← DE Biology 101 Resources by Unit
Bio Tool #31 DE Biology 101: A Biochemistrypedia Resource Guide by Unit
Biochemistrypedia is a free biology site from Prof. Christopher Deppmann’s lab at the University of Virginia. Its college courses in Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Genetics, Cell Signaling and Ecology and Evolution were written for biology majors and premedical students, so they run deeper than Biology 101. The lessons that fit are filed under the eighteen units of the course, with the high school version of the same idea beside each unit for a student who needs the ground floor first.
How to read a college lesson in a dual-enrollment course
- Every college lesson has Explain at my level, with High school, College and Graduate settings. Start at High school, read it, then switch to College.
- Each lesson has a short film, simulations, real molecules from the Protein Data Bank to turn in 3D, self-test questions with each answer explained, and a few original MCAT-style questions. The MCAT-style questions are a good test of whether a Checkpoint idea has really landed.
- They are longer and harder than the chapter. Read the section that answers your Checkpoint miss, not the whole lesson.
- The films use an AI narrator voice, and some slides were drawn with AI help; the site names who checked each one. Mistakes go to the authors through the error form.
- Open one on a school iPad first; the site is new and a filter may not know it yet.
How the labels read
- Teach with ita lesson that covers the unit's standard at the level the unit is taught
- Fills a gapcovers something students find hard, or something this site has no tool for yet
- Review and Flexgood for reassessment, Flex remediation and spaced review before the test
- One step downthe same idea at an easier reading level, for a student who needs the words first
- One step upthe college version of the idea, for a student ready to go further
- Stretchdeeper than the course asks, for a student who wants more
- Teacher referencebackground for planning, not a student assignment
At a glance
| DE unit | Topic | College lessons | Of those, fill a gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | Course Overview; Introduction to Biology | 3 | – |
| Unit 2 | Chemical Context of Life | 2 | – |
| Unit 3 | Carbon and Molecular Diversity of Life | 4 | – |
| Unit 4 | Tour of the Cell | 6 | – |
| Unit 5 | Membrane Transport and Cell Signaling | 11 | – |
| Unit 6 | An Introduction to Metabolism | 4 | 3 |
| Unit 7 | Cell Respiration and Fermentation | 6 | 2 |
| Unit 8 | Photosynthesis | 2 | 2 |
| Unit 9 | The Cell Cycle | 4 | 2 |
| Unit 10 | Meiosis and Sexual Life Cycles | 1 | 1 |
| Unit 11 | Mendel and the Gene Idea | 4 | 4 |
| Unit 12 | The Chromosomal Basis of Inheritance | 4 | 3 |
| Unit 13 | The Molecular Basis of Inheritance | 4 | 2 |
| Unit 14 | Gene Expression: From Gene to Protein | 4 | – |
| Unit 15 | Development, Stem Cells, and Cancer | 6 | 3 |
| Unit 16 | Descent with Modification | 3 | – |
| Unit 17 | Evolution of Populations | 3 | – |
| Unit 18 | Origin of Species | 2 | – |
Jump to unit 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Any time
Unit 1 Course Overview; Introduction to Biology
An opening unit about what biology studies and how a claim gets tested. Two college lessons carry that second idea well, and a third gives the whole course in one sitting.
- Teach with itIntroduction to Biochemistry and Cell Biology: Compartments Create ControlWhy a few kinds of atoms build all of life, the four classes of molecules, and the central dogma, with a cell-size scaler that shows why cells stay small. A preview of the whole semester.Biochemistry · about 22 min · short film, 3 simulations, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- Review and FlexVitalism: How Chemistry Captured LifeThe century-long argument over whether living chemistry follows its own laws, from Wöhler’s urea to Buchner’s cell-free fermentation. A good story about how evidence settles a question.Biochemistry · about 18 min · short film, 2 simulations, 3D molecules, 4 self-test questions
- StretchExperiments That Distinguish MechanismsHow a fractionation table or a pulse-chase result tells one mechanism from another. Demanding; worth it for students who are writing the semester paper.Cell Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
Reading, tools and the Checkpoint for the unit: DE Biology 101 Resources, Unit 1
Unit 2 Chemical Context of Life
Water and the weak bonds are the core of the unit. The amino-acid lesson’s titration plotter is the clearest pH practice on the site.
