Description

For non-majors biology courses.

Compelling and relatable stories engage students in learning biology

Colleen Belk and Virginia Borden Maier have helped students understand biology for more than twenty years in the classroom and over ten years with their popular text, Biology: Science for Life. The thoroughly revised 5th Edition engages students with new storylines that explore high-interest topics such as binge drinking, pseudoscience, and study drugs. The book helps students develop scientific skills using new Working With Data figure legend questions and addresses common misconceptions with Sounds Right, But Is It? discussions in each chapter. This edition also offers a wealth of new “Flipped Classroom” activities and other resources to help professors enliven their classes and to help students assess their understanding of biology outside of class.

Features

Engage students with relevant stories and help them develop scientific literacy skills

• UPDATED! Each chapter weaves in a story based on a current issue or hot topic through which biological concepts, examples, and applications are presented and explained. Six thoroughly revised storylines make biology topics even more relevant to today’s students:Chapter 2: Science Fiction, Bad Science, and Pseudoscience; Chapter 4: Body Weight and Health; Chapter 18: Binge Drinking Chapter 19: Clearing the Air; Chapter 21: Human Sex Differences; and Chapter 23: Study Drugs.
• Savvy Reader activities in each chapter investigate a selection of current periodicals (newspapers, journals, magazines, and websites) that relate to a discussion in the main narrative. Each excerpt is followed by critical thinking questions to help students interpret and evaluate scientific information and data found in everyday media.
• NEW! Working With Data questions have been added to the figure legends of selected graphs, tables, or figures, and challenge students to closely interpret the data.
• NEW! Sounds Right, But Is It? activities have been added to the end of each chapter and address common student misconceptions about biology concepts. The questions in the activity are available for use in class with Learning Catalytics.

Make complex biology topics more manageable for non-science students.

• NEW! In the edition with physiology chapters, a new chapter 18 covers the digestive and urinary systems, which were previously part of the chapters on the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. This new chapter presents this material in a more manageable format for students and instructors and features a storyline on binge drinking.
• UPDATED! Roots to Remember references have been added in context within chapter discussions to help students learn the language of biology using word roots.
• EXPANDED! Visualise This questions within select figure legends encourage students to look more closely at figures to more fully understand their content.
• Analogies in the book’s narrative and art compare abstract science with familiar objects and experiences, allowing students to better grasp difficult biological concepts.
• Stop and Stretch questions are strategically placed within the text to help students pace themselves and think critically about material they have just read.
• Learning Outcomes are integrated in MasteringBiology where they can be tied directly to assessment.
• A Closer Look sections have been heavily revised, isolating particularly challenging content so instructors have flexibility to assign or skip it. “An Overview” section always appears before A Closer Look section, with the former offering the “big picture” of a concept and the latter “the details.”

New to this Edition

Engage students with relevant stories and help them develop scientific literacy skills

• UPDATED! Each chapter weaves in a story based on a current issue or hot topic through which biological concepts, examples, and applications are presented and explained. Six thoroughly revised storylines make biology topics even more relevant to today’s students:Chapter 2: Science Fiction, Bad Science, and Pseudoscience; Chapter 4: Body Weight and Health; Chapter 18: Binge Drinking Chapter 19: Clearing the Air; Chapter 21: Human Sex Differences; and Chapter 23: Study Drugs. NEW Interactive Storyline Activities can be assigned in MasteringBiology.
• Savvy Reader activities in each chapter investigate a selection of current periodicals (newspapers, journals, magazines, and websites) that relate to a discussion in the main narrative. Each excerpt is followed by critical thinking questions to help students interpret and evaluate scientific information and data found in everyday media. NEW Savvy Reader activities can be assigned in MasteringBiology.
• Working With Data questions have been added to the figure legends of selected graphs, tables, or figures, and challenge students to closely interpret the data. NEW Working with Data assignments are available for each chapter in MasteringBiology.
• Sounds Right, But Is It? activities have been added to the end of each chapter and address common student misconceptions about biology concepts. The questions in the activity are available for use in class with Learning Catalytics.
• “Flipped Classroom” Instructor’s Manual includes many activities that have been tested in the authors’ own classes. Each text chapter is supplemented with video lectures featuring Colleen Belk and Virginia Borden Maier, a selection of in-class activities, suggestions for student “pre-work” outside of class, media references, and more.
• PowerPoint presentations accompany each chapter storyline to help instructors highlight the relevance of biology to everyday life. Many of these customizable lecture slides include new video clips.

