Portal talk:Biology

Pasted discussion from WV:Requests for Deletion
Initial discussion about Biology resources:
 * Well.. that was the initial plan of making a course--but as you can see, there are several pages about Biology floating around here at Wikiversity. There is a portal, school, high school course, and an unfinished cell biology course (to name a few at the top of my head). It's somewhat of a problem here that we just have several pages on the same topic... and unrelated to this point: there are several courses that are inactive (or probably haven't even started, such as Cell biology). It's very complicated to just easily pick a verdict for a certain page--in this case, Biology--and just make a course out of it when there are probably 5 other pages showcasing the same content. We need thorough research into how many pages are out here that pertain to Biology, and then make a verdict on what is best for the main page.


 * What I had in mind is, now that I really think about it, to just redirect Biology to other biology-related pages, such as the school and portal. The school provides all the learning projects and courses of biology, while the portal, according to Help:Portal, can "help specific kinds of users find the content they are interested in". It's really just a complicated jumble mess at this stage now. ---Atcovi (Talk - Contribs) 16:43, 5 January 2018 (UTC)


 * This is going slightly off-topic but I have had a look through some of these pages and propose the following;
 * School:Biology - this should be the coordination page for two core courses: a school-level one called Biology and a university-level one called Advanced Biology?
 * Portal:Biology - another coordination page, although not strictly necessary?
 * Biology - this could become the main school-level resource after more advanced material is moved to Advanced Biology; currently has one subpage
 * Biology/Quiz
 * Introduction to biology - unfinished introductory course; merge to a new Biology/Introduction?
 * General Biology - unfinished but could be merged to Biology; has two subpages:
 * General Biology/Introduction - merge to a new Biology/Introduction?
 * General Biology/Animal Development - could be moved to Biology/Animal Development
 * High School Biology - could be retained as the main school-level resource but moved to Biology; it has nine subpages:
 * High School Biology/Course -> Biology/Course
 * High School Biology/Lessons/Lesson 1 -> Biology/Lesson 1
 * High School Biology/Lessons/Lesson 3 -> Biology/Lesson 3?
 * High School Biology/Lessons/Lesson 16 -> Biology/Lesson 16 (a bit short)
 * High School Biology/Lessons/Plant and Animal Cells -> Biology/Cells
 * High School Biology/Participants -> School:Biology/Participants
 * High School Biology/Students -> Biology/Students
 * High School Biology/Teachers -> Biology/Teachers
 * High School Biology/Texts -> Biology/Texts
 * Biology (A-Level): unfinished and out of date (2008), this is the UK equivalent to High School Biology; there are three subpages that could be moved under High School Biology
 * Biology (A-Level)/Inheritance, Evolution and Ecosystems - move to Biology/Inheritance, Evolution and Ecosystems
 * Biology (A-Level)/Meiosis - Move to Biology/Meiosis?
 * Biology (A-Level)/Molecules, Cells and Systems - move to Biology/Cells?
 * List of Major Topics and Concepts in Biology - mostly unlinked list that could be moved to Biology/Topics?
 * Biology Wikimedia: a long list of links to Wikipedia articles; could be turned into a sort of appendix? Possibly move to School:Biology/Wikimedia
 * HHF/Biology, unfinished but could be used as a help page at School:Biology/Help?
 * What do you think? Green Giant (discuss • contribs) 20:00, 5 January 2018 (UTC)

Wow! That's a lot of pages on one topic. I agree with School:Biology aiding in navigation in the way you have displayed, as Biology is not a simple 1-way subject IMO:. Portal:Biology, I feel serves a role: To represent all Biology pages here at Wikiversity... Featured content, featured article, etc., serves to represent the Biology field that are present here. I believe it is necessary for this reason.

Biology serves as a "dictionary", you could say--which I don't find very useful on the topic of Biology itself. I don't believe this should be in any "Biology" works, imo. MOVE TO "DRAFT:"

As for: Biology/Quiz--this might be moved to a "Draft" namespace per the votes... it serves as an accomadation to the Biology lecture by Marshall.

