This activity from our family magazine series provides a fun way for kids to learn about how early microbe discoveries led to later ones. The online activity begins with a page of directions for how to play this "hidden picture" challenge. Kids meet the people behind six key discoveries: Anthony van Leeuwenhoek, Edward Jenner, Louis Pasteur, Alexander Fleming, Jonas Salk, Luc Montagnier, and Robert Gallo. To uncover each portion of the hidden picture (an animated microscope) and move to the next discovery, kids must correctly answer a multiple-choice question about what they just learned.

This activity from our family magazine series challenges kids to go on a microbe quest to solve a riddle. The online activity begins with a page of directions for how to find the missing letters of the riddle. As kids click their way around a virtual lunchroom, they are given 11 Yes/No questions asking whether the featured bacteria helps people. Along with the answer to the riddle, kids get a round of applause when they correctly answer all 11 questions.

The Biology course is a first-year course in biology at the high school level and involves the scientific study of living organisms. The course considers the interactions among the vast number of organisms that inhabit planet Earth. It presents the basic form and function of these organisms, from cells to organ systems, from simple viruses to complex humans. It delves into interactions between organisms, and between an organism and its environment. It also looks into how biotechnology is used to improve our health and daily lives.

- Understand the form and function of microorganisms
- Understand the form and function of plants
- Understand the form and function of animals
- Understand the workings of human biological systems
- Understand biology as it relates to the Earth's environment

This expedition Web site chronicles the adventures of scientists, engineers, and educators as they collect a black smoker sulfide chimney from the ocean floor.

Submitted as part of the California Learning Resource Network (CLRN) Phase 3 Digital Textbook Initiative (CA DTI3), CK-12 Foundation’s high school Biology FlexBook covers cell biology, genetics, evolution, ecology, botany, zoology, and physiology. This digital textbook was reviewed for its alignment with California content standards.

This online gallery of photos, illustrations, and videos provides a snapshot of deep sea vents and the ancient forms of life that can be found within them. Transcripts of the videos are provided, and the photos and illustrations are accompanied by explanatory texts.

Explore vent basics, vents around the world, vent chemistry, boiling points, videos, and test what you've learned with a quiz!

A general introduction to the diverse roles of microorganisms in natural and artificial environments. Topics include: cellular architecture, energetics, and growth; evolution and gene flow; population and community dynamics; air, water, and soil microbiology; biogeochemical cycling; and microorganisms in biodeterioration, bioremediation, and pest control.

This Web site, created to complement the museum's Epidemic! exhibit, provides an in-depth look at the world of infectious disease. It includes the following sections: Environmental Change looks at how a season of heavy snow and rainfall led to an outbreak of hantavirus in the Four Corners region of the southwestern U.S., and at the different habitat needs of microbes. Long-Term Changes examines how changes to the prehistoric landscape and in our living patterns since the development of agriculture, have made diseases like malaria a major threat in tropical regions. Microbes and Others looks at the three major groups of microbes (viruses, bacteria, and protozoa) and the great variety within each group. Diagnostics and Testing examines how the link between microbes and disease was first made and the many medical advances since then. Infection covers how microbes enter the body and the body's built-in defense mechanisms. Outbreak looks at the different routes microbes use to spread through a population and the work of epidemiologists. Epidemic/Pandemic explores the factors that determine whether an outbreak will become an epidemic or a pandemic. Resources is a list, organized by topic and specific disease, of more than 250 Web sites. Glossary includes nearly 200 infectious disease terms, from AIDS to WHO.

This article from our family magazine series traces the spread of the flu virus from a duck in China to a young girl in Kansas. The article begins by introducing kids to Louise and the symptoms of influenza. On a series of clickable screens, they learn how the flu virus traveled from a duck to a pig to a farmer to a shopper to a student to Louise. A sidebar (But I Got a Flu Shot Last Year...) explains why influenza is trickier to outsmart than smallpox and polio. Another sidebar ("Microbes on the Go) explains the difference between an epidemic and a pandemic.

This activity from our family magazine series is a board game in which kids learn how germs spread and infections take hold. The online activity begins with an overview of the many ways germs can enter your body and the body's first and second lines of defense. Kids then go to a page of directions for playing the online game, where they are also asked to select a "microbe playing piece." As they move through the playing board, kids gain insight into how the body fights infection.

