Biology is designed for multi-semester biology courses for science majors. It is grounded on an evolutionary basis and includes exciting features that highlight careers in the biological sciences and everyday applications of the concepts at hand. To meet the needs of today’s instructors and students, some content has been strategically condensed while maintaining the overall scope and coverage of traditional texts for this course. Instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom. Biology also includes an innovative art program that incorporates critical thinking and clicker questions to help students understand—and apply—key concepts.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Explain why angiosperms are the dominant form of plant life in most terrestrial ecosystemsDescribe the main parts of a flower and their purposeDetail the life cycle of an angiospermDiscuss the two main groups of flowering plants

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Identify the new traits that first appear in tracheophytesDiscuss the importance of adaptations to life on landDescribe the classes of seedless tracheophytesDescribe the lifecycle of a fernExplain the role of seedless vascular plants in the ecosystem

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Identify the two types of root systemsDescribe the three zones of the root tip and summarize the role of each zone in root growthDescribe the structure of the rootList and describe examples of modified roots

Elementary Science and Integrated Subjects is a statewide Clime Time collaboration among ESD 123, ESD 105, and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Development of the resources is in response to a need for research- based science lessons for elementary teachers that are integrated with English language arts, mathematics and other subjects such as social studies. The template for Elementary integration  can serve as an organized, coherent and research-based roadmap for teachers in the development of their own NGSS aligned science lessons.  Lessons can also be useful for classrooms that have no adopted curriculum as well as to serve as enhancements for  current science curriculum. The EFSIS project brings together grade level teams of teachers to develop lessons or suites of lessons that are 1) focused on grade level Performance Expectations, and 2) leverage ELA and Mathematics Washington State Learning Standards.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Root and rhizosphere microbiota play a critical role in the health and success of plants, but selectively breeding plants for a healthy microbiome has proven difficult. Plants will often directly influence their root microbiota via compounds exuded from their roots. Examining these pathways for potentially heritable traits could improve our ability to selectively breed for healthy microbiomes. One such pathway is a class of defense compounds secreted by maize roots called benzoxazinoids (BXs). Researchers examined the root and rhizosphere microbiotas of BX-producing and BX-defective lines of maize across several locations and soil types. BX secretion affected the community composition in both root and rhizosphere microbiotas. The root microbiota of BX-exuding lines consistently had less Flavobacteriaceae and Comamonadaceae..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Where the tropical ocean meets the sea, a peculiar kind of plant thrives in shallow, salty water. These mangrove plants are incredibly important for shoreline protection and baby fish habitats. In this video, Jonathan investigates life in mangroves by visiting both Caribbean and Pacific mangroves. Please see the accompanying study guide for educational objectives and discussion points.

What do plants need? Students examine the effects of light and air on green plants, learning the processes of photosynthesis and transpiration. Student teams plant seeds, placing some in sunlight and others in darkness. They make predictions about the outcomes and record ongoing observations of the condition of the stems, leaves and roots. Then, several healthy plants are placed in glass jars with lids overnight. Condensation forms, illustrating the process of transpiration, or the release of moisture to the atmosphere by plants.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Salt marsh ecosystems perform multiple “ecosystem services”. For example, they clean the water, protect coastlines against storm surges, and support fisheries. Sediment microbes in these ecosystems are known to mediate cycling of important nutrients, but their effects on marsh plant productivity are unclear. To learn more, a new study analyzed the sediment and root microbiomes of a dominant marsh plant, _Spartina alterniflora_. The sediment of taller _S. alterniflora