Welcome to Ask A Biologist. This site has a large collection of biology learning materials that includes stories, games, activities, videos, and a podcast.

Read our stories

Listen and watch

Enjoy our activities

View zoom galleries

Solve puzzles

An interview with biologist Pierre Deviche and his passion for recording some of natures most interesting animals. Humans are not the only animals that have dialects as you will learn in this show. Dr Biology tests your skills again with a mystery animal quiz at the beginning of…

Building Your Own Ant Farm is a 2-part Ask A Biologist video with Dr. Biology and Rebecca Clark on how to build an ant farm with two recycled CD cases. Watch part two.

Hospitals try to stay clean and reduce the spread of germs within their walls, but what happens when medicines and bacteria from the hospitals reach bacteria in the sewer?

Alzheimer’s disease makes it difficult to remember many things – like where you live, the names and faces of family members, and even your own name. ASU professor Diego Mastroeni’s job is to study Alzheimer’s disease, and to hopefully find a way to cure it.

Imagine a day at work where your clients range from tiny reptiles to massive elephants, each with their own unique health needs. That's a regular day for our guest in today's episode, Dr. Gary West, the Senior Vice President of Animal Health and Living Collections at the Arizona…

Space travel and microscopic organisms. What interest are these two things to ASU School of Life Sciences Professor and Biodesign Institute researcher Cheryl Nickerson? Tune in to find out.
March Madness in the past has been reserved for college basketball. But in 2013, biologist Katie Hinde and a group of scientists, writers, and other creative souls started the ultimate animal competition that expanded beyond humans – March Mammal Madness. Don’t worry, the competition is virtual. No…

Travel with Dr. Biology as he heads to Washington D.C. to interview three people who are all involved with science even though two of them are not scientists. Interviews include Cheryl Zook (independent film maker), Elizabeth Pennisi (science writer), and…

Cardinal bird

Bird Finder

Test drive our Bird Finder tool based on our virtual bird aviary of the southwest. A great way to learn about birds in your own backyard. Image of Northern Cardinal above by Robert Shantz.
a bird singing

Birds Hormones and Seasons

Read Singing in the Rain and then take this quiz to test your knowledge!

some animals that use metamorphosis

Metamorphosis

Read Metamorphosis – Nature’s Ultimate Transformer and then take this quiz to test your knowledge!

Plankton Zoom Gallery (Plankton up-close)

Plankton comes in many shapes and sizes. These are just a few of the thousands of examples.

Bone Zoom Gallery (Up-close Inside Bones)

Take a look at the microscopic world of bone in our virtual bone histology lab. Just pick a microscope slide from below and click on it to view under the virtual microscope.

Tiger Beetle Zoom Gallery (Up-close with tiger beetles)

Some of the fastest animals on Earth are below. That’s right, if these tiny insects were as large as a horse they would be running 200 miles an hour.

Ant Gallery (Get up-close to ants)

Now is the time to check out these amazing animals from the safety of your own computer.

Large Ants

Face to Face with Ants

Imagine being the size of an ant. Be careful - a face-to-face encounter with an ant would be scary and potentially life-threatening! But, if you avoided being eaten, you could learn a lot about…

Wordsearch | Crossword
Sea Urchin

Sea Urchins Do Research

No, urchins are not indigenous to the desert. The usual home for Strongylocentrotus purpuratus is the ocean's rocky floor for grazing along the intertidal and subtidal areas. Also in:…

Wordsearch | Crossword
Two green salamanders

He Ain't Tasty He's My Brother

While cannibalism is fairly common among insects and crustaceans, most backboned animals avoid feeding on their own kind.

Wordsearch | Crossword
Beetles puzzle piece

How Do Beetles Reproduce?

Every living thing must be able to reproduce and make offspring. Most of us are familiar with how humans and mammals make babies, but do all creatures reproduce in the same way? Do insects,…

Wordsearch | Crossword