- Teach with itWater, Weak Bonds, and the Generation of OrderWater’s polarity and its three jobs in a cell, then a ruler that ranks ionic, hydrogen and van der Waals bonds by strength. It also introduces the functional groups Unit 3 needs.Biochemistry · about 22 min · short film, 3 simulations, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions · pairs with Chem Tools #1–#3 and Bio Tool #10
- One step downWater and LifeThe high school version, built on Chesapeake Bay temperatures. Start here if Checkpoint Chapter 2 felt shaky.Biology (grades 9–10) · about 40 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 8 self-test questions
- Review and FlexAmino Acids: How One Side Chain Decides EverythingRead here for the pH half: predicting whether a group is protonated from pH and pKa, with a titration-curve plotter.Biochemistry · about 22 min · short film, 3 simulations, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
Reading, tools and the Checkpoint for the unit: DE Biology 101 Resources, Unit 2
Unit 3 Carbon and Molecular Diversity of Life
Four college lessons, one per class of macromolecule, each with real structures from the Protein Data Bank to turn in 3D.
- Teach with itCarbohydrates: One Hydroxyl Decides Storage or StructureOne hydroxyl’s position decides whether glucose becomes starch or cellulose; the sandbox flips α to β and shows why. The same idea as the amylase step in Bio Tool #17.Biochemistry · about 26 min · short film, 2 simulations, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions · pairs with Bio Tool #17
- Teach with itLipids: The Building Blocks That Refuse to PolymerizeWhy lipids are grouped by solubility, how chain length and double bonds set a melting point, and a membrane-fluidity bench.Biochemistry · about 24 min · short film, 3 simulations, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- Teach with itAmino Acids: How One Side Chain Decides EverythingThe twenty side chains sorted by property, chirality, and why an amino acid carries both charges at body pH.Biochemistry · about 22 min · short film, 3 simulations, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- Teach with itProtein Three-Dimensional Structure: How a Sequence Folds ItselfPrimary to quaternary structure and the bond that holds each level, with a melt curve for denaturation. Matches the denaturing-versus-hydrolysis step in Bio Tool #17.Biochemistry · about 22 min · short film, 2 simulations, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions · pairs with Bio Tool #17
- One step downWhat Am I Made Of?The high school lesson on all four classes in one sitting.Biology (grades 9–10) · about 40 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 8 self-test questions
Reading, tools and the Checkpoint for the unit: DE Biology 101 Resources, Unit 3
Unit 4 Tour of the Cell
The Cell Biology course goes much deeper than the chapter. Pick by question: how big, how seen, how sorted.
- Teach with itA Measured Eukaryotic CellAnimal, plant and fungal cells compared part by part with measured volumes, and a surface-to-volume calculation for why cells stay small.Cell Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- Teach with itMicroscopy and Quantitative ImagesWhat resolution means, why magnification alone adds nothing, and how light and electron microscopes differ. Read before or after Lab 3.Cell Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions · Lab 3 Microscopy and Cells
- Review and FlexOrganelles as Distinct EnvironmentsEach organelle as a chemistry it keeps: its pH, its calcium, and the pumps that hold them. Also the endosymbiotic evidence for mitochondria.Cell Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- StretchThe Secretory PathwayA secreted protein from rough ER through the Golgi, read from Palade’s pulse-chase experiments. The research version of Bio Tool #18.Cell Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions · pairs with Bio Tool #18
- StretchCytoskeletal Polymers and DynamicsActin, microtubules and intermediate filaments compared, and why the two ends of a filament behave differently.Cell Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- StretchAdhesion and the Extracellular MatrixCell junctions and the extracellular matrix, the part of the chapter students reach last.Cell Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- One step downOrganelles as a SystemThe high school lesson that follows one insulin shipment through a beta cell.Biology (grades 9–10) · about 40 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 8 self-test questions
Reading, tools and the Checkpoint for the unit: DE Biology 101 Resources, Unit 4
Unit 5 Membrane Transport and Cell Signaling
The signaling lessons follow the same pathways as the Mechanism Reel figures, so a student can watch a figure and then read the research behind it.
Students find signaling hard because each pathway is a chain of names. Read one pathway closely before surveying the rest.
