Organisms to Ecosystems

Organisms to Ecosystems: Biology Lessons for the Flipped Classroom is an exploration of organismal biology for science majors that is especially designed for students to engage in on their own, thereby freeing class time to check and supplement their learning. Its interactive ebook format is structured as twelve weekly chapter readings with embedded digital activities that strengthen learning through quick hit questions, mini-lessons, skill-builders, videos, and quizzes, all within a single platform.

Themes of the text include the process of evolution and its central role in the design and diversification of life; the essential roles that energy, information, and opportunity play in the development and continuation of species; the phylogenetic relationships that exist across life forms as a consequence of descent with modification; the major biodiversity patterns that occur across the surface of the Earth; the various innovations that have enabled organisms to better acquire and utilize resources; and the kinds of life history strategies and physiological solutions that have evolved among living things, with a particular emphasis on the major multicellular groups.

Organisms to Ecosystems covers the fundamental principles of organismal biology with enough depth and examples to provide a meaningful standalone treatment of concepts, while remaining digestible for students and leaving room for instructors to reinforce, delve deeper, expand on, or add topics as desired.