A Graphic Novel Plants Seeds of Scientific Curiosity in Michigan Classrooms

Credit: Courtesy of David Lowry

As an art form, graphic novels have a long history of employing colorful images and vibrant text to tell entertaining and compelling stories. Today MSU researchers are drawing on the strengths and appeal of this form to help students better understand complex concepts, especially related to plant biology, by incorporating a comic book into the curriculum in Michigan classrooms.

That’s what field researchers set out to do in the Mystery of the Monkeyflower. The MSU-developed graphic novel follows Maia and William as they ask questions about genetics and evolution of a vibrant yellow flower with markings resembling a monkey’s face—the monkeyflower.

While Maia and William are fictional characters, their field research is based on the scientific work of David Lowry, professor in MSU’s Department of Plant Biology. Lowry’s decades of research and substantial knowledge of monkeyflowers served as a guide for the Mystery of the Monkeyflower.

The Mystery Begins

Lowry’s introduction to the monkeyflower came while working toward his Ph.D. at Duke University under the advisership of John Willis. Willis’ original research focused on a species of Polygonum douglasii—or knotweed. One fateful day, Willis visited his research plot in Oregon to find that all of the knotweed had been trampled by “wallowing” elk in their attempt to cool off. In despair, Willis recalls turning away from his failed experiment to see a beacon of hope radiating in the form of a patch of yellow flowers— yellow monkeyflowers. From that point Willis shifted his attention to studying the monkeyflower and discovered the flower’s makeup is ideal for answering questions about evolution and genetics.

Under Willis’ tutelage, Lowry’s natural curiosity about plants only grew, and after earning his doctorate, he continued his research on plant speciation, genetics, and evolutionary genomics at MSU. In 2014, the Lowry Lab opened, allowing his research to progress further into the evolutionary genomics of monkeyflowers.

The Mystery Evolves

Irene Bayer serves as associate director for engagement for MSU’s CREATE for STEM Institute; and as the principal investigator for a project Health in Our Hands (HiOH). While the institute’s overarching goal is to develop a new generation of STEM learning materials, HiOH curriculum is focused on blending school and community learning experiences to teach about topics like genetics.

“It was brought to us that David was doing some really wonderful research that could be used to teach students how genetics and the environment work together to create new species and mutations,” Bayer said. “So, in talking with David, we decided to use his research to tell a story that would engage students in a mystery.”

With funding from the National Science Foundation and a National Institutes of Health Science Education Partnership Award, Lowry, Bayer, and their teams combined their expertise in plant research, curriculum development, writing, and illustration to create the Mystery of the Monkeyflower (MoM).

The MoM curriculum follows Next Generation Science Standards to teach middle and high school students through a hands-on plant experiment with the accompanying graphic novel to guide them through the lessons.

Credit: Courtesy of Rebecca Brewer

Each module uses illustrations, along with educational (and witty) conversations between the characters, to help students understand complex concepts that text alone may not easily convey. Throughout the lessons, Maia and William ask a “great creative group”—the students—to help them answer questions about two varieties of monkeyflowers, what causes their similarities and differences, how environmental conditions play a role in the survival of the plants, and if there are differences between the two varieties over time.

“The monkeyflower is an excellent system for studying questions about evolution and genetics and how those disciplines intersect,” Lowry said. “We wanted students to grow the plants in their classrooms as they followed the comic book characters through their research process. Our overall goal was to help students better understand the basics of the scientific process and observe phenomena in nature while experiencing what it’s like to be a scientist themselves.”

The Mystery Recruits Middle School Student Scientists

The original curriculum was tested with middle school students in urban school districts to ensure equity was part of the design and determine how well the authenticity and engagement worked for students who faced educational disparities, especially in science.

Bayer added that they wanted the characters in the comic book to speak to all students, including young researchers of different genders and races. “Drafts of the comic book were reviewed by community partners, who provided feedback on the main characters, their dress and dialogue, to assure that they would resonate authentically with a range of readers,” she said.

Consuelo Morales, curriculum and teacher support lead in HiOH for the monkeyflower project, echoed Bayer, saying, “We wanted to disrupt that view of a scientist, and really illustrate the idea that many people can do science and be scientists. It’s beyond mixing chemicals in a lab and can even extend to fieldwork, which some of the students had never considered.”

Credit: Courtesy of Consuelo Morales

Morales worked with the MoM team, teachers, students, community partners, and colleagues in CREATE for STEM to develop, test, and revise the curriculum in order to provide the most engaging material that would keep middle school students involved and interested in plant biology. “We want students to enjoy learning, and immerse themselves in their learning,” she said.

Additional feedback and further revisions from the MoM team and other plant biologists suggested the updated curriculum aligned with the learning goals of high school students. To test the advanced curriculum, they put out a call for teacher volunteers from varying demographics to participate in the pilot program, and Rebecca Brewer was one of the first to volunteer.

An Advanced Placement (AP) biology teacher at Troy High School, she looks for something creative to do with her students following months of rigorous preparation for their AP exams.

“Every year after the exams I try to incorporate something that’s both educational and fun into the curriculum to keep the students engaged for the remainder of the school year,” Brewer said. “When I saw the call for teachers to participate in a pilot program using monkeyflowers, I was intrigued.”

Brewer says plants were a missing piece among the varying concepts she and her students had visited throughout the year.

An MSU alumna, Brewer was excited to be back on campus as part of the professional development and learning for the monkeyflower curriculum, designed to help teachers learn to effectively use the plants and comic book simultaneously in their classrooms. While on campus, they met with Lowry and took a tour of his lab to see the monkeyflowers firsthand.

Credit: Lowry Lab Website

“It was amazing to visit David’s lab, see the research he’s doing, and then emulate that in our classrooms,” Brewer said. “It’s a solid curriculum and definitely worthwhile for teachers to be involved.”

The Mystery Enters High School Classrooms

Once back in her classroom, Brewer says her AP class was very receptive to the curriculum. “Any time you can do authentic, hands-on learning in the classroom, the students’ engagement levels are so much higher,” Brewer said. “The multilayered experiment brought the concepts of evolution, ecology, and genetics together through a lab design that really resonated with the students and kept them engaged.” She added that the students would even go into voicing Maia and William while reading aloud.

MoM was piloted with teachers and students in three school districts across the state ranging from urban, rural and suburban communities. The lessons resonated with students from different grade levels and backgrounds.

“The consensus was that all students, regardless of demographics, got something out of the MoM,” Bayer said. “One of my favorite stories is about a student who said, ‘Now when I go outside, I’ll look around and think ‘why is that plant growing here?’ ‘It’s a combination of genetics and how the plant’s genetics interacts with the environment around it!’”

If you ask Lowry what is most exciting about seeing his research turn into a graphic novel, he’ll tell you it’s all about the students.

“The students are really engaging with the curriculum and getting something out of it,” he said. “Not only are they learning, but they’re enjoying the process.”

Beyond that, he valued his time working with Bayer, Morales, and other team members on the curriculum. “I really valued working with colleagues I usually don’t have the opportunity to interact with.”

The Mystery Continues

Lowry sees enormous potential for the project moving forward, given the feedback they’ve received, how versatile the plant is in teaching concepts of biology, and the uniqueness of using a comic book as a guide.

While funding for the project has ended, the MoM curriculum is still available on CREATE for STEM’s website thanks to a grant Lowry received from the National Science Foundation. The curriculum, a downloadable copy of the graphic novel, and monkeyflower seeds are available for free for any teachers who would like to implement this educational module in their classroom.

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute Of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R25GM132964. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.