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Lab assignments for BIOL 1005
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Honor, integrity, respect
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Biology: Concepts & Investigations
Biology: The Essentials
CV
Summary of my academic background
Links
Studying, biology, government links
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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.
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.
Make your own concept maps
I am a huge fan of concept mapping as a way to sort out the relationships among topics in biology. You can make them by hand, but if you prefer to use a computer, here are three examples of concept mapping software you could check out.
CmapTools: This is the one I use when making concept maps for my textbook. It makes very basic concept maps and is easy to use once you get the hang of it. Best of all, it's free to anyone who wants to use it.
MindMapper: A student taught me about this one. It's not free (far from it!) but you can download a free trial for 21 days. From what I have seen, it offers more flexibility than CmapTools.
SimpleMind: I have downloaded this app onto my iPad; it is easy to use, and I like the features. The basic version is free.
A few notable biology websites |
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| The Oklahoma
Biological Survey focuses on Oklahoma's ecological communities,
with lots of information and tips for non-specialists. |
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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. |
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| 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. |
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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! |
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Dissecting a scientific paper
I have always enjoyed a wonderful book by Robert Day and Barbara Gastel called How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, now in its 7th edition.
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. |
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| 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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