Unfinished courses, imo, should be deleted from WV as they serve little-no valuable knowledge. Though, for the ones you've listed--I can give a sketchy view of a few of them:
 * 1) Introduction_to_biology - moved to mainspace Biology. Rest are unfinished work--but not everything here is finished! So: under "Topics".
 * 2) General_Biology/Introduction - not only confusing but also repeated info--check my works on High School Biology in terms of the intro: User:Atcovi/Science/Introduction_to_Science,_Experimental_Design,_and_Graphing - higher quality than General Biology/Introduction. Delete
 * 3) General_Biology/Animal_Development - same as above, but can't seem to find any other pages dealing with Animal Development... move to userpage possibly?
 * 4) High School Biology - Course that I'm planning on undertaking... structure is off from how I am studying it though. I agree with moving it into main Biology

Agree with Biology (A-Level) moving to main Biology---although poor quality and not finished (not to mention 10 years out of date!).

Now to finish out the rest:
 * 1) List of Major Topics and Concepts in Biology to Biology/Topics: Agree
 * 2) Biology Wikimedia as an appendix for School:Biology: Agree
 * 3) HHF/Biology but remove the unfinished work. Rather confusing.

This whole process of figuring out the bolts and nails for each topic is rather very tiring and requires extensive research and discussion. This should be discussed in its own separate place. I don't know where this could be, though. BTW, this is only a sketch of these resources. When time permits me, I'll go into more detail with these pages. Not an easy job. Thanks. ---Atcovi (Talk - Contribs) 20:42, 5 January 2018 (UTC) I've pasted this discussion here per Dave's comment. Hopefully some type of verdict will be reached. Thanks. -Atcovi (Talk - Contribs) 22:52, 5 January 2018 (UTC)

Active participants
Well, considering the above let me add myself as another active participant. So before 2018 I was the only active participant! My suggestion: write your course and leave all the above for later. --Marshallsumter (discuss • contribs) 13:32, 28 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Welcome aboard! Happy to see someone else interested in this "school", you could say... I've been very busy lately with school so I don't have a lot of time to truly work on this project--but I'll see what I can do. ---Atcovi (Talk - Contribs) 16:51, 28 March 2018 (UTC)

Green Giant's point about Biology being a School:Biology lecture/resource was my initial goal. Unfortunately, with the apparent lack of additional recent contributors, it has become more of my interest in say Biology/Genetics. FYI, definitions are the beginning of what could be called Biology/Theory. --Marshallsumter (discuss • contribs) 00:44, 27 March 2018 (UTC)

Here's a copy of the Wikipedia article Biology table of contents for comparison:
 * 1 History
 * 2 Foundations of modern biology
 * 2.1 Cell theory
 * 2.2 Evolution
 * 2.3 Genetics
 * 2.4 Homeostasis
 * 2.5 Energy
 * 3 Study and research
 * 3.1 Structural
 * 3.2 Physiological
 * 3.3 Evolutionary
 * 3.4 Systematic
 * 3.5 Kingdoms
 * 3.6 Ecological and environmental
 * 4 Basic unresolved problems in biology
 * 5 Branches