- Teach with itMembranes: The Impermeable Sheet That Builds ItselfWhy a bilayer builds and seals itself with no ATP, and which molecules cross it unaided, tested on a permeability bench.Biochemistry · about 24 min · short film, 3 simulations, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions · pairs with Bio Tools #5–#7
- Teach with itTransport Across MembranesChannels, carriers and pumps, including secondary active transport driven by an ion gradient, the idea Bio Tool #25 sets up.Cell Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions · pairs with Bio Tool #25
- StretchEndocytosis, Recycling and DegradationClathrin-coated pits step by step, and the LDL receptor’s trip in and back out.Cell Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- Teach with itSignal-Transduction Pathways: How Cells Compute With Molecular SwitchesThe five parts every pathway shares, then the epinephrine cascade from receptor to glucose, with an amplifier that shows why a signal multiplies.Biochemistry · about 26 min · short film, 2 simulations, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- Review and FlexA Field Guide to ReceptorsThe main receptor types and how fast each one acts, from milliseconds to hours. A map before the details.Cell Signaling · about 22 min · short film, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- Teach with itGPCRs and Trimeric G ProteinsThe seven-pass receptor and the G protein it docks. Read it after the Mechanism Reel’s receptor figure.Cell Signaling · about 24 min · short film, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions · pairs with Bio Tool #22
- Teach with itCalcium: The Messenger Kept at Arm's LengthWhy a cell holds calcium so low that opening one channel becomes a signal, the step that ends the receptor figure.Cell Signaling · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions · pairs with Bio Tool #22
- Review and FlexcAMP and Protein Kinase AThe second messenger that started the field, and the broken-cell experiment that found it.Cell Signaling · about 22 min · short film, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- Teach with itReceptor Tyrosine KinasesWhy the kinase needs a partner and what the two halves do to each other, the same trans step the receptor tyrosine kinase figure animates.Cell Signaling · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions · pairs with Bio Tool #24
- StretchPI 3-Kinase, Akt and InsulinInsulin’s signal to the glucose transporter. Useful beside the GLP-1 tool and the Gila monster CER.Cell Signaling · about 22 min · short film, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions · pairs with Bio Tool #15 and Biology #19
- Review and FlexNuclear Receptors: Receptors That Are Transcription FactorsWhy a steroid hormone needs no receptor at the cell surface, and how a receptor inside the cell switches genes on.Cell Signaling · about 22 min · short film, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- One step downCrossing the MembraneThe high school osmosis lesson, if tonicity is the gap.Biology (grades 9–10) · about 40 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 8 self-test questions
Reading, tools and the Checkpoint for the unit: DE Biology 101 Resources, Unit 5
Unit 6 An Introduction to Metabolism
This site has little for Unit 6. Four college lessons cover energy coupling, enzymes, inhibition and allosteric control.
The hard parts at this level: free energy and coupling, and telling the kinds of inhibition apart.
- Fills a gapMetabolism: Basic Concepts and DesignHow an uphill reaction is driven by coupling it to ATP, and a ladder of fuels from most reduced to carbon dioxide that sets up the respiration unit. Comes with a short arcade game on ATP bookkeeping.Biochemistry · about 24 min · short film, 2 simulations, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- Fills a gapBasic Concepts of Enzyme ActionActivation energy and catalysis on a reaction-coordinate diagram, and the cofactor vocabulary.Biochemistry · about 22 min · short film, 2 simulations, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- Fills a gapEnzyme Kinetics: The Michaelis–Menten ModelSaturation, Vmax and Km, and an inhibition explorer that shows competitive and noncompetitive inhibitors on the same plot.Biochemistry · about 20 min · short film, 3 simulations, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- StretchProtein Binding, Molecular Recognition, and AllosteryCooperative binding and the allosteric switch, using hemoglobin. The idea behind feedback control of a pathway.Biochemistry · about 24 min · short film, 2 simulations, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- One step downEnzymes at WorkThe high school lesson on temperature, pH and substrate.Biology (grades 9–10) · about 40 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 8 self-test questions
Reading, tools and the Checkpoint for the unit: DE Biology 101 Resources, Unit 6
Unit 7 Cell Respiration and Fermentation
Five lessons in order, each with a game in the Metabolism Arcade. The oxidative phosphorylation pair is the strongest material on the site for chemiosmosis.
The hard parts at this level: redox language, the proton gradient, and where substrate-level and oxidative phosphorylation each happen. Each is a named objective in a lesson listed for the unit.
