Eli Meir (meir at zoology.washington.edu) wrote:
: Biology Education Software FAQ
: Copyright 1995 by Eli Meir and the Biology Education Software Taskforce
: of the University of Washington
: All Rights Reserved
: This document is freely redistributable as long as absolutely no money
: is charged and no changes are made to the document. The latest version
: of this document is posted at ftp.zoology.washington.edu in /pub/doc
: (1) WhatÕs in this FAQ?
: (1a) Who is B.E.S.T. ?
: (1b) Where to address comments, queries, etc..
: (1c) How we picked software to include here
: (1d) What information we include about each piece of software we
: review
: (1e) How to submit software for inclusion on this list
: (2) Resources for information on biology education software
: (2a) BioQuest
: (2b) CTI Centre for Biology
: (2c) NECUSE Biology Software Reviews
: (2d) Quarterly Review of Biology
: (3) Ecology and Evolution Software
: (3a) Biota
: (3b) Environmental Decision Making
: (3c) Evolve
: (3d) PopGen
: (3e) Energy Flow Stella Stack
: (3f) Island Biogeography StellaStack
: (3g) Max. Sustainable Yield Stella Stack
: (3h) Carbon Cycle Stella Stack
: (3i) Population Momentum Stella Stack
: (3j) Blind Watchmaker
: (3k) Simlife
: (3l) Populus
: (3m) PopDyn
: (3n) Fish Farm
: (4) Physiology and Neurobiology
: (4a) Neuro 140
: (4b) Axon
: (4c) Isolated Heart Laboratories
: (4d) Neurosim II
: (4e) Frog Dissection and other dissection tutorials
: (4f) NeuroLab
: (4g) SymBioSys
: (4h) Quantitative Circulatory Physiology
: (5) Cell and Molecular Biology
: (5a) Genetics Construction Kit
: (5b) SequenceIt!
: (5c) PurifyIt!
: (5d) RateIt!
: (5e) Enzyme
: (5f) MacMolecule
: (5g) Visual Genetics
: (5h) Enzyme Kinetics Stella Stack
: (6) General purpose software useful in education
: (6a) Stella
: (6b) Extend
: (6c) Mathematica
: (6d) Maple
: (6e) Matlab
: (6f) LabView
: (6g) SuperScope
: (6h) Spike Studio
: (7) Textbooks on CD
: (8) Mosaic sites and other random stuff
: (8a) Institute for Molecular Virology
: (8b) BioCatalog
: (8c) Neurosciences on the Internet
: (8d) Quantitative Training for Life Sciences
: (9) Acknowledments
: -----------------------------------------------
: (1a) Who is B.E.S.T.
: B.E.S.T. stands for Biology Education Software Taskforce of the
: University of Washington. We are not quite as official as that title
: makes us sound, but have done quite a bit of work looking at
: educational software for use in the biology classes here at UW. The
: group is composed of several graduate students and PhDÕs from the
: Department of Zoology at the UW. In addition to gathering software, we
: have run classes here examining biology education software, have
: invited notable people in the field to come and speak at our
: departmental seminars, and some of us are authors of educational and
: other software. Among the primary people involved in the group are
: Adrian Sun, George Gilchrist, Tarif Awad, Creagh Bruener, David
: Baldwin, Kevin Obrien, and Eli Meir (the author of this FAQ).
: We are not claiming to be especially knowledgable or gifted when it
: comes to educational software, nor are we claiming to be teachers who
: are speaking from years of experience in using computers in education.
: We have provided some references to articles and reviews by people who
: are much more knowledgable than we are. Rather, based on our
: experience as students, teachers, and authors of materials for
: undergraduate education, we aim to present what we think are the most
: useful pieces of software for undergraduate education in various
: branches of biology. We hope this will provide a starting point for
: instructors in other universities who are looking for good software to
: use in their classes.
: (1b) Where to address comments, queries, etc..
: You can get in touch with us by emailing to
:best at zoology.washington.edu, or by emailing the author of this document
: at meir at zoology.washington.edu. You can also get us through snail mail
: by sending to
: Eli Meir
: B.E.S.T.
: Dept. of Zoology, NJ-15
: University of Washington
: Seattle, WA 98195
: (1c) How we picked software to include here
: In searching for educational software, we quickly realized that there
: is lot of stuff out there which is not very interesting. We did not
: want to include all of that in our list, so we have weeded out a lot of
: software. This weeding is obviously subjective. What one person
: considers junk might be exactly what another person is interested in.
