At the core of the Beyond Labz biology environment is the Species selector, which allows students to enter a laboratory and perform experiments on a species. Not all species are available in all of the laboratories, but in general, all species are available in the Microscopy, Molecular, and Systematics laboratories. The power of the virtual laboratory is the ability to study species at the molecular, cell, genetic, ecology, and taxonomic levels using the different laboratories in Beyond Labz Biology.
The primary purpose of the species selector is to select a species from those available in the virtual laboratory. There is a list of species currently available and a picture and brief description of the selected species. Species are listed by common names in the Species Selector but the scientific name is also provided in the description area.
In addition to a complete list of species, species can also be organized or filtered according to different criteria. The different organization or filtering schemes are accessed by clicking on the drop down lists at the top of the species menu. A brief description of these different schemes is given below.
Alphabetical. The alphabetical filter is the default filter and is used to filter species alphabetically. Clicking on a letter filters the species list by the first letter in the common name. This is probably the fastest method to find species of a particular name. In addition to the alphabetic list, the species can also be filtered into lists of Animals, Archaea, Bacteria, Fungi, Plants and Protista by using the buttons under the drop down menu.
Characteristics. Species can be filtered by nine different characteristics that they possess. The set of characters includes Photosynthetic, Invertebrate, Extinct, Vertebrate, Hard Shelled, Lacking Nucleus, Wings, Autotrophic, and Other.
Classification. Species can be filtered by where they fit in nine different classifications. The set of classifications includes Mammals, Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds, Insects, Fish, Invertebrates, Plants, and Other.
Biomes. Species can be filtered according to the biomes in which they can be found. The set of available biomes includes Freshwater, Tundra, Chaparral, Tropical Forest, Grassland, Desert, Temperate Deciduous Forest, Coniferous Forest, and Marine.
Models. Species can also be organized by the particular branch of biology or types of research for which they have traditionally been used. For example, Fruit Fly or Drosophila melanogaster has traditionally been used in a wide variety of genetic studies, thus Fruit Fly belongs to the Genetics group. The set of models or groups available here includes All Models, Disease, Evolution, Behavior, Genetics, Physiology, Ecology, Development, and Molecular Biology.