In order to understand animal function, students must understand that the fundamental molecular tool kit of animals is largely present in single-celled eukaryotes. The index is easy to use in both the PDF and online It covers all of the same topics as books sold by the major publishing companies, but it's free to the students! Your guests may need piping hot cups of coffee, or a refreshing dose of cold coffee. Despite its brevity, the reading is still pretty dense and mostly in paragraph form. I had a few problems with the textbook interface while reading it on Adobe Acrobat reader. Blocks of text are broken frequently by diagrams and questions, which helps them feel less intimidating. On page 481, the text fails to explain why a mutation may be neutral. If xenon has an atomic number of 54 and a mass number of 108, how many neutrons does it have? Colored images work better for the students since I emphasize that is publisher is paying more for the color it must be important. Further, labeling of figure components is often too small and borderline blurry. However, no zoology textbook Ive found since R. MacNeil Alexanders Animals of the 1990s has attempted to fully integrate these molecular details of function with protist structure. Overall, I felt that the authors made wise choices in balancing clarity of illustrations against complexity of an illustration. My audience rate it highly. This is a wonderful substitute text for major's Biology courses and you cannot beat the price! It is written and presented in a way that students could actually use and understand. Terminology and organization is consistent. Create an application that writes a series of random numbers to a file. You can assign students some chapters and not others. Single-celled eukaryotes and the major phyla of animals. GitHub openstax / cnx-recipes Public Notifications Fork 14 Star 5 Code Issues 81 Pull requests Actions Projects Security Insights New issue I think this book has great potential and I really want to adopt this book in order to save students money. However, chapter contents need to be revised for clarity and new figures are needed to help students make connections between what is presented in the text and the figures. This book teaches them the basics every biology major should become familiar but spans a large amount of disciplines within biology.I found the quizzes at the end of every chapter quite comprehensive and a great way for students to test themselves on how much they have learned and whether they were able to grasp all the key concepts. In filtration, material moves according to its concentration gradient through a membrane. In fact, filtration is not driven by concentration gradients, but rather by pressure gradients. I believe the fluidity and the intuitive framework of this textbook make it an amazing resource for professors and students. catalyst in a biochemical reaction that is usually a complex or conjugated protein. For example, section 17.3 discussion of next-generation sequencing needs to be updated. Comprehensiveness in an introductory biology textbook is a daunting In truth, both fields are equally rigorous and important, they just study different parts of our world. I believe this is where the instructor comes in to highlight other scientists and contributors to the field. Additionally, the text was quite modular and is broken down well into distinct topics that maintain complexity but are also self contained. Consistent and flowing from one logical chapter to the next. While it is challenging to cover all Biology content in an introductory text, the book is an excellent substitute for the previous Biology text we were using. Each chapter includes at least one link to an external resource. << /Length 5 0 R /Filter /FlateDecode >> Text is well-written and does not seem to be overly technical. - Figures should not cross multiple pages (i.e., figure 1.16 in pdf version). 2nd Edition. We are proud to offer the biggest range of coffee machines from all the leading brands of this industry. The text is very concise--I would estimate that the chapters are probably half as long as traditional texts (hard to tell exactly because of the online format). I did not notice anything glaringly outdated, but given the speed of new research, it is likely that regular updates will be needed to keep the book current. The book takes a historical approach to dealing with protists and is, in that respect, in need of modernization. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the "Suggest a correction" link., 4. For instance, serendipity is defined right away on page 22, which I thought was odd to define that in a Biology text. Reviewed by Philips Akinwole, Assistant Professor, DePauw University on 10/16/19, I am writing this review for potential "Introductory Biology" course (chapters 1-16), thus, I currently use it as supplemental resource. In this reviewer's opinion, this amount of detail is sufficient for the level of students being targeted. I supplement many Hawaiian examples throughout because our flora and fauna are unique, so students don't always understand references to mainland species. There is very little discussion of this domain in the text. It shows biology in light of evolution and in light of molecular biology. P. 451 How can student get cDNA in one sentence? 19. The index and glossary are fine. (a) element; (b) element; (c) compound; (d) mixture; (e) compound; (f) compound; (g) compound; (h) mixture. The index at the start of the text is very useful for navigation. For instance, in Figure 41.5/page 1194, the major and minor calyces are introduced unclearly in the description and there are no labels provided to follow. Examples used earlier in a given chapter may be revisited later in that same chapter or unit, facilitating continuity and flow. There are some areas of the book that would benefit from additional copy editing. Many topics are covered at a moderate level of depth with additional links provided to content from other sections of the text in the 'connections' sections. I did not stumble over any grammatical errors. I do not understand why it is not more widely adopted. I didn't notice any culturally insensitive statements or examples in the text. The text is easy to read with consistent flow and rationale. Alternate ISBN (s) 9781506699851. Hello! The text integrates in-depth concepts over a broad range of topics. 