This is a guaranteed trouble-spot because the field is experiencing so much revision. However, they are inconsistent in the quality of the website links. (b) [Pt(NH3)2FCl]\left[\mathrm{Pt}\left(\mathrm{NH}_3\right)_2 \mathrm{FCl}\right][Pt(NH3)2FCl]. Although a keen student will immediately connect pH with hydrogen ion concentration, I think it would be more useful and consistent to refer to hydrogen ion gradient as it does in the text. In general, it provides enough current information that it should be easy to build on with specific examples. This textbook was comprehensively organized and populated with topics. The text was not culturally insensitive or offensive but the inclusion of races and ethnicities was lacking. - The 'Link to Learning' sections should be in a footnote or sidebar as they are distracting in the main body of the text. Thanks for sharing the reading guides! I think students would also like this option. This textbook was comprehensively organized and populated with topics. I did not find any obvious examples of insensitive or offensive language. Yes, this text is much like any of the regular, paper general biology textbooks. The index is helpful but there is no glossary. read more. I did not examine all of the review questions in the 26 chapters I engaged, but I came across one that to my mind rises to the level of error (Section 19.1 Population Evolution. 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. I like that I can find small sections throughout the book to assign to students. This makes it easy to expand on particular topics, replace a section with other reading, and tailor the text to the objectives of a course. This textbook is extremely comprehensive, almost too comprehensive. 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. Although alternative splicing is mentioned in Chapter 16, it should be described in Section 15.4. at the end of the book). However, because of the errors and the use of terms that no longer apply, students may become easily confused and this could affect the longevity of the text. Biology (OpenStax) is as comprehensive as, and follows the general topical format of a commercially available introductory biology textbook designed for life science majors. While the artwork is generally good some of the illustrations are too small and generally not as visually appealing as in commercial textbooks. I did not detect any major errors. Thanks again for all of these! I enjoyed the Links to Learning and Career Connections sections. I like that the chapters are fairly short. Webopening section of a scientific paper that summarizes the research and conclusions. You can even purchase a bound copy from Amazon for around $60, which is very reasonable for a textbook. The graphics are fewer and lower quality compared to expensive conventional textbooks, and the study questions are fewer and less thoughtful--an expected and acceptable trade-off given that this book has the potential to save students hundreds of dollars. On page 54, this sentence requires a fuller explanation: Cells can only survive freezing if the water in them is temporarily replaced by another liquid like glycerol. I did not find any instances of cultural insensitivity. On page 123: proteins synthesis is an essential function of all cells I encountered nothing that could be construed as culturally insensitive of offensive in any way. Many biology textbooks seem to be set up this way and I think this organization makes the material flow well. I realize that it is impossible to provide this quality of artwork in an open source textbook, but I think it is also important to recognize how important such features are for students attempting to visualize complex structures and to master difficult concepts. 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. This is not correct in the formal sense of classification. The same topics are presented in pretty much the same order/with the same logical flow. In other words, I am unfamiliar with open source, online texts. There is no theme of how science works or is done. The writing was clear and succinct. On page 486, this sentence is incomplete: Define species and describe how species are identified as different. On the instructor side, anyone who relies on powerpoints, especially new instructors, would find the lack of included images to be challenging and the need to add images will raise some issues around using copyrighted material from other sources. This book is perfectly appropriate for all readers. - The color scheme throughout should be softened and include different colors for major and minor headings. Although there were some minor figure errors which I did not find in the traditional textbook, there was effectively no difference in accuracy. Webopening section of a scientific paper that summarizes the research and conclusions. Every link that I clicked on was active. Some chapters contain references to "recent work" that will not be recent in a few years, although the text also does not give specific years the work was published. Students can download this text for free, view it on their devices and print it out. WebOpenStax Biology 2e Folder | Quizlet 47 sets created by MNWest_Biology Teacher OpenStax Biology 