: Originally I was going to spell out these biases in this FAQ, but due
: to lack of time, hereÕs a quick summary.
: First of all, anything that didnÕt work on a reasonably new computer
: and operating system was excluded. We also excluded most software
: which didnÕt run on a Macintosh or IBM machine, since that is what most
: students and teachers have access to. There is some bias towards
: Macintosh software, since that is the computer which most of us have
: sitting on our desks, but we included any good IBM software we came
: across as well, and have also included a small amount of UNIX software.
: Secondly, we have a bias against software which puts a textbook or a
: study guide onto the computer and claims that just the fact its on a
: computer screen makes it somehow superior. We also did not
: particularly like most software whose only innovation was a bit of
: hypertext capability (ie - click on a word, it gives you a definition
: of the word or takes you somewhere else in the document). We do like
: software that uses the computer to do things which would be hard or
: impossible to do on paper. We especially like simulations and other
: programs which let a student perform experiments.
: (1d) What information we include about each piece of software we
: review
: We have tried to write three paragraphs about each piece of software
: weÕve seen. The first paragraph gives our description of what the
: software does. The second paragraph is a short review of the software.
: The third paragraph gives information on how to get the software, and
: approximate price range if we know it. In the price range, Free means
: free, Low means $100 or less, and High means more than $100. These are
: by no means gauranteed to be accurate.
: We have NOT class tested most of this software, so the reviews are
: based on our impressions as students and teachers. In general, only
: one or two people have looked at each piece of software, and most
: titles have only been looked at by the author of this FAQ. Because of
: this lack of class testing and the small number of reviewers, we have
: limited each review to a single short paragraph which states what we
: see as the strengths and weaknesses of the package, and our gut feeling
: about how useful we think it is. We hope that this short review will
: help users of this document to decide what software they are
: interesting in looking for on their own, but do not intend it as an
: authoritative statement on the value of the software. Also note that
: we have in essence given favorable reviews to all software included
: here, since quite a bit of software was left off this list (well over
: 50% of what we looked at is not on here).
: If someone other than the author of this FAQ contributed to a review,
: their initials are given next to the software title.
: (1e) How to submit software for inclusion on this list
: We welcome new software, and will be happy to include it in the list if
: it meets our criteria as discussed above in (1c). However, there are a
: couple conditions.
: (I) We will only accept software for review from the authors or
: publishers of the software, or on an original store-bought disk with
: the manual. This does not mean that others cannot tell us about
: software theyÕve used and liked. We really want to hear about software
: from everyone, and if you inform us of a piece of software and tell us
: how to get ahold of it, we will do our best to get a copy and look at
: it. However, to protect us from copyright problems, virus problems,
: etc., we would rather only receive software from the actual authors, or
: from anonymous ftp sites if the software is in the public domain. When
: cost is a factor, we may review demo versions of software instead of
: the full package.
: (II) We prefer reviewing real copies of a piece of software, rather
: than a demo version, and if we have only seen a demo version then we
: will mention this in our review.
: (III) We prefer receiving software on a diskette. We also would like
: to see a manual, or any other documentation which exists. The
: documentation can be included as a file on the disk, if you prefer, in
: either ASCII, Microsoft Word, or Wordperfect formats (UNIX software can
: have documentation in standard unix formats). If you want to send
: software to us via the network, please inform us beforehand that you
: plan to send us something. For our protection, we may still request
: something in writing stating that you are the author (or at least a
: phone number).
: (IV) We would also welcome contributions from people outside the group
: here at UW. If you would like to submit a review for this FAQ, please
: write it in the form of the other descriptions here, and send it to us
: with some indication of how you have used the software and what your
: qualification is to review it (it doesnÕt have to be very high, but
: weÕd like to know). If we are satisfied that it is a fair description
: of the program, then weÕll include it in the next release of the FAQ.
: We will also try to get ahold of a copy of the program ourselves to
: look at.
: (2) Resources for information on biology education software
: (2a) BioQuest
: This is a consortium of software developers and educators which have
: gotten together to produce a CD full of really good biology education
: software. Many of their programs are described in this document, and
: you can get fuller descriptions of their programs by getting their
: Intro_to_BioQuest hypercard stack off of the internet. Before putting
: a piece of software on their CD, they subject it to a pretty rigorous
: peer review process, and make sure its been tested in many classrooms.
