Ology

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• Learn more about biology, genetics, geology, marine biology, and paleontology.

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Did you know that a cockroach can live for a whole week without a head? Or that time, while constantly marching forward, doesn’t always move at the same pace?They are not making this stuff up… and you too can wow your friends with cool science facts, from important basic concepts to much more obscure trivia, if you visit the Ology site. Ology from the American Museum of Natural History introduces “the study of” favorite science subjects. Learn, quiz yourself, meet the ‘ologists… this site has it all. A simple registration process (30 seconds, max.) and you can begin to collect the OLogy cards from all around the site. Flip Over your cards for facts and fun related to the subject. You’ll want to get them all!

Advanced science students should follow the links to Science Bulletins. These stories provide video and multimedia content explaining current research about the natural world. Learn the latest on gamma-ray bursts, near-Earth asteroids, stem cells and tsunami research by viewing images or exploring features and interactive visualizations.

Created by the American Museum of Natural History, OLogy looks at archeology, biodiversity, climate change, genetics, astronomy and paleontology with engaging activities and multimedia resources for students from upper elementary school on up. Within the areas presented, you can learn about the subjects, do activities, meet experts and collect Ology cards, rewards for reading articles or successful completion of various online activities. There are even book lists, recipes, and activities you can print or save for later.Think you’re an Astronomy expert? If so, start your exploration of Our Place in Space with the quiz. If you’re quickly humbled, as I was, you can move throughout the various topics in the astronomy section to discover the right answers. Gravity, Stars, the Sun, the Milky Way Galaxy and beyond can be navigated either in order or just select the topic of interest to you. Complete the experience with a Cosmic Cookie break.
Everyone loves dinosaurs! The Big Dig will provide information and activities for the aspiring paleontologists in your class. Get inside the brain of the experts as they examine fossils and construct ideas about what dinosaurs looked like, how they lived, and how they died. Fossil facts and definitions and resources for finding fossils are of particular interest to Earth and environmental science classes.The Gene Scene raises questions and provides some answers about genetics, DNA and cloning. Issues approached are ethics in cloning, nature vs. nurture, and genetic modification, each one providing some questions that could lead to an active class discussion. Print resources to have available for reference are listed on the book list.Finally, the Biodiversity section examines the rich variety of life on Earth. Explore the Tree of Life cladogram showing common ancestors and close and distant relatives of various species or read about the fieldwork of biologists. Find out where ingredients in the food you eat comes from in the Global Grocery and the Bio-Benefits to humans of maintaining biodiversity.