Since the new semester started online on March 2, 2020, biology teachers at SHSID have held various classroom activities that have taken advantage of online teaching. As a result, students can efficiently complete their learning tasks at home and experience the fun of learning biology. The 10th grade biology class carried out an activity observing phenotypes. By observing the phenotypes of their classmates and themselves, such as whether the tongue can be rolled, or whether one has dimples or not, students did an online survey of phenotype diversity. The random grouping function gives students opportunities to cooperate with students who they have never worked in a team before, and allows students to complete the observation and survey task without being disturbed by other groups. These novel features as well as the interesting phenotypes made the once boring lecture setting full of joy.

Students of grade 12 used paintbrush or vivid words to depict the biodiversity of the SHSID campus from their memory, creating refreshing artwork. Students can still enjoy the beautiful scenery of SHSID in front of a screen. Even animals and plants that are barely seen on campus appeared in students’ depictions, triggering exciting online discussions. Meanwhile, creating art is also a mind-opening process. Student works may even germinate design for the future yearbook cover.

Students of grade 11 followed frontier scientific research at home. Under the guidance of their teachers, they studied and discussed research papers on the origin and genome sequence of the 2019 new coronavirus. The online course platform allows students to search and share data in real time, increasing the depth and breadth of discussion. As a result, students gained a unique scientific research experience in the online classroom. The 11th grade school course biology "seed plant" has launched a mini lab that can be done at home: seed dissection, from which students can identify and learn seed structures. By sharing a screen, students can see their teachers’ demonstration as well as other groups’ experimental results more clearly, greatly improving their learning outcome. The diverse and animated online classes engage students, broaden their vision, and make biology learning more interesting and efficient.

（Written by Chengbo Zhou and Hui Liao Pictures byHui Liao, Yongchi Li, Ying Gu, Crystal Liou and Harry Han）