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Welcome to Ask A Biologist. This site has a large collection of biology learning materials that includes stories, games, activities, videos, and a podcast.
Looking into the past can be strange and exciting. To understand a past that goes back millions of years, we often depend on the stories told by fossils. Dr. Biology talks with anthropologist Donald Johanson about Lucy, a fossil of human ancestors that has taught us some…
How are some animals keeping cool and staying warm? Listen in as Dr. Biology talks with biologist Dale DeNardo and engineer and thermographic artist Arno Vlooswijk about thermoregulation. Could there be lessons for humans to learn from these animals?
An interview with cellular researcher and explorer Carolyn Larabell of the National Center for X-ray Tomography. Dr. Biology learns about the new microscope being developed to see inside cells in a way never before possible.
You might have heard of both gender and sex before, but what’s the difference? Sex is based in the biology of body parts, but gender is socially constructed and based on much more.
Even though we live in a modern world how we act and what we do many times is controlled by our Stone Age brain. This impacts our diet, friendships, love and more. Dr. Biology sits down with authors Doug Kenrick and David Lundberg-Kenrick to get the inside story…
Changing careers can be a challenge. It can also be rewarding. And for some people it is an opportunity to fulfill a childhood dream. This is the case for John Truong who has been an artist and animator on some of the popular movies produced by Pixar, DreamWorks, and Disney. While…
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.
When was the last time you folded a piece of paper to make a fun shape? Maybe you made a paper plane or tried origami to make a swan. Believe it or not, the building blocks inside your body also need to fold into the right shapes to work properly. In this activity, you can build your…
Fly Trapping Trials
Ever notice tiny flies buzzing around your houseplants? In this experiment, you’ll test different liquid traps to see which one catches the most fungus gnats. Will vinegar, lemon juice, or something…
Monster Maker
Play Monster MakerBuild your own monster by decoding the monster genome in Monster Maker, a DNA game. It is not very different from what happens in every…
Mama Ji's Molecular Kitchen
There are lots of sites out there full of molecular techniques and protocols, but very little information (either online or in readable hardcopy form) that explain how and why these techniques…
Pollen Gallery (Pollen up-close)
Pollen comes in many shapes and sizes. These are just a few of the thousands of examples.
Plankton Zoom Gallery (Plankton up-close)
Plankton comes in many shapes and sizes. These are just a few of the thousands of examples.
Ant Gallery (Get up-close to ants)
Now is the time to check out these amazing animals from the safety of your own computer.
Birds and Their Songs
We see them practically everywhere. They are found flying in the high mountains and soaring along the thermal winds in the low deserts. There are those that are reclusive and others you can…
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Pollen - Nature's Tiny Clues
Most might be surprised that pollen is being used to catch thieves, illegal drug dealers, murders, terrorists, and even catching those who commit less visible crimes such as making and selling…
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Not So Scary Scorpions
Scorpions are often misunderstood. Many people say that scorpions are so aggressive they will sting themselves to death, but this is not a natural behavior of scorpions in the wild. Also in:…
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Desert Diggers
The digger bee is just one of about a thousand species of native bees in Arizona, many of which have females that burrow into the ground with their jaws and legs when constructing a nest.
…Wordsearch | Crossword