Websites for Biology

The websites listed below only scratch the surface. The original list was submitted by Tony Aitken, Biology Department, Woodmill HS, Dunfermline, Fife.
Please add good sites by sending an e-mail to Jim.Birney@fife.gov.uk

Sites recommended by Stuart Falconer, St Columba's HS, Dunfermline are included at the end of this comprehensive list.

A new set of sites have been added to the top of the collection courtesy of the students of Mrs Gwendolyn Richards' class at the Idaho Teachers' Guild (U.S.A.) summer class of 2011. - this addition is very much appreciated.

We would also like to draw your attention to Renewable Energy and other forms of energy which have now been included in Fife Education's own dedicated Energy website -

Idaho Students recommendations (summer 2011) - their study of Evolution
Origins of Mankind - Evolution Library for teachers and students
Archaelogical Finds of Early Humans
Facts about Humans and related species
Evolution: What is life's history on Earth? A site by actionbioscience.
Evolution through a series of simulations.
Fun things
Mensa workout. Apparently prepares you for the real Mensa test.
S1/2 and S3/4 Science
Field Museum site that has a wealth of material about butterflies.
Colourful site with lots of detail about the organisms within the five kingdoms. Probably, for brighter pupils.
Animal classification site. Very detailed.
A Biology4Kids site about invertebrate groups. A page of pictures and facts for each.
Fact sheets from the Mammal Society about a long list of UK mammals. Not too exciting but useful for projects
Arkive gives pictures and information about endangered species. At two levels of detail for "kids" and early learners. Teacher site is still being built.
Great sites for the popular Dinosaur projects.
Complex games that reconstruct cures from the past (today) sometime in the future. May be fascinating for bright pupils.
Excellent NASA site for all aspects of space and space travel
Renewable energy and other forms of energy have now been included in Fife Education's own dedicated Energy website.
Zephyrus provides facts and quizzes for many topics in Biology, Physics and Chemistry at a level appropriate to S1/2. Good.
BrainPop is a pay site which has a free trial option. It shows cartoon videos to explain scientific principles. At a simple level.
SERENGETI PHOTO SAFARI allows you to drive a jeep around the plain taking photos which you view at the end.
Whale-watching web provides many links for this ever popular subject for projects
Garbage is a site about different types of waste and recycling.
The UK Environment Agency K Zone has activities for pupils. The site on waste is just right for Standard Grade Science.
Escher images
Site with a wealth of optical illusions - part of Exploratorium.
Arctic animal site. Including a pairing game.
The electronic zoo is a web link to many animal sites by group. Good for the ever popular animal projects.
An endangered species website. Good for projects. Also a page of web links.
Amazing animal senses just tells the pupils the senses used by a large range of animals use.
Natural History Galleries at the Royal Ontario Museum, Canada.
The ph factor - a site that explores the meaning of pH.
The National Geographic site
Science museum website - lots of different facts and activities.
The Science explorer. Site of experiments that could be done at home. Homework?
The energy story gives enough information about the different sources of energy. It has 20 chapters on all aspects of energy.
Excellent interactive siteson forces. Good for Standard Grade Science.
Chem4kids website that gives details of the more common elements.
Interactive periodic table. Point to a symbol and the name and details are shown.
Standard Grade
An attempt to make plants interesting for pupils. Successful in parts.
Active Science from GlaxoSmithKline provides interactive activities / games on a range of topics. They must be used to different pupils than I come across. Standard Grade is equivalent to their 8+.
Circulation system
How the body works - The circulation system. Simple; but good. Very good heart cycle animation.
Your gross and cool body gives a simple treatment of all the body systems. Kids like this site as the same information that we would access by choosing heart, lungs etc can also be accessed by bodily functions like belch, zits, pee etc. Games and quizzes too.
Kidney structure and function from the Schoolscience site
Texas Heart Institute provides in depth information about the heart. At Higher Human / A Higher level.
Breathing
