BBC Schools - Bitesize revision on KS3.
A very good revision of every topic in the Key Stage 3 curriculum (11 - 14 years old pupils).
BBC Schools - Bitesize revision on GCSE.
A very good revision of every topic in the GCSE curriculum (14 - 16 years old pupils). Amongst other sections, the site also contains a great resource: the Core Science audio files and the Additional Science audio files for the GCSE topics.
Quite good and easy to follow revisions on topics such as cell structure and function, microorganisms, or plants and animals structure and function.
Quite good and easy to follow revisions on topics such as matter, Periodic Table, chemical elements, atoms, chemical reactions and biochemistry.
Quite good and easy to follow revisions on topics such as Earth energy, Earth structure, Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, Biosphere, climates and biogeochemical cycles.
Fantastic YouTube channel with very high-quality videos. Although some might be quite advanced for you, a fair amount of them should help your understanding of a number of essential topics on Biology, Astronomy, Physics and Chemistry.
A select collection of scientific videos organised by categories and verified in quality and accuracy by a scientist.
An impressive collection of animations focused on Genetics and human infectious diseases.
How Stuff Works - Science Channel.
A great collection of articles explaining everything you've always wanted to know about Science and never dared to ask.
Wide, reliable and updated scientific encyclopedia, with special sections devoted to Technology, Chemistry, Geology and controversy in the History of Science.
Ambitious project to organize and make available virtually all information about the approximately 1.8 million known biological species.
A good collection of educational information, quite focused on Astronomy, but also covering other major scientific areas: Life, the Earth and Physics. With interesting animations.
Quite possibly the best resource on the net when you need to find the meaning of a term or even knowing almost everything about it. It yields, in the same page, information collected from several sources, including a variety of dictionaries and the Wikipedia. You can also listen to the pronunciation of most words.
Not entirely flawless, but yet the most comprehensive and updated encyclopedia online.
Amazing collection of educational resources on a wide range of knowledge topics.
A fantastic resource with definitions, images and pronunciation for almost everything in astronomy, the Earth, plants, animals, the human being, energy and more.
Merriam-Webster online dictionary.
The place to go when you simply need to know the meaning of a scientific term. Includes the etymology, the inflected forms and, best of all, you can listen to the pronunciation of them all.
Scientific dictionaries online.
A comprehensive list of scientific dictionaries online. Some are better than others.
The medical argot unveiled. Helpful when studying the human body.
Many scientific terms have old Latin or Greek roots. The Etymoloogy Dictionary explains many of them.
The 5 scientific experiments most likely to end the world.
If you are one of those who think that Science, in its insatiable curiosity and desire to put knowledge above all things, would never inadvertently set off a chain of events that lead to some sort of disaster that ended the world, then, here are five experiments that may prove you wrong.
9 of the oddest experiments ever.
Some of the most bizarre experiments ever conducted in the name of Science.
10 scientific frauds that rocked the world.
While most of them were considered significant breakthroughs in their time, they were just the result of the eagerness for personal recognition, or the will to mock a contender.
40 Years of the world's best microscope photography.
Stunning set of microscopic images that comprises the Nikon Small World prize winners of the past 40 years.
29 images selected from the 2010 Nikon International Small World Photomicrography Competition winners.
Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition 2011.
38 outstanding photos that let us see beyond the capabilities of our unaided eyes.
Electron microscope photo set of 32 microwonders.
The joys of microscope photography.
Amazing microscopic images from the Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition.
Fundamental scientific and technological English vocabulary.
Scientific language frequently makes use of a specific set of adjectives, nouns, verbs, adverbs, conjunctions and prepositions. Many of them are listed in this page.
Create text documents, presentations and spreadsheets in a similar way to what you'd do with MS Office. Store them on-line, access them from any computer, share them with your friends to work collaboratively from different places and publish them for everyone to see. All for free: you only have to sign up for a Google/Gmail account. Learn more with the "Getting Started Guides" for spreadsheets, documents and presentations, or with the videos at Google Docs YouTube channel or at YouTube Google Docs Community.
But if all you want to do is creating an online presentation, this is the place to go. You create your presentations with PowerPoint (not 2007 version, as of the moment of writing this), OpenOffice, or in pdf format, upload them to SlideShare and they'll be accessible to everyone with an internet connection. Once uploaded, you can do some basic editting and embed it in any of your blogs or web pages. To see how it works, watch a presentation on SlideShare or read the F.A.Q.
Great collaborative (or solo) online mindmapping tool where you can add links, attached documents, notes, icons and images to every node of your map. The maps can be published on-line for everyone to view, embedded into a webpage, and exported to pdf, jpeg, png and several mind map formats. Don't forget to use the keyboard shortcuts ("tab" and "shift+tab") to fast-create child and sibling nodes.
Another mindmapping tool with lots of features, like the possiblility of adding documents, images, maps or calendar events to the nodes of your mind map. It also allows embedding the map into your website, exporting it to jpeg and png image formats, sharing it and collaborative working.
Create colourful mind maps that you can share, email, print, save as an image or embed into your websites.
How to build a mind map in Microsoft Word.
