Creator: Vimeo, LLC | visit site
Grade Range: 7 - 11
Finding it difficult to "show" your health or biology students how different parts of their cells, bodies, or even toothpaste work? Try this part of the Vimeo site. It has animations of different cellular and molecular processes. The animations are not only factual but they are beautiful as well. Videos are shareable and can be embedded onto websites. The clips are spectacular for entry level biology students to visualize molecular and cellular processes, but the detail and intricacy of the clips makes them extremely suitable for advanced placement biology students.
In the Classroom
Try using "The Crest Dual Action Whitening Mechanism Action" in upper middle to high school level health classes. Show the video on the interactive whiteboard or projector and then talk about different toothpastes and good hygiene practices. Discuss the "why" of keeping teeth healthy. Cross curriculum and have students develop experiments to test different toothpastes. (Have students use unsealed tile pieces instead of their teeth, just in case of allergies, toothbrush availability, etc.) In biology class, show the video of the T4 Bacteriophage on the interactive whiteboard to start a discussion of bacterial viruses or viruses in general. Have students revisit the video at the conclusion of the lesson, and have them make podcasts of the bacteriophage invasion process using PodOmatic (reviewed here). Try taking screen shots using a website like Jing (reviewed here) to capture different parts of the video to create an enhanced podcast. Just remember: give credit to where it is due. Another thought on how to use videos like this is to embed one on your website, especially during weeks where classes are interrupted by school events or testing, and have students participate in an online discussion of the video. It keeps them thinking about biology even when they are not physically able to be in class!
At Home
Encourage your budding biologist to visit this site to visualize molecular and cellular processes. This site is a great visual resource for students for all levels of biology students.