- Teach with itGlycolysis: The Investment-and-Payoff PathwayAll ten steps with the investment-and-payoff logic, and the three fates of pyruvate, which is where fermentation lives.Biochemistry · about 22 min · short film, 2 simulations, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- Review and FlexThe Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Complex: The One-Way Gate to the CycleThe one-way step between glycolysis and the cycle.Biochemistry · about 24 min · short film, 2 simulations, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- Teach with itThe Citric Acid Cycle: Harvesting ElectronsThe cycle’s real job is collecting electrons; a carbon tracker shows which carbons actually leave.Biochemistry · about 24 min · short film, 2 simulations, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- Fills a gapOxidative Phosphorylation: The Electron-Transport ChainThe chemiosmotic idea from first principles, the complexes ranked by reduction potential, and a ledger that totals the ATP from one glucose.Biochemistry · about 26 min · short film, 2 simulations, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions · pairs with Bio Tool #26
- Fills a gapThe Proton-Motive Force and ATP SynthaseA dam-and-turbine model: block the chain, jam the synthase or punch a leak, and see what stops.Biochemistry · about 24 min · short film, 2 simulations, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions · pairs with Bio Tools #11 and #26
- StretchIntegration of Metabolism: How the Body Switches FuelsHow fats and proteins feed into the same pathways, and how the body switches fuels between meals.Biochemistry · about 22 min · short film, 2 simulations, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- One step downRespiration and ATPThe high school lesson comparing respiration with fermentation.Biology (grades 9–10) · about 40 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 8 self-test questions
Reading, tools and the Checkpoint for the unit: DE Biology 101 Resources, Unit 7
Unit 8 Photosynthesis
Two college lessons, light reactions and the Calvin cycle, and between them every hard part of a short unit.
The hard parts at this level: electron flow through the two photosystems, cyclic flow, and why C4 and CAM plants exist.
- Fills a gapPhotosynthesis: The Light ReactionsA Z-scheme students fire photons through, and a switch between linear and cyclic flow that shows what each makes.Biochemistry · about 24 min · short film, 2 simulations, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions · pairs with Bio Tool #11
- Fills a gapThe Calvin Cycle: Fixing Carbon from Thin AirOne carbon traced from the air into sugar, the ATP and NADPH bill, and Rubisco’s fork between oxygen and carbon dioxide that explains C4 and CAM.Biochemistry · about 24 min · short film, 2 simulations, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- One step downCapturing SunlightThe high school leaf-disk lesson.Biology (grades 9–10) · about 40 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 8 self-test questions
Reading, tools and the Checkpoint for the unit: DE Biology 101 Resources, Unit 8
Unit 9 The Cell Cycle
Nothing on this site for Unit 9 yet. The Cell Biology course has four lessons; they go far past the chapter, so assign them by section.
The hard part: turning a count of cells in each phase into a time. Cell-Cycle States and Control Logic makes it a calculation.
- Fills a gapCell-Cycle States and Control LogicThe phases identified by DNA content, and how to turn phase fractions into phase durations.Cell Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- Fills a gapCheckpoints and Irreversible TransitionsWhat a checkpoint is, the DNA-damage and spindle checkpoints, and why the transitions cannot run backward. Leads into the cancer unit.Cell Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- StretchMitosis and Chromosome SegregationHow the spindle is built and how wrong attachments are corrected. Research depth; use the High school setting under Explain at my level.Cell Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- StretchCytokinesis and Organelle InheritanceAnimal and plant cytokinesis compared.Cell Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- One step downThe Cell Cycle and MitosisThe high school lesson with the onion-root count. Start here.Biology (grades 9–10) · about 40 min · short film, simulation, 8 self-test questions
Reading, tools and the Checkpoint for the unit: DE Biology 101 Resources, Unit 9
Unit 10 Meiosis and Sexual Life Cycles
One college lesson that follows one pair of chromosomes and its alleles through both divisions, counting chromosomes and chromatids at every stage.
- Fills a gapChromosomes and Meiosis: The Physical Basis of Mendel's LawsSegregation and independent assortment mapped onto what the chromosomes actually do in anaphase I and metaphase I.Genetics and Molecular Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- One step downMeiosis and VariationThe high school lesson with the meiosis shuffler.Biology (grades 9–10) · about 40 min · short film, simulation, 8 self-test questions
Reading, tools and the Checkpoint for the unit: DE Biology 101 Resources, Unit 10
Unit 11 Mendel and the Gene Idea
Four lessons with a simulation each: a cross sampler, a chi-square tester, a two-gene grid and a pedigree risk calculator.