Make complex biology topics more manageable for non-science students.

• In the edition with physiology chapters, a new chapter 18 covers the digestive and urinary systems, which were previously part of the chapters on the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. This new chapter presents this material in a more manageable format for students and instructors and features a storyline on binge drinking.
• UPDATED! Roots to Remember references have been added in context within chapter discussions to help students learn the language of biology using word roots.
• EXPANDED! Visualize This questions within select figure legends encourage students to look more closely at figures to more fully understand their content.

MasteringBiology^® is not included. Students, if MasteringBiology is a recommended/mandatory component of the course, please ask your instructor for the correct ISBN. MasteringBiology should only be purchased when required by an instructor. Instructors, contact your Pearson representative for more information.

MasteringBiology is an online homework, tutorial, and assessment product proven to improve results by helping students quickly master concepts. Students benefit from self-paced tutorials that feature personalized wrong-answer feedback and hints that emulate the office-hour experience and help keep students on track. With a wide range of interactive, engaging, and assignable activities, students are encouraged to actively learn and retain tough course concepts.

• Interactive Storyline Activities tie the story

Table of Contents

1. Can Science Cure the Common Cold? Introduction to the Scientific Method

 

Unit One: Chemistry and Cells

2. Science Fiction, Bad Science, and Pseudoscience: Water, Biochemistry, and Cells

3. Is it Possible to Supplement Your Way to Better Health? Nutrients and Membrane Transport

4. Body Weight and Health: Enzymes, Metabolism, and Cellular Respiration

5. Life in the Greenhouse: Photosynthesis and Climate Change

 

Unit Two: Genetics

6. Cancer: DNA Synthesis, Mitosis, and Meiosis

7. Are You Only as Smart as Your Genes? Mendelian and Quantitative Genetics

8. DNA Detective: Complex Patterns of Inheritance and DNA Profiling

9. Genetically Modified Organisms: Gene Expression, Mutation, Stem Cells, and Cloning

 

Unit Three: Evolution

10. Where Did We Come From? The Evidence for Evolution

11. An Evolving Enemy: Natural Selection

12. Who Am I? Species and Races

13. The Greatest Species on Earth? Biodiversity and Classification

 

Unit Four: Ecology

14. Is the Human Population Too Large? Population Ecology

15. Conserving Biodiversity: Community and Ecosystem Ecology

16. Where Do You Live? Climate and Biomes

 

Unit Five: Animal Structure and Function

17. Organ Donation: Tissues and Organs

18. Binge Drinking: The Digestive and Urinary Systems

19. Clearing the Air: Respiratory and Cardiovascular Systems

20. Vaccination: Protection and Prevention or Peril? Immune System, Bacteria, Viruses, and Other Pathogens

21. Human Sex Differences: Endocrine, Skeletal, and Muscular Systems

22. Is There Something in the Water? Reproductive and Developmental Biology

23. Study Drugs: Brain Boost or Brain Drain? Brain Structure and Function

 

Unit Six: Plant Biology

24. Feeding the World: Plant Structure and Growth

25. Growing a Green Thumb: Plant Physiology

Author

Colleen Belk and Virginia Borden Maier collaborated on teaching biology to nonmajors for over a decade together at the University of Minnesota—Duluth. This collaboration has continued through Virginia’s move to St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York, and has been enhanced by their differing but complementary areas of expertise. In addition to the non-majors course, Colleen Belk teaches general biology for majors, genetics, cell biology, and molecular biology courses. Virginia Borden Maier teaches general biology for majors, evolutionary biology, zoology, plant biology, ecology, and conservation biology courses.

After several somewhat painful attempts at teaching the breadth of biology to non-majors in a single semester, the two authors came to the conclusion that they needed to find a better way. They realized that their students were more engaged when they understood how biology directly affected their lives. Colleen and Virginia began to structure their lectures around stories they knew would interest students. When they began letting the story drive the science, they immediately noticed a difference in student interest, energy, and willingness to work harder at learning biology. Not only has this approach increased student understanding, but it has also increased the authors’ enjoyment in teaching the course–presenting students with fascinating stories infused with biological concepts is simply a lot more fun. This approach served to invigorate their teaching. Knowing that their students are learning the biology that they will need now and in the future gives the authors a deep and abiding satisfaction.