Pat,+Amanda,+Ashley

Prentice Hall Biology: On a 1-5 scale, 5 being the best. (Paul was also in our group)


 * Book || Prentice Hall Biology: Miller and Levine, 2004. || Prentice Hall Biology Exploring Life: Campbell, Williamson, and Hayden, 2004. ||
 * Concept Order || 2: Jumps from Ecology to Microbiology back to Ecology. Out of order || 5: Starts with molecules and works it way up ||
 * Level of Depth || 5: The depth is reasonable for high school students, not too basic, not too deep. Explored all relevant concepts. || 3: Breezes over some topics that should be explored deeper ||
 * Questions @ end of chapter || 5: The questions progress from review to understanding to critical thinking. They stay on topic for material in chapter. || 4: Could divide by section, but increasing difficulty. Also have questions at the end of each section. ||
 * Appropriate and Ample Visuals || 4: All processes are highlighted with charts or visual aids. Other written material supplemented with visual aids. || 5: Less visuals and better color than first book. Less busy which allows for more understanding and less confusion. ||
 * Do Lesson Activities Exist || 5: Both quick labs and designing experiments exist for most topics. || 3: Labs are there but not in depth or allows for critical thinking. ||
 * Real Life Examples || 5: Use a variety of different relationships that are understandable for high school students. Used in all topics || 4: The examples are there but not as engaging as first book ||
 * Readability: Text size, color || 5: Vibrant and engaging. Not intimidating with overuse of text. || 5: Readable, not intimidating with overuse of text. ||
 * Are there answers to chapter questions || 3: No explicit answers in book, however, answers can be found in the text. || 4: Answers are easy to find, mainly because questions are too simple and easy. ||
 * Well Supported/Researched || 3: Authors are reliable, however not much in terms of support for primary author. No outside cited sources. || 5: Page of content reviewers ||
 * Summary at End of Chapter || 5: Summaries present and comprehensive || 1: No summaries to help students understand material. ||
 * Fitting to Standards || 5: Covered all basic standards for high school students. || 5: All basic high school standards are covered ||
 * Other comments || Busy, lots happening on every page which could cause students to be overwhelmed by different options || The book is not as busy but not as deep or engaging as first book reviewed ||
 * Overall || 4: Other than organization and busyness the material itself was good and comprehensive. || 3.5: Not as good as the first book reviewed, but not a bad book. ||