Main branches of biology
These are the main branches of biology: For a more detailed list, see outline of biology.
 * Aerobiology – the study of airborne organic particles
 * Anatomy – the study of organisms structures
 * Histology – the study of cells and tissues, a microscopic branch of anatomy
 * Astrobiology (also known as exobiology, exopaleontology, and bioastronomy) – the study of evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe
 * Biochemistry – the study of the chemical reactions required for life to exist and function, usually a focus on the cellular level
 * Bioengineering – the study of biology through the means of engineering with an emphasis on applied knowledge and especially related to biotechnology
 * Biogeography – the study of the distribution of species spatially and temporally
 * Bioinformatics – the use of information technology for the study, collection, and storage of genomic and other biological data
 * Biolinguistics – the study of the biology and evolution of language.
 * Biomechanics – the study of the mechanics of living beings
 * Biomedical research – the study of health and disease
 * Pharmacology – the study and practical application of preparation, use, and effects of drugs and synthetic medicines
 * Biomusicology – the study of music from a biological point of view.
 * Biophysics – the study of biological processes by applying the theories and methods traditionally used in the physical sciences
 * Biotechnology – the study of the manipulation of living matter, including genetic modification and synthetic biology
 * Synthetic biology – research integrating biology and engineering; construction of biological functions not found in nature
 * Draft:Botany – the study of plants
 * Phycology – scientific study of algae.
 * Plant physiology – concerned with the functioning, or physiology, of plants.
 * Cell biology – the study of the cell as a complete unit, and the molecular and chemical interactions that occur within a living cell
 * Cognitive biology – the study of cognition
 * Comparative anatomy – the study of evolution of species through similarities and differences in their anatomy.
 * Conservation biology – the study of the preservation, protection, or restoration of the natural environment, natural ecosystems, vegetation, and wildlife
 * Cryobiology – the study of the effects of lower than normally preferred temperatures on living beings
 * Developmental biology – the study of the processes through which an organism forms, from zygote to full structure
 * Embryology – the study of the development of embryo (from fecundation to birth)
 * Gerontology – study of ageing processes.
 * Ecology – the study of the interactions of living organisms with one another and with the non-living elements of their environment
 * Environmental biology – the study of the natural world, as a whole or in a particular area, especially as affected by human activity
 * Evolutionary biology – the study of the origin and descent of species over time
 * Draft:Genetics – the study of genes and heredity.
 * Draft:Epigenetics – the study of heritable changes in gene expression or cellular phenotype caused by mechanisms other than changes in the underlying DNA sequence
 * Hematology (also known as Haematology) – the study of blood and blood-forming organs.
 * Integrative biology – the study of whole organisms
 * Marine biology (or biological oceanography) – the study of ocean ecosystems, plants, animals, and other living beings
 * Microbiology – the study of microscopic organisms (microorganisms) and their interactions with other living things
 * Bacteriology – the study of bacteria
 * Mycology – the study of fungi
 * Parasitology – the study of parasites and parasitism
 * Virology – the study of viruses and some other virus-like agents
 * Molecular biology – the study of biology and biological functions at the molecular level, some cross over with biochemistry
 * Nanobiology – the study of how nanotechnology can be used in biology, and the study of living organisms and parts on the nanoscale level of organization
 * Neuroscience – the study of the nervous system
 * Population biology – the study of groups of conspecific organisms, including
 * Population ecology – the study of how population dynamics and extinction
 * Population genetics – the study of changes in gene frequencies in populations of organisms
 * Draft:Paleontology – the study of fossils and sometimes geographic evidence of prehistoric life
 * Pathobiology or pathology – the study of diseases, and the causes, processes, nature, and development of disease
 * Physiology – the study of the functioning of living organisms and the organs and parts of living organisms
 * Phytopathology – the study of plant diseases (also called Plant Pathology)
 * Psychobiology – the study of the biological bases of psychology
 * Radiobiology – study of the action of ionic radiation on living things.
 * Quantum biology – the study of quantum mechanics to biological objects and problems.
 * Sociobiology – the study of the biological bases of sociology
 * Systems biology – the study complex interactions within biological systems through a holistic approach
 * Structural biology – a branch of molecular biology, biochemistry, and biophysics concerned with the molecular structure of biological macromolecules
 * Theoretical biology – the branch of biology that employs abstractions and mathematical models to explain biological phenomena
 * Draft:Zoology – the study of animals, including classification, physiology, development, and behaviour, including:
 * Ethology – the study of animal behaviour
 * Entomology – the study of insects
 * Herpetology – the study of reptiles and amphibians
 * Ichthyology – the study of fish
 * Draft:Mammalogy – the study of mammals
 * Ornithology – the study of birds --Marshallsumter (discuss • contribs) 17:43, 27 March 2018 (UTC)

Other schools for biology

 * School:Marine sciences, but no Portal:Marine sciences.
 * School:Plant sciences, and Portal:Plant Sciences.
 * School:Zoology, but no Portal:Zoology.