: I think that this is some of the best stuff out there, and well worth
: the price (which is quite cheap - under $100 last time I checked for
: all of their programs for a single user, more expensive for a site
: license).
: In addition to software, the BioQuest group has developed a whole
: philosophy of education, which they use to guide their development and
: selection of educational software. This philosophy revolves around the
: three PÕs - Problem-posing, Problem-solving, and peer-Pursuasion. They
: describe this philosophy better than I can here, so IÕll let you get
: ahold of it yourself. ItÕs well worth reading their material, even if
: you donÕt end up using their software.
: To get the Intro_to_BioQuest hypercard stack, look in:
: To order the BioQuest CD, send email to asdg at umdd.umd.edu, or write to
: Academic Software Development Group
: Computer Science Center
: University of Maryland
: College Park, MD 20742
: For information, you can write to BioQuest at beloit.edu
: (2b) CTI Centre for Biology
: This is a gopher site which you can access with mosaic that includes
: reviews of some 650 pieces of software for teaching biology. The
: reviews are pretty short, saying the name of the software, the
: distrributor, what types of computer it works on, and giving a short
: paragraph of description. There is also a warning at the beginning
: that the information has not been kept up to date since 1991, although
: there are reviews of software that have come out since then. The big
: advantage to this database is that it is the most comprehensive of any
: weÕve seen - over 650 products are listed - so it might be a good place
: to start a search.
: Get there using Mosaic - its at Liverpool University Computer Science
: gopher site in the UK.
: (2c) NECUSE Biology Software Reviews
: This is a book of biology software descriptions and reviews, with more
: information than whatÕs included here. The 1994 version covers almost
: 50 titles. The reviews are organized by topic, with various indexes in
: the back. Along with information such as author, supplier, cost,
: computer system, etc., is a short description of the program, a set of
: poor/good/excellent grades for a number of criteria, and a synopsis of
: the programs strengths and weaknesses. There is also an extensive list
: of videodisks in the back, with just one line of description and a
: price and supplier.
: To get this book, write to Carol Ann Paul at Wellesley College, or
: Graham Kent at Smith College (Dept. of Biological Sciences, Smith
: College, Northampton, MA 01063).
: (2d) Quarterly Review of Biology
: The Quarterly Review of Biology is one of the few sources for academic
: reviews of software interesting to biologists. Each issue includes a
: few software reviews, not all of educational software, but quite a few
: are. The reviews are generally written by an expert in the field, and
: are pretty good.
: (3) Ecology and Evolution Software
: (3a) Biota
: This program lets you play around with differential equation models in
: ecology. It is very different, however, than some of the other ecology
: programs listed here in that it lets you mix and match classical
: ecological equations with each other to make systems of equations.
: This works as follows. You can have up to 10 different species and/or
: ecosystem components. Each species has an equation which governs its
: growth and death, for instance exponential, logistic, lotka-volterra,
: and so on. You may also add in interactions between the species, such
: as specifying one of the species as a predator on another one, again
: governed by classical differential or differencce equations. Each
: equation has a set of parameters that you can set. You then run the
: models and watch population sizes over time of each species. You can
: also sample the populations using a couple of sampling techniques, and
: you can specify that the sampling include error to simulate real life
: sampling.
: In addition, the program lets you add in a spatial component to the
: models, by having separate populations of each species in distinct
: spatial areas. You can have up to 200+ spatial areas, and in each one
: you can independently specify starting conditions. You can then
: specify how migration will occur between each pair of cells for each
: species cells. The program will give you separate population size
: graphs for each area when you run the model, so you can look at
: metapopulation dynamics, island biogeography, etc..
: The user interface for Biota is particularly well-designed, given the
: complexity of the program, and lets you easily change equations and
: parameters through pop-up menus, dialogs, and maps of the different
: areas. Because of the ability to mix and match equations, species, and
: areas, you should be able to use this program to design and play with
: models demonstrating many concepts, from simple population growth
: models to moresophisticated concepts involving space and several
: interacting species. Nevertheless, I would be hesitant to use this in
: an introductory class, because despite the nice user interface the
: level of understanding you need to figure out whatÕs going is still
: fairly high. There are a lot of equations and interactions to keep
: track of, and you need to understand these at least superficially to be
: able to play with parameters, and interpret the graphs of population
: size in light of those parameters. Building new models that are stable
: is also not trivial. So I think this program would best be used in
: more advanced ecology courses, where either you want students to be
: able to play with models but donÕt want to use a full-blown modelling
: program such as Stella or Mathematica, or you want to be able to play
: with spatially-explicit models.
