Health and Medical Journal

By Edison Ramsey

Rare is the student who breathes and eats biology but with the use of biological microscopes, students who have little taste for the subject can learn something useful.

Impressions on the Biological Microscopes

You cannot escape biology; it is a basic lab requirement in grade school, mid-school, high school, and college. The point here is to awaken student’s interest in the sciences or open a new whole world for them and that world is the ‘invisible life’ seen under the microscope. If you have seen those biological microscopes in Toronto shops, and how these are carefully handled, you must start wondering why.

The first time students use a biological microscope, they only understand the entire microscopy process as magnified viewing of living and non-living things. They do not understand the entire principle of microscopy nor do they value the significance of microscopes. From their points of view, a biological microscope is just a microscope and that’s that. But once they handle those microscopes in Toronto shops, they get to know equipment as basic learning tool. Read the rest of this entry »

By Steve D Evans

Biology is the study of life and comprises all levels from the molecular to the global. Biology is the study living organisms, their organization and their functions and biology is a large part of the way our environment evolved from simple organisms and is thus intimately part of our environment. Biology is a very broad field, covering the minute workings of chemical machines inside our cells, to broad scale concepts of ecosystems and global climate change. Biologists study subjects which range from intimate details of the human brain, the composition of our genes, and even the functioning of our reproductive system to the building blocks of the simplest organisms on earth which created our oxygen rich atmosphere capable of supporting higher life forms. Without biological processes you and I would not exist, nor the planet as we know it.

Biological systems in contrast to physical are vastly more complex, their function based on small numbers of units (atoms, molecules, cells) that are not at equilibrium. There are no biological laws of nature the way we find them in physics; the first and second law of thermodynamics, Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, Newton’s law of gravity etc.

The supreme importance of the role of biology in environment can be seen if we consider biotechnology. Biotechnology, as Aldous Huxley foresaw in Brave New World (1932), can usher in as profound a revolution as industrialization did in the early 19th century. It will parallel vast other themes the expansion of artificial intelligence, the opening of the inner solar system to economic use, and much, much more.

Biologists tolerate a level of mystery in their work that would drive your average engineer or computer programmer crazy. Biologists can see that role of biology in environment has shaped our very nature and being. Just look at the human genome studies that have been done. The biologists have put together a complete rough draft of the human genome but they have little understanding of how those 40,000 or so genes work together and interact with our environment to make a human. Read the rest of this entry »

By Matthew Langan

I conducted research uncovering the types of communication strategies and research practices performed in the teaching of biology science. The teaching of science can be very different from the teaching of other main subjects, such as history, English, and math. Science requires more hands-on and demonstration work in order to fully grasp the material being offered. Biology, the study of living organisms, uses various communicative practices to help its audience understand the subject. The field works better in a lab based environment, delivering information through text books and lab manuals, using visual aids, conducting group activities, and other successful communication practices. The following is a detailed list of the strategies used in the field of biology. All of these practices affect its audience in many ways.

Facilities

When I took biology a year ago, material was presented in a lab environment with the use of biology text books and lab manuals. As a student, you were required to have safety goggles, latex gloves, lab books to record findings, and to dress appropriately in order to participate in the field. The laboratory I participated in was extremely spacious. My classmates and I performed experiments on tall work stations that had a lot of room to operate on. Much of the work was done standing up, so the height of the tables was convenient. The work stations were arranged in rows rather than spread out around the room; each row fitting approximately four students on each side. The appearance of the facility tells students and other audience members that the field requires hands-on and experimental work in order to convey information. The field, contrary to sitting and listening, relies heavily on participation.

Classroom Communication Read the rest of this entry »