On page 90, the text states, Being the outermost structure in animal cells, the plasma membrane is responsible for the transport of materials and cellular recognition and it is involved in cell-to-cell communication. Why only animal cells? Its a shame because it would have been relatively easy to bring in a great deal more diversity in portrayals of human scientists. It includes both the cell biology and organismal biology required of a 2-semester biology post-secondary sequence. Once again, the regular active submission of errors/suggestions by end users will help to keep the text up-to-date. enzyme. Of course this applies to any textbook. I focused in on Chapter 15: Genes and Proteins. However, some have low resolution, which makes their interpretation difficult. I did not find references to other sections of the book, and these chapters could be used without the rest of the text. The textbook is organized in a clear and logical way. read more. The text book covered all the chapters I would assign for first semester General Biology course at the college level (Molecules to Cells). Thank you! Individual sections (or even subsections) can be revised or rewritten and plugged in as needed, without interrupting the flow of the text (assuming a similarity of writing style). One thing that I would have liked is greater consistency in the figures. The online version features a side menu table of contents with a drop-down option for each unit and chapter, so that one can navigate to individual chapter sections. As a well-structured biology textbook, this book begins with a clear and short introduction to the subject, followed by a comprehensive explanation of essential subjects and concepts in a logical progression. WebCh. On page 1304, the text states, Animals faced with temperature fluctuations may respond with adaptations, such as migration, in order to survive. This reinforces a common and deeply rooted student misconception that organisms adapt in order to survive. This book will suffice in a 2 semester biology course. I thoroughly enjoyed it! The textbook explains very complex topics in a comprehensive manner and appears to be designed for early term biology and associated science majors. It is a scientific text and presents the material in a way that should not be offensive to any one. I looked over the major sections that I regularly teach (chapters 1-16) and I didnt run into any inaccurate information. The topics speak to contemporary relevance. In approximately 280 pages these offer a solid introduction to structure and physiological function. This text book is an excellent teaching tool. This is a nice replacement for a standard paper textbook. A suggested and testable explanation for an event is called a ________. Some of the content, such as mitosis and meiosis, are separated into different chapters, which is different from some of the standard texts used (e.g. However, some topics at least for a genetics class, I believe do not have enough detail (examples gene expression, sequencing). Then, waste no time, come knocking to us at the Vending Services. The authors have included features that will be helpful to students such as "Themes and Concepts of Biology", "Career Connections" and "Key Terms". Better than most textbooks which have all the questions at the end of each chapter. The text content is generally relevant and up-to-date. Its generally well-written. It is a complete package! There is no list of references at the end of each chapter to the literature. However, this may be a students first exposure to such concepts; in such an instance, word choice and grammar leaves one to draw ones own conclusions. ATP. I enjoyed the Links to Learning and Career Connections sections. The book reads clearly to me. It is as culturally relevant as would be expected for an introductory biology textbook. Seeing that is a very basic biology text, the material discussed here is at an introductory level. Terrestrial vertebrates differ in the source of body heat and in the variation in temperature they experience and can tolerate, not in the temperature of their blood. % Each subunit is organized well and has a comprehensive outline at the end of every chapter along with questions. Yes it is but a lack of internal referencing is evident. For example, in chapter 5, the book states, A variation of diffusion is the process of filtration. That said, it isn't particularly cutting edge, either in terms of content, or in its approach to teaching. It's hard to say how quickly these current examples will become obsolete, but this would be a problem with any textbook that uses current examples. It is also important to emphasize to students that diffusion is an effective and important process for transport of molecules over small distances but is completely irrelevant at macrocopic scales. The section on temperate forests is actually inaccurate in spots, stating that deciduous trees are dominant in this biome, and omitting the fact that coniferous forest are also dominant in these forests. I am seriously considering transitioning to this text from my much more expensive versions that I currently require. Text didnt self-reference too much, which is very useful for classes that only cover part of the text. On page 285, the text states, Cells in G0 phase are not actively preparing to divide. The Toolkit. I didnt find many examples of research made by women or by scientists from diverse backgrounds. Yes, the text appears to be consistent in terms of terminology and framework. As noted above, the chapters can be covered in any order as instructors prefer, but the overall outline of the units and chapters fits perfectly with any standard biology course taught over one or two terms. I would say that the text gives more details than most introductory biology classes for majors will use. These and many more errors and omissions can be corrected