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Biology: The Dynamics of Life
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Reviewer:
Tara Richerson
Olympic High School
Silverdale, Washington
Textbook Name: Biology: The Dynamics of Life
Authors: Alton Biggs, National Geographic, et al.
Copyright: 2000
Cost: $63.48
Publisher: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill
Customer Service Department
P.O. Box 543
Blacklick, OH 43004-0544
Fax: 614 755-5682
Publisher's Web site:
 Glencoe Science - Biology: The Dynamics of Life (2000 Edition)
Review: Three years ago, our district adopted this book for our introductory-level biology courses. Its diagrams are among its strongest features for students. The text is reader-friendly: There are few hyphens at the ends of columns, and all boldfaced vocabulary words are defined in context. Text blocks and graphics aren't crowded, so pages are not as busy (and intimidating) as some other biology books we examined during the adoption. Sentences are short. There is also good use of text features: colors and fonts vary with each level of organization; italics and boldfacing help students focus on the big ideas.
Some of our teachers say that the CD-ROM (which contains PDF versions of the ancillary materials) has been a great asset in planning units. It provides an easy way to glance through supporting materials without digging through several books. The CD offers teachers all sorts of goodies: video quizzes, help for Spanish-speaking students, and ready-made labs using probeware. I understand that more teacher materials are in the 2004 edition.
Now, for the bad news. The text contains many factual errors, and some items that deserve in-depth treatment (such as enzymes) receive only a diagram. Short sentences appear to increase readability, but they also provide too little detail. Many biology teachers find that they need to correct misinformation or supplement the text due to its lack of information. Students don't receive much in the way of depth of understanding or reinforcement of content. Beyond that, the Test Bank that comes with the teacher's materials is nearly worthless. Several questions, for example, focus on information from the captions accompanying the pictures. The teachers in our alternative high schools are really struggling to use the book's instructional materials in order to help their students.
If you're a teacher of the Pre-AP years, I would recommend that you look elsewhere for a suitable textbook for your course. I teach honors biology and AP Biology and have been very unhappy with the overall quality of this textbook and its ancillary materials. While a textbook is just one resource students use to acquire knowledge, high-ability students deserve something better than what this book can offer them as part of that toolkit. As a teacher, I would appreciate more help from authors and publishers in preparing our students to meet the standards set before us.
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