Browse by Grade & Topic: Biology

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Explore a wide variety of cells, from bacteria to human neurons, using a compound light microscope. Select a sample to study, then focus on the sample using the coarse and fine focus...

Use a scalpel, forceps, and pins to dissect realistic male and female frogs. Organs can be removed and placed into organ system diagrams. Once the dissections are complete, the frog organ...

Adjust the number of fish in a lake to be tagged and the number of fish to be recaptured. Use the number of tagged fish in the catch to estimate the number of fish in the lake.

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Observe the spread of disease through a group of people. The methods of transmission can be chosen and include person-to-person, airborne, and foodborne as well as any combination thereof....

In this ecosystem consisting of hawks, snakes, rabbits and grass, the population of each species can be studied as part of a food chain. Disease can be introduced for any species, and the...

Study photosynthesis in a variety of conditions. Oxygen production is used to measure the rate of photosynthesis. Light intensity, carbon dioxide levels, temperature, and wavelength of...

Breed "pure" mice with known genotypes that exhibit specific fur colors, and learn how traits are passed on via dominant and recessive genes. Mice can be stored in cages for future...

Select a sample cell from an animal, plant, or bacterium and view the cell under a microscope. Select each organelle on the image to learn more about its structure and function. Closeup...

Trace the path of blood through a beating heart and the network of blood vessels that supplies blood to the body. Take blood samples from different blood vessels to observe blood cells and...

Everything we know about the world comes through our senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. In the Senses Gizmo, explore how stimuli are detected by specialized cells, transmitted...

Working as a CDC researcher, students investigate an outbreak of multi-drug resistant bacterial infections and determine how evolution was involved by tracing the source and cause of the...

As a veterinary technician, students learn about enzymes to help a dog that has been eating normally but is losing a lot of weight.

Observe the population of rabbits in an environment over many years. The land available to the rabbits and weather conditions can be adjusted to investigate the effects of urban sprawl and...

Breed "pure" mice with known genotypes that exhibit specific fur and eye colors, and learn how traits are passed on via dominant and recessive genes. Mice can be stored in cages for future...

Begin with a single cell and watch as mitosis and cell division occurs. The cells will go through the steps of interphase, prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase, and cytokinesis. The...

You are a bird hunting moths (both dark and light) that live on trees. As you capture the moths most easily visible against the tree surface, the moth populations change, illustrating the...

Use a variety of real-world lab tests to analyze common food samples in order to determine if the food is a carbohydrate, a protein, or a lipid. Tests that can be performed include:...

Explore the processes of photosynthesis and respiration that occur within plant and animal cells. The cyclical nature of the two processes can be constructed visually, and the simplified...

When a foreign substance such as a drug is ingested, it often remains in the bloodstream for a long time. This Gizmo models the elimination of substances from the bloodstream using water...

Test your hearing range by listening to low-, medium-, and high-frequency sounds. Compare the relative loudness of sounds at each frequency to create an equal-loudness curve. In a quiet...

Observe and manipulate the populations of four creatures (trees, deer, bears, and mushrooms) in a forest. Investigate the feeding relationships (food web) in the forest. Determine which...

Digestion is a complex process, involving a wide variety of organs and chemicals that work together to break down food, absorb nutrients, and eliminate wastes. But have you ever wondered...

Measure your reaction time by clicking your mouse as quickly as possible when visual or auditory stimuli are presented. The individual response times are recorded, as well as the mean and...

Using the scientific method, control the environmental conditions for a fictional alien organism in order to learn how the organism responds to changes in conditions. Sunlight, water, and...

Breed "pure" chickens with known genotypes that exhibit specific feather colors, and learn how traits are passed on via codominant genes. Chickens can be stored in cages for future...

Build a glucose molecule, atom-by-atom, to learn about chemical bonds and the structure of glucose. Explore the processes of dehydration synthesis and hydrolysis in carbohydrate molecules.

Observe how a paramecium maintains stable internal conditions in a changing aquatic environment. Water moves into the organism by osmosis, and is pumped out by the contractile vacuole. The...

A drug prescription must be carefully planned to maximize benefit while avoiding an overdose. In this Gizmo, you can give a patient one or more pills and monitor the levels of medication in...

Observe evolution in a fictional population of bugs. Set the background to any color, and see natural selection taking place. Inheritance of color occurs according to Mendel's laws and...

Observe the populations of grass, prairie dogs, ferrets and foxes in a prairie ecosystem. Investigate feeding relationships and determine the food chain. Bar graphs and line graphs show...

As a marine biologist students learn about photosynthesis to help scientists in Australia determine why the coral in the Great Barrier Reef is bleaching.

Measure the time required to write a word when the mouse behaves in a normal fashion and when the direction of motion is reversed from left to right, up to down, or both. Run several...

Observe the sex ratios of birds and geckos as they hatch in an incubator. Vary the temperature of the incubator and measure the percentages of male and female hatchlings to determine if...

Label a diagram that illustrates the anatomy of a flower, and understand the function of each structure. Compare the processes of self pollination and cross pollination, and explore how...

Observe evolution in a fictional population of bugs. Set the background to any color, and see natural selection taking place. Compare the processes of natural and artificial selection....

Measure the temperature and oxygen content of a pond over the course of a day. Then go fishing to see what types of fish live in the pond. Many different ponds can be investigated to...

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Grow Wisconsin Fast Plants® in a simulated lab environment. Explore the life cycles of these plants and how their growth is influenced by light, water, and crowding. Practice pollinating...

See how muscles, bones, and connective tissue work together to allow movement. Observe how muscle contraction arises from the interactions of thin and thick filaments in muscle cells. Using...

As a medical toxicologist, students learn about cell respiration to save the life of a CIA agent that has been poisoned.