by a revision of the text and replacement of figures. The organization of the text follows the same logical fashion as previous texts. Necessary and appropriate disciplinary terminology is employed well, and definitions in context are supplemented by end-of-chapter lists of key terms, with definitions. Some clades were given with their taxonomic rank and others not. Overall the content accuracy was on par with an introductory course. On page 481, the text fails to explain why a mutation may be neutral. The text covers essential content in sufficient detail for an introductory and/or non-majors biology survey type course. Non-major students who dislike biology After having used the book for majors biology course for the last 4 semester, I have pleased to say that I content is simple yet efficient and effective. The topics are presented in a format that is typical and logical for a large introductory biology text. The text reads well with no blatant grammatical errors. An instructor who was teaching with this book would have to be able to create/provide this kind of summary for students on their own or from another source. Overall figures / images were good and clearly demonstrated the concepts, although occasionally they look somewhat unprofessional when compared to other similar texts. 12.1, 15.1,16.1,17.1 all were poor choices. Atoms that vary in the number of neutrons found in their nuclei are called ________. Biology is an extremely broad subject area to The units on evolutionary processes (unit 4), biological diversity (unit 5) and ecology (unit 8), are hard to follow and may confuse students. With failing vision reading from a standard text book requires good lighting and magnification. For example, there is a box in the plant section discussing whether green algae are considered as plants. This helps students connect what they are learning with their lives. The material is presented in an engaging manner and should hold the students attention. This text is very comprehensive, covering all topics that should be included in a two semester undergraduate introductory biology course for Biology majors/premedical students. In other words, I am unfamiliar with open source, online texts. The reviewer has no issues with the grammar used in this textbook. You can assign students some chapters and not others. The first forms of life on Earth were ________. The concept of T suppressor subsets has been changed and regulatory T, B, DC and NK populations have been described and shown to have immune suppressive and regulatory functions. In Chapter 18, the text only includes the biological species concept, with no discussion of its weaknesses or limitations. Even when using the material in a different order than presented in the text, it does not affect the continuity and connectedness of the material. The textbook contains current information and up-dated material. I did look at the OpenStax A&P book and it looked like it would do for the "Animal Form and Function" aspects of introductory biology. There were also areas where American Indian culture could have been included but were not. Biology includes rich features that engage students in scientific inquiry, highlight careers in the Learning outcomes are specified throughout and are clear and complete. Like most Biology textbooks, this was hit or miss for me. Here also, we are willing to provide you with the support that you need. These resources vary in quality, but links do work properly and redirect to functioning sites. It does occasionally hang while loading if the internet connection is slow, but thats to be expected. I found few errors. Key words in bold are also easily visible and defined at the end of the chapter, so students can quickly find definitions. The text is consistently organized into brief modules, that break down the ideas into manageable chunks of information. The electronic version of the textbook was easily read on a Mac, PC, and on various tablets and phones. How many grams and how many liters of water would have to be evaporated through perspiration to rid the body of the heat generated during two hours of exercise? I only viewed the text using a laptop, so I cannot comment on its interface on a smartphone or tablet. 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. The text provides comprehensive coverage of foundational research and core biology concepts through an evolutionary lens. In any case it is an instructors responsibility to supplement with the latest understanding and findings as they may pertain to a course. Reviewed by Urbi Ghosh, Science, Adjunct Faculty, Bunker Hill Community College on 2/24/23, It is possible to use this book in place of more expensive textbooks because it is suitable for the introductory biology course for which it was written. The format od each section should be consistent across reading platforms. I teach "Cell Biology for Health Occupations" at a community college, and we currently use an abridged version of Pearson's Campbell Biology in Focus textbook. Examples overall seem fine. The topics are presented in a logical, clear fashion, with minimal searching for an area of interest. Many biology textbooks seem to be set up this way and I think this organization makes the material flow well. It may be more suitable for Canadian students if there were more images from Canada-based resources. Most of the current research examples just serve to further elaborate or explain a concept and thus many examples would still be relevant even if the theories or studies became outdated. Inclusion of new landmark scientific discoveries will be useful. This book does suffer from the expert gap phenomenon. The fact that it is open source textbook, allows it to be readily modified or updated by individual instructors. However, most of the scientific articles cited are more than 10 years old, being the most recent article from 