Biology is a wonderfully broad subject area with many, many sub-disciplines. These are some major topics in General Biology:

(Click on any of the above topics to learn more about them)

Teacher Resources

Click here for a web based collection of lessons and web resources from the NSF or here for a standards-based lessons index for grades K-12 science from ScienceNetLinks.

The Living Environment Core Curriculum Document may be used by NYS school districts in order to allow them to develop a local syllabus and curriculum map to meet the needs of their individual schools. (LE Vocabulary List)
Regents Examinations in Living Environment are on the NYSED website and may be useful in creating curriculum by working backwards from what students need to know in order to be successful on the exam.
The Life Sciences Learning Center is an invaluable resource for teachers, parents, students, and community members. Teacher workshops and break camps for students offer science learning opportunities using cutting edge technology. (more) Curriculum Resources Life Sciences Learning Center (Cancer, My Environment My Health My Choices, AIDS, Biotechnology)
Cornell Institute of Biology Teachers (CIBT) is a grant program supported by HHMI which provides elementary through hight school teachers and administrators an opportunity to participate in professional development.
Biology and Chemistry Professional Development Network provides professional development to teachers throughout the state. Participants are involved in turnkey training and take cutting edge science presentations and strategies back to their school districts and BOCES.
DNA interactive also know as DNAi is a site that is funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. This site provides many interactive activities in Molecular Biology as well as award winning animations to demonstrate DNA replication, transcription and translation. The DNA Interactive DVD is a very worthwhile resource for any Biology classroom.
Understanding Evolution is an excellent site from UC Berkely offering K-12 lesson plans and conceptual framework, and tutorials on all aspect of evolution.
Nanotechnology: The Power of Small From the National Science Foundations, this site is the is the companion website for a public television series on nanotechnology and the environment, health, and privacy. See video clips of expert panels as they wrestle with dilemmas: the promise, the consequences, and potential risks of medicine, solar cells, and security systems enhanced by nanotechnology.

Enrichment, Practice and Games for Students

	Access Excellence is a site that provides activities, articles and an Access Excellence Mystery internet activity. This site is sponsored by the National Health Museum.
	Neuroscience for Kids has been created for all students and teachers who would like to learn more about the nervous system. It includes sections dedicated to Brain Awareness Week, and Neuroscience in the News.
	Pest World for Kids explores the world of pests... mysterious and exciting, the wolrd of pests challenges us to understand what attracts these animals to our homes and yards. Tackle the pest challenge with fun learning games such as Archibald's Adventure, Pest Detective, and Pest Ranger. For all ages, especially for those in thrid through fifth grades.
	Cool Science for Curious Kids The Howard Hughes Medical Institute invites curious kids to explore biology on screen, off screen and in between.
	CELLS alive! represents over 25 years of experience capturing film and computer-enhanced images of living cells and organisms for education and medical research and includes interactive cell models, mitosis, meiosis, the cell cycle and an indepth look at cell biology, microbiology, immunology and microscopy.
	Grossology is more than an exhibit at museums across the nation, it is also a kid-friendly way to look at microbiology. Visit this site and explore what is going on at the microscopic scale of plant and animal life... as a beginning grossologist, you will find out a lot of sickening things about everyone!

Great Biology and Life Science Books

	Grossology by Sylvia Branzei This book is amusingly illustrated to explain the scientific facts of some of the more disgusting aspects of human physiology
	Bottle Biology: An Idea Book for Exploring the World through Soda Bottles and Other Recyclable Materials by: the University of Wisconsin Staff Bottle Biology details 20 science projects that can be adapted for grades K-12.
	Janice VanCleave's Biology For Every Kid: 101 Easy Experiments That Really Work by: Janice VanCleave For 3rd through 6th grades
	Flowers, Trees, and Fruits (Young Discoverers: Biology Facts and Experiments) by: Sally Morgan There are over 380,000 different kinds of plants, and they are found in all but the coldest parst of the Earth. There are plants in the oceans, too.
	Marine Biology: Real Kids Real Science by: Ellen Doris The Real Kids Real Science books get to the heart of science for kids-- at that age, they just want to get their hands in the dirt. These books take that desire and turn it into something educational that, if done right, will stay with them for the rest of their lives

(top)

Molecules and Cells


Photosynthesis is the process by which plants, some bacteria, and some protistan use energy from sunlight to produce sugar, which cellular respiration converts into ATP. The overall process of photosynthesis can be written as:

6H₂O+6CO₂--->C₆H₁₂O₆+6O₂

Water enters the root and is transported up the leaves through specialized plant cells known as xylem. Terrestrial plants must guard against drying out and so have evolved specialized structures called stomata that allows gas to enter and leave the leaf. Carbon Dioxide cannot pass through the protective waxy layer of the leaf known as the cuticle, but can enter the leaf through this opening. Oxygen produced during photosynthesis can only pass out of the leaf through the stomata. While the stomata is open, water can only pass out of the leaf and thus a great deal is lost during this diffusion. Single-celled and aquatic autotrophs do not have specialized cells for gas exchange.

Additional Resources for Molecules and Cells

(top)

(top)