Describes a ladybug's body and how it develops from an egg to an adult.

The Oedogoniales are remarkable filamentous green algae. Their method of cell elongation is unique, utilizing a donut-shaped ring of soft wall material which is stretched to form the new daughter cell. While Oedogonium is a simple filament, the related Bulbochaete and Oedocladium are branched and Bulbochaete differentiates long hair cells. The zoospore is large and multiflagellated. Sexual reproduction is oogamous and either “macrandrous” or “nannandrous.”...

Combining images of living plant stages with computer simulations allows you to easily bridge the gap between the familiar plant and the micro-environment contained within it. Three dimensional animations take you in and around reproductive structures such as the sorus, sporangium, and antheridium and archegonium. You see dynamic events such as spore formation, spore release, prothallus formation, sperm release, fertilization and embryo growth..

For convenience, biologists divide living organisms into five “Kingdoms”: the Monerans (bacteria and cyanobacteria), Protists, Fungi, Plants, and Animals. The Kingdom Protista includes a vast array of tiny eukaryotic cells that lead complex and extraordinary lives far from the eyes of most humans; a dedication to microscopy is vital to see them in all their splendor. This video is a unique resource introducing the viewer to a considerable range...

The Volvocales and Chlorococcales share a common ancestry from a cell type exemplified by Chlamydomonas. Using live cells, this video shows how simple evolutionary trends working on Chlamydomonad ancestors have generated diversity and complexity.. In Volvocalean evolution, unicellular ancestors became multicellular (e.g., Volvox) by daughter cells adhering after division. Concurrently, they evolved various advanced characters (e.g., differentiation...

Reproduction in the red algae is unique. No flagellated stages are ever formed, and it is generally assumed that the various reproductive spores are inert. This video demonstrates that spores in many species are actively motile, either by gliding or amoeboid activity. This limited power of movement may turn out to be of considerable significance in survival strategies (e.g. dispersion, optimization of a germination site).. Sexual reproduction is also...

Diatoms are an extraordinarily successful group of organisms and their many thousands of species have diversified and specialized so as to occupy every environmental niche. Part of their success derives from their unique protective cell walls, beautifully elaborate structures made of pure silica. However, living inside walls made of this rigid, refractory material creates many problems. Just how diatoms circumvent these problems provides the major...

Mitosis requires cells to organize numerous jumbled chromosomes and then separate them with absolute fidelity into two equal groups. How this extraordinary process is accomplished is still poorly understood.. This video reveals the events of mitosis at a level of detail usually seen only in research laboratories. In addition, two Appendices show mitosis in a classical system, the diatom cell, and some experiments on living cells that illustrate why...

This new edition in Barron's Easy Way Series contains everything students need to succeed in biology. Key content review and practice exercises to help students learn biology the easy way.--