How to use

This blog focuses on the links made available on the interactive biology portion of the Seredip site.

Serendip alone contains a variety of simulations and interactive sites, grouped by audience and subject. However, since the catalog is not updated very often there are a few links that do not work anymore. 

Screencast: Navigating the Interactive Biology page

The screencast below provides a brief introduction of the navigation of the Interactive Biology* portion of the Serendip site and two links provided from it: Neuroscience for Kids and The Virtual Cell: 

*Interactive Biology page can be found: Science Education > Biology (scroll to the bottom)

Essays and other articles that can be used as readings for the classroom can be found int the Science Education tab of the site. Content is organized by grade level.

Under the Neuroscience heading, the link titled Brain and Behavior  links to a collection of interactive and illustrated exhibits. The pages allow students to interact with famous examples of visual illusions and actually drag and compare the colors of the tiles (see below)

The famous Checkerboard color illusion example.

Similar to the interactive exhibits are the interactive models of the cell (such as the Virtual Cell tour discussed in the screencast) which provide graphics accompanied by readings. Moving towards more animated content, there are also animated videos of processes such as DNA replication and PCR available to help students visualize cellular processes.

Comparison to PhET
Unlike the resources provided by the PhET site, Serendip emphasizes links to not only simulations but information sites and resources. The PhET site provides simulations of greater interactivity to better help students visualize (such as with the neuron simulation) what happens at the molecular level. While PhET simulations must be downloaded, most of Serendip's links are to web pages, where the information can be interacted with simply online. PhET simulations do not come with instructions in mind, leaving use and exploration of the simulation up to the students.

In the below screenshot, the simulator shows the changes of the sodium and potassium channels in as a neuron is stimulated. Concentrations in and out of the neuron are marked on the chart, and a graph plots the membrane potential against time.

PHET neuron simulation. 

Serendip and other sites provide a plethora of interactive simulations and applications that can be integrated into the classroom or even made available to students to explore on their own. They range from readings and animated videos to interactive models and lab simulations to exploratory labs that help students visualize at the cellular level what is happening.