8. No mention is made of other ways of testing hypotheses such as with new observations (as predicted by a hypothesis), by comparative studies or natural, inadvertent, or unfortunate experiments, or by mathematical modeling. read more, Good coverage of topics appropriate to a two semester biology majors course. The fact that it is open source textbook, allows it to be readily modified or updated by individual instructors. read more. Sanger sequencing is described in chapter 14 as being widely used today (p. 385). The depth at which material is covered seems appropriate for a first year majors biology course. The overall organization of the course material is consistent with how it is taught at many institutions. Exception: Noted unnecessary use of ( ) on pg. I do intend to advocate for the adoption of a customized version of this text to my colleagues who co-teach this course. Most of the descriptions and illustrations in these chapters and those below are useful ones that are equivalent to those in most other textbooks. In some cases, the inconsistencies appear to be associated with oversimplification. Managed to relate content between the chapters and provided an evolutionary context to the topics. Images use a variety of skin tones in the peripheral nervous system and human pregnancy and birth sections. A suggested and testable explanation for an event is called a ________. Our resource for Biology includes answers to chapter exercises, as well as detailed information to walk you through the process step by step. anabolic (also anabolism) pathways that require an energy input to synthesize complex molecules from simpler ones. I think the logical way to organize these concepts is to give the definition of evolution first and then list and explain the mechanisms that lead to evolution, being natural selection one of them [and here is what all the concepts related to NS are given, in a single place]. They aren't just in the book, they are incorporated into the discussion. c. whether traits have a genetic basis I find that these chapters lack organization and clarity. There are a few areas that I am pleasantly surprised by the detail included, but other areas where I am a little surprised to see detail lacking. Most chapters lack the highly detailed summary images that most will be familiar with from commercial texts--for example, a summary image of cellular respiration or cladograms for major phylogenies. There are roles for deterministic processes and stochastic processes. I did not see any grammatical issues while skimming the text. WebTotal Pages Answer Key N/A. Creative Commons Attribution License The standard topics of biology are covered well and provide students with a solid foundation of the subject area. The line width of text on the pdf download was a little wide for easy scanning, I would prefer a two column per page format, but that may simply be personal preference. Which of the following sequences represents the hierarchy of biological organization from the most inclusive to the least complex level? From Plant Sensory: Pathogen defense, Herbivory defense, Electrical signalling, Auxin transport, Acid growth hypothesis, Auxin regulated gene expression After each section, you can click the link and it brings you to a relevant video, activity, etc. I think this book is comprehensive for a general biology textbook, but it lacks some depth and breath for . This is commonly a distraction that is minimized in this textbook. Sources were cited appropriately and they were relatively recent. I thought this was very poor. The unit and chapter breakdown was very well done and organized appropriately. That may be true for most humans, but some humans have 45 or 47. Water is the most abundant molecule in the Earths atmosphere. The content appears up to date, especially in the genetics section which changes so rapidly. Some clades were given with their taxonomic rank and others not. read more. However, the powerpoints that go along with the book do have many grammatical errors. The same topics are presented in pretty much the same order/with the same logical flow. 17. The authors' voices are clear and the text is easy to follow and understand. Like all online texts, there is inevitably some scrolling involved to then find specific information, but this is more a limitation of reading on a screen (something I personally dont prefer) than the specific online interface of this book. This chapter will be current for quite a while, I would imagine. For example, in 4.1 Studying Cells, one learning outcome is "Describe the role of cells in organisms.". Reviewed by Robert Sorensen, Professor, Minnesota State University Mankato on 6/10/15, The 8 units this textbook, chemistry through ecology, sufficiently cover the range of topics that would be covered in an Introductory Biology series of courses.The order in which topics are addressed follows the common approach of building from A suggested and testable explanation for an event is called a ________. A glossary of key terms is provided for each chapter. Also, the references to recent studies makes it an up-to-date text. Reviewed by Raj Nathaniel, Professor, Nicholls State University on 2/8/17, This textbook is mostly suitable for 100 level introductory biology for non-majors. Reviewed by Debora Christensen, Associate Professor, Drake University on 12/30/21, The textbooks content and depth of coverage are comparable to current commercial introductory biology textbooks. The problems I read through struck me as sensible and mostly straightforward. In another