Explorations In Time
I haven’t picked a site of the week in awhile, so it is time to remedy that neglect. This week I have choosen Explorations in Time.
This is an extremely interesting interactive web site with modules for both students and teachers. I worked my way through the What did T-Rex taste like? module. The module uses phylogeny to answer the question. Along the way you learn about to construct a phylogenetic tree and use it to ask further questions about the history of life. The module is easy to understand and the concepts are explained in a clear and easily understandable fashion - even for those who know nothing about biology. There is also a selection of questions at the end that you can use the data, from your work in the module, to answer. (You will have to work through the module to find out what T-Rex would taste like…)
As mentioned there are a number of other modules to work through at the site. Each is accompanied by a recommended grade level - which is extremely useful. The modules are designed for K-12 but I think several of them could be used in introductory biology classes (for non-majors for example) at the university level.
The page itself is part of University of California, Berkeley
Museum of Paleontology website and they to be commended for coming up with such a great resource!