: Computer: Macintosh
: Source: BioQuest asdg at umdd.umd.edu or see address above under
: Resources.
: Cost: Low (single user) / High (site license)
: (3b) Environmental Decision Making
: These are a series of three modules built around a crippled version of
: a program called Extend. Extend seems to be a program somewhat like
: Stella (see review). Using the version of Extend included, you can run
: three different models, one of a grasslands ecosystems with fires, a
: second looking at logging, and a third looking at fishing. Each model
: has functional blocks representing things like trees, fire, logging
: effort, and cash. You are asked to connect the blocks together to make
: ecosystems, and then to connect these ecosystems to human management
: systems. The manual takes you through this process step-by-step. You
: can then play with changing selected parameters of each block, and
: running the model to see what happens to population sizes (or the
: equivelant variable) in each component of the system over time. The
: authors of these models want students to focus on the process of model
: building, and how you calibrate and use models, rather than on the
: models themselves, so all the parameters for each block are easily
: available to be played with, and the equations connecting the blocks
: are not shown from within the program.
: The models which the authors have developed are nice, and should be
: useful in a course looking at the interactions between people and
: ecosystems. The software makes it fairly easy to change parameters and
: add and remove links between things, though there are a lot of
: extraneous tools and commands that could potentially confuse
: non-computer literate students. However, in more than an introductory
: class, or if the instructor would like to modify these models instead
: of using them as is, then I think it would be better to go with a
: full-blown modelling program such as Stella, or perhaps the full
: version of Extend.
: Computer: Macintosh
: Source: BioQuest asdg at umdd.umd.edu or see address above under
: Resources.
: Cost: Low (single user) / High (site license)
: (3c) Evolve
: This is a population genetics simulator. It simulates evolution in a
: two-allele system, with natural selection, genetic drift, and gene
: flow. You can set separate survival and reproductive rates for each
: genotype per generation, number of immigrants of each genotype,
: percentage of each genotype which emigrates, and to simulate
: evolutionary bottlenecks and genetic drift you can set a maximum
: population size, after which the population crashes down to a lower
: population size (by randomly killing individuals of all genotypes).
: You can also use one set of parameters for a certain number of
: generations, then change the parameters and continue running the model,
: simulating environmental variability. The main interface to the
: program is a graph window where you can choose to plot the frequencies
: of each of the genotypes in the population, the allele frequencies, the
: population sizes of each genotype, and/or the total population size.
: All of these results and more are also shown in a table at the bottom
: of the window. To facilitate comparisons between the results from
: different parameters settings, you can run multiple trials and plot one
: trial on top of another. All the parameters are set within a single
: dialog box.
: This program is quite nicely laid out, with a lot of information and
: controls put into a single window and a single dialog box in a way that
: makes them both easy to access and not too confusing. I expect that
: students would need a few minutes to figure out the what they were
: looking at, but once you get comfortable with it then the program is
: very easy to use. The program is flexible enough to do a most
: evolution experiments you could think of doing with a two alleles at a
: single locus. The manual is clear and well written, and includes
: exercises to get students started. This program should be useful from
: introductory through advanced undergraduate genetics and evolution
: courses, especially in courses which plan to make somewhat extensive
: use of computer simulations (say more than one or two hours).
: Computer: Macintosh
: Source: BioQuest asdg at umdd.umd.edu or see address above under
: Resources.
: Cost: Low (single user) / High (site license)
: (3d) PopGen
: This is a simple population genetics simulation. There are two modes,
: one a simulation of evolution at a single locus, and one a quantitative
: simulation mode. In each mode, the program puts up two windows, one
: containing a graph and the other with a series of slide bars
: controlling the parameters of the model. For the single locus mode,
: the graph shows the percentage of the alleles which are of type A
: (there are only two alleles) over time. Parameters include the size of
: the starting population, the initial percentage of A alleles, the
: selective fitness of each allele combination, the mutation rates
: between alleles, and various types of migration between populations (up
: to eight populations can be run simultaneously). The quantitative mode
: shows the changes in mean values of two quantitative characters over
: time, also with a set of parameters that you can change.