How the body works - The respiratory system. Short sequence to name parts and animation of breathing movements. Also shows sneeze, cough and hiccup.
Lungs are For Life is a site which shows the structure and function of the lungs in a simple and colourful way. Information on the effect of smoking and pollution on health too. A fun game to end.
Discovery.Health provides an excellent animation to show air moving into the lungs and the symptoms of asthma.
Digestive system
Kids health provides an easy to read site about the different parts of the body including tooth types.
Human anatomy online practices the naming of body parts by playing mouse pointer at organ. Sometimes names that pupils do not need to know. Covers most systems
Senses
Anatomy of the eye shows the structure of the eye using video and interactive labelling.
Thinkquest eye site that includes a number of optical illusions
Sighting the first sense provides comprehensive information on the eye and its problems. Check out the vision lab. More detail than required for Standard Grade.
Skeleton
BBC Online - science - Human Body provides a simple interactive activity to become aware of the position of human organs and tissues.
Bone zone names the bones of the human skeleton and then provides a labelling quiz.
Reproduction
Embryo pictures and a movie of the day-by-day development of a human from when the egg is first fertilized until birth. Movie take a long time to load. Complex explanations but great illustrations
Inheritance
An interactive site with mostly physics activities. Try breeding the mice. From Explore learning - with a 30 day free trial.
Biotechnology
Microbe Zoo has more about microbes than a SG pupil needs to know. Good.
Standard Grade consolidation / revision
BBC Standard Grade Biology Bitesize revision does just that. Visit the ask a teacher section to find out what our pupils find difficult.
Big sites
The BBC has an enormous site full of interest. Set aside a day for browsing if you include all the suggested web sites.	BBC Nature BBC Science BBC Beasts BBC Biology BBC Human Body BBC Blue Planet BBC Learning Zone
Excellent SSERC website. Loads of links to other science sites. Log in to get your password. All Fife schools are members.	SSERC
PBS is an enormous site that includes sub sites for science and technology and nature and wildlife. There is a huge list of activities too.	PBS Nature PBS Science PBS Fun
Discovery channel provides many interesting articles and animations. Related to programmes which they are showing and so are constantly changing. Go to Animal Planet and Discovery health for more.	Discovery Channell
Kids Health has sites for younger pupils, teens and parents. A massive site that is well worth exploring.	Kids Health
A big site that covers most biology topics in a simple way. Electronic book format; not interactive.	Biology 4 Kids
Field Museum online exhibits. Many and good.	Field Museum
Channel 4 Science is a biggish site. Changes with the programmes to be broadcast.	Channel 4
Higher
DNA
Big site for all aspects of genetics. Try the online interactive activities such as build a DNA molecule. Well worth a look.
The You Try It site has a section about DNA with an interactive nucleotide matching activity for both replication and transcription.
BBC AS Guru provides consolidation for you work on DNA. Graphics take some time to load. Some good interactive stuff such as complementary base pairing practice.
Evolution
Triumph of life illustrates evolution and includes a multimedia evolutionary timeline that is worth visiting.
Wonderful site about human evolution. Shame it is not really in our syllabus.
Genetics
A big genetics site. Lots of ways to go with the links.
The Biology Project provides problems for mono, dihybrid and sex-linked crosses. Best I could find now that fly lab has become a paysite.
Biology online is an electronic textbook at Higher standard. Links to many other biology sites.
Huge site for DNA and genetics and health (see PKU) from Cold Spring Harbor Lab.
Access Excellence is a big site. Just a wee part of it does DNA & genetics.
Movement in plants. Time lapse photography of phototropism etc. The Arabidopsis movies are the best.
Advanced Higher
Harvard University web links for cell & molecular biology
Cells alive provides information and animations that illustrate aspects of the Cell & Molecular course. Includes Quizzes. Try out mitosis - good for SG too.
Excellent interactive sites for the cell cycle. Links to articles about each stage. Definitely worth a look.
University of Arizona provides tutorials and quizzes that are semi-appropriate for Cell & Molecular.
DNA profiling technique from the University of Arizona