2e Chapter Key Terms from the OpenStax Biology 2e Book OER Book Link: https://openstax.org/details/books/biology-2e Sort OpenStax Biology 2e Chapter 46 Ecosystems 40 terms MNWest_Biology Teacher OpenStax Biology 2e Chapter 47 I will not argue with them, as those errors may be within their field of expertise. It also is relatively current, and includes some relatively recent knowledge, but the time for a major update is approaching. You can assign students some chapters and not others. This is consistent across the textbook, with the chapters following what I would consider to be a logical flow. I've found all the terminology to be consistent. there is little use of graphical phylogenetic hypotheses (trees) to illustrate evolutionary relationships and to identify the hypothesized origins of key evolutionary and clade-defining characteristics. The number and placement of headings and sub-headings seemed appropriate not too many that the flow of text was disrupted, but not too few that readers would have to stretch on and on with simple text. The online accessibility allows one to search the contents of the book, making it First half of the book fits seamlessly with any generalized schedule. P.459 I think linkage maps belong elsewhere. There is not a clear transition of voice from author to author, which is good. The core concepts of biology can be taught in many different orders and there is not one best linear path through the material. Reviewed by Kara Nuss, Instructor, Northeastern Illinois University on 5/5/20, Overall, the coverage of subjects is appropriate for an introductory majors-level textbook that would be used across two (or more) semesters. consent of Rice University. I found the book to be consistent in regards of terminology and layout, definitions of terms, and general chapter scheme. Nowhere does the text point out that attaching a phosphate with its -2 charge will necessarily cause a change in the conformation of the protein, and taking that phosphate back off will cause a change back to the original conformation: that cycle causes the protein to do physiologically useful activity, from powering the movement of sodium and potassium across membranes to the movement of a myosin head. Jumping to the electron transport system is an odd way to start in 7.1. Overall, topics seem to flow nicely within individual chapters and also are appropriately ordered within the larger Units. 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. 54L,x
o~GGGJKf.DDP_I3G!rs>?5*dk?`k @y`w(_g0U8xpp?c\Ne2E((>%v1+>O}53(="`WP[|lw 0kTw`#~"%y+1%kh]&8kfBA@4PmH$dmz~Q!>r-+qXmHz3P!dI4.$s x8~BgM}J'MMomq@:}/qeojvXmxk:1gxB4 The introduction to scientific approach and the culture of science is generally good. The Toolkit. I did not find any grammatical errors, although some sentence constructions were awkward. Though relevant, it may need revisions to trends in the future. Every summer, a new PDF of Biology is released and print stock is updated for the following Fall. The questions offered for students to self-test were few and under-developed. 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. Blocks of text are broken frequently by diagrams and questions, which helps them feel less intimidating. The book is divided into subsections, each of which contain several chapters relevant to that topic, and chapters are further broken down into subunits. This is one area in which this book truly shines: chapters are subdivided and can often stand alone. I have found the content for this purpose mostly comprehensive, with some need to supplement. The modularity of this textbook is excellent. This would necessitate a rewriting. 122 an entire sentence was inside the parentheses. A few are important to correct, especially given that we push students to understand the need for precise use of science terminology and vocabulary (e.g., Section 34.2 is titled "Nutrition and Energy Production," which might confuse a student who has learned that "energy can neither be created nor destroyed."). In some cases, the text over-focuses on certain topics while omitting others. That might be true in a sense, but relative to next generation, high throughput techniques, it is a very small portion of the sequencing actually happening in this day and age. Not sure this is a major hang up, just something I noticed. My classes are full of women. The table of contents and index are useful, and the PDF is searchable. There are also chapter summaries and review sections at the end of every chapter. The PDF of the text is over 1500 pages in length, making it very long (by print standards). I do think that changes to the layout and would make this book more accessible. I am specifically looking for a text that I can supplement, not a text that covers everything as the forefront of science since science quickly changes and as an instructor, I enjoy finding new articles or resources for my students each semester to keep the course up-to-date and more interactive for the students (and me). I like the way the text is easy to read, it seems different than the worst textbooks. I found only one photograph of a named female scientist, Elizabeth Blackburn, in Figure 14.16. The text is divisible into many reading sections within each