: This program is simple and straightforward to use. The only complaints
: I had were that the slide bars are a little clumsier than most
: macintosh slide bars, and the parameters are sometimes not erased and
: redrawn properly. You should also know some population genetics before
: sitting down with this program, as there is no help onscreen and the
: manual is very short and doesnÕt provide any sort of tutorial. But
: these are not fatal flaws, and this program should be quite useful for
: students to play with these simple population genetics models and see
: how changing different parameters changes the outcome. You might also
: look at Evolve, which has similar goals but is a little more extensive
: (though it doesnÕt include the quantitative mode).
: Computer: Macintosh
: Source: evolution.genetics.washington.edu (128.95.12.41), in
: /pub/popgen
: Cost: Free
: (3e) Energy Flow Stella Stack
: This program puts you in charge of managing Silver Springs, an
: ecosystem which includes primary producers, herbivores, predators, top
: predators and decomposers, as well as tourists which throw scraps of
: bread to the herbivores. Your job is to keep the population of top
: predators at a certain value for 5 years, by regulating the number of
: tourists who are allowed in per year. You are first introduced to the
: model by watching it get built on the screen. You are then told your
: goal of regulating top predators, and asked to make a predication about
: the population size of the top predators over the next five years (you
: both draw a graph of what you think population size / time will look
: like, and write down how you intend to accomplish this). You can
: adjust the starting populations of each component in the ecosystem, and
: the number of tourists. As the model runs, it gives you feedback about
: how well youÕre doing, and you can continually adjust the number of
: tourists to try to regulate the population. At the end, you get plots
: of population size over time for each component of the model, and the
: top predator plot is overlayed on your prediction, so you can see both
: how well you did and how well you predicted what would happen.
: This program was designed to be simple to use, and takes students
: step-by step through the exercise. It shares a common interface with
: all of KeslerÕs programs (see Enzyme Kinetics for a more complete
: description). It has the problem of running a little too fast on a
: fast computer, but other than that works quite well. The exercise is a
: little simplistic, and will not challenge more advanced students.
: However, for introductory ecology or conservation biology classes, this
: program should be quite useful, and should easily work in a one hour
: lab or discussion period.
: Computer: Macintosh, also needs Hypercard 2.2 (wonÕt work with
: Hypercard player).
: Source: David Kesler, Rhodes College. email: KESLER at ns.rhodes.edu
: Cost: Free
: (3f) Island Biogeography StellaStack
: This is a simple demonstration of the theory of island biogeography.
: It gives a short introduction to the theory with the requisite three
: graphs showing effects of distance from mainland and size of islands,
: then lets the student play with a simple model of species colonization
: and extinction, where you can adjust the distance of an island from the
: mainland and the size of the island, let the model run for some preset
: amount of time, then look at graphs of number of species, colonization,
: extinction and turnover rates over time. At the end are a series of
: questions about the results from the model, with the option to go back
: and rerun the model to check your answers.
: This program is very simple to use, and takes you step-by-step through
: the whole exercise. It shares a common interface with all of KeslerÕs
: programs (see Enzyme Kinetics for a more complete description). The
: program does not contain a full description of island biogeography and
: its implications, and so would be most useful as a supplement to a
: lecture or reading on the topic. In addition, it is very simplistic,
: and would not be useful as more than a reinforcement of the concept.
: for introductory students.
: Computer: Macintosh, also needs Hypercard 2.2 (wonÕt work with
: Hypercard player).
: Source: David Kesler, Rhodes College. email: KESLER at ns.rhodes.edu
: Cost: Free
: (3g) Max. Sustainable Yield Stella Stack
: This program lets students try to harvest fish using two different
: harvesting strategies, fixed quotas, and variable effort, using a very
: simplistic model. There are several screens of introductory material
: which discuss fixed quota and variable effort harvesting strategies,
: using graphs of population size vs. recruitment to show how each of
: these work. You can then try each of these strategies out on a model
: of a fish population. The model is of logistic growth, with the
: parameters of the growth fixed. Before running the model, you can set
: the initial population size, and either the amount harvested per year
: (fixed quota) or the rate of harvesting (variable effort). You are
: asked to make a graphical prediction of the population size over time,
: given your initial conditions. After running the model, you can see
: the simulated population size over time superimposed on top of your
: prediction. When you are done playing with the model, you can read
: several questions about the resource management strategies you just
: played with.
: This program would work best after students have been introduced to
: some theory on population growth (ie. what a population size vs.