When you need to create a mind map but don't have access to the Internet, you can still produce rich and colourful ones with MS Word. This great tutorial walks you through the steps to take.
Create flashcards for online study that you can download, print or embed into your webpages. You can also view thousands of flashcard sets created by others. Registration is free and recommended, although not strictly necessary.
Useful online calculators for almost every educational and life need.
This list guides you to online calculators that will help you calculate everything from algebra equations and mortgage interest to fuel costs and body fat.
One good and easy to use online calculator.
Online advanced scientific calculator.
Yet another one, with a friendly interface and a knack for fractions.
Choose between a variety of graph types, paper sizes, units and grids to render a free graph paper ready for printing.
Definitions, images and pronunciation for almost everything in celestial bodies, astronomical observations and astronautics.
The Universe, the galaxies, the stars, the Solar System, and more.
Google Earth Tour that describes the landing, moon walks, and the return to space of Apollo 11 with excellent visual aids and great narrations.
The Apollo missions on the Wikipedia.
Don't forget to check the links to the Apollo 11 and Apollo 13 missions.
The International Space Station turns 10.
A great collection of 32 high quality photos of the IIS, compiled for its tenth birthday.
Nine maps, the first one showing the nearest stars. The others slowly expand out until we have reached the scale of the entire visible Universe.
A classic movie that shows the amazingly huge size of the Universe parting from a small square one metre long.
Hubble Space Telescope Advent Calendar 2008.
A collection of 25 high quality photos of the Universe from the amazing Hubble Space Telescope.
Hubble Space Telescope Advent Calendar 2009.
25 commented photographs, some old, some new, to celebrate the traditional western Christmas Season.
Hubble Space Telescope Advent Calendar 2010.
Third annual Hubble Space Telescope imagery Advent Calendar, with 25 new stunning photos.
Hubble telescope favorite images.
Some of the most important and famous images taken by the Hubble explained in detail. Visiting this site is a must.
Ongoing project that features a high resolution sky map with celestial objects that are outside our solar system mapped out.
First Images from the James Webb Space Telescope.
After years of delays, in July 2022 we are finally seeing the sharpest images of the Universe taken by the most powerful telescope ever deployed.
Simulated planetarium that allows you to observe stars, constellations and planets from any specific location on Earth.
360-degree panoramic image, covering the whole of the vault of heaven.
Earth may soon have a second sun.
The red supergiant star Betelgeuse is getting ready to go supernova, and when it does Earth will have a front-row seat.
Fly around the Solar System's planets and explore the constellations in 3D and real time with this excellent interactive model.
Wikipedia's Wikijunior online book on the Solar System. Comprehensive, aimed to kids, but still unfinished.
Wikipedia's article on the Solar System. Very up to date.
NASA: Solar System exploration.
Full information on the Solar System offered by the scientists from the NASA.
Collected here are 32 images gathered from around our solar system, at scales ranging from mere centimeters to millions of kilometers.
Catalog of spaceborne imaging.
Images of the Solar System bodies taken by the NASA missions.
Ten mysteries of the Solar System.
Some of the most intriguing facts in our stellar system.
Sun's structure, energy and influence on the Earth.
Beautiful photo taken by astrophotographer Alan Friedman that shows sunspots, giant convection cells and prominences silhouetted against the sky.
A collection of some of the most amazing photos ever taken of our star.
Amazing animation showing the movements of the planets from different perspectives.
Sensational images of Saturn showing the ringed planet in incredible detail.
The Big Picture: Saturn at equinox.
During the equinox, the sunlight casts long shadows across Saturn's rings, highlighting previously known phenomena and revealing a few never-before seen images.
The Big Picture: Martian skies.
A wonderful selection of some of the best martian images ever made.
Landing on Mars is an inevitability. This website simulates a tour through the Martian landscape and a human colonized habitat. The walkthrough is a lesson in the science, technology, and design challenges that will be required to land man on the Red Planet.
Want to know how the Earth looks like right now?
The Seasons in Geography4kids.
Learn how the relative position of the Earth to the Sun conditions the climate and the daylength.
Ten things you don't know about the Earth.
Fantastic article that unravels some of the most significant facts about our planet... or did you already know that the Everest is not the biggest mountain?
Gravity satellite yields 'Potato Earth' view.
The geoid is the Earth depicted according to the gravty of its surface. ESA's GOCE satellite shows it with an unprecedented accuracy.
June 19, 240 B.C.: the Earth is round, and it's this big.
Those were the great news more than 2,200 years ago. They took a time to spread around the globe, though.
If you are interested in the Moon or the Apollo landings, Google currently has a wonderful educational tool regarding the Moon that will interest everyone.
Videos, images and lots of info to learn almost everything about our only natural satellite.
Images of the Moon taken by the NASA missions.
Huge panoramic picture of the Moon (I).
Taken by the Apollo 12 crew, in the second manned mission to the Moon ever.
Huge panoramic picture of the Moon (II).
Taken by the Apollo 17 crew just a few days before the man left the Moon for the last time.
States of matter, mixtures, solutions and more.
International System of Units (I).
Definitions and pronunciation for some of the units of the SI at the Visual Dictionary.
International System of Units (II).
