They reflect my professional interest in teaching, especially teaching Biology, but also teaching science. I've arranged them as initially interesting for either students or for teachers, but there will be lots of overlap, so have a look at both sections. Some of these sites overlap in their focus, so don't feel that you need to check them all. Hopefully my comments, even though cryptic at times, will help you decide where to look.
Links which teachers may find interesting:
(but students might find good stuff here too!)
AltaVista: Main Page I rarely use any other search engine. It's great to have a fast mirror site here in Australia.
About SOFWeb The Victorian government schools' web site; specifically the biology part.
Australian SunSITE - Education Part of a bigger site at ANU, this is a place to start 'surfing' for more Australian educational resources.
Biology Page At Mercy College in Melbourne, this has lots of Biology links to follow.
EdNA Home Page Education Network Australia is an Australia-wide collaborative project. Use the Search facility and look for 'biology'; you will get thousands of hits!
The Green Machine The plant education unit of the CSIRO at ANU in Canberra. Click on 'Gene Technology, Years 10-12' and go from there.
Mag-Net Virtual Science & Technology Centre A project from the Dept. of Education in Victoria. Plenty of information here for teachers interested in science and technology.
National Science Teachers Association The Homepage for the USA body. Why not try to attend one of their national conventions? It's an incredible experience!
NOVA-Science in the News From the Academy of Science in Canberra. Up to date material for all the sciences. Very student friendly, and some lesson plans for teachers.
schoolsnet An Internet provider, based in Victoria, but with a strong focus on development of all things webby in schools.
SOFWeb Home page of the official site for Victorian Government schools.
The Board of Studies If, like me, you find it difficult to get your hands on a VCE Bulletin, you can get in here online before it arrives at school. Other useful stuff here too.
STAV The Homepage of the Science Teachers Association of Victoria. Victorian science teachers should check this out.
Scientific American Search Engine An excellent way to find material related to Biology CAT2, then you can go straight to the right Sci Am magazine in your library.
Thornridge Biology Home Page The Biology teacher here is a Web whizz. She's designed a project for her students which has some similarities to CAT 2. There are some useful links from this site.
Welcome to AskERIC This is a huge US resource site. Prepare to spend some time here to see the range of material available. (ERIC = Educational Resource Information Center) You can tell your non-science colleagues about this one too.
Science Connections A UK site with lots of links to British Web sites concerned with Science and Technology. A good starting point for a UK science surf.
The Age If you don't read it at home with breakfast, you can catch it later this way!
GenLink: Kids' Science From Washington University in St Louis (an institution which figures in my past), a site with a number of educational links to science.
Advanced Placement (AP) Biology This is concerned with the subject taken at school (usually in final year of high school) by students in the USA. If the student performs well enough on the nation-wide exams, he/she gains college/university credit for the subject. This idea is just getting off the ground in Victoria with Enhancement Studies offered by Melbourne and Monash Universities.
Links which students may find interesting:
(but teachers might find good stuff here too!)
General CAT Resources
Access Excellence A US site for schools linked to a biotechnology company. If you browse around here you'll find some good stuff. There are some nice diagrams here, too, but don't forget to acknowledge the source if you use them!
Australian Biotechnology Association Click on their 'Educational Leaflets' for a list of topics in biotechnology which can be read off your monitor (save the trees!) or dowloaded and printed (:(( another tree dies for science! ).
Biotechnology - The FutureA chart of the possibilities of biotechnology - a source of ideas about CAT 2 topics.
Calgene A huge USA biotechnology company. These people are world leaders in transgenic plants for agriculture, including Bt cotton. A place to look if you are interested in a plant topic for your CAT.
CatPack 97 From the Royal Womens Hospital, a list of resources grouped sensibly to indicate how they might help you. Be careful with papers from Research Journals - you will very likely get way out of your depth very quickly with most of these!
Cover Story: THE BIOTECH CENTURY An interesting article taking a look into the future. (Mentions Dolly, but there's lots of other stuff too.) Raises some valid issues on many topics.
Diving Into the Gene Pool Written quite simply, this site also has a useful glossary of terms and a link to more links. Will the surfing never end ...?
