Biology
The builders of this Website remind us that it is not a substitute for wet lab student work. The multimedia Web lab here is a parallel method
to reinforce and review. There is an animation which reconstructs a frog
skeleton -- something very hard to do with the real thing. Like so many of the most interesting Web sites today, this one is growing. It
interconnects the complexities of the embryonic sciences with definitions, drawings and Quick Time movies.
EARTHSHOTS: Satellite Images of Environmental Change
Perched high in space, study snapshots in time to see macro changes to Earth, mostly caused by humans. The newest of the collected articles shows Mozambique, in the area of the town of Mutarara, and points to the effects of an eleven-year war civil war in satellite images from 1973, 1985, 1992, 1994, and 1995. Each article contains text that describes features of the satellite images, and many have further maps and photographs. Drop in on disasters: the oil fire in Kuwait, what eruption did to Mount St. Helen's. Visit water projects in Turkmenistan and Buraydah. Study forests in Brazil and Iran. See cities ranging from Phnom Penh to Dallas. There is much to be learned from this U.S. Geological Survey Website, and the views are spectacular.
Grain Genes (Biology)
A real science environment, these pages provide a compilation
of molecular and phenotypic information on wheat, barley,
oats, rye, and sugarcane. For a student wanting to get a general
idea of what is involved in genetic research, this site is a good
place to look around. For example, the mapping section covers
each of the grains and concludes with articles for mappers.
Beyond the introduction to what genetic science is these days,
simply incredible to the uninitiated is the access through this Web
site to the genetic information in elaborate detail for the grains.
Reported research goes back for decades and the most recent
work is available in massive detail. How could all of this have
been kept up-to-date and made available without digital
information processing and the Internet? The answer is: no way.
This primer with illustrations and summary text is an
authoritative source for the basics of human anatomy produced by the
American Medical Association and Emory University. Body parts and
systems are each described separately, with labeled drawings. The atlas
is a useful mix of simplicity and erudition, with some of illustrations
from Current Procedural Terminology, revised 1998 edition. This example
of the explanatory text is a bit like that old song about bones:
"The bones of the toes are called the phalanges. The phalanges are
jointed to the 5 metatarsal bones. Behind the metatarsal bones are a
series of smaller bones known as the tarsal bones. The heel bone is
called the calcaneus, which is connected to the talus bone (the largest
bone of the ankle). Tendons connect the muscles that act on the various
bones of the toes and feet to help you stand and walk."
Biology, Genetics
The basic principles of genetics
Find out how Gregor Mendel discovered
genetics by experimenting with pea plants.
Impact of the Human Genome Project
The Human Genome Project is trying to make history by being the first to
map the human genetic code. Learn more about this exciting project here.
http://www.accessexcellence.org/AB/GG/
biotechnology
"Virtual FlyLab allows you play the role of a research geneticist. It is
an educational application for learning the principles of genetic
inheritance. You design matings between female and male fruit flies
carrying one or more genetic mutations. After selecting the mutations
for the two parent flies and clicking the "Mate" button, you will be
returned a document containing the images of the parent and offspring
flies. Virtual FlyLab will apply the correct rules of genetic inheritance
to these mutations to obtain the offspring. It is your job to determine
these rules based on the "experimental" results."
Electronic Desktop Project at California State University, LA
Microbiology
Good for teachers:
http://www.microbe.org/index.html
Digital Leaning Center for Microbiol Ecology
Bugs in the News began as a way to interest my students in Microbiology 500, "Fundamentals of Microbiology." I needed to come up with something which would get the students' attention...