KABT BioBlog

KABTer’s,

A growing resources for keeping up with biology is a site known as ScienceBlogs. This site, sponsored by a new science magazine, Seed, brings bloggers with a science theme into one site. It has grown to be a tremendous resource. However, I doubt that it will pass school district filters since these bloggers cover more than just science topics–they cover politics, biology controversies and religion as well. and often they do not censor their own variety of speech. Each of the bloggers have some kind of expertise and had successful blogs before they joined ScienceBlogs.

So how does a biology teacher make use of this site. One quick and easy step would be to check in each day and click on the “Biology” link in the left column. This would take you to the most recent posts with a specific biology focus. Personally, I simply click on the “Last 24 hours” link to view all posts over the last 24 hours. Remember, these folks are publishing their opinions and informed understanding of new research, controversy and such. Not one of the bloggers would expect you to agree with them all the time, nor would they expect you to take their word as the last word on a subject. Read these entries with a critical eye and view this as the process of science. You’ll be able to get in on some of the controversies that you didn’t know existed in biology.

Finally, start with the Science Basics list. This list was a challenge that went out to this community to try and cover just the basic concepts in a field. I haven’t read all of them but some are quite good and some I don’t find so good. Overall, though, I think it is a great place to beef up your own understanding of basic science so that you can pass it on to your students.
BW

KABTer’s,

If you are a member of NABT you may not be aware of an exciting new online resource the American Biology Teacher. The American Biology Teacher is now a kind of hybrid journal–part in print and part online. All of the print articles from ABT are available online in pdf format. In addition there are additional articles that are available only online. ABT simply has more articles submitted than can be printed and so there is a back-log for printing which sometimes means an unacceptable delay before publication. Authors now have a choice. If they choose the online-only publication mode, their article is generally shared sooner than a print version would be. This increases the number of articles in each journal for NABT members–a win-win situation. Here’s a listing of February’s 3 additional online articles:

ABT Online

Inquiry & Investigations

Filthy Flies? Experiments To Test Flies as Vectors of Bacterial Disease

Are flies really as dirty as we think? Students create and test hypotheses about the ability of flies to transmit bacteria.

Julie J. Shaffer Kasey Jo Warner W. Wyatt Hoback

French Fries, Dialysis Tubing & Computer Models: Teaching Diffusion & Osmosis Through Inquiry & Modeling

A mini-unit where students design their own investigations and use computer modeling to visualize diffusion and osmosis.

Patricia Meis Friedrichsen Amy Pallant

How-To-Do-It

Use of the Photoactic Ability of a Bacterium To Teach the Genetic Principles of Random Mutagenesis & Mutant Screening

An easy mutagenesis procedure using a versatile photosynthetic bacterium helps students learn about the power of mutant screens.

Neena Din Terry H. Bird James E. Berleman

Log-on to the NABT website and check it out.

BW

btw,

If you are not a member, please consider joining–you will find NABT to be a valuable part of your professional life.