- Fills a gapMendel's Peas: Segregation and Independent AssortmentMendel’s design and the two laws, derived from his own counts.Genetics and Molecular Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- Fills a gapProbability, Crosses and the Chi-Square TestProduct and sum rules for crosses with several genes, and a chi-square tester for whether counts fit a ratio.Genetics and Molecular Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- Fills a gapExtending Mendel: Dominance, Multiple Alleles and Gene InteractionIncomplete dominance, codominance, ABO blood groups, lethal alleles and genes that interact.Genetics and Molecular Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- Fills a gapReading Pedigrees: Human InheritanceReading pedigrees by inheritance pattern and calculating carrier odds.Genetics and Molecular Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- One step downMendel and Punnett SquaresThe high school lesson.Biology (grades 9–10) · about 40 min · short film, simulation, 8 self-test questions
Reading, tools and the Checkpoint for the unit: DE Biology 101 Resources, Unit 11
Unit 12 The Chromosomal Basis of Inheritance
Three lessons for the unit with the thinnest open-textbook chapter.
- Fills a gapSex Linkage, Dosage Compensation and Non-Mendelian InheritanceMorgan’s white-eyed flies and reciprocal crosses for an X-linked allele.Genetics and Molecular Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- Fills a gapLinkage and Recombination MappingLinkage in test-cross data, crossing over as the cause, and recombination frequency as map distance.Genetics and Molecular Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- Fills a gapChromosome Number and Structure: Aneuploidy and RearrangementsNondisjunction in each division and what it produces, with trisomy 21, 45,X and 47,XXY.Genetics and Molecular Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- StretchThree-Point Crosses: Gene Order and Double CrossoversGene order and double crossovers from a three-point cross.Genetics and Molecular Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
Reading, tools and the Checkpoint for the unit: DE Biology 101 Resources, Unit 12
Unit 13 The Molecular Basis of Inheritance
The classic experiments, each with a simulation that predicts the result before it is shown.
- Fills a gapDNA Is the Genetic MaterialGriffith, Avery, and Hershey and Chase, with a tracer simulation of where each label ends up.Genetics and Molecular Biology · about 22 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- Fills a gapDNA Replication: Semiconservative Copying and Its MachineryMeselson and Stahl’s density bands predicted for three models, then the replication machinery.Genetics and Molecular Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- StretchDNA Repair and RecombinationWhich repair pathway fixes which kind of damage.Genetics and Molecular Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- Review and FlexRecombinant DNA, Cloning and PCRCloning with restriction enzymes, ligase and a plasmid, and PCR cycle by cycle. The same steps the cloning figure animates.Genetics and Molecular Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions · pairs with Bio Tool #28
- One step downDNA: Structure and CopyingThe high school lesson on structure and copying.Biology (grades 9–10) · about 40 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 8 self-test questions
Reading, tools and the Checkpoint for the unit: DE Biology 101 Resources, Unit 13
Unit 14 Gene Expression: From Gene to Protein
Four lessons that line up with the Mechanism Reel’s central dogma figure, step for step.
- Teach with itTranscription: From DNA to RNAInitiation, elongation and termination, and the three nuclear RNA polymerases.Genetics and Molecular Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions · pairs with Bio Tool #27
- Teach with itRNA Processing: Caps, Tails and SplicingThe cap, the tail and splicing: how and when each is added. Worth reading beside the reel’s step that caps the message before the introns are out.Genetics and Molecular Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions · pairs with Bio Tool #27
- Teach with itThe Genetic Code and TranslationHow the triplet code was shown, how tRNAs are charged, and the ribosome’s three stages.Genetics and Molecular Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- Teach with itMutation: Where Variation Comes FromPoint mutations by DNA change and by effect on the protein, and the experiments showing mutations come before selection.Genetics and Molecular Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- One step downFrom DNA to ProteinThe high school sickle-cell lesson.Biology (grades 9–10) · about 45 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 8 self-test questions
Reading, tools and the Checkpoint for the unit: DE Biology 101 Resources, Unit 14
Unit 15 Development, Stem Cells, and Cancer
Nothing on this site for Unit 15 yet, and the weakest open-textbook fit of the year. These lessons cover gene regulation, stem cells and cancer between them.