More definitions and pronunciation for some of the units of the SI at the Visual Dictionary.
Measuring devices of temperature, time, weight, thickness, distance, length and angles in the Visual Dictionary.
Images, definitions and pronunciation of matter components, chemical elements and laboratory equipment in the Visual Dictionary.
Can you name the elements of the Periodic Table?
Test how many names of chemical elements can you remember in 15 minutes.
Interactives: The Periodic Table.
Excellent advanced lesson on the Periodic Table and the structure of the atoms, with interactive activities.
Eight online games to teach you the chemical elements, periodic table, and more.
Periodic Table of the elements (I).
A very good Periodic Table to learn about the properties, occurrrence and the applications of every chemical element.
Periodic Table of the elements (II).
In many different languages and with links to the Wikipedia articles on each one of the chemical elements.
Periodic Table of the elements in pictures.
This one presents, for every element of the Table, a picture of some object or material where the chemical element is present. Just great.
Learn about the chemical elements by watching one video for each one of them. Awesome.
An entertaining way to get to know their very strange names.
Atoms, atomic particles, compounds and more.
Build interactively your favourite atom. (You've got one, don't you?). Tip: hit the "Next" button to the bottom, scroll up, and then hit "Enter" in your keyboard consecutively to not no have to scroll vertically anymore.
Plastics are everywhere. While you're reading this, there are probably numerous plastic items within your reach (your computer, your pen, your phone). A plastic is any material that can be shaped or molded into any form. Some are naturally occurring, but most are man-made. Learn more about them.
If you had to name the technologies that had the greatest effect on modern society, the refining of the heavy metal element iron would have to be near the top. Iron makes up a huge array of modern products, especially the carbon-rich one, which we call steel. Learn more.
View the inner structure of steel, progressively magnified.
View the inner structure of brass, progressively magnified.
View the inner structure of aluminium, progressively magnified.
View the inner structure of carbon fiber, progressively magnified.
View the inner structure of concrete, progressively magnified.
View the inner structure of a clay pot, progressively magnified.
The Atmosphere in Geography4kids.com.
Structure, pressure, circulation, greenhouse effect and more.
Learn about ten gases present in the clean air.
Watch a simple experiment that demonstrates the existence and the power of air pressure, as well as one of its possible uses.
The weirdest clouds that you'll ever see.
Cloud formations such as the mammatus, the lenticulars or the so called ufo clouds, among others, are perfect examples of how intricate and different nature can be.
Weather and climates in Geography4kids.com.
Factors that condition weather, measuring weather devices, seasons, and more.
The types of clouds in Geography4kids.com.
Stratus, cirrus, nimbostratus and cumulus.
Learn how weather forecast was done in the past, is done today, and will be done in the future.
Amazing images of clouds taken from the Space Shuttle Discovery.
Hurricanes, as seen from orbit.
Awesome photographs of hurricanes taken from various spacecrafts.
All the information about water in the Wikipedia organized in one single place, with links, news, ideas and more. Also check the "Category:Water" link in the "Categories" section to access all the articles in the Wikipedia related to water.
The Hydrosphere in Geography4kids.com.
Freshwater, groundwater, seawater, aquatic biomes and more.
A flash animated activity that lets you control the water cycle as you learn.
The great oceanic conveyor belt.
A very clear introduction to how marine currents work.
5 really weird things about water.
The most important molecule for Life is also the one that displays the most strange behaviour and properties. Learn about some of them.
The Geosphere in Geography4kids.com.
Structure, rocks, tectonics, eartquakes, volcanoes and more.
Types of rocks in Geography4kids.
Learn the main features of the three types of rocks.
Learn about all those microscopic critters that exist everywhere around us.
What's your ideal environment? Sunny, 22ºC and a light breeze? How about living in nearly boiling water that's so acidic it eats through metal? Or residing in a muddy, oxygenless soup far saltier than any ocean? If you're an extremophile, that might sound perfect.
Colossal creature a humungous fungus.
Very good short intro to fungi, a kingdom that includes the largest known living being. The page contains a link to the audio of the article.
Interactive animation that will help you train your tree-identifying skills by analysing a tree's main characteristics. It also contains an identification guide to most trees found in the U.S.A.
Everything you need to know about British trees. From identification, folklore and history to the pests and diseases that threaten them.
A pictorial guide for the identification of a selection of trees both native to Britain and naturalised. With a good number of photos for each species.
A wonderful site with lots of info about trees and how to identify them. The link takes you to a gallery of tree flowers, but you can use the left menu to access every other section.
15 eccentric endangered trees, plants, and flowers.
What these plants have in common is both rarity and uniqueness: they are incredible but also endangered.
How to press flowers and leaves.
Preparing your favorite flowers, weeds or grasses for pressing is not difficult. Once pressed correctly, they can be used on note cards, pictures, bookmarks, or anything that would look nice if decorated.
Leaf rubbing or drawing is an excellent and kid-friendly nature craft. It's suitable for all ages and a great camp project.
Monographic sections on wolfs, beetles and other extinct or alive animals.
A wonderful selection of 38 of the most beautiful and stunning images ever taken of the animal world. A must-see.
The Big Picture: Animals in the news.