2015. The diagrams of almost every human body system had outlines that suggested long, straight noses,, non-ethnic hair styles, and no disabilities (e.g., someone using a wheelchair). I dont see any problems with relevance/longevity for this chapter, or with the text more broadly. All texts tend to emphasize some areas over others, and this is no exception. It covers all the topics in sufficient detail for the student to succeed. The navigation is a bit easier with the downloaded version, as the online version is divided into units, so if you just give your student a chapter to look at, you may need to tell them which unit the chapter is listed under. Cell biology gets more cursory coverage and evolution is surprisingly The one for chapter 10 is here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1omaQkYWGthrr6-vL4zK09U2DufGDXx1iLYxqV0ygYh4/edit?usp=sharing. First half of the book fits seamlessly with any generalized schedule. The text is written well, but covers some of the more complex topics too quickly and with too few examples for the introductory student. Therefore in order to reach this audience effectively (to help them retain material), it is better to have a few more images. The book is quite comprehensive and covers all aspect of biology that one can choose from to cover in an introductory biology course. Learning objectives were phrased in a clear way using verbs to help students understand exactly what is expected of them. Our young women need more role models in the STEM fields. Any issues present must be pretty minor. The terms warm-blooded and cold-blooded are used throughout the text, e.g., page 749: The mostly cold-blooded dinosaurs ceded their dominance of the landscape to more warm-blooded mammals. These terms are highly inaccurate. GitHub openstax / cnx-recipes Public Notifications Fork 14 Star 5 Code Issues 81 Pull requests Actions Projects Security Insights New issue Here are some examples; Im sure there are many more. There were some obvious modern features that I thought I would find but didnt, such as genome editing with CRISPR-Cas9. However, they are inconsistent in the quality of the website links. Even if this text was not free, I suspect it would be a better choice because the page-count is more manageable. For example, why does a business major need to know about RNA transcription or the different parts of the translation machinery. The sentence conveys an implicit idea that ALL variation in a species is attributable to genes. The text does not dive into the controversy, merely puts forward the biological information as it should. Females possess two X chromosomes while males possess one X and one Y chromosome." 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. Overall, this chapter is consistent in its use of terminology and concepts. The major textbooks in Biology offer numerous, diverse learning resources, including audience response programs, test banks, adaptive learning software, etc. I tried several times to access the Instructor Power Points that are supposedly available, and I could not get the website to work. 5. The book is easily adaptable. I would love to see a version that takes advantage of the electronic format more and becomes a little more interactive. Others are not as worthwhile, and may even solidify commonly believed biological myths. It may remain as a heuristic that is often mentioned, so perhaps there is still some use in having in a textbook, but its not exactly an up-to-date framework. Figures should be introduced after text throughout each section. 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. Some terms were utilized in strange ways, and I felt some of the definitions could be altered a little to be more precise. Reviewed by Ken Carloni, Assoc. For the most part, large blocks of text are broken up with a plethora of photos, graphs, diagrams, and inset boxes. 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. The first forms of life on Earth were ________. Openstax does have chapter questions available, but I prefer to use reading guides which ask students to read the chapter, pausing to answer questions as they go. I am writing this review for potential "Introductory Biology" course (chapters 1-16), thus, I currently use it as supplemental resource. There are a few errata, but they were mostly grammatical errors. The textbook also offers access to a variety of Learning Resources and various real world Connection sub-topics that are highly useful and complemented the material provided in each chapter. On page 30, the text says, Many organisms belonging to the Archaea domain live under extreme conditions and are called extremophiles. This would be fine if the text then went on to explain that we now realize that Archaea are far more widespread than previously thought, but the discussion ends there. Overall, acceptable trade-off to conventional high quality textbooks. While not in detail, most of the material covered gives the reader a basic understanding of various biological processes. Although alternative splicing is mentioned in Chapter 16, it should be described in Section 15.4. Figures were overly simplified, yet serve the purpose. The text is not culturally insensitive, and material can easily be supplemented with current news articles and essays addressing the moral and ethical implications of current findings and technologies. Over the first 16 chapters, the text is consistent in its framework, as well as in its design. A comprehensive index is provided at the end of the text. I liked being able to click on a link in the index or table of contents, which takes the reader directly to a specific page within the book. I have personally adopted the Openstax Biology textbook, which I assign to my introductory biology students as a reference text. The chapters could be easily reorganized into smaller subunits as needed for a class. Biology 2e is designed to cover the scope and sequence requirements of a typical two-semester biology course for science majors. However, I would like to see a bit more of the big picture ideas of cellular respiration. Navigation is obvious, reliable, intuitive, and resembles a traditional hard copy text, so that it should feel familiar to most students. The chapters match what most introductory courses outline in their syllabi. My students who use the PDF and iBook versions report that they like being able to search for topics. 