Love Letters to
Radiolab

from Science Prof Online

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What Biology Students Say About Radiolab 


​Page last updated 12/2015
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As a college biology instructor, I have found Radiolab to be an extremely effective teaching tool. Students enjoy, remember and learn valuable information from these smart and engaging podcasts. 

Radiolab is broadcast out of New York City on WNYC. The team that creates each episode, including hosts Jad Abumrad 
and Robert Krulwich, are master storytellers. On the Radiolab website they define the show as follows:

Monsters Inside Me TV Show on Parasitism from Animal Planet

Monsters Inside Me
TV show, from Animal Planet, presenting case studies of  people with parasitic infections. So interesting, you'll learn about parasitism without even trying!
Check out our FREE 
Monsters Inside Me 
Homework Assignments
 Part 1 & Part 2!

Instructor's Corner
​RODNEY VS DEATH 
Explores rabies, history of rabies treatment, details Jenna’s Giese remarkable recovery and the efficacy of Dr. Rodney Willoughby's Milwaukee Treatment Protocol.
Teaching opportunities for this episode: viruses, infectious disease, history of rabies, treatment of rabies, medical ethics


Woodcut from the Middle Ages Showing a Rabid Dog
PARASITES
Radiolab tells the fascinating story of several different types of parasites including hookworms, parasitic wasps, flukes and protozoans, and asks listeners, “Are parasites ‘degenerates’ or some of evolution’s craftiest forms of life?”
Teaching opportunities for this episode: parasite ecology, microbiology, challenge student perception of parasites, hookworm, toxoplasmosis. 


Virtual Microbiology
Classroom







You have free access to a large collection of materials used in a college-level introductory microbiology course. The Virtual Microbiology Classroom provides a wide range of free educational resources including PowerPoint Lectures, Study Guides, Review Questions and Practice Test Questions.
Prokaryotic Cell, Mariana Ruiz
"The thing I found most interesting was the Radiolab with the worms that crawls up to 4ft and then it goes into your feet, travels through the blood stream to your lungs, then you cough it up, eat it and then it lives in your intestines. I thought that was a very cool, interesting way to get into a host." 
Microbiology student


See all of our  > Science Homework Assignments Based on Radiolab Podcasts

Yellow Fluff and Other Curious Encounters
This episode is about how scientists see, and interact with, the world a bit differently. This story includes Oliver Sack's love affair with the periodic table and Jerry Coyne's pet botfly. 
Teaching opportunities for this episode: chemistry, periodic table, scientific discovery, how scientists see the world

At the end of the semester, for the last question on the final exam, I ask my students to do the following: 

Describe something that you learned in this class. Maybe what you found most interesting, or what really "stuck with you". 

Student responses to this question almost always involve what they learned from the Radiolab homework that I assign. 

Below are some favorite student responses, as well as links to the Radiolab shows and free homework assignments associated with them.

Virtual Cell Biology
Classroom






You have FREE access to a large collection of materials used in a college-level introductory Cell Biology Course. The Virtual Cell Biology Classroom provides a wide range of FREE educational resources including Power Point Lectures, Study Guides, Review Questions and Practice Test Questions.
Endomembrane System of a Eukaryotic Cell, Mariana Ruiz
Instructors Corner
 of Science Prof Online







You have access to a large collection of free science teaching materials used in high school and college-level introductory science courses. The SPO Instructors Corner has resources for teaching general science, anatomy & physiology, chemistry, cell biology genetics, immunology and microbiology.
Instructors Corner of Science Prof Online
"Radiolab is a show about curiosity. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and human experience."
Radiolab Logo
Love letter to Radiolab, Rodney vs. Death episode
STUDENTS LOVE RADIOLAB! 

The VMC offers 
science homework assignments based on Radiolab podcasts!

Go to our Radiolab Homework Assignment Page for links to these assignments and related Radiolab episode. 
Radiolab Logo
Love Letter to Radiolab - Gotta Give Dr. Coyne Credit
Student Love Letter to Radiolab, Yellow Fluff
Love Letter to Radiolab - Gotta Give Dr. Coyne Credit
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These homework assignments are not a product of the Radiolab program nor are they endorsed by the program. These assignments were  developed by Tami Port, MS, as a college biology teaching tool. 

Thank you Radiolab for producing a fun, engaging, smart show that helps my students love to learn!

Tami Port, MS
Student Love Letter to Radiolab, Yellow Fluff
Virtual Biology
Classroom






You have FREE access to a large collection of materials used in a college-level introductory biology course. The Virtual Biology Classroom provides a wide range of free educational resources including PowerPoint Lectures, Study Guides, Review Questions &  Practice Test Questions.
Hawaiian Ginger Flower
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