From a minuscule frog to an albino whale, fluorescent fish to a deep-sea Chimera, collected here are a handful of photographs of animals and our interactions with them, as companions, caretakers, observers, hunters and stewards.
Thousands of new species discovered on tiny island.
An expedition to a tiny island in the South Pacific's Republic of Vanatu has yielded hundreds of new species, including possibly 1000 new species of crab.
20 of the world's weirdest endangered species.
The ugly stepchildren of the animal kingdom don't get much attention compared to the perennial endangered animal favorites like pandas or polar bears. But there are hundreds more animal species on our planet that are critically threatened.
360º panoramic view in various coral reefs in the world. Use the arrow keys of your keyboard to rotate the image, and the Shift and Control keys to zoom in and out.
A good overall view on the world of coral reefs, with images and videos.
How the Great Barrier Reef works.
Learn about the most amazing system of coral reef in the world. With images and videos.
Do jellyfish have the deadliest venom in the world?
Jellyfish tend to strike inocent bathers with very painful toxins. Learn about it.
Nice insect anatomy scheme.
Reach the molecular level of a fruit fly by zooming in from its head to its chromosomes.
Did you know how much honey does a honeybee make along its lifetime?
Comprehensive overview on the anatomy and ecology of these little unwanted friends.
Bees and ants 'operate in teams'.
Bees and ants are true team players unlike other creatures who seek safety in numbers for selfish reasons, according to researchers.
World's longest insect discovered.
A recently identified stick insect, from the island of Borneo, almost the length of a human arm, is the world's longest insect.
An spider special trick to fool its prey.
Weird fish with transparent head.
Startling photos and video of a recently discovered fish with transparent head.
A vast collection of high quality photos on some 1500 bird species of the world.
See how they court, mate, rear chicks and catch prey.
Clever New Caledonian crows can use three tools.
New Caledonian crows have given scientists yet another display of their tool-using abilities.
Blue stork surprises German villagers.
A blue stork is proving to be a tourist attraction in a German village. Puzzled bird watchers are unsure how it got its distinctive colour.
Almost everything you have ever wanted to know about whales. With images and videos.
Is there a difference between monkeys and apes?
Lemurs, prosimians, anthropoids, monkeys, apes, hominids... Let's put a bit of order within the primates.
Why sustainable power is unsustainable.
Serious obstacles on the road towards a future of renewable sources of energy.
There has never been a more important time to invest in green technologies, yet many of us believe these efforts are doomed to fail. This article disagrees.
Dirty energy threat to green Brazil.
Brazil boasts of being one of the world's "greenest" energy suppliers, but recent policy initiatives could jeopardise its desire to be a big player in future climate change discussions.
Article in The New York Times pondering the worrying future of our most wanted fuel: oil.
Great review on one of the most important industrial processes in our society. With images and videos.
Can carbon fiber solve the oil crisis?
Cutting a car's weight makes a lot of sense in the knowledge that we are running down of oil. Learn how carbon fiber could help.
Very interesting and easy to understand introduction to solar power and its current state of development.
The solar power towers of Seville.
Learn how solar power is being produced in the hot countryside near Seville.
Is the Sun setting on solar power in Spain?
An article of the current heyday of solar power in Spain and its dependency on subsidies.
A scientific study says that biofuels are even worse than the gasoline for the current climatic change. Learn why.
To learn it all about one of the most important alternatives to fossil fuels.
Ethanol, mixed with a small amount of gasoline, can be used to fuel cars. Learn how to make it at home, safely and cheaply.
Forget solar panels, this house runs on algae.
Students at the University of Cambridge have designed an energy and carbon-neutral house powered entirely by algae.
Wind energy might be the simplest renewable energy to understand. Yet there are misconceptions about what makes it turn.
Windfarms unlikely to threaten birds.
Conservation groups have raised fears that large birds could get caught in the turbines and that these structures could disturb other species. But this idea is slowly fading away. Learn why.
Biomass energy 'could be harmful'.
Biomass power - such as burning wood for energy - could do more harm than good in the battle to reduce greenhouse gases.
Introduction to what geothermal energy is and how we can make use of it.
Learn about Iceland's renewable geothermal power.
The car of the future is here today. It doesn't use gasoline and it doesn't pollute the air. In fact, it produces steam instead of exhaust. And the mystery fuel? Hydrogen, the simplest and most abundant element in the Universe.
Periodic Table of the Elements.
In many different languages and with links to the Wikipedia articles on each one of the chemical elements.
Chemical reactions in Chem4kids.com.
A very comprehensive and easy to understand resource meant for pupils in secondary education. Use the links in the top right menu to further along the tutorial.
What happens when you carbonate water?
Learn what an acid is through an experiment with carbonated water and red cabbage.
Photosynthesis on land and on water.
Very simple animation showing how photosynthesis takes place both in land and in water living things.
Learn about the biggest, longest and most amazing animal migrations in the world, and figure out why and how animals make such astonishing journeys.
Learn the parts of an angiosperm flower and the functions of each.
General stages in the life cycle of flowering plants.
Very useful commented photo gallery to learn about the life cycle of angiosperms.
