Reviewed by John Lepri, Professor (Biology), University of North Carolina at Greensboro on 12/5/16, Spanning 47 chapters, the OpenStax "Biology" production is as comprehensive as its competitors. I didnt encounter any problems navigating through the pages. For many students, it will be a slog to get through, and they will struggle to identify key concepts on their own You can even purchase a bound copy from Amazon for around $60, which is very reasonable for a textbook. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . I found it very easy to divide the readings into manageable segments that provide clarity and promote student understanding. I was pleased that key female scientists were mentioned. The text book covered all the chapters I would assign for first semester General Biology course at the college level (Molecules to Cells). biology astronomy physics 2 Review Questions - Biology 2e | OpenStax Review Questions Review Questions Highlights 4. I saw a handful of images that were ambiguous enough to construe as possibly portraying people of color, but only one photograph (portraying gouty toes) was from someone with a dark complexion. We understand the need of every single client. The text follows the many models of material sequence available in this market. molecular genetics) I don't think this book reflects very well the sate of knowledge now. The major textbooks in Biology offer numerous, diverse learning resources, including audience response programs, test banks, adaptive learning software, etc. There is no adaptive learning software like publishers use. I think students will find it easy and straightforward to read. 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. Irrespective of the kind of premix that you invest in, you together with your guests will have a whale of a time enjoying refreshing cups of beverage. I primarily used PDF copies, but did spend one day using the online version without issues. In Chapter 18, the text only includes the biological species concept, with no discussion of its weaknesses or limitations. Overall, it a text that is a good value for students to learn basics of biology. This may actually help students, as the elegant figures are sometimes distracting for students anyhow. I like that the chapters are fairly short. This is fairly common in most textbooks, but many General Biology courses will cover the plant unit and the animal unit in two distinct parts of the course. This explanation on page 58 is overly simplified: So how do the cells of the stomach survive in such an acidic environment? First half of the book fits seamlessly with any generalized schedule. Chapters 28 and 29 on invertebrates and vertebrates, respectively, provide an overview of the major phyla. Like many other biology texts, the book begins with an introductory chapter on the nature of science, before introducing atoms and chemistry, and then progressing all the way to ecology and evolution, with units on genetics, diversity, and anatomy/physiology along the way. In addition, chapters are grouped under 8 units, from "The Chemistry of Life" to "Ecology.". The text is easily readable and helps make complex topics easier to navigate. I have used chapter 1-16 of this book for a 100-level community college class "Integrated Chemistry and Cellular Biology for Healthcare Professionals". I noted several examples and I am sure that there are many more. I have not read each chapter, but the few I did, I did not find errors. Webtwo sugar monomers that a glycosidic bond links. I liked that chapters were separated into a handful of subsections with a concise heading -- some other texts seem to over-partition concepts which can prevent a novice from understanding the connections between sections. This error appears to be due to a change in the figure from the first edition which was not accompanied by a corresponding change to the caption.) There are the all-too-familiar historical photos of white men who are credited with the discovery of major things. The placement of the chapter within the larger text makes sense, following a section on the introduction to metabolism, and preceding a section on photosynthesis. The text is arranged to be able to stay up to date. This text book has taken modularity to new heights. 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. The underlying theme of evolution is throughout the book and unifies the theme. 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. In figure 7.9 (Citric Acid Cycle), this convention is jettisoned. Overall this book does a great job and overall I believe that it is an adequate substitution for a published text that students purchase, although some connections between themes may need to be emphasized. Art program is adequate but not inspiring. These sections make the material more relevant to students, and help them shift focus from the proximate, detail-oriented perspective to the ultimate, big-picture perspective. The reviewer has no issues with the grammar used in this textbook. Many figures are not readable until viewing at 200% or even 300%. read more. I have chosen this textbook for my Animal Biology course that I will teach in the Fall of 2020. One of the best features is the Everyday Connection sections, which are imaginative and will be interesting to students. This market is challenging to break into, in spite of the appeal of a "free" text. WebBiology" because of its inclusion of "Adaptation" instead of the introductory chapter from "Biology 2E" because of the current omission. Some chapters were confusing when there were brief intros to some clades, then human A&P, and then more animal systems. The smallest unit of biological structure that meets the functional requirements of living is the ________. Each chapter has a number of small photographs, I am rating a 4 just based on the fact that I have not read the entire text, nor all the chapters I intend to assign. First, the visual portrayals: The vast majority of working scientists shown in photographs appear to be light-skinned, and mostly male-presenting. This book does do a