Difference between "The Way Life Works" and "Exploring the Way Life Works"?

[Matryoshka]

I know one is sold as a book to read (TWLW), and the other as a science curriculum (ETWLW). I own The Way Life Works, and had my older kids read it alongside their regular biology curriculum (CPO).

 

Since then I heard they made a book to be used as a text for a course (I know some people here have used it, because this is where I heard it :)). Looking at the samples online, it looks like virtually the same book. It's more pages, but not a ton. What are the differences, and would it be at all worth it to get the textbook and use it instead of CPO (or I've also considered K12's Advanced Bio - my youngest loves anything on the computer)?

 

It seems there are sections in the text labeled "Doing Science" and "Tools of Science" - are these labs (annoyingly, the samples at Amazon don't include these pages)? If not, are there labs with this? I see you can get an instructor's CD with tests (mentioned in the preface), but where from?

 

I'd definitely like her to go through this book, the question is whether as supplement to CPO or K12, or as the main text. If you've used it as a main text, are there any key concepts in a more standard text that are not there? It's very heavy on molecular biology and evolution (both of which I'm fine with) - Ecosystems, Classification, and human anatomy don't seem to get as much time...

 

Any thoughts or feedback?

[Corraleno]

The "Exploring..." book is basically the same text and illustrations as the original book, with a few extras thrown in; I believe it's targeted primarily at CC bio-for-nonmajors courses. The "Doing Science" and "Tools of Science" blurbs are just little inserts based on news stories or recent research; no labs. There are also little yellow boxes with questions to answer interspersed throughout; again, these don't seem to add much IMHO, other than to make the book look a little more text-ish. There is also a website associated with this book, which has some links and activities (click on Student Resources) as well as additional sample pages (where you can see examples of the "Doing Science" blurbs and the questions). It doesn't seem very well-maintained, as lots of links are broken.

 

Both versions of the book primarily focus on cellular/genetics/evolution, and there's not much on ecology/botany/zoology/human anatomy. The "Exploring" version doesn't add anything in that regard, compared to the original.

 

Jackie

Edited January 25, 2012 by Corraleno

[mcconnellboys]

A lot of the links are broken, but Quarks and Quirks has put together a plan for using the book:

 

http://quarksandquirks.wordpress.com/biology-hs-level/

 

...and so have I, but I do use a lot of her labs in place of those links that are broken at the other site:

 

http://greenapplesblush.blogspot.com/2012/01/ninth-grade-biology-plans.html

[mom4peace]

I've just updated the links on Quarks and Quirks. If any fail to work, please leave a comment letting me know what is broken so I can either repair or replace it. It's quite satisfying to see so many people make use of that syllabus!

 

Sarah

[cschnee]

You can get Exploring the Way Life Works as pdf downloads at this website. He also has mp3s of his great grandma reading the book available plus a syllabus for honours and highschool biology, plus power points etc... to go with the book. http://dieterleclassroom.wikispaces.com/Exploring+the+Way+Life+Works