At the end of the month I will be embarking on a new career as a biology teacher. In a bid to try and get my students engaged in science outside of the class room and to help them see the bigger picture of science, i.e. biology is not just the curriculum you learn in school, I have put together a list of websites, youtube channels and podcasts that will broaden their horizons. I realised that this list might be of interest to other people who are teachers or just interested in science in general and would appreciate a signpost to some good content.

This list is more biology focused but it does include general science, as well as more pop culture stuff like Radiolab and Stuff You Should Know. I'm going to try and impress upon my students the ease of podcasts, they're a great tool for enjoying learning and can be listened to while on route to school, going for a run or cleaning your room (all situations in which I listen to them). I know that not every student will read watch or listen to my suggestions but if I can hook a few in then I'll have done my job!

Things to listen to or watch outside of class
 
To read:
 
Websites
IFL Science - http://www.iflscience.com/
The Conversation - http://theconversation.com/uk
BBC science - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science_and_environment
Guardian science - https://www.theguardian.com/uk/environment
Real Clear Science - http://www.realclearscience.com/
 
Blogs
Carl Zimmer - http://carlzimmer.com/
Ed Yong (Nat Geo) - http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/blog/not-exactly-rocket-science/
WIRED - http://www.wired.com/tag/science-blogs-2/
popsci.com - http://www.popsci.com/blog-network
Nature’s top blog list - http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060703/multimedia/50_science_blogs.html
 
To watch:
 
TED talks - https://www.ted.com/talks
TED science - https://www.youtube.com/user/TEDtalksDirector
Crash Course - https://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse
Interactive Biology - https://www.youtube.com/user/InteractiveBiology/
Armando Hasudungan - https://www.youtube.com/user/armandohasudungan
Animal Wonders - https://www.youtube.com/user/Anmlwndrs
Bozeman Biology - https://www.youtube.com/user/bozemanbiology
The Brain Scoop - https://www.youtube.com/user/thebrainscoop
Gross Science - https://www.youtube.com/user/grossscienceshow
Veritasium - https://www.youtube.com/user/1veritasium
 
To listen: (all available on itunes and overcast or directly downloadable)
 
The Infinite Monkey Cage - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00snr0w/episodes/downloads
60-second science - http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/60-second-science/
Science for the people - http://www.scienceforthepeople.ca/
Guardian Science Weekly - https://www.theguardian.com/science/series/science
The Story Collider - http://www.storycollider.org/
The Naked Scientists - http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/podcasts/naked-scientists/
Nature Podcasts - http://www.nature.com/nature/podcast/
 
Not always science but just great:
Radiolab - http://www.radiolab.org/
Stuff You Should Know - http://www.stuffyoushouldknow.com/podcasts/

​As a biologist and someone who spent many years wandering around in remote locations looking at animals it is often hard to explain how I view the world. Many people seem to walk through the streets of their towns and cities blissfully unaware of the flora and fauna that surround they. All they see are streets, cars, buildings, traffic lights or bus stops. For me it’s the birds that I notice most, be it a male rock pigeon puffing his chest up and strutting in vain in front of a female who just wants to be left in peace to forage or a robin with a beak full of food stood on a suburban fence waiting to fly to its nest of hungry chicks. London, with its multitude of parks and open spaces, is a haven for wildlife. I still text my fiancé every time I see an urban fox, it brings a shiver of school boyish excitement. But I often see people wander blindly past interesting natural history that is right in front of them: I remember watching a pair of blackbirds chasing a jay away from an area that was presumably their nest site, or a squirrel that was barking in alarm at a sparrowhawk sat in a tree above a oblivious man. Maybe it is my years of working on birds that alerts me to these things but I really believe that if everyone noticed them that it has the capacity to make a crappy walk home from work amazing, lifting your spirits. Even noticing the melodic tunes of a male blackbird or watching the swallows swoop overhead on a summers evening can bring a natural majesty to any suburb. These scenes, and many more, playout every day in our cities. To add to this there is the majesty of the blossoming of the trees and their fruiting, the bluebells and snowdrops and daffodils that brighten our streets.

The podcast is an episode of 99 Percent Invisible. This podcast is about design but somehow and for some reason its episode "Unseen City: Wonders of the Urban Wilderness" chimes perfectly with how I see the urban landscape as I walk about London. This may just be me, I may be odd, but I thought I'd share it with people who either don't see the world this way or who want to show other people what it's like to be them.
 
Just one final story of urban nature. About a month after we moved into our flat in North London we saw a sparrowhawk catch and kill a juvenile magpie in our garden, meters from the glass. The incident took over half an hour, with alarm calls and cackling from the traumatised magpie family as the sparrowhawk mantled its prey.

If you need some background sound while you’re crunching numbers, coding in R, walking back from a field session or just when you’re cooking, podcasts are a great idea. For me the best combine information and entertainment. Podcasts are ideal not only to just fill silence and let you get on with things that are mundane but also for providing random topics of conversation: I have no idea of the number of people I told about the molasses explosion in Boston. They’re a simple way to keen up-to-date with topics you’re interested in but don’t have the time to research or to find out new areas of interest.
 
Below are my top four podcasts and a brief explanation of what they are and why I like them:
 
Radiolab
I was first told about Radiolab by an old work colleague. I first thought that it’d be a typical science podcast that talks about new research etc but it is so much more. There are two main presenters (Jab and Robert) but a plethora of guest presenters and producers make it highly varied. Each episode is typically one or more detailed reports into a huge variety of topics, often taking unexpected looks at things you may think you know a lot about. The podcast isn’t just science, it looks at history and often blurs the lines of traditional divides between the sciences and the arts. Radiolab also has a great acoustic element to it, with lots of really good sound production that brings it to life. It’s awesome!
http://www.radiolab.org/
 
Stuff You Should Know
This is the first of two podcasts that I love from How Stuff Works. The best part about SYSK is that it is presented by Chuck and Josh. Initially it took me a while to warm up to them, as they have an amazing ability to go off on tangents but that is precisely why I think they’re great. Their personalities really bring the subjects they talk about to life. SYSK covers a huge range of subjects from ejector seats to Jack the Ripper. If you want to listen then go to their website rather than itunes, as it has all of their episodes not the last few hundred. I love this podcast but I would take some of what they say with a pinch of salt, having listened to a number of episodes that I am knowledgeable about I found a few holes or misconceptions in what Chuck and Josh said (but don’t let that put you off, it’s awesome).
http://www.stuffyoushouldknow.com/podcasts/
 
Stuff You Missed in History Class
Missed in History is another How Stuff Works podcast but it is so different to SYSK. The current presenters, Holly and Tracey, religiously prepare and research each episode. Where SYSK is a fly by the seat of your pants affair, missed in history is well planned and is a brilliant ride through random bits of history you’ll never have heard of. History is something that I’ve always loved but fell by the academic wayside, so this is a guilty pleasure. The show has a penchant for exhumations, missing ships/people and serial killers/unsolved murders. They have also enlightened me about some amazing women from history like Ada Lovelace and Freya Stark. Binge listen to Missed in History while measuring skulls on the Isle of Rum!
http://www.missedinhistory.com/podcasts/archive/
 
Guardian Science Weekly
This is a fairly straightforward science news podcast. However, the presenters and reporters really bring things alive with their enthusiasm for the job they do. It fun and entertaining while at the same time keeping you up-to-date with the latest innovations in science. Because it’s made by the Guardian it’s of a high standard and you can trust what you hear.
http://www.theguardian.com/science/series/science