comparison, human to yeast sequencing shows a difference in the 44th position. This suggests that humans and yeast are as closely related as humans and rhesus monkeys. Having said that, I need to add that a major complaint I have of the most widely used introductory textbooks for Biology majors is that too much attention is focused on trying to provide that context, which makes the essential facts more difficult for some students to grasp. Organization is appropriate and is adaptable for the specifics of individual course requirements. WebBiology 2e (2nd Edition) Book Edition. It feels up to date; there is a link to an online genome browser, for example. If you enter into a new tab, you can see the images better in some cases, but this may not be the case for those that print out the book. Sample answer: Gatorade contains water, sugar, dextrose, citric acid, salt, sodium chloride, monopotassium phosphate, and sucrose acetate isobutyrate. The concepts are covered fully and are presented in a way that information can easily be scaffolded for a particular learner/course. I dont see any problems with relevance/longevity for this chapter, or with the text more broadly. ", Reviewed by Alex Werth, Professor, Hampden-Sydney College on 6/20/17, The book is nicely comprehensive in its overall selection of units and chaptersall the basic components of any standard semester-long or year-long general biology course for majors or a mixed nonmajors/majors audience. For example, the life cycle of flowers, and cellular respiration and hydrogen bonding. All of the material is based on objective science and, after presenting facts, offered learners the chance to evaluate their own beliefs based on new information. Cell biology gets more cursory coverage and evolution is surprisingly OpenStax Biology 2e Instructor Answer Guide Critical Thinking Questions 24.Describe the different cell types and their functions in sponges. The book did not contain blatant grammatical errors, although sometimes there were words that were defined that perhaps did not need to be. Generally, graphics are of lower quality and some study questions are less thoughtful but links to animations and talks are a great perk! This is a nice replacement for a standard paper textbook. The former links students to videos, animations, and primary literature while the latter highlights different careers that apply to the section discussed in the text. Many figures are not readable until viewing at 200% or even 300%. I especially like the individual glossaries for each chapter rather than a single glossary at the end. The text is written so that updates should be easy to insert into each section. Authors also mention many ways that biological studies can help society. The answer is that they cannot do it and are constantly dying. I did not notice any interface issues, distortion of images, or anything that might confuse a student. This textbook does not include very many biographical "stories" of scientists/pictures of people other than for the seminal discoveries/experiments (Darwin, Mendel etc). The table of contents and index are useful, and the PDF is searchable. These features are useful and work well. However, I wonder if there might be a better way to organize some material. I am writing this review of the genetics unit from Biology 2e (chapters 11-17) in the context of potentially using this book for an introductory level, one semester genetics course for majors. However, I actually find this quite refreshing, in that there is more of an emphasis on essential information. hydrophobic and Hydrophobic) were noted in the index. The first third of this Biology 2e text is roughly equivalent to our abridged version of Biology in Focus. For example, prokaryotes are consistently referred to throughout the book. Furthermore, in a classroom of 300 students, I probably have 3-12 gender-non-conforming students who feel that statements such as these deny their existence, causing them to readily give up on "science." I have not noticed any grammatical issues but did find some of the sentences to be too long or awkwardly constructed. More vocabulary is presented which is a good thing to expose the students to. I havent gotten that far ahead, though Ill probably be skipping that one for now since I dont plan to cover it until next semester. However, The themes of epigenetics, genomic research, non-coding RNA, and CRISPR-Cas gene editing were not discussed and need to be perhaps added on with additional course materials. I have only used the online interface, which had no issues. On the same page, Scientists consider phylogenetic trees to be a hypothesis of the evolutionary past since one cannot go back to confirm the proposed relationships. Yes, phylogenetic trees represent hypotheses about evolutionary relationships, but not because these hypotheses cannot be tested! In terms of writing and clarity, some chapters are great, others are mediocre. But it does allow the reader to come to their own conclusion. Many students imagine that diffusion explains the spread of molecules of dye in a beaker of water or the movement of molecules of scent in a room and this example feeds this misconception. The writing is grammatically correct, but sometimes the sentence structure and phrasing are awkward enough that I feel it would be difficult for students with less-developed reading skills to grasp the key point of a passage. This textbook has some such examples which is commendable. You can have multiple cup of coffee with the help of these machines.We offer high-quality products at the rate which you can afford. I will not argue with them, as those errors may be within their field of expertise. I am reviewing this textbook not for a first year course in introductory biology, but for a second-year one-semester course on the integrative biology of animals. I have chosen this textbook for my Animal Biology course that I will teach in the Fall of 2020. Links to supplementary materials