Improbably funny
I have been telling a joke about inviting mushrooms to parties in Biology lessons for nearly 20 years. Last week I think I've discovered a cure in the form of a festival of Scientific achievements that...
GMO? OMG!
The French study about tumour growth as a result of a diet of GMO maize ( or corn) as well as consuming various levels of ther herbicide Roundup® versus a control group that was fed non GMO maize has...
Floating Discs
Just before all the leaves die, I am teaching the topic of photosynthesis now. I wanted to expose my students to the various ways of measuring the rate of photosynthesis before they write a Design...
The first successful cloning of an extinct species since Jurassic Park
I stumbled on this great story while teaching the Ecology option G this year. A very good example of a recent extinction, it provides an opportunity to revise some genetics and catches the students imagination...
Taking from nature
Using the proteins of Photosystem I from chloroplasts has become another way to make solar cells for electricity production. Scientists at Vanderbilt University have published their results showing how...
My first Biology lesson
At the start of the year I want my students to discover what a great subject Biology is and there is no time to waste in an IB course with such a lot of content. I usually start the year with a microscope...
Endosymbiosis: Biology research for IB classrooms
In a recent article New Scientist magazine exposes a fascinating organism which is difficult to classify. What's more exciting to scientists is that it looks like a living example of endosymbiosis, the...
Scientific process
Just over a year ago, I wrote a blog "Arsenic based life forms?" a study was published suggesting that a bacterium could be using arsenic instead of phosphorus in building its DNA and other molecules....
Convergent evolution- losing the eye
A recent study from biologists at New York University about evolution of cave adaptations in cave fish suggests that the loss of eyes and pigmentation has occurred frequently and repeatedly as new populations...
Ethics of conservation
Is there any justification for allowing some species go extinct and not try to prevent their disappearance forever? A recent article in the New Scientist provides a glimpse at the arguments being proposed...