Perform experiments with several seed types to see what conditions yield the highest germination (sprouting) rate. Three different types of seeds can be studied, and the temperature, water...

Study the thickness of birds' beaks over a five-year period as you control the yearly rainfall on an isolated island. As the environmental conditions change, the species must adapt (a...

Go through the process of synthesizing proteins through RNA transcription and translation. Learn about the many steps involved in protein synthesis including: unzipping of DNA, formation of...

Adjust the levels of clothing, perspiration, and exercise to maintain a stable internal temperature as the external temperature changes. Water and blood sugar levels need to be replenished...

Try to click your mouse once every 2 seconds. The time interval between each click is recorded, as well as the error and percent error. Data can be displayed in a table, histogram, or...

Observe the sex ratios of birds and geckos as they hatch in an incubator. Vary the temperature of the incubator and measure the percentages of male and female hatchlings to determine if...

Explore the abiotic factors that affect Caribbean coral reefs. Many factors can be manipulated in this simplified reef model, including ocean temperature and pH, storm severity, and input...

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In this follow-up to Fast Plants® 1 - Growth and Genetics, continue to explore inheritance of traits in Wisconsin Fast Plants. Infer the genotype of a "mystery P2 parent" of a set of Fast...

Try to estimate the passage of time by selecting a time interval, clicking the Start button, and clicking Stop when you think the interval has passed. The estimate and percent error are...

Construct a DNA molecule, examine its double-helix structure, and then go through the DNA replication process. Learn how each component fits into a DNA molecule, and see how a unique,...

Set the initial percentages of three types of parrots in a population and track changes in genotype and allele frequency through several generations. Analyze population data to develop an...

Study the thickness of birds' beaks over a five year period as you control the yearly rainfall on an isolated island. As the environmental conditions change, the species must adapt (a...

In this followup to the Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors activity, investigate the impacts of fishing, disease, and invasive species on a model Caribbean coral reef. Many variables can be...

Explore how sex cells are produced by the process of meiosis. Compare meiosis in male and female germ cells, and use crossovers to increase the number of possible gamete genotypes. Using...

As a physician assistant, students must learn about diffusion to save the life of a person poisoned by chlorine gas that was released into a small town following a train crash.

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As a pediatrician, students learn about genes and protein synthesis to try to help a baby girl named Lucy who has an immunodeficiency disease.

Observe the effect of predators on a population of parrots with three possible genotypes. The initial percentages and fitness levels of each genotype can be set. Determine how initial...

Compare the skulls of a variety of significant human ancestors, or hominids. Use available tools to measure lengths, areas, and angles of important features. Each skull can be viewed from...

In this follow-up to the Genetic Engineering Gizmo, explore how farmers can maximize yield while limiting ecosystem damage using genetically modified corn. Choose the corn type to plant and...

Observe how different colors of light are reflected or absorbed by colored objects. Determine that white light is a combination of different colors of light, and that one or more component...

In the role of a physician assistant, students help a young man, named Anthony, who has Type II diabetes and high blood pressure. Students must make a diagnosis and then must apply the...

As a geneticist in an animal hospital, students learn about genetic changes in meiosis to determine the reason why a male cat can have calico fur coloring.

Explore the motion of particles as they bounce around from one side of a room to the other through an adjustable gap or partition. The mass of the particles can be adjusted, as well as the...

Once light enters the eye, it must be focused on the retina. Manipulate the pupil diameter to regulate the amount of light that enters then eye, then change the lens shape to focus light....

An infant on a farm has blue baby syndrome. As an EPA environmental engineer, students must find the cause of the baby's illness. Using environment data, students learn the importance of...

Scan the DNA of frogs to produce DNA sequences. Use the DNA sequences to identify possible identical twins and to determine which sections of DNA code for skin color, eye color, and the...

Adjust the concentration of a solute on either side of a membrane in a cell and observe the system as it adjusts to the conditions through osmosis. The initial concentration of the solute...

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Observe how photoreceptors on the retina are stimulated by different colors of light. Determine that cone cells are stimulated by specific colors of light and enable us to see color, while...

Sort and pair the images of human chromosomes obtained in a scan. Find differences in the scans of the various patients to find out specific things that can cause disease, as well as...

Use dichotomous keys to identify and classify five types of organisms: California albatrosses, Canadian Rockies buttercups, Texas venomous snakes, Virginia evergreens, and Florida...

Use genetic engineering techniques to create corn plants resistant to insect pests or tolerant of herbicides. Identify useful genes from bacteria, insert the desired gene into a corn plant,...

Explore how a fertilized cell develops into an embryo, a fetus, and eventually an adult organism. Compare embryo development in different vertebrate species and try to guess which embryo...

As a national park ranger, students must restore the ecosystem of a park back to normal. They interact with populations of many organisms including wolves, deer and bees. Students learn the...

As a veterinarian, students help a young calf, named Clark, who is having seizures. To determine the cause, the students fly into Clark's brain to learn about osmosis and apply their...

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Based on the similarities and differences between different organisms, create branching diagrams called cladograms to show how they are related. Use both morphological data (physical...

Follow the path of a carbon atom through the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere. Manipulate a simplified model to see how human activities and other factors affect the amount...

Learn how DNA is compared to identify individuals. Identify the sections of DNA that tend to differ and use PCR to amplify these segments. Then use gel electrophoresis to create DNA...

Release a lytic virus in a group of cells and observe how cells are infected over time and eventually destroyed. Data related to the number of healthy cells, infected cells, and viruses can...

Collect fingerprints from simulated crime scenes using a camera, fingerprinting powder, and tape. Classify fingerprints into groups and subgroups, then identify minutiae. Match collected...