Category Archives: Free Resources
Statistical Analysis
Other websources:
Click4Biology has an excellent page for this topic
The Open Door website has some basic stats, as well more in-depth uses of statistics. Particularly useful is their page on errors in Biology.
The Field Studies Council has a good t-test page
Gapminder.org shows the awesome power of statistics. Grrr….
And you can ask your teacher to get the T-test Powerpoint from the OCC.
Using your calculator:
– Using the TI GDC (from Click4Biology)
– Using the Casio pdf download (from keymath.com)
BIS Students:
Here is our Quia Class page on this topic.
The Periodic Table of Videos
Thanks to Danny from the Whiteboard Blog for posting this.
The Chemistry department at the University of Nottingham evidently got a new video camera last Christmas and have been making videos about all of the elements on the periodic table. This impressive and mammoth project is a collection of videos about each of the elements in the periodic table – and it rocks. The best way to find out more is to go on over and have a look…
Helpfully for those who’ve been blocked from YouTube (who host all the videos), they’ve posted a link to watch themon another server.
Here’s one of their top recommended videos, Phosphorous:
This is now one of my favourite YouTube channels.
New resources at Learn.Genetics
This is via the Learn.Genetics mailing list. Why not join – they only send mails out when there’s something worth reading.
Coming soon, Amazing Cells:activities and animations on cell processes and communication.
Also, a new interactive lab activity: Polymerase Chain Reaction Biotechniques lab.
Plant and Soil Sciences eLibrary
With all the webspace devoted to genetics and biotechnology at the moment, it’s great to stumble upon a site that is bringing ‘old school’ Science into the new millenium. Though no-one seems to call it botany any more!
The Plant and Soil Science eLibrary hosts a collection of animations on plant science topics and cell biology that are useful, clear and can be easily downloaded. They are all also available in Spanish and many have pdf help notes for students.
The site is designed primarily for people who wish to earn credit for further studies in crop science and contains such units as plant physiology, crop technology and nutrition technology. There’s even some genetics in there.
Click on the image to see their transpiration example.
Rediscovering Biology – web-based Bio course
Rediscovering Biology is a comprehensive free learning resource that covers 13 different topics- mostly with an emphasis on Biochemistry and Genetics.
Each topic has an introductory video, downloadable texbook, course outline, learning activities and a selection of images and animations in quicktime, which are high-quality. One of the highlights of the site is the selection of immersive case studies. There is also a useful pop-up glossary.
Topics: Genomics, Proteins and Proteomics, Evolution and Phylogenetics, Microbial Diversity, Emerging Infectious Disease, HIV and AIDS, Genetics of Development, Cell Biology and Cancer, Human Evolution, Neurobiology, Biology of Sex and Gender, Biodoversity, Genetically Modified Organisms.
TED – 50 million views young (and the best graphs EVER)
TED (Technology, Education, Design) has racked up 50 million views since 2006 and is proof that people can use the internet for more than just celebrity gossip and the dodgy sites. They now have a highlight reel of their top ten talks, including the $40 SMART Board, some oceany greatness and lessons learned while having a stroke. Ken Robinson’s talk is up there (are schools killing creativity?), and one of the coolest bits of statistics you’ll ever see from Hans Rosling:
After watching that, you should absolutely must head straight on over to gapminder.org and be dazzled.
You can even access the gapminder graph and manipulate both axes. Awesome.
Space: the Final Frontier
Just how big is the Universe? The Hubble telescope helped us find out…
Some more space resources:
YourSky – excellent star map that lets you control many variables and print.
Stardate – a collection of excellent resources for stargazers, students and teachers (including how old/heavy am I on other planets?)
Lots of good FAQs from Stardate
Deepsky2003 starmap plotting software
The $50 SMARTBoard
This is just unbelievable, for two reasons:
1. If it works, you get thousands of dollars of functionality for near nowt.
2. You get an excuse to bring a Wii to school.
Here’s Johnny Lee and his Wii hacks (thanks to Henri Bemelmans for letting me know):
And while you’re at it…
Go and spend some time on the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) website – there are some really top-class talks.
Dissections Online – eMints centre
This site has a list of virtual dissection resources available online.
Children’s Hospital Boston – Great Flash apps for students
Thanks to Rod Murphy for this one.
eSchool News featured CHB’s site as site of the week and it’s well deserved. There are some great animations here, including a nice neurons and synapses animation, some stem cell resources, cancer information and a chance to have a go at
making an EM image.
Go have a look!
i-Biology 