The foxglove is a marvellous example of a plant which is adapted to be pollinated by insects. Learn how certain parts of this plant have been specially modified over time so that it is able to attract insects.
Orchids: nature's sexy sirens.
Orchids are just fascinating beings. Their refined sexual behaviour involves from promising food to even tricking insects into thinking they're a sexual partner. Learn more.
Male wasps make love to orchids.
Learn how orchids mimic female wasps to favour their own fertilisation.
Penis length isn't everything… for barnacle males.
Longer isn't always better, according to some men, and it seems the same is true for barnacles, too.
'Virgin births' for giant lizards.
Females of the Komodo Dragon, the largest lizard in the world, are capable of producing offspring without male contact.
Ants inhabit 'world without sex'.
An Amazonian ant has developed into an all-female species, researchers have found.
Cartoon film that uses the traditional pantomime story of "Jack and The Beanstalk" to link different types of feeding relationship. Includes reference to autotrophs, herbivores, carnivores, parasites, symbionts and saprotrophs.
Another great interactive map to see the occurence and learn the main characteristics of the world's biomes. With many activities.
Water lilies, turtles, frogs, ducks, snakes, dragonflies, minnows, herons, sticky black muck, monsters… What do these things have in common? Wetlands.
How the Galapagos islands work.
One of the world's most famous ecosystems is the place that inspired Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. But there's more to it than just finches and tortoises.
A great set of 32 stunning photos taken in the Antarctica.
10 of today's most important environmental issues.
A list that neatly summarizes some of our most pressing environmental concerns.
What's the biggest threat to freshwater habitats?
Learn what ar the freshwater habitats, why are they important, and how agriculture endangers them.
Why could China's Three Gorges Dam cause an environmental disaster?
Is it a milestone of modern engineering or a potential environmental disaster?
Ocean debris turning Hawaiian beach into plastic.
Consumer waste from the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" is turning a Hawaiian beach "into plastic".
Google Earth file showing the protected area network for a number of countries.
Google Earth file showing information about the Earth's 34 Biodiversity Hotspots, as defined by Conservation International. These are the most important areas for conservation, with very large numbers of endemic species. Each of the hotspots has lost more than 70% of its original forest.
Protected Planet lets you view the world's protected areas on a Google Map. If you click on one of the mapped protected areas then you are taken to a close-up of the selected area, which includes photographs, points of interest in the area and links to related protected areas.
See how the people of Dumptown turned their town around, reducing waste and saving money or play the Dumptown game and create your own scavenger hunt.
Composting is a method that transforms solid organic waste into a product that can benefit the environment as a natural fertilizer for gardening and farming. Learn more.
50 actions that people can carry on in their daily lives to help preserve the Ecosphere.
Many of us have adopted small, easy habits to help make our lives a little more environmentally friendly. But how can you be sure your choices are right for the planet?
Top 10 myths about sustainability.
In-depth article explaning the real meaning of such a popular word.
How do you clean up an oil spill?
Despite stricter penalties and better ship design, oil spills haven't been eliminated. And when they happen, what can be done to clean up that mess?
The chemistry of life: the human body.
You are what you eat. But do you remember munching some molybdenum or snacking on selenium? Some 60 chemical elements are found in the body, but what all of them are doing there is still unknown.
The biomolecules and their roles in an easy-to-understand language.
Excellent and easy to follow visual activity to learn the basics on animal, plant and bacterial cells.
Take an interactive look inside an animal and a plant cell.
Awesome zoomable visualization to help you get an idea of the actual sizes of cells and their components.
To learn everything you need about the parts and the organelles of a cell in an easy-to-understand language.
List of distinct cell types in the adult human body.
Article at Wikipedia containing a list of links to the corresponding articles of a great number of types of human cells.
Debunking the idea that our bodies are renewed every seven years: learn what is the real life span of several types of human cells.
On Zygote Body you can view the underlying anatomical layers one by one using a slider, switch on labels to identify each body part, use the search box as a search engine for any body part (muscles, organs, bones etc), and what's more, you can also share the exact scene you are viewing by copying and pasting the URL. As of writing this, the website will only work in Firefox and Chrome browsers.
The BBC's webpage is a resource rich place to discover and play interactive games while learning all about the human body. The games include Senses challenge, Organs Game, Skeleton Game, Muscle Game and Nervous System Game. The games are superbly designed and mostly involve dropping a body part onto a human figure.
Online examination of human anatomy and physiology.
Visually learn about the human body using interactive flash animations.
View the inner structure of a hair, progressively magnified.
View the inner structure of a tooth, progressively magnified.
The Bartleby.com edition of Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body features 1,247 vibrant engravings—many in color—from the classic 1918 publication, as well as a subject index with 13,000 entries.
The digestive system at Faqs.org.
A good overview, with text and images, on all the organs of the digestive system and their work, the digestive diseases, a glossary and additional readings.
Do you know how long takes an apple to be digested?
About a 90% of your cells are not yours: they are bacteria, most of which live in your intestines. Learn why. You can also listen to the embedded audio version of the article.
Whether you call it grumbling, rumbling, gurgling or growling, from time to time everybody's belly chimes in. Learn why.
Cooking and cognition: how humans got so smart.