good job of being modular. That is where students struggle anyway, and it would have been nice to have a little more clarity at that point. If you are looking for a majors level textbook that covers all the content covered in the vast majority of first semester biology course, this will work for you. The online accessibility allows one to search the contents of the book, making it incredibly easy to navigate. I intentionally stepped into chapters out of order and found them to be appropriately modular. Human sex determination is presented as being very simple, completely chromosomal, and binary. Unfortunately, it is also uneven relative to the printed alternatives. WebOpenstax Biology 2e Answer Key Chapter 2 Download Openstax Biology 2e Answer Key Chapter 2: FileName Speed Downloads Openstax Biology 2e Answer Key Chapter 2 | full 3971 kb/s 3630 Openstax Biology 2e Answer Key Chapter 2 [Most popular] 1278 kb/s 4838 Openstax Biology 2e Answer Key Chapter 2 | added by users 798 kb/s 4512 The framework and organization allows this to be a resource that professors could actually use as well. I found the information presented in this book to be accurate, up-to-date, and consistent with the most widely held scientific opinions on the topics. For the most part topics are presented in a logical sequence, except for the Evolution chapters. Thus, we found sentence syntax and structure could be improved in places. Yes, my other comments are as follows: This book is a great free replacement for the textbook we normally use from a large name publisher. This particular information is relatively new in the field of biology, though most of the current discoveries lie in the realm of gene function and would be included in an upper level course. I especially like the individual glossaries for each chapter rather than a single glossary at the end. The text is very accessible to students in terms of clarity and accessibility of prose. One, the figures are sometimes bare-bones. No Dihybrid Cross (Independent Assortment) in 12.2 Characteristics & Traits, even though incomplete dominance, codominance, multiple alleles, and X-linkage are discussed. No culturally insensitive or offensive material was encountered. ions neutrons neutral atoms isotopes 6. I am unlikely to switch back to the traditional textbook model, which I feel has become far too costly for my students. When talking about inherited disorders and conditions, the authors were straight-forward and sensitive with jargon related to those topics, which can read as offensive if done thoughtlessly. Overall this text covers each topic in adequate detail and provides enough detail and content for a two semester coverage of biology for majors, especially if this text is used alongside additional instructor input and labs. There are many cases in which the authors refer to plants and animals, rather than including all relevant taxa. I enjoyed the navigation of the text via the left-hand side contents menu. For a majors, there might be some supplemental material required, if the instructor wants to dig into particularly new technologies. I have found the content for this purpose mostly comprehensive, with some need to supplement. Compare heterogeneous and homogeneous mixtures. Inclusion of well-labeled figures, tables, and charts throughout the text to compare and contrast structures and to help students visualize processes are particularly helpful. Additional supporting materials with simulations and problem sets. Images are simple and clear. This is a bright spot. The links are in the above post, as either google doc files or as pdf. I believe that more modern books will more thoroughly discuss the human element to conservation and management. This might be particularly true in some of the biochemical terms and pathways presented. Still, if you prefer to create your own lectures, this text is without a doubt a top choice. A compressed-air cylinder stands 100cm100 \mathrm{~cm}100cm tall and has internal diameter 20.0cm20.0 \mathrm{~cm}20.0cm. Also- for the physiology section- inclusion of various disorders based on different races and genders can be beneficial to the students. The 2nd edition has been revised to incorporate clearer, more current, and more dynamic explanations, while maintaining the same organization as the first edition. read more. In Chapter 8, the text states, The energy extracted today by the burning of coal and petroleum products represents sunlight energy captured and stored by photosynthesis almost 200 million years ago. No, fossil fuels formed in the Paleozoic, which ended 252 mya. On page 54: Unites States This textbook was comprehensively organized and populated with topics. The textbook is divisible into smaller reading sections and it is self-referential. The text integrates in-depth concepts over a broad range of topics. It would be helpful for my objectives to have a stronger treatment of invertebrates. The problem is, I dont think I did a great job and I havent taught it again so modify and refine lessons. On p. 23 the authors write: "Scientists classify cells as prokaryotic or eukaryotic". For future use, I like that I could assign small sections to students. 