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Welcome to BiologyInMotion! Here you will find animations, interactive
activities, and cartoons designed to make learning biology a richer,
more engaging experience. After years of teaching biology in various
colleges and universities, I began developing my own graphics and
multimedia, mainly for in-class presentation. The many positive
responses I received led me to initiate this website, where you
will find an ever-growing collection of resources. New additions
will include interactive tutorials, quizzes, and other activities,
in addition to updated versions of the many biology cartoons currently
gathering dust in my portfolio.
Despite the vast resources of the Web, it's surprisingly hard to
find interactive activities, or even decent images, for illustrating
most topics that come up in biology lectures. In planning new projects,
my primary goal is to remedy the absence of such resources in areas
that are widely taught. If you have a suggestion for a project that
you think would be widely used, please let
me know.
There are many ways to use Web activities, animations, and cartoons
in teaching and learning biology. If you are an instructor you will
find some practical suggestions in my teaching
tips. Ideally the images will be presented as part of a lecture
presentation (if you have an internet-connected classroom), and
can be re-visited later by students as an exercise or refresher.
Or in many cases, an instructor may simply recommend students visit
the site on their own time. Hopefully some visitors will even come
just for the entertainment, and perhaps learn something while they
are here.
I have found that in-class animations and cartoons improve attention
and increase students' enthusiasm for the subject, particularly
in large introductory lecture courses. But the usefulness of good
biology visuals goes beyond entertainment. Cartoons can explain
difficult concepts by providing visual metaphors that are easily
grasped. The imagery and experiences of everyday life, a common
language shared by all, can be used to explain abstract ideas. Interactive
activities can offer many of the same benefits as a real laboratory
exercise. The additional advantage of using the Web for all these
things is that instructors can easily share materials and hence
the value of one's efforts is increased.
To indicate the type of interactivity in each activity, the following
icons accompany the listings:
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Rollovers or Click-ons |
The user can roll the mouse over
parts of the image, or click on parts of the image, to find
out more information or influence the animation. Within the
activity, the user will be made aware of these effects by the
presence of this icon, or by specific instructions. |
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Drag-and-drop |
The user can drag objects around
in the activity. Within the activity, this is indicated by specific
instructions. |
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Animation |
Images that change without the user
having to roll over or drag anything. |
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Simulation |
Simulation of some biological process.
The results are randomized (i.e., they're different every time
you run the simulation). This may be represented through animation
or by some other means, such as a graph. |
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