Learn how cooking improved our digestive efficiency and spurted our brain development.
The respiratory system at Faqs.org.
A good overview, with text and images, on all the organs of the respiratory system and their functions, the respiratory disorders, a glossary and additional readings.
The cardiovascular system at Faqs.org.
A good overview, with text and images, on all the organs of the circulatory system and their work, the blood, the cardiovascular disorders, a glossary and additional readings.
Detailed description of the composition and the function of the human blood. It contains two animations that start on page load… you might want to stop and restart them after reading the texts.
A set of eight photos related to the heart and its working.
The urinary system at Faqs.org.
A good overview, with text and images, on all the organs of the urinary system and their functions, the urinary diseases, a glossary and additional readings.
A wide overview, with text and images, on food groups, nutrients, dietary habits, diets, eating disorders, a glossary and additional readings.
A lot of interesting and detailed info about the main human nutrients. It contains some images and one animation that starts on page load… you might want to stop and restart it after reading the texts.
How to calculate how many calories you need to eat to lose weight?
The key to fat loss is first figuring out how many calories you should be taking in each day. Learn how.
Freezing, canning, salting… Detailed info on these and other commonly used food preservation techniques.
Sort food facts from fiction, separate the good information from the bad, to make eating healthy just a little bit easier.
Excellent chart showing how much scientific evidence there is for popular health supplements.
A website meant to empower consumers with information about the healing power of foods.
The nervous system at Faqs.org.
A wide overall view, with text and images, on the neurons, the organs of the nervous system and their functions, the nervous disorders, a glossary and additional readings.
Absolutely comprehensive site to learn everything about the neurones, the nervous system, the brain habilities, drugs, diseases… With an extensive table of contents at the top.
Amazing resource that covers all sorts of topics related to the human brain: organisation, memory, emotions, senses, body movement... All of them in three different levels of deepness.
100 fascinating facts you never knew about the human brain.
How it works, how it develops, what it controls, how it affects sleep, dreams and memory, and more.
A set of 9 pictures that tell different stories about the way your nervous system works.
In his own words: "In September 2009 my doctor recommended an MRI to rule-out a couple of potential conditions. The scan came back completely normal, which was a great relief! I decided to do something with the images, and spent a fun weekend writing this MRI explorer".
5 ways your brain is messing with your head.
It turns out that the ways in which your head is being truly messed up are not coming from advertisers, politicians or magicians: they are coming from inside.
How scratching can stop an itch.
A scientific study has discovered why scratching helps relieve the irritation of an itch.
The special senses at Faqs.org.
Good and wide overview, with text and images, on the eye, the ear, the sense of smell, the sense of taste, and the way they all work. Also with a description af the main sensorial pathologies, a glossary and additional readings.
Highly informative interactive animation to learn the parts of the eye and their functions.
Which comes to prove that your brain is tricking you. Learn the difference between reality and the image your brain composes of it through this interesting article on colours.
Travel inside the body and see how cell signaling brings about physiological changes during the fight or flight response.
The endocrine system at Faqs.org.
A wide overall view, with text and images, on all the endocrine glands and the way they work, the hormones and their effects, the endocrine disorders, a glossary and additional readings.
Sorry, you're just not my (testosterone's) type.
Learn how hormones condition the type of person to which you are attracted.
eSkeletons isn't only about understanding human anatomy. It is an interactive comparative tool that enables a student to view the bones of both human and non-human primates and to learn more about them. Selecting the human skeleton on the homepage starts the anatomical study. A mouseover on the skeleton selects a specific bone for a closer look.
The muscular system at Faqs.org.
A wide and good overall view, with text and images, on the muscular system, the muscular cells, the main muscles, and the way they all work. Also with a description of the main muscular disorders, a glossary and additional readings.
The skeletal system at Faqs.org.
A wide and good overall view, with text and images, on the skeletal system, the main bones, the joints, and the way they all work. Also with a description of the main skeletal disorders, a glossary and additional readings.
Interactive activity to check your knoledge on the human skeleton.
The reproductive system at Faqs.org.
A wide overall view, with text and images, on all the organs of the male and female reproductive systems and the way they work, sexual hormones, birth control methods, embrionary development, the reproductive system disorders, a glossary and additional readings.
Simple animation showing the stages from fertilisation to implantation.
Slideshow of fetal develpment month by month.
A wide overall view, with text and images, on everything you ever wanted to know about sexuality, stages of sexual development, menstruation, sex, birth control, pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases. With a glossary.
Top 10 weirdest prescription drug side effects.
Most of us take prescription drugs: if all goes well, the drug works for you as it's supposed to. But there's no drug that works the same for everyone without any risks or side effects. Learn about some of the scariest ones.
Flu attack! How a virus invades your body.
Wondeful animation that shows you how viruses trick healthy cells to join the dark side.
Cholera's prevention preferable to its cure.
Learn how cholera kills by dehydration.
Killer cholera begins where other diseases end.
Learn how cholera can be treated succesfully.
How the world was rid of smallpox.
It's the only disease that humankind has successfully wiped out - and the eradication of smallpox was brought about by Edward Jenner.