chapter. WebBiology 2e is designed to cover the scope and sequence requirements of a typical two-semester biology course for science majors. Others are likely typos (e.g., in Table 4.1, it is shown that "Some" bacteria have cilia, which is not correct. Furthermore, for students who will only be taking one year of biology, I am confident that using this textbook will give them a broad overview of the field and introduce them to more specific topics that could help them in any major or career. I didn't see anything that made this book more or less culturally relevant than other texts. The open access nature of the content means that figures and illustrations are readily available online, making it easier for instructors to access the supporting content and incorporate it into their own teaching materials (the book also comes with all the standard instructor resources), and for students to directly interface with other online media (for example, embedded YouTube videos). 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 text is up to date and addresses relevant and contemporary issues. As my class has a focus on biotechnology, this will be the first time it is included in a 'general use' textbook. The overall order of the chapters seems to me to reflect an "order of discovery" approach that I have seen in the Campbell book (Mendelian genetics before DNA, speciation before population genetics). The glossary appears comprehensive, however, many duplicates (ie. Biology includes rich features that engage students in scientific inquiry, highlight careers in the p.359 Why show a karyotype where the colours dont match up for the homologues? The text is very easy to read, written for a collegiate audience in a way that avoids jargon, or identifies it in quotes to indicate that it is. The first third of this Biology 2e text is roughly equivalent to our abridged version of Biology in Focus. The glossary appears comprehensive, however, many duplicates (ie. I have not identified any specific errors in the text. This textbook provides an excellent discourse on the many foundational ideas of Biology. In other places (particularly Chapter 6 on metabolism), it seems like the order within the chapter had been changed, so that sometimes topics (including the second law of thermodynamics and entropy) are referenced, but not fully explained until later in the chapter. I think students will find it easy and straightforward to read. Better than most textbooks which have all the questions at the end of each chapter. The book reads clearly to me. Biology is an extremely broad subject area to cover and the authors do a great job of covering topics as diverse as general chemistry to biodiversity conservation. But I'll need student feedback to assess whether it reads clearly to students. I think this makes the reading more accessible and therefore students are more likely to complete it. 9781947172517. It is refreshing to see a discussion of epigenetics in detail as this is often missing from upper level genetics text books. read more. hi, i am a student and i have been using your reading guides to help me with my reading assignments for this book and they have been extremely helpful! I dont see any problems with relevance/longevity for this chapter, or with the text more broadly. Overall, the coverage of subjects is appropriate for an introductory majors-level textbook that would be used across two (or more) semesters. Cultural Relevance: A Despite some minor criticisms, I would use this text to replace our current biology textbooks in use for Biol 1, II and III. I do not understand why it is not more widely adopted. The standard topics of biology are covered well and provide students with a solid foundation of the subject area. There is a figure error in the description of prokaryotic transcription, but the text is correct. While not in detail, most of the material covered gives the reader a basic understanding of various biological processes. However, as the text reads currently, some "self-referencing" will be necessary to maintain connections among chapters and between sections within chapters. 54 27 100 108 5. 1443, after the 2nd word of the last paragraph. Plus the right hand side of the drawing is labeled as Cytosine bonded to adenine. That said, more and more scientific discoveries require extensive team work, making the worship of individual scientists -always questionable- impossible. I plan on doing this with my course this semester. I think students would grasp the concept better. OpenStax Reading Guides. This review will focuses specifically on a representative chapterin this case, Chapter 7: Cellular Respiration. This text book shows relevance. I would have liked to see more surrounding that topic in the way of images, and even information. I think visibility might be even more of an issue on a cell phone, which I know many students use to view their digital texts. The Review Questions and Critical Thinking questions were excellent and very useful to reinforce the content. The terminology to be set up this way and i think students will find easy. Trends in the traditional textbook, there was effectively no difference in accuracy, was... 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