On Blogging and Hyperlinks

One of the benefits of writing on a blog vs. on paper is the ability to hyperlink text. I'm including two short videos below that explain some of the basics of blogging and why hyperlinks are important (and useful).

The first video explains blogging "In Plain English." We will be making videos in this style this year with some simple animation tools. Even if you know some of this stuff about blogs and the web, it's helpful to review so that we're all on the same page.




The second video is Jay Rosen of NYU explaining why hyperlinks (linking content to original sources on the web) are important. Including hyperlinks in your blog posts is a good way to add depth, accuracy, sources, and additional content. They inform the reader and make your blog post a more reliable source of information.

Your First Post

After customizing your blog (colors, photos, background, and other things on the "template designer"), write your first post on what you expect to get out of blogging in biology this year. How do you plan to use the blog? What are some Web Tools that you're interested in trying out? Feel free to browse the Archives of this blog, or to take a look at Once There Were Lions for ideas on what you might be able to do. Post by Wednesday class time.

Creating your blog

This week you will be creating your own blog for this class using Blogger (which you'll access by logging into your frogtown.net accounts). Think for a bit first about what you want to call your blog. Be creative, but keep it simple and appropriate. It's also one of the first things you have to enter once you choose "create a blog."

You will be using your blog to share information on topics that you've learned, and to reflect on different issues in the field of biology, technology, and society. You'll also use it as a forum to experiment with several web tools that I think you'll find interesting. So, come up with some ideas, start your blog, and fill out the form below:

YouTube for Lipids

As we continue studying organic macromolucules, it can be helpful to get out of the book and onto the web. There are a ton of good resources on YouTube: animations, explanations, with lots of different ways of looking at molecules. Some are even better than my drawings on the board! Here's a quick video on general lipid structure, with explanations on polarity, saturated vs. unsaturated fatty acid chains, and lipid's role in cell membranes. The specific molecule described is a phospholipid (2 fatty acid chains and a phosphate group attached to the carbons of the glycerol molecule).



Please look around the YouTube to find additional resources on molecules, and let us know which ones are helpful. Keep in mind that not everything is good. The range of quality varies from university molecular modeling software (highly accurate) to 5th graders working on their science project, excited to share their "song about carbohydrates" (which might be great, but might also be not great).

Share links in the Comments section below. Be sure to include a sentence about which molecules are covered, and why you found the video helpful.

Welcome Back

Time to start thinking again!