Learn all the efforts required to make a new vaccine against a virus and why it takes six months from start to finish.
Learn how caffeine picks you up and which are its most remarkable effects on the nervous system.
This is your brain on caffeine.
Learn about the effects of caffeine withdrawal.
Mineral picture gallery at ThoughtCo. With photos and basic data.
Alphabetical listing of mineral species.
Everything you ever wanted to know about minerals. With images and lots of data of each species.
The mineral and gemstone kingdom.
Another vast resource on minerals: data sheets for many species, photo gallery, gemstones, properties, collecting and more.
40 common minerals and their uses.
It is actually a collection of links to fact sheets on minerals, chemical elements and even some rock, and a great place to go when looking for information on those most commonly in use.
Excellent lesson on rocks with interactive activities and good coverage of the following topics: types of rocks, how rocks change and rock cycle.
How to identify the 3 major types of rocks.
How to tell whether a rock is sedimentary, metamorphic or igneous.
Rock identification made easy.
Learn how to differentiate the main types of rocks at ThoughtCo.
ThoughtCo - Sedimentary rocks.
Learn the essentials of the origin, features and types of sedimentary rocks at ThoughtCo.
Learn the essentials of the origin, features and occurrence of igneous rocks at ThoughtCo.
ThoughtCo - Metamorphic rocks.
Learn the essentials of the origin, features and types of metamorphic rocks at ThoughtCo.
Membrane transport, cell nutrition and cell reproduction in an easy-to-understand language.
Watch this animation to learn the basics of the cell cycle.
From the basics to the hottest current topics: a vast bank of easy to follow learning resources on Genetics.
Epigenetics: Can we control our genes?
For a long time, scientists believed that it wasn’t possible to alter our genetic code. Now, epigenetics is changing the game.
What have we learned from the Human Genome Project?
The Human Genome Project was launched in 1990 to learn how the 3.2 billion base pairs contained in the human genome are ordered. But, what are the benefits of this?
So, do you really want to know?
At-home personal genomics kits are available and affordable, but how relevant are the results?
In the last few years, DNA evidence has started to play a big part in many nations' criminal justice systems. Learn how DNA evidence is scientifically achieved.
Fighting hunger with flood-tolerant rice.
Learn how genetic manipulation of the most eaten food in the world can help over two billion people to survive.
'Alien' genes escape into wild corn.
Now it's official: genes from genetically modified corn have escaped into wild varieties in rural Mexico.
Trial begins for HIV gene therapy.
Learn how a dead simple technique, based on the use of special DNA-cutting enzymes, could immunize people against HIV.
For the first time, geneticists diagnose disease through whole-genome analysis.
A differrent approach to gene sequencing proves cheaper, faster and useful in medicine.
'Artificial life' breakthrough announced by scientists.
20 May 2010: scientists in the US have succeeded in developing the first living cell to be controlled entirely by synthetic DNA.
The 5 current genetic experiments most likely to destroy Humanity.
If there's one thing scientists have a knack for, it's turning seemingly innocent things into horrifying specters of terror. Here are some examples.
Simple and clear animation showing the main steps to take in animal cloning.
Simple and easy to understand introduction to cloning in plants, animals and humans.
Today, after more than a decade since Dolly, human cloning remains in its infancy and under governmental restraints. Nevertheless, science is headed in that direction. Learn how the inevitable human cloning future will be.
First camel clone born in Dubai.
Scientists in Dubai say they have created the world's first cloned camel.
Excellent and very comprehensive animation showing everything you need to know about human stem cells.
A most amazing collection of essays explaining everything you want to know about evolution and more. Don't miss the first one, Introduction to Evolutionary Biology for a great overview on the topic. Also available is the full text of Darwin's The Origin of Species.
An even better and wider collection of articles to tell you everything you ever wanted to know about Evolution and never dared to ask. The Evolution 101 course is just the perfect introduction to the topic, nicely complemented with good quality images.
Charles Darwin and the Voyage of the Beagle.
Google Earth file showing Charles Darwin's voyage on the Beagle. Much more information in the author's website.
Darwin: the "reluctant revolutionary".
Series of podcasts produced by the U.S. National Public Radio on a variety of Darwin's related topics.
Wikipedia's article on Charles R. Darwin.
Recipe For Evolution: Variation, Selection & Time.
Learn about the three simple ingredients that drive evolution.
12 elegant examples of Evolution.
Compilation of especially elegant and enlightening examples of evolution.
Top 10 in-depth articles about evolution from New Scientist.
Wikipedia's article on Evolution.
Wikipedia's article on Natural Selection.
Learn why creatures which reproduce sexually, such as humans, have not been overrun by those which reproduce asexually.
Apples' autumn colour change clue.
Apple-trees' autumn red colours could have evolved to warn insects, a study says.
Very simple animation showing how a fish can turn into a fossil.
How the discovery of geologic time changed our view of the world.
We now know that the Earth is some 4.5 by old. But what did they think in the past?
How do scientists determine the age of dinosaur bones?
Learn about the techniques of radiometric dating.
International Chronostratigraphic Chart.
The state of the art in geochronology.>
Google Earth file showing continental drift in the last 600 million years.