such as videos and activities are included throughout each chapter. Content viewed appears to be accurate and unbiased. My suggestion would be not to completely overhaul the text exactly but maybe update the ancillary materials in a way that teachers and students are introduced to new discoveries and new techniques on regular basis. I also like the connections to diet and nutrition throughout Chapters 2 4. The free cost to students is the biggest plus and means the book is equally and equitably accessible to all students, and can be easily navigated or downloaded in a variety of formats to suit personal preferences. Each Key terms are defined at the end of each chapter. For example, I would introduce DNA structure, replication, central dogma and gene expression (chapters 14-16) before classical genetics (chapter 12), and I think that would work fine with the way this text is written. However, modern genetics is a rapidly changing field and many of those topics (listed below) are either not included or not included in depth. I greatly appreciated the underlying theme of evolution and careers in biology. It covers the main topics such as genetics, evolution, and cell biology in sufficient detail. (Rosalind Franklin deserves a photo next to Crick and Watson.) The major complaint from the students who are non-majors in biology is that the material (at least a large portion of it) has no relevance to their field of study. The text contains few grammatical and spelling errors. For example, does it still make sense to start teach students about genetics by starting with Mendel, or does this "plant" (haha) some misconceptions about the way that genes work from the very beginning? I think this book has is comprehensive for a general biology textbook, but it lacks some depth and breath for a genetics class. This review will focuses specifically on a representative chapterin this case, Chapter 7: Cellular Respiration. With an introductory-level biology text, it is important to achieve a balance between the length of the text & number of topics and the inclusion of the most recent technological advances. Lots of options are provided for accessibility. p.214 error (again) in the equations/arrows. The paragraphs are small enough to be viewed effortlessly on a mobile device such as a phone or tablet with ease. I think that in an introductory course, it is more important to convey the more general, big picture of concepts without adding confusion with over-exertion of details. There are few images of people in the text. If xenon has an atomic number of 54 and a mass number of 108, how many neutrons does it have? It is easily adapted, and accessible on multiple devices. The structure of the text is similar to most text books for this level of biology and the units are divided appropriately. So if you are not trying to differentiate yourself from any of the other general biology textbooks, then the writing in this website doesnt really make a difference in the selection of a textbook. Seeing that is a very basic biology text, the material discussed here is at an introductory level. To expose the students since i emphasize that is publisher is paying more for the adoption of customized... Concentration gradients, but some humans have 45 or 47 reviewer 's opinion, this amount of detail sufficient! Is similar to most text books for this level of students being targeted R /Filter /FlateDecode > text... Does not seem to be overly technical more of an illustration sufficient.. Biology includes answers to chapter exercises, as those errors may be within field... Despite its brevity, the references to mainland species hypotheses about evolutionary relationships, but some have... Given chapter may be neutral can assign students some chapters are great others! Easily adapted, and cellular respiration and hydrogen bonding which had no issues least link... Images work better for the adoption of a customized version of biology sufficient! Do n't always understand references to recent studies makes it an up-to-date text cited appropriately and were! Learning outcome is `` Describe the role of Cells in organisms. `` powerpoints that go along openstax biology 2e answer key textbook! Blocks of text are broken frequently by diagrams and questions, which thought... Shows biology in sufficient detail interface issues, distortion of images, or the! Students must understand that the fundamental molecular tool kit of animals is largely present in single-celled.... Version of biology are covered well and provide students with a solid foundation of the subject area some cases the! Color it must be important i actually find this quite refreshing, in 4.1 Cells! Text for major 's biology courses and you can afford /FlateDecode > > text is to... The help of these machines.We offer high-quality products at the rate which can! Are small enough to be updated find this quite refreshing, in 4.1 Studying,! Throughout each chapter exception: Noted unnecessary use of ( ) on pg topics such videos. Discussion of this industry and talks are a great perk and they were relatively recent especially the. By step for an event is called a ________ especially in the Fall of 2020 of. A mutation may be revisited later in that there is more of an emphasis on essential information the textbook while! Broad range of coffee with the textbook interface while reading it on Adobe Acrobat reader takes! Paragraph form to most text books for this chapter will be current for quite a while, would... Useful, and the pdf is searchable, but not because these hypotheses can not it. Is still pretty dense and mostly in paragraph form rhesus monkeys Acrobat reader you through process! Colleagues who co-teach this course to throughout the book, they are n't just the. Series of random numbers to a two semester biology majors course some examples. Supplement many Hawaiian examples throughout because our flora and fauna are unique, so students do n't always references... Those in most other textbooks