Biology Education Articles for Teachers

Just Breathe and Learn About Cellular Respiration!

10-10-11

Without the process of aerobic cellular respiration, life as we know it wouldn't exist. Simple microbes, such as anaerobic bacteria survive using the small amount of cellular food they create and subsequently break down. Large, complex, multicellular life (like humans), depend on the products of ...

The Classification of the Kingdoms of Life

08-02-11

There is an amazing diversity of living things on Earth. About two million species have been discovered and described, but scientists estimate that anywhere between five and 30 million species are present on Earth. Strangely, the number of kingdoms also seems to be in question. Various textbooks ...

Using Greek and Latin Roots to Help Students Learn Vocabulary in Science Classes

04-13-11

Strange as it may seem, science has a language all its own. I have joked with my students that there are more vocabulary words in our biology course than there are in an introductory foreign language class. Excellent teachers use a variety of techniques to help students learn this new vocabulary....

Fossil Fuels: Understanding a Nonrenewable Resource

04-11-11

Just like many adults, my high school students complain about the price of gasoline. Blame it on the government or a corporate conspiracy, or just a fact of nature, but rising gas prices are an unfortunate reality. Of course, this also makes it even more important to teach students about the pros...

Discovering the Forgotten Kingdom Protista

04-04-11

When studying kingdoms in science, protists do not get enough attention. If you ask a student to name the kingdoms of organisms, protista are often forgotten. The protists are grouped together mainly because they do not fit into the other kingdoms. However, even though it can be some...

Teaching the Tragedy of the Commons: Natural Resource Depletion

03-30-11

One of the most fascinating parts of environmental science is the interaction between ecology and sociology. Ecologists study the parts of an ecosystem and how organisms interact with each other. Sociologists study how humans interact with one another in societies. Our environmental problems and ...

Exploring the Rock Cycle

03-22-11

Looking at a rock, you wouldn’t think that it changes very much. Geological change is not easy for humans to observe because it happens over such a long period of time. However, it is important for students to understand rock cycle dynamics because rocks affect living things and even human ...

What Happens When Invasive Species Are Introduced

02-21-11

It seemed harmless enough when sailors dropped off a few goats on the Galapagos Islands to use as food at a later date. But as the goat populations grew and ate the native vegetation, they destroyed the habitat and competed against native species, such as the giant tortoise. Most species introduc...

Species Identification Using Dichotomous Keys

02-16-11

Without the logic and simplicity of dichotomous keys, many good biology students would be lost. There are so many species out there that memorizing them all is impossible. Unlike many facts that you can simply ‘Google’, identifying an unknown organism can be difficult without th...

Understanding Watersheds

02-14-11

Earth is the blue planet, so one would expect to never worry about having enough water for human use. Unfortunately, most of that water is either salty or frozen in glaciers. Fresh surface water accounts for only 0.007 percent of all water on Earth. Yet, somehow, this provides water for the almos...

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