: recruitment rate graph shows) and harvesting strategies. The program
: itself is simple to use, and shares a common interface with KeslerÕs
: other programs (see Enzyme Kinetics for a description). One problem
: with this program is that the model has no probabalistic elements in
: it, and so if you pick the right values, both harvesting strategies
: work just as well. Without chance, you have to play around and imagine
: for yourself that chance was acting to see the greater risk inherant in
: harvesting by quota than by a variable effort strategy. There is also
: no graph of amount harvested per year, so you cannot look at how
: efficient your harvesting strategy is. However, the program works as a
: very basic introduction to these concepts, and may be useful in
: introductory ecology or conservation biology classes which discuss
: management.
: Computer: Macintosh, also needs Hypercard 2.2 (wonÕt work with
: Hypercard player).
: Source: David Kesler, Rhodes College. email: KESLER at ns.rhodes.edu
: Cost: Free
: (3h) Carbon Cycle Stella Stack
: This program demonstrates the basic parts of the global carbon cycle
: through the use of a simple model. The model includes five sources,
: and two sinks of carbon. The sources are burning fossil fuels,
: decomposing of organic matter, respiration, net destruction of
: vegetation, and carbon escaping from the oceans. The sinks are gross
: primary productivity and the oceans. The student is introduced to
: these through a picture of all the sources and sinks, with small
: explanations of each. The student is given the mission of keeping
: global atmospheric carbon dioxide below 720 e15 grams, by adjusting
: each of the sinks and sources. Before running the model, you are asked
: to make a graphical description of what you think the CO2 level will be
: over the 5 years that the model is run. You can then run the model,
: and at the end of each run look at a graph of the CO2 level over time
: in the simulation, and see how this compares to your prediction. There
: are also a series of short explanation of the effects of changing each
: of the variables.
: This program works nicely as a simple introduction to the sources and
: sinks of carbon dioxide in the world, and their relative magnitudes.
: It is also a nice introduction to how modelling of this sort is done.
: The user is guided through the steps in the exercise using an easy to
: understand interface that is the same as that in KeslerÕs other
: programs (see Enzyme kinetics for description). Since these C02 models
: are in the news a lot as part of the debate on the greenhouse effect,
: the content of the program should be interesting to students in a
: variety of introductory classes. I see a potential problem, however,
: if the teacher does not make it clear that this is only a caricature of
: how the real world works (especially since the model is so simple, and
: doesnÕt include connections even between the variables which exist such
: as vegetation destruction and GPP), and would also want to make clear
: that while you can change things in the model such as CO2 flux into and
: out of the oceans, GPP, etc., in real life there are no slide bars on
: these things. Still, if the teacher makes these points, the program
: should serve as a good integrater and solidifier of both how a nutrient
: cycles on a global basis, and some of the variables involved in the
: debate on the greenhouse effect.
: Computer: Macintosh, also needs Hypercard 2.2 (wonÕt work with
: Hypercard player).
: Source: David Kesler, Rhodes College. email: KESLER at ns.rhodes.edu
: Cost: Free
: (3i) Population Momentum Stella Stack
: This program explores how the worldÕs human population grows. After a
: short introduction on population growth and U.N. predictions of this
: growth, the program presents you with a model of an age-structured
: population. The population has 11 categories, including three
: pre-reproductive ages, four reproductive ages, and four
: post-reproductive ages. You can set the number of individuals in each
: class, and an overall reproductive rate for the population. You are
: asked to predict how the population will grow over time by drawing a
: graph of this growth, which you can then compare to the output you get
: after running the model. As you run the model the population structure
: is shown changing in a horizontal bar graph (the classical
: representation of population structure). At the end are several
: questions about the results of the model, with the option of going back
: and rerunning the simulation to answer them. The thrust of the
: introductory text and the questions is that even with just a
: replacement rate of reproduction, the human population can grow quite a
: bit before reaching equilibrium.
: The program is very simple to use, and takes you step-by-step through
: the exercise. The interface is similar to the other programs by this
: author (see Enzyme Kinetics for a description), and works well. This
: program would make a good one hour lab in an introductory course which
: talks about human population growth. You may, however, want to look at
: the BioQuest program Demography, which is a more flexible program also
: looking at human population dynamics.
: Computer: Macintosh, also needs Hypercard 2.2 (wonÕt work with
: Hypercard player).
: Source: David Kesler, Rhodes College. email: KESLER at ns.rhodes.edu
: Cost: Free
: Eli Meir
: Dept of Zoology, Univ of Washington
:meir at zoology.washington.edu
--
_______________________________________________________________________
KOECHL ROBERT |The mind is like a parachute-
robert at dipl1-iwi.uibk.ac.at |it only works when it's open...