- Fills a gapThe lac Operon: How Bacteria Regulate GenesRepressor, operator and inducer, and why full expression needs lactose present and glucose scarce.Genetics and Molecular Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- Fills a gapEukaryotic Gene Regulation and EpigeneticsChromatin, histone marks, DNA methylation and enhancers.Genetics and Molecular Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- Fills a gapCancer as a Genetic DiseaseOncogenes against tumor-suppressor genes, and the two-hit hypothesis through retinoblastoma.Genetics and Molecular Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions · pairs with Bio Tool #19
- Review and FlexOncogenes: When the Switch SticksHow a virus led to the discovery that an oncogene is a stuck copy of a normal switch.Cell Signaling · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- StretchStem Cells and Tissue RenewalSelf-renewal, potency and the niche, with lineage tracing in the gut.Cell Biology · about 22 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- StretchEvolution of DevelopmentHow a change in where a gene is expressed changes body form, with the stickleback pelvis.Ecology and Evolution · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 5 self-test questions
Reading, tools and the Checkpoint for the unit: DE Biology 101 Resources, Unit 15
Unit 16 Descent with Modification
Three lessons on how evolutionary claims are tested and read.
- Teach with itHow to Test an Evolutionary ExplanationThree kinds of evidence and what each can support, worked through the Daphne Major finch record.Ecology and Evolution · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 5 self-test questions
- Teach with itReading Phylogenetic TreesRelatedness read only from the most recent common ancestor, and the common misreadings.Ecology and Evolution · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 5 self-test questions · pairs with Bio Tool #1
- StretchMolecular EvolutionMolecular clocks calibrated by fossils, and the neutral theory.Ecology and Evolution · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- One step downEvidence for EvolutionThe high school lesson on fossil whales.Biology (grades 9–10) · about 40 min · short film, simulation, 8 self-test questions
Reading, tools and the Checkpoint for the unit: DE Biology 101 Resources, Unit 16
Unit 17 Evolution of Populations
Hardy-Weinberg with a chi-square test, then drift, gene flow and selection, each with replicate populations to run.
- Teach with itPopulation Genetics: Hardy-Weinberg and Evolutionary ForcesAllele and genotype frequencies, the Hardy-Weinberg proportions and their assumptions, and a test of a real sample.Genetics and Molecular Biology · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- Teach with itDrift, Gene Flow and Competing ExplanationsFounder effects, bottlenecks and gene flow, with a simulation that separates what migration does from what drift does.Ecology and Evolution · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 5 self-test questions
- Teach with itNatural Selection in Ecological ContextDirectional, stabilizing, disruptive and sexual selection from field evidence.Ecology and Evolution · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 5 self-test questions
- One step downVariation and SurvivalThe high school tuskless-elephant lesson.Biology (grades 9–10) · about 40 min · short film, simulation, 8 self-test questions
Reading, tools and the Checkpoint for the unit: DE Biology 101 Resources, Unit 17
Unit 18 Origin of Species
Speciation and the long view.
- Teach with itSpeciationSpecies concepts, when each can be used, and reproductive barriers sorted into before and after fertilization.Ecology and Evolution · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 5 self-test questions
- Teach with itHistory of Life and MacroevolutionRadiometric dating of a fossil bed, and the major events placed in time.Ecology and Evolution · about 24 min · short film, simulation, 3D molecules, 5 self-test questions
- One step downNatural Selection and New SpeciesThe high school finch-and-river lesson.Biology (grades 9–10) · about 40 min · short film, simulation, 8 self-test questions
Reading, tools and the Checkpoint for the unit: DE Biology 101 Resources, Unit 18
Any time
- Review and FlexThe Metabolism ArcadeShort games built on the respiration and metabolism lessons: keep the ATP books for one glucose, find the broken enzyme from what piles up, wire a cell to meet its needs. Two to six minutes each, and a good way back into Units 6 to 8 before the final.Biochemistrypedia · games
- One step upTeaching #22: Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, PA, Optometry, Physical Therapy: The Exams and the Biology They TestFor students headed toward a health-professions exam. Biochemistrypedia tags each of its college courses that the MCAT tests.On this site
- Teacher referenceResources for Teachers: Fast Tools, Slow ThinkingThe October 2026 UVA teacher workshop talk, a one-page checklist for judging any AI tool in a classroom, and the workshop’s shared resources.Biochemistrypedia · for teachers