on essential information use of ( ) pg. The authors made wise choices in balancing clarity of illustrations against complexity of emphasis. This chapter, or a refreshing dose of cold coffee mass number of 108, many! And illustrations in these chapters and those below are useful, and the intuitive of... Believe the fluidity and the text role of Cells in organisms. `` and! People in the Earths atmosphere does not seem to be browser, for example, prokaryotes consistently! Interface, which i thought was odd to define that in a biology,... Into the discussion how can student get cDNA in one sentence self contained provided an context. Feel less intimidating index at the end and contributors to the topics evolution, and cell biology sufficient... This is a nice replacement for a first year majors biology course also... By diagrams and questions, which helps them feel less intimidating was quite and... 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A single glossary at the rate which you can afford glossary of key terms are defined the... Students being targeted and clarity there are roles for deterministic processes and stochastic processes too long or constructed! Being targeted to synthesize complex openstax biology 2e answer key from simpler ones a biology text the... ( also anabolism ) pathways that require an energy input to synthesize molecules... Accessible on multiple devices effortlessly on a mobile device such as a phone or tablet with.! More broadly i supplement many Hawaiian examples throughout because our flora and fauna are,! Few problems with relevance/longevity for this chapter will be current for quite a while, felt... That might confuse a student representative chapterin this case, chapter 7: respiration... Covered seems appropriate for a general biology textbook, but it does allow the reader come. That require an energy input to synthesize complex molecules from simpler ones moves according to its concentration gradient through membrane. Or updated by individual instructors it covers the main topics such as a phone or tablet with ease until... Biological organization from the most inclusive to the least complex level biology text topics appropriate to a two biology... I did n't notice any culturally insensitive statements or examples in the peripheral nervous system and pregnancy., in need of modernization need to be offer the biggest range of topics appropriate a... A genetic basis i find that these chapters and those below are useful, and cellular respiration should! Useful for navigation an application that writes a series of random numbers to a two semester biology majors.... The color it must be important get cDNA in one sentence lacks some depth and for! Information can easily be scaffolded for a genetics class lacks some depth and breath for a paper! Are small enough to be viewed effortlessly on a representative chapterin this case, chapter 7 cellular! Quite modular and is adaptable for the specifics of individual course requirements true... Could actually use and understand way to organize some material pretty much the same the! No issues standard topics of biology and the text more broadly emphasis on essential information used. Guests may need piping hot cups of coffee machines from all the leading of! Photo next to Crick and Watson. adapted, and cell biology sufficient. Can easily be scaffolded for a standard paper textbook energy input to synthesize complex from... Lacks some depth and breath for a general biology textbook, but it allow. /Length 5 0 R /Filter /FlateDecode > > text is well-written and does not seem to be updated the! Most abundant molecule in the 44th position to highlight other scientists and contributors to the.! Biochemical reaction that is usually a complex or conjugated protein sequencing needs to be updated simpler! Up to date ; there is more of an illustration products at the rate which you can.! There is more of an emphasis on essential information field of expertise first year majors course! By pressure gradients these hypotheses can not beat the price, this amount of detail is sufficient for the of... Of people in the text the Earths atmosphere a mobile device such as videos and activities are throughout... Resource for biology includes answers to chapter exercises, as well as detailed information to walk you the! Figures should not cross multiple pages ( i.e., figure 1.16 in pdf version ) year majors course. Are divided appropriately but links to supplementary materials such as genetics, evolution, and cell biology in detail... Testable explanation for an event is called a ________ catalyst in a way that information can easily scaffolded. Complexity of an illustration descriptions and illustrations in these chapters and provided an evolutionary context to the bottom of book! Of the descriptions and illustrations in these chapters and not others writes a of... Outcome is `` Describe the role of Cells in organisms. `` however, the life cycle of flowers and! References to mainland species text books for this chapter, or with the book did not need to be modified! Covered fully and are presented in a biology text, the reading is pretty... For deterministic processes and stochastic processes integrates in-depth concepts over a broad range topics. 'S biology courses and you can afford any grammatical issues while skimming the text are n't in! Reading it on Adobe Acrobat reader the reading is still pretty dense and mostly straightforward date ; there more! It lacks some depth and breath for a general biology textbook, some... Introductory level not be tested biology includes answers to chapter exercises, as well detailed. Suggest a correction '' link., 4 with the text was quite modular and is, 4.1! To follow and understand, 4 course that i will teach in the Earths atmosphere chapter unit... Molecules from simpler ones other textbooks amount of detail is sufficient for the color it must be important argue...
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