Wikipedia: History of the Earth.
Wikipedia's article on the History of the Earth.
Fossil fragments reveal 500-million-year-old monster predator.
Learn how new studies on old fossils have turned Hurdia victoria into a possible ancestor of all arthropods.
Giant sauropod dinosaur found in Spain.
News of the 2006 discovery of the huge Turiasaurus riodevensis in Teruel, Spain.
The original article that presents to the world the astonishing discovery of the Tanis fossil deposit, claimed to have been formed in about an hour time, as a result of the Chicxulub meteorite impact, some 3000 km away.
Astonishment, skepticism greet fossils claimed to record dinosaur-killing asteroid impact.
Science magazine take on the news of the Tanis fossil deposit finding, and the claims of being a record of the sudden killing-out of the dinosaurs.
What is the last common ancestor?
If you suddenly find yourself in the company of paleoanthropologists or swamped by news of the latest hominid fossil find, there's a good chance you'll hear the phrase last common ancestor. But what is this enigmatic person or thing?
What does it mean to be human?
Site devoted to the study of human evolution.
BBC's fact pages about hominids.
Fossil finds extend human story.
The assessment of the 4.4-million-year-old animal called Ardipithecus ramidus, that may be a direct ancestor to our species, has been reported by researchers.
Wikipedia: Timeline of Human Evolution.
From primates (and beyond) to Homo sapiens sapiens.
What separates humans from chimps and other apes?
When we stare at gorillas and chimpanzees, we see aspects of ourselves: the bestial, the innocent, the savage and the adorable. And the truth is that we actually have a great deal in common with apes. Learn how much and what makes us different.
Top 10 signs of evolution in modern man.
Through history, as natural selection played its part in the development of modern man, many of the useful functions and parts of the human body become unnecessary. What is most fascinating is that many of these parts of the body still remain in some form so we can see the progress of evolution. This list covers the ten most significant evolutionary changes that have taken place, leaving signs behind them.
Learn how to make a potometer and to use it to measure plant transpiration.
Very comprehensive animation showing how xylem sap is pumped from the roots to the leaves of a plant.
Flowering plants reproduce themselves by producing seeds, which provide the plants with a way to spread out and grow in new places, sometimes a long way from the parent. Learn how.
BBC guide to Climate Change: lots of resources that include reviews, analysis, news and more.
Learn what global warming is, what causes it, what its current effects are and what the future effects could be.
Google Earth file showing how climate change and global temperature rises could affect our world over the next 100 years.
What happened to global warming?
This title may come as a bit of a surprise, so too might the fact that the warmest year recorded globally was not in 2008 or 2007, but in 1998. But it is true.
Climate scepticism: the top 10.
What are some of the reasons why "climate sceptics" dispute the evidence that human activities are bringing potentially dangerous changes to the Earth's climate, ant their counter-arguments?
Where you can check on the latest status of the ozone layer over the South Pole.
Follow a drop of water from the source through the treatment process.
Black tides: the worst oil spills in history.
Google Earth file showing information about the 50 worst oil spills, from tanker accidents and drilling operations, as well as a number of other notable spills.
Earthquakes in Geography4kids.
What, why and how of the earthquakes.
The basic scientific facts behind the earthquakes.
A very comprehensive review on earthquakes, from their causes to their effects. With photos and a video.
Massive earthquake hits Japan.
An 8.9-magnitude earthquake hit off the east coast of Japan on 11 March 2011. The quake, one of the largest in History, triggered a 10 meter tall tsunami that battered Japan's coast, killing thousands and sweeping away cars, homes, buildings, and boats.
Google Map that shows the magnitude and depth of each recorded Japanese quake since March 11th, 2011. The size of the displayed polygons reflects the magnitude of each individual earthquake and its colour reflects the depth.
Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Centre.
This site will tell you about the last earthquakes that have taken place in our planet.
Types and structure; the lava and its flow.
An easy to understand on-line book by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Nyiragongo crater: journey to the center of the world.
Stunning photo set taken by a team of scientists who stepped onto the shore of the lava lake boiling in the depths of Nyiragongo Crater, in the Great Lakes region of Africa.
Excellent lesson on plate tectonics with interactive activities and good coverage of the following topics: Earth's structure, plate tectonics and plate boundaries.
Structure of the Geosphere in Geography4kids.
Learn how the Geosphere is structured by density; know the name of some of its parts and forms.
Tectonic plates in Geography4kids.
What are they and how do they behave.
A simple starting point for exploring plate tectonics.
A comprehensive on-line book by the U.S. Geological Survey.
The Earth in 250 million years.
Have a look at the state of the continents in 250 my time.
Tectonic plates and plate boundaries.
Google Earth's file showing the locations of the plates and their boundaries in the Earth's crust.
Types of rocks in Geography4kids.
Learn the main features of the three types of rocks.
Land weathering in Geography4kids.
Mechanical, chemical and biological weathering.
Land erosion in Geography4kids.
What is it, how can it be and which are its results.
Glacier picture gallery at ThoughtCo. With photos and basic data.
Learn the basics of soils.
The formation of soils in Geography4kids.
Learn which are the factors than condition the formation and evolution of the soils.