist” we’ll be premiering this coming Wednesday.

How fast can Caryn draw? Really, REALLY fast. Check out her work in the “Secret Life” studios during our interview with her.

In spite of her passion for art, her great knowledge of biology, and her devotion to all living things, Caryn Babaian wasn’t quite sure how to dress when she first started teaching at Bucks County Community College. She mentions her ultimate fashion role model in her “10 Questions” video, but here she goes into a little more detail:

Have you ever seen them together? We thought not. “’I was looking at ‘Gilligan’s Island,’ and I saw the Professor, and I thought, ‘He has a lot of authority.’ He seemed to know everything about everything—he was a doctor, he was a chemist, he was a plant-person, he knew about ethnobotany and different cultures. But he was always wearing this shirt and khaki pants and the sneakers. So I thought, ‘That’s authoritative. That’s scientific.’ And that image has stuck in a lot of people’s minds—a lot of students all relate that to scientists. And it works out well. I thought, ‘Yeah, I can do that. A white shirt, khaki pants, glasses.’ And so that works great. And the only problem is, I did it so much over the years I’m starting to evolve into it, which is not good. You know, I have to remember, I don’t want to dress like the Professor all the time.”

I know what you mean, Caryn, because a similar thing happened to me. For special occasions it’s nice. But I don’t want to dress like Ginger all the time.

I love how biology teacher Caryn Babaian suggested her students learn anatomy by sketching out Charlie Brown’s insides. Maybe if I’d had a teacher like Caryn, I wouldn’t have gone through school thinking biology was just about cutting up frogs and persecuting little mice.

Close observation of nature has its rewards The video interview with Caryn caused my mind to go off in all directions. Caryn’s fashion sense inspired me, too. (Take a good look at that great get-up she’s wearing in the video!) Listening to Caryn, I was suddenly interested in Leonardo’s Notebook, in cave drawings as an early means of illustrating biology, in artist teachers in history, and in the Bela Legosi film “The Devil Bat”!

But most of all, I took to heart what Caryn said about the value of seeing by drawing, for example, a leaf. I remembered “Leaf by Niggle,” a short story by J.R.R. Tolkien. In that story, artist Niggle paints a tree, beginning with a careful rendering of a single leaf. We can interpret the story in many ways, but the more attention he pays to his leaf, the more he sees—within the leaf, around, and beyond it.

Observing closely what we observe in nature—and drawing or otherwise trying to recreate what we see is the best way to do that—we enter into it. By paying attention we do more than learn terms we can repeat on a test: We can use careful observation as a ritual. By focusing and seeing—really seeing—the architecture of an endocrine system, the anatomy of a leaf or the social habits of an ant, the pattern of conch shells, fractals, snowflakes, and cells, we can live in the moment and at the same time get reminded of what a tiny space we occupy in Deep Time. We can become more mindful and appreciative of what cell biologist Ursula Goodenough called the sacred depths of nature.

Caryn’s favorite biological drawings were made by Ernst Haeckel, a 19th-century German naturalist, philosopher, physician and extremely talented artist.

1. Muscinae or moss Haeckel was one of Charles Darwin’s contemporaries. When Darwin’s On the Origins of Species came out, in 1859, it was a huge success. Still, it was long and dense and had only a few drawings. That might be why, nine years later, Haeckel’s illustrated book on evolution, called The History of Creation was also so well received. 2. Actiniae or anemones

Haeckel made hundreds of illustrations in his lifetime. Here, I’ve showcased a few from one of his other books, Artforms of Nature. 3. Chaetopoda or worms The drawings highlight taxonomical classes, which he’s probably best known for:

1) This shows 16 different species of moss. In Haeckel’s time, these belonged to the Muscinae family; today, they belong to the Bryophyta family (and Muscinae actually refers to a group of houseflies).

2) Here’s the Actiniae family, showing 15 species of sea anemones. When they’re touched, these creatures release toxins that paralyze their prey (usually small fish and shrimp).

3) The Chaetopoda, of which seven species are shown here, are segmented worms.

“There are three classes of people: those who see, those who see when they are shown, those who do not see.” - Leonardo da Vinci

Who doesn’t remember the first look at cork cells under a microscope? There was a beauty and elegance to this microscopic world that had just opened up. Leonardo saw the beauty in nature, including himself. As part of the lab report, we drew that honeycomb of interlocking shapes. That was seventh grade science, and I was hooked.

My love of science grew from that class, but most of all, from that teacher. Mrs. Robinson. I’ll always remember her. She was much older than Caryn to my thirteen-year-old perceptions, but her subject and her enthusiasm for it made an impression on me. When I saw Caryn talking about drawing to really see the beauty in science, it reminded me of what good teachers do with the subject.

As a former science teacher in elementary and secondary schools, I recognize the enthusiasm of the young children as they encounter science. You could actually see the light bulb go on during an activity. Moving up the grades, the enthusiasm declined. But science teachers who love their subject make biology interesting and relevant—and that opens the world. Seeing through drawing is an idea da Vinci began, and it’s a wonderful way to teach biology.

Leonardo da Vinci’s quote seems to fit Caryn’s view of biology. What a wonderful teacher!

Caryn’s drawing connection to Leonardo reminds us that looking at the depth and detail in science is what makes it the fascinating subject it is. Da Vinci showed us the beauty and symmetry of the human body, nature, and the shapes of organisms in his world. Today, science teachers pass along the skill da Vinci had innately.

There are always the students who see. Teachers skilled in revealing the nature of science help those who need to see. Those who do not see need the teachers the most. That’s the nature of the job—and Caryn’s use of Leonardo’s techniques might just open some eyes.

NOVA’s “Secret Life” was something that automatically resonated with me as a life science educator and an artist for two reasons, first of all the idea of a “secret life” really explores the idea of a polymath. Caryn as The Professor - we’d take her class! The second reason was the program’s staff spent hours interviewing me to reveal and visualize just a snippet of a story. This is very much like creating art and doing science, hours, days, years, a lifetime are often spent absorbing, connecting, and relating to something before you ever produce a skill, an idea, or something of meaning. It verifies that process is fundamental to deep knowledge and it was fun to do!

Technology is awesome.

But sometimes the simplest kind of technology can be the very best one for the job.

Caryn Babaian teaches biology at Bucks County Community College. And she has her biology students draw living things (and parts of living things) just about everyday in her classroom. Caryn, chalk, and blackboard in our studio Not only that, she has them draw old-school style… pencils and sketchpads only. As Caryn explains in one of her videos, “art captures the elusive and diverse quality of life.” But then again, there are all kinds of art—videos, photographs, computer-generated images—that can show the most minute detail of virtually everything we experience in the world. What’s special about drawing? What’s special about drawing living things with our own hands?

Here’s Caryn’s answer:

Who’s your favorite Leonardo?

There, we’ve asked you a question. Now you get to ask Caryn one.

Use the comments and she will answer you.

UPDATE: We are no longer taking more questions for Caryn. But check out her answers in the comments. She may have answered a question you were going to ask!