DNA Learning Center From the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories in New York. (James Watson is the current Director - remember him and his mate Crick?) The education center here has programs to make Australian students and their teachers green with envy.
DNA SCIENCE The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne has run a fantastic program for biology teachers in January of 1996 and 1997. This page is about that.
DNA structure A nice picture of DNA, but too big for an old computer and slow modem to handle. Resist the urge to use this without adequate referencing, and think about where this DNA molecule seems to originate in the cell - you might want to modify the diagram a bit.
Eli Lilly CompanyA USA Company. A world leader in production of insulin (Humulin) and Growth Hormone (Humatrope) by recombinant DNA technology. Use their search facility for information on their products. (They have an office in Sydney, phone (02) 9325 4444 - I don't know how helpful they might be concerning manufacture of their products, but you might try them.)
Florigene paper -gen. eng plants A paper presented at a conference. Florigene scientists talk about genetic engineering of plants. Good background reading for students with a transgenic plant topic for CAT 2.
Genentech, Inc. A huge USA biotechnology company, with a huge web site. Access Excellence (see above) is the education section, but there is interesting stuff on the Genetech pages too.
Genetics Education Center I found this by accident - a surfing accident no doubt! There is some good background material here at a level that's suitable for high-achieving VCE biology students (isn't that all of you?).
GenScope Not only has this site background theory for CAT 2, it has lots of material for all of Unit 4 VCE Biology. A good site to browse when you want to 'top up' your understanding of concepts for CAT 3.
Genetic Manipulation Advisory Committee (GMAC) Home Page This is very interesting! If you want to get ideas about transgenic plant topics have a look at this site. There are even names and addresses of scientists and their work places. They'll wonder where all the phone calls are coming from! :))
GTIU - Home, WelcomeThe Australian Gene Technology Information Unit. Located in NSW, there is information about gene technology in Australia and the Links page send you off on another surfing trip.
Graphics GalleryAn index of graphics (= diagrams) which may be very useful. Remember to reference them properly if you use them.
Lab Bench: Bacterial TransformationVery nice! Part of a pay-site, but this is one place you can go for free. Theory and diagrams relating to the production of transgenic bacteria.
MendelWeb Homepage All about Gregor Mendel. Has the text of Mendel's classic paper in English and the original German if you can read that. Probably not very useful for CAT 2, may be more use in revision and background for CAT 3.
Monsanto This ginormous multi-national (USA based) chemical company is now into biotechnology too. The home-page has lots of places to go, it's up to you to find what's useful if you have time to browse. Roundup Ready Soybeans might be interesting for CAT 2.
Novo Nordisk A Danish Company. One of the world leaders in the production of recombinant insulin, growth hormone and other pharmaceutical products. (I've found this site slow at times, depends on the time of day it is in Denmark!) (They have an office in Melbourne, phone (03) 9819 5433 - I don't know if they have information for students there, but you could try.)
The ESG Biology Hypertextbook Home Page A textbook on the Web! It could be another source of revision for CATs 1 and 3, or you might like to check concepts needed for CAT 2 here. Go to the Chapter headings, they all look pretty familiar.
Video on Genetic Testing If you can get this to work (I couldn't, even on my new you-beaut 'puter) you might get the steak knives! (If you're not a Victorian reading this you'll have to excuse the local humour.)
Genetics and Public IssuesAn excellent place to explore when thinking about issues relating to genetics.
Genetic Testing - Health Care Issues If your CAT topic involves testing for a human genetic disorder, or the Human Genome Project, you should check this link.
Genetic CounselingAnother 'must read' for people interested in human genetic disorders. Some valuable links from this page too.
Issues in Science and Technology Nice. May not be directly relevant, but it will get you thinking, especially about issues in human genetics.
Issues & Bioethics
The Center For Bioethics You should find some useful ideas here, although they may need to be adapted to your particular topic.
If you find that any of these links don't work, please let me know and I'll either fix it/them or remove them from the page. Nothing is more frustrating than dud links!
Also, if you would like to suggest any web sites for inclusion here, please let me know that too. I'm sure that there are many I haven't found. I'm trying to have sites here which can be starting points for further browsing rather than just stand-alone pages, so that's the type of link I'd like to hear about.
Students, start here.