8DE rPreK4\53msL-8UWPY9l*,0yZ!i0%B68om@qF8g eI8 Some of these are laced with ads that might indicate endorsement by a school or faculty and could be offensive to a student. I havent noticed any major interface problems with the .pdf or the online version (viewed in Chrome). I could not image how to part of a chapter to cover the basics of a topic. I also think that the consistent lumping of Archaea and Bacteria together as prokaryotes is out-of-date (see my comments on this above). Since the review prompt asked for me to consider inclusion specifically, I made a point to page through the book, one page at a time, specifically looking for portrayals of human diversity and humans working as biologists/scientists. I think students would grasp the concept better. There is a bit of redundancy when talking about amino acid structure, as every time amino acids are mentioned, there is also the mention of the amino group and carboxyl group. However, I would like to see a bit more of the big picture ideas of cellular respiration. Because this content is designed for an introductory Biology majors course, there is quite a bit of jargon and technical terminology. read more. For example, trying to show how Valine is substituted in hemoglobin before Translation has been covered. format. I'ld like to see some deeper discussions into current topics such as CRISPR and other Biotechnology related concepts, although discussions around genomics was sufficient. Fungal and protistan cells also have cell walls. No, not all protists have cell walls. Like many other biology texts, the book begins with an introductory chapter on the nature of science, As a result, for this level,I am pleased with the level of accuracy. I did not check to see if higher resolution options were available online for such figures. Good to have a glossary at the end of each chapter but the definitions could have more depth and research. Key words in bold are also easily visible and defined at the end of the chapter, so students can quickly find definitions. Reviewed by Laurie Lawson, Associate Professor, Tidewater Community College on 1/30/23, This online textbook covers most chapters for the biology 101 and 102 courses taught at TCC. Yes it is but a lack of internal referencing is evident. I found only one incongruence. Van der Waals attractions can occur between any two or more molecules and are dependent on slight fluctuations of the electron densities, which are not always symmetrical around an atom. These are clearly presented and provide simple ways for students to connect the material to their own lives. I must admit that at first glance this book looked to me to be much less glitzy than traditionally published books, without all the bells and whistles, the fancy graphics and human interest stories. While it is not as polished as a traditional text, I feel that the advantages it offers far outweigh the costs. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. In general, the topics in the text are presented in a logical order, with more basic ideas coming before more complex ones. I havent noticed any glaring errors so far. I have found a few broken links throughout the text. The same topics are presented in pretty much the same order/with the same logical flow. Since this is an introductory biology textbook, the topics are rather standardized across textbooks in this market. I found few errors. I didn't see anything that made this book more or less culturally relevant than other texts. I found many references to modern techniques, jobs, and information. 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. Biology was very comprehensive in its covering of general biology topics and the "Link to Learning" feature allows the learner to expand the concept. Reviewed by Marisa Cases, Adjunct Professor, Middlesex Community College on 6/25/20, This textbook includes more depth than the current publisher's edition. Overall the content has longevity - many topics are relatively unchanging, especially since this textbook covers fundamentals. There are many genes on our autosomes that affect primary and secondary sexual characteristics (including the potential to affect some aspects of gender expression). These are helpful in linking the topics covered to real world issues. This book does suffer from the expert gap phenomenon. I recommend this book highly. For instance, in the cell reproduction chapter, the metaphase, anaphase, and telophase sections are each described using just 3 sentences. The small text-box presentations of examples of the scientific method throughout the book were well executed. There is previous knowledge assumed in several chapters that students would not have if entire units of the textbook were skipped or covered out of order. It seems cumbersome for my students to go to the end of the chapter to look up the key term. Some of the language is loose: "Need for osmoregulation" implies that osmoregulation happens because it needs to happen, instead of correctly stating that "osmoregulation happens" because of all the partnering proteins, the membranes, the solutes, the pumps, etc. Are those available somewhere or exclusively on TpT? I have cited a few examples In fig 2.19, human blood should be included in the pH scale. In some instances, the language could be simplified to make the text more accessible and terms better defined. Alternate ISBN (s) 9781506699851. This is a traditional textbook. In some cases, it appears that the authors do not fully understand them. What is its electron configuration? The text provides comprehensive coverage of foundational research and core biology concepts through an evolutionary lens. The genetics section of this book appears to be consistent. The table of contents is not available on each page, so navigation other than directly forward or backward is difficult. Students are more likely to complete assigned readings that are shorter sections and mostly self-contained. As a result, she determines that plants grow better when exposed to music. The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo This seems like a great book for freshman because often at that stage the students are interested in science but are unsure of what branch of science they want to go into. I found few errors. The text is divided logically and often, providing a break for students reading. Examples are found on page 27: A community is the sum of populations inhabiting a particular area. bond formed by a dehydration reaction between two monosaccharides with eliminating a water molecule. There is no discussion of hypotheses that cannot be directly tested by controlled experiment, for ethical reasons or reasons of temporal or spatial scale. inhibition by a binding event at a site different from the active site, which induces a conformational change and reduces the enzyme's affinity for its substrate. The presence of a membrane-enclosed nucleus is a characteristic of ________. 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