• Creative biology teacher gifts go beyond the traditional apple.apple for teacher image by max blain from Fotolia.com
  
  Biology teachers help students learn about nature, animals and their own bodies. A great biology teacher can make complex scientific concepts interesting and fun. Teacher appreciation gifts are one way to say thank you to such a teacher, especially during the holidays or at the end of the year. Those looking for a gift for a special biology teacher have several appropriate options.
  
  

Printed Items

• An easy way to shop for the biology teacher on your list is to visit an online such as Zazzle, Think Geek or Cafe Press. These companies offer items printed with slogans such as "Biology is Fun" and "Every Day Is an Adventure when You're a Biology Teacher." Other items bear biology-related graphics such as a DNA strand, a cartoon rat in a lab coat, or a microscope. Available items include hats, T-shirts, mugs, stickers, bumper stickers, tote bags, mouse pads, buttons, clocks and magnets. Cartoon Stock is an online retailer that offers cartoons, including biology-related cartoons, printed on a range of merchandise.
  
  

Reading Materials

• Books are appropriate teacher gifts. Book choices for biology teachers include both general biology books and books about subcategories such as anatomy, biodiversity, bioengineering, biomedicine, botany, ecology, genetics or mycology. Alternatively, select the biography of a famous biologist such as George Beadle, Charles Darwin or Georges Cuvier. Another option is a subscription to a biology or general science magazine such as Natural History, Science Daily, American Scientist, Discover Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine or American Biology Teacher Journal. DVDs about biology or a related topic are another option.
  
  

Creative Options

• If you are looking for something unique, consider making your own gift using common biology supplies. Fill test tubes with candy or spices, and insert a stopper. Use glass paint to decorate a beaker, and fill it with fresh flowers. Create a DNA strand ornament or earrings using beads and jewelry wire. Use icing to draw a sugar molecule on cookies or cakes. Other creative gifts might include a Venus flytrap, described by Charles Darwin as "one of the most wonderful plants in the world," or an annual membership in the National Center for Science Education.