Animal Diversity Web
Animal Diversity Web (ADW) is an online database of animal natural history, distribution, classification, and conservation biology. Thousands of species accounts about individual animal species. These may include text, pictures of living animals, photographs and movies of specimens, and/or recordings of sounds. Students write the text of these accounts and Animal Diversity Web cannot guarantee their accuracy. Descriptions of levels of organization above the species level, especially phyla, classes, and in some cases, orders and families. Hundreds of hyperlinked pages and images illustrate the traits and general biology of these groups. Professional biologists prepare this part.
An essential feature of the ADW is student authorship of species accounts. Students learn considerable detail about the biology of a species, then share their work with users worldwide by making it part of their permanent database. their web-based template ensures a consistent format for accounts. Help pages suggest content and sources. The system checks that no one else is writing about the student’s chosen species, checks spelling of scientific names, and fills in the scientific classification. Instructors and ADW staff review and edit accounts before they are added to the site. Classes at a number of universities contribute to the ADW project, and the resulting growth of the database makes them even better for inquiry learning.
For more information, please visit http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu