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ESO 3. Biology and Geology

Topic 1. Organization of Living Matter

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.

Basics of Biochemistry.

The biomolecules and their roles in an easy-to-understand language.

Cell games.

Excellent and easy to follow visual activity to learn the basics on animal, plant and bacterial cells.

Inside a cell.

Take an interactive look inside an animal and a plant cell.

Cell size and scale.

Awesome zoomable visualization to help you get an idea of the actual sizes of cells and their components.

Cell structure.

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.

Regrowth mystery reborn.

Debunking the idea that our bodies are renewed every seven years: learn what is the real life span of several types of human cells.

Zygote body.

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.

Human body & mind.

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.

Zoom into hair.

View the inner structure of a hair, progressively magnified.

Zoom into a tooth.

View the inner structure of a tooth, progressively magnified.

Anatomy of the human body.

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.

Topic 2. Nutrition in Humans

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.

Digestion time of foods.

Do you know how long takes an apple to be digested?

We are more microbe than man.

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.

Why does my stomach growl?

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.

How blood works.

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.

Heart pictures.

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.

Nutrition at Faqs.org.

A wide overview, with text and images, on food groups, nutrients, dietary habits, diets, eating disorders, a glossary and additional readings.

How food works.

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.

How food preservation works.

Freezing, canning, salting… Detailed info on these and other commonly used food preservation techniques.

Nutrition Diva.

Sort food facts from fiction, separate the good information from the bad, to make eating healthy just a little bit easier.

Snake oil?

Excellent chart showing how much scientific evidence there is for popular health supplements.

Healing food reference.

A website meant to empower consumers with information about the healing power of foods.

Topic 3. Interaction in Humans

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.

Neuroscience for kids.

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.

The brain from top to bottom.

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.

Brain pictures.

A set of 9 pictures that tell different stories about the way your nervous system works.

Inside Bill Moorier's head.

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.

Anatomy of the eye.

Highly informative interactive animation to learn the parts of the eye and their functions.

Magenta ain't a colour.

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.

The flight or fight response.

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.

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.

Learn the skeletal system.

Interactive activity to check your knoledge on the human skeleton.

Topic 4. Reproduction in Humans

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.

Fertilisation.

Simple animation showing the stages from fertilisation to implantation.

Fetal development slideshow.

Slideshow of fetal develpment month by month.

Sexuality at Faqs.org.

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.

Topic 5. Health and Disease

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.

How the H1N1 vaccine is made.

Learn all the efforts required to make a new vaccine against a virus and why it takes six months from start to finish.

Caffeine Facts.

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.

Topic 6. Minerals

Mineral picture gallery.

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.

Topic 7. Rocks

Interactives: Rock cycle.

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.

ThoughtCo - Igneous rocks.

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.

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