Loose Leaf For Biology The Essentials

"I have been teaching nonmajors biology at the University of Oklahoma since 1997 and over that time have encountered many students who fear science in general and biology in particular. The complexity, abstractions, and unfamiliar terms can seem overwhelming at first, but with practice, I know that anyone can think like a scientist. Learning to think scientifically is important well beyond passing your biology class. After all, scientific issues confront you every day as you navigate your life and your social media accounts. How do you know if a claim about climate change is scientific? Will you be able to identify misinformation and interpret graphs during the next global health crisis? This book will teach you not only to understand the scientific terms you encounter but also to distinguish "good science" from unscientific claims. I've created the following features to help you make the transition from memorizing facts to understanding concepts-from accepting scientific claims to analyzing them for yourself. These tools will help you to pass your class and to be an informed citizen"--

Biology: The Essentials epitomizes what the market has come to recognize as Mariëlle Hoefnagels distinct and student-friendly writing-style. Mariëlle presents up-to-date information through What's the Point?, Why We Care, and Burning Questions; which are pedagogical tools designed to demonstrate to readers, and her own students, that biology is everywhere. Biology: The Essentials offers a broader and more conceptual introduction to biology, simplifying the more complex biological content to the essential elements that students need to act as framework for the details.

Essentials of Biology, sixth edition is designed to provide students who are not majoring in science with a fundamental understanding of the science of biology. Even though these students are not scientists, an understanding of how science can help identify, analyze, and offer solutions to the many challenges facing human society is critical to our species’ health and survival.

The most relevant, interactive, and up-to-date learning experience

"For years, biology instructors have recognized that we need to turn away from teaching methods that reward students who memorize and regurgitate superficial knowledge. Instead, we need to emphasize deeper learning that requires students to understand and apply course content. This idea is precisely what I have tried to achieve since I started teaching at the University of Oklahoma in 1997, and it has been a guiding principle in the creation of my books and digital material as well. This edition retains what users have always loved about this book: the art program, readable narrative, handy study tips, Investigating Life essays, tutorial animations, and concept maps. In this edition, I have explicitly connected the unit-wide Survey the Landscape concept map at the start of each chapter to the more detailed, chapter-specific Pull It Together concept map at each chapter's end. Not only does each Survey the Landscape now direct the student's attention to the Pull It Together concept map, but the latter includes a specially-labeled question directing the reader's attention back to the Survey the Landscape's "big picture" view. The objective remains the same: to help students see the "forest" and the "trees." One way to motivate students to learn is to help them see that biology is all around them: in food, medicine, pets, water, gardens, parks, and even vacant lots. For students interested in environmental quality, biology forms a foundation for understanding issues ranging in scale from the quality of local tap water to the changing global climate. The Burning Question and Apply It Now boxes support my efforts to help readers learn why biology matters. Each chapter now also includes one or more Scientific Literacy questions. These new thought questions at the end of each chapter will help students practice thinking like a scientist about relevant social, political, or ethical issues. We continue to acknowledge the growing numbers of instructors and students who are embracing digital textbooks.Preface SmartBook® user data from thousands of students using the fourth edition helped us to identify passages that needed clarification. The user data also guided us as we created a carefully selected array of digital Learning Resources to accompany many probes in SmartBook. In addition, many chapters have bonus features for ebook users, including new digital-only miniglossaries, tables, figures, and live-action videos of plants, fungi, and animals; see the Changes by Chapter section for a complete listing of our new additions. Ebook users will notice another new feature that supports the goal of bringing biology into student lives: a set of 12 relevancy modules that explain core biology content in the context of timely topics. Relevancy module topics span the book's units, from the process of science (Himalayan salt lamps) to organic chemistry (chocolate) to metabolism (weight gain) to cell division (cancer) to evolution (antibiotic resistance) to plant biology (mega crops) to animal biology (running a marathon) to ecology (climate change), and more. Depending on their teaching goals, instructors can assign a module before or after covering the core content and use it as a jumping-off point for class discussions or homework assignments. I believe that one set of tools and techniques does not work in every classroom. For that reason, my team and I are proud to create a package that gives you the flexibility to teach introductory biology in a way that works best for you. The following sections illustrate the features and resources for this edition that can help you meet your teaching goals. I hope that you and your students enjoy this text and that it helps cultivate an understanding of, and deep appreciation for, biolog"--

Biology is a traditional, comprehensive introductory biology textbook, with coverage from cell structure and function to the conservation of biodiversity. The book, which centers on the evolution and diversity of organisms, is appropriate for any one-or two-semester biology course. Biology uses concise, precise writing to present the material as succinctly as possible, enabling students--even non-majors--to master the foundational concepts before coming to class.