Biology Labs Online: Benjamin Cummings Publishing Co.
Biology Labs Online consists of 12 inquiry-based interactive labs covering
standard laboratory topics in introductory biology. The simulations serve a
number of purposes, from complementing existing “wet” labs to augmenting
hands-on labs as tools for further study.
Some labs offer content typically not covered in lab courses because of time,
safety, or financial constraints. Each lab features an introduction, list of
objectives, bibliography of prerequisite reading, glossary, and the lab assignment
itself. Among the experimental topics are evolution, photosynthesis, cellular
respiration, population ecology, and genetics. As in a hands-on lab, students
control and adjust variables, run tests, and draw conclusions. Students can
also design their own experiments, some of which are uniquely available in a
simulation format: for instance, in the evolution lab, students can observe
changes over hundreds of years.
The applets rely on smart objects that perform much like their real-life equivalents,
or at least simulate their actions. For instance, students pour substrates from
test tubes into flasks. They adjust light filters and gas flow. They cut and
splice DNA and study the resulting mutations. Because biology is taught at several
levels, the publisher offers both non-majors and majors-level lab assignments.
The labs are also suitable for advanced placement Biology courses at the high
school level. Labs may be purchased several ways: as content aggregates, such
as genetics labs; as an entire set; or individually.
Contact: Benjamin Cummings Publishing Co., San Francisco, Calif;
(415) 402-2500; www.biologylabsonline. com.