Simple to understand example of DNA profiling. Maybe too simple.
NHGRI home site and web links for the Human Genome Project. The glossary of genetic terms has a short definition and also an audio of more detailed explanation. Plenty of factsheets.
Nature site devoted to the Human Genome Project.
Muscular Dystrophy Association gives students lots of information on the condition and treatment. Links with the online magazine Quest which provides topical articles on gene therapy etc.
Virtual Biochemistry laboratory. Takes a long time to load. Also interactive tutorials on DNA & protein synthesis.
The Schoolscience site has a number of references appropriate to A Higher
BBC site with articles giving pros and cons of GM foods.
DNA for dinner is a thought provoking site about GM foods. Both sides of the argument.
Lots of articles on GM foods and the Human Genome Project.
Postcode plants from the National Museum database tells the student the species of plants that should be growing in their area. A start to a project?
Teacher resources
SQA website to download exam timetables, Arrangements and specimen exams. An e-mail address, so you can contact them about any problems.
Academic Press Dictionary of Science and Technology.
The Why Files "give the science behind the news"
Scientific American. You can read some articles in full.
Excellent Nature magazine website. Loads of articles and links.
You are allowed to read 3000 articles in the Encyclopedia of Life sciences free as a non subscriber.
Greenpeace site.
Friends of the Earth site.
I quote "The Genetics Forum is the only independent organisation in the UK concerned with the use of new genetic technologies and their public policy implications. It was founded in 1989 by a group of scientists, lawyers and advocates from the animal welfare, environmental and consumer movements concerned about the long-term impact of rapid developments in the genetic sciences."
ASE site. Gives abstracts of articles.
The Environment Agency has sites for the Environment, Science and Research.
Learning and Teaching Scotland site gives information about inservice courses and software evaluations. The Scottish Schools online link allows you to have a look at every school in Scotland with a website.
The useful SAPS website + the Scottish SAPS. H & AH protocols.
Learning resources from the WWF.
BBC Tomorrow World website. Always interesting.
National Centre for Biotechnology Education (NCBE) for protocols, materials and links.
Scholar for AH materials. Need a password. (We can lend you a temporary one)
Virtual Teachers Centre.
National Grid for Learning. Useful for software reviews and possibly more.
BBC Antenna for science news.
Biology as it relates to space travel.
Science net has articles about a broad range of biological topics.
Science Year website.
MIT Biology Hyperbook. Not too exciting for students. Just an electronic book. You might like to take a look before an AH class.
Online Biology book at A Higher standard. Nice diagrams. Web links too.
Access Excellence graphic website. Useful diagrams. Good for OHPs or worksheets for Cell & Molecular topics.
The London Natural History Museum website. Check the interactive online exhibitions.
Beyond discovery links scientific discovery to applications.
Teaching Resources/Lesson Plans
Angelsoft Contains scores of links to other sites with educational content
Teachnet Links to lots of useful resources.
Teachervision Lesson plans, games and other resources.
Schoolzone Lots of useful resources.
Just for teachers Useful links, downloadable resources and much more.
Puzzlemaker Puzzles, wordsearch generator and much more.

Equipment Suppliers
Oxford Educational (for Texas, Casio & Vernier Kit)	Weston Business Park, Weston on the Green, Bicester, Oxon, OX25 3SXTel. (01869) 344500 ask for Chris Poole e-mail admin@oxford-educational.co.uk
Instruments Direct (for Pasco kit)	Unit 14, Worton Court, Worton Rd, Isleworth, TW7 6ER Tel (0208) 560 5678

Sites recommended by Stuart Falconer, St Columba's High School, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland.
	BBC Scotland - an invaluable resource, not only for Standard Grade pupils but also Biology for S2 (particularly plant reproduction)
	Parents Place - very useful for S2 reproduction topic in monitoring the development of the human embryo
	Biology 4 Kids - very helpful for S1 pupils in the Classification and Variation of Organisms topic. The pupils enjoyed this site.
	This site was very useful for S1 pupils who required extra extension work in Classification and Variation.
	Used as a revision aid for S4 prior to Standard Grade exams
	Back to the web links main menu