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Study skills websites

There are a lot of articles about study skills on the internet. I have just chosen two for now, but if you know of an especially good one, let me know.

Keys to College Success is not exciting to look at, but it has a lot of good tips about studying and college life in general.

How-to-Study.com is a comprehensive and easy-to-use site that covers everything from note-taking to reading comprehension to listening in class. There's tons of good stuff here.

Organize-It goes right along with my philosophy that you need to understand how things fit together if you are going to understand biology. The cell chemistry and cell structure sections are especially relevant to our class. This is a GREAT site that will help you test your understanding of biology.

A few notable biology websites

The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History is the largest natural history museum affiliated with a public university. It's incredible.
The Oklahoma Biological Survey focuses on Oklahoma's ecological communities, with lots of information and tips for non-specialists.
Tree of Life has a lot of what biologists know about all kinds of different organisms, from archaea through animals. It uses a tree-like structure to illustrate the relationships among all organisms.
Bugs in the News! is a fun website with lots of information on microorganisms and a variety of biological phenomena. It is written for non-biologists, and it has many more biology-related links than my site does.
The Inner Life of a Cell is a fantastic, 8-minute animated video that shows in 3-d how molecules work together to make a cell work. Choose High or Low resolution, depending on the speed of your computer. Well worth watching!
Cells Alive is another great website for non-biology types, with beautiful pictures of all kinds of cells, human and otherwise.
Everything you always wanted to know about mushrooms and fungi is on Tom Volk's Fungi site. I especially like the fungus-of-the-month series.

For plant lovers, OU Botany-Microbiology's own Cal Lemke posts a Plant of the Week, and he maintains an archive and image index. You can even download your own Plant of the Week Calendar!

Dissecting a scientific paper

Notes on the structure of a scientific paper is a brief summary of a wonderful book by Robert Day called How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison has a very brief orientation to what should and should not be in each part of a scientific report. This can be very useful in evaluating your own writing (and that of your colleagues).

This site, from Bates College in Maine, is a detailed look at The Structure, Format, Content, and Style of a Journal-Style Scientific Paper, complete with examples (both good and bad).

The Guide to Writing in the Biological Sciences from George Mason University has more detailed pointers on what should and should not be in each section of the paper.

Professional organizations

At the annual meetings of the Association for Biology Laboratory Education I learn new and exciting ways to thrill students in my introductory biology lab classes.

National Association of Biology Teachers is one of several organizations for people who teach biology; the National Science Teachers Association is a similar organization for people who teach science.

The American Phytopathological Society has a nice website with contemporary articles about issues of interest to people who study the diseases of plants.

The Mycological Society of America is the professional organization for people who study and love fungi.

Learn about your government

Cynical about the political information out there? Check out Project Vote Smart, a nonpartisan organization devoted to acquiring and disseminating objective information about candidates for federal and statewide offices. It is really worth a look.
The U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, and White House all have websites too.

Just for Fun

If you are ever curious about whether those stories you read on the internet are true, you should visit Snopes.com: Urban Legends Reference Pages. They tell you the truth about dozens of categories of rumors, covering everything from Autos to Weddings. It's loads of fun, and you just might learn something!

 



 

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