17. For instance, serendipity is defined right away on page 22, which I thought was odd to define that in a Biology text. The text provides comprehensive coverage of foundational research and core biology concepts through an evolutionary lens. Physiology and anatomy covering the basic structure and function of animals. Art and illustrations have been substantially improved, and the textbook features additional assessments and related resources. The organismal themes are oriented toward animal function and structure (which can be found in the majority of the book), with only a cursory coverage of plant structure and function (similar to what is found in the majority of biology textbooks). More importantly, however, rapid advances are made in many aspects of modern biology, most notably in molecular genetics, but even other areas are undergoing change from the application of molecular approaches and new discoveries. Additionally, with the online version, students could see what unit, chapter, and subsection they were within, as it becomes highlighted in the table of contents at the top. I am writing this review for potential "Introductory Biology" course (chapters 1-16), thus, I currently use it as supplemental resource. I would definitely consider adopting this textbook for a non-majors introductory class at the freshman level. Topics such as biotechnology and conservation/ecology will, of course, have a quicker update cycle as new technology is developed and example animals are driven to extinction. More recent genomic analysis has identified cephalochordates as the most basal chordates. But, in the case of mitosis, the lack of a good figure of the mitotic spindle is notable. Each Im used to seeing A&P chapters laid out from an evolutionary perspective (e.g. The content is up to date with no glaring and serious mistakes. I use the text currently as a supplementary resource, and am planning on switching to use the text as a the primary resource for students during the next academic year. The text is comprehensive in its coverage of the typical materials for a non-majors introductory biology course at the 100 level. I wonder if the text needed a firmer editor. While there are probably a few more grammatical errors than would be typical for a traditional textbook, I have no problems with the grammar of the text. There is consistency with the presentation in each of the chapters with the art inserts and the glossary and test questions. It has a good online index that is searchable. read more. Even though simple, I like the illustrations in this textbook because they are clear, to the point. One area that may need updating are topics such as phylogenetics and climate change; however the authors do a good job of giving relative examples. In particular, Chapter 17 (Biotechnology and Genomics), needs to be updated. In general, chapters are arranged in a logical order, and topics flow seamlessly within chapters. Some pages have a lot of white space, so the book may have a higher page count than it needs to (1500+), but I was reading it as a PDF, so that didn't really matter to me. I use Openstax Biology 2e as a textbook for my AP Bio and dual credit class. Often these links provide cutting edge insight into both the research and application to make the concept interesting and plausible to the viewer. I found it had enough depth for a majors course while being accessible for non-majors. Blocks of text are broken frequently by diagrams and questions, which helps them feel less intimidating. The organization makes sense and flows well. In chapter 42, both B and T cells play significant roles in immune responses. There is a comprehensive table of contents, index, and "Key Terms" page for each section. The chemistry chapter and many others have animations to help teach concepts that are better learned through visualizations, but some chapters do not have interactive animations that are very helpful in learning tough concepts like chemical bonding, building a molecule or diffusion and osmosis. I do think that the book would benefit from integrating more questions throughout the text to check student understanding throughout the chapters instead of having the majority of questions at the end of the chapters. The text is relatively up-to-date, certainly adequately so. This text covers all subject matter used in a one semester introductory biology course. Which of the following is not a functional group that can bond with carbon? The majority of the learning outcomes at the beginning of the chapter are done well and the visual connection and review questions at the end of the chapter assess lower order cognitive skills. 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 the simplest level of organization up to the highest level. In reviewing this textbook, I literally found only one grammar mistake which is saying a lot because I was actually looking for them. 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. This is one of the more consistent open ed resources I've seen. But overall regardless of the depth of information in the figures; they appear accurate. The topics are arranged in a typically progression and build on one another in a traditional fashion. Attributable to Genes 10 years old, being the most recent article from 2015 were mostly grammatical.. 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