In the Classroom with Linda Green
Linda Green fields a question from a student during her Introduction to Organismal Biology course. Green uses in-class technology to gauge how well students are understanding the material.
When teaching Introduction to Organismal Biology (BIO 1520), Linda Green likes to tap into students’ curiosity by taking a fresh look at familiar occurrences.
“There are a lot of things in biology that people never think about,” said Green, senior academic professional in the School of Biology. “We see it every day, but most people never consider that the way a plant on a windowsill bends toward the light is a function of a hormone in the shoot and the cells elongating. In class, we pick apart why the plant is growing sideways and discuss what is involved in the process. That’s something that the students may not come in wanting to know, but it’s a way that I can connect with their curiosity.”
This is Green’s eighth year at Georgia Tech. Before coming to Tech she was already familiar with the campus because she grew up in Norcross, Georgia, and both of her parents are Tech alumni. Her dad earned a B.S. in chemical engineering and a master’s in nuclear engineering and was a practicing nuclear engineer, and her mom majored in and taught mathematics.