The MIT Biology Department core courses, 7.012, 7.013, and 7.014, all cover the same core material, which includes the fundamental principles of biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, and cell biology. Biological function at the molecular level is particularly emphasized and covers the structure and regulation of genes, as well as, the structure and synthesis of proteins, how these molecules are integrated into cells, and how these cells are integrated into multicellular systems and organisms. In addition, each version of the subject has its own distinctive material. 7.014 focuses on the application of these fundamental principles, toward an understanding of microorganisms as geochemical agents responsible for the evolution and renewal of the biosphere and of their role in human health and disease.

This article from our family magazine series introduces kids to bacteria, viruses, and protozoa. The article begins with an engaging introduction to microbes that explains the abundance of this oldest form of life on Earth. Kids can click to see colorful photographs of bacteria, viruses, and protozoa, as well as details about these major types of microbes. The Microbe Size-O-Meter puts microbes into perspective, using a scale in which a kid's body is the size of California. A humorous sidebar explains why sneezing on your computer won't give it a virus. Meet the Microbes includes links to other Web sites where students can find "more cool pictures of microbes."

This College level Unit in Microbiology explores microbes on five levels, their architecture, ecology, physiology, lifecycles and pathology. Students will be given an interactive tour of the world of microbes and learn more about their impact on Humans, animals, plants and on the environment in general. They will become aware of pathogenic (harmful) and non-pathogenic (helpful) microbes and develop an understanding of how microbiologists devise methods to study microbes in order to understand their benefits and to help to minimize their deleterious effects.

This activity from our family magazine series challenges kids to help solve the Case of the Dragon That Caused Diarrhea. The online activity begins with an overview of "The Facts" behind this challenge given to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with suggestions for "How to Solve a Microbe Mystery."Before starting the online challenge, kids are taken to a page that explains their "mission" and how to play. A series of six tabs contains details about Cindy's steps towards solving the mystery; using the guidance from "How To Solve a Microbe Mystery," students are asked to correctly order her steps.

This interactive feature story is part of Science Bulletins, an innovative online and exhibition program that offers the public a window into the excitement of scientific discovery. Published in March 2004, this Earth Bulletin examines how scientists are studying oxygen's origins by tracing its footprints in ancient rocks. It includes the following components: Four online essays -- An Ode to O, Earth Without Oxygen, Life Makes a Mark, and Footprints of the Air -- each available in a print-friendly format. A seven-minute feature video, Evolution of Earth's Atmosphere: The Rise of Oxygen, available in two download speed; A full-color map showing the location of the Huronian Supergroup belt of rocks; Two video shorts: -- Early Fossil Life and Written in Stone -- each available in two download speeds; An interactive that looks at rocks in the Huronian Supergroup, deposited during a time when free oxygen was first introduced in Earth's atmosphere; A pop-up glossary of terms used in this Earth Bulletin.

This engaging illustrated guide gives an introduction to the local invertebrates one can see in various habitats of New York City and offers suggestions for where and when to search for them, along with information on how best to protect them. The Seasonal Guide is being distributed at no charge throughout the City to parks, nature centers, and other organizations involved in public education and conservation.

This site looks at soil fertility, nitrogen in soil, soil chemistry, soils as electrical systems, soils as filters, soil physics and particle sizes (silt, sand, and clay), microorganisms in soil, nutrients that plants need, soil morphology, judging soil by feel, structures and shapes of soil, and soil profile images from Arizona, Florida, Michigan, and other states. Learn how soil is formed and how long it takes to create an inch of soil.

This fun Web site is part of OLogy, where kids can collect virtual trading cards and create projects with them. Here, kids learn about bioluminescence. The article contains two engaging, kid-friendly sections:"Glowing in the Ocean," a sing-along animated explanation, set to the tune of "I've Been Working on the Railroad," that looks at how marine animals use bioluminescence to "hunt a meal, attract a mate, and warn a foe."Other Glow-in-the-Dark Creatures, a quick look at how lantern fish and flashlight fish use bioluminescence to protect themselves against predators.