The on-line simulations are very interesting to explore. I used several different simulations in my biology classes already and I am always looking for new ones to add. I added a few of the sites I use to the wiki page. I enjoyed looking through some of the simulations listed in the textbook. The Explore Learning site has many biologys simulations including mice breeding for genetics and DNA simulations.
The cell biology animations at www.johnkyrk.com had many different animations to look at and I would include some of them in my lectures on the cell. The cell function and cell anatomy animations were very good. The Interactive Human Body site allows you to see different organs and body systems and to read some descriptions. I didn't think this site was as interactive as the other sites. I will be teaching a chemistry class next year and the Visual Elements site has a nice interactive periodic chart that would be a good reference for students.
I spent some time at Google Earth and flew to my house, a tropical island in Belize that I had visited two years ago, to the rainforests of Costa Rica, and to Devil's Lake State Park. My family is driving to Devil's Lake this afternoon for a three day camping trip, so it was intersting that Devil's Lake was one of the place our teacher had recommend to look at. I looked at several of the education galleries, but I am still not sure how I would use this in my biology classes. I noticed one of the gallery tours was on the spread of bird flu which I could use during my chapter on bacteria and virus. I also thought I could go to different biomes to show my class during our ecology chapter. I like the idea of preparing and recording your path or tour and showing that to students. It would be nice to have it prepared ahead of time.
I looked at the cell biology animations with some excitement, as I will be teaching biology for the first time this fall. I think I would use these simulations, and could create a "web-search" that asks students questions about DNA structure and replication. The animations definitely make the overall concept come to life much better than reading about it in the text book!
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Devil's Lake is really cool from a geology standpoint. Take the North Rim hike and look for pockmarks and grooves in the rock. These are evidence of tropical storms a few hundred million years ago. The bluffs themselves are about 1.5 billion years old and some of the oldest rock outcrops in North America! You can see the ripples "fossilized" in some of these rocks from the shallow ocean that used to cover the area.
ReplyDeletei found the Visual Elements site too -- that's a good one. thanks for your recommendations on biology simulations -- i'm going to pass them along to our bio teacher!
ReplyDeleteI'm exploring virtual simulations this week as well. I teach HS chem and physics and can't believe I hadn't heard of the phet.colorado.edu site. If you haven't checked it out, there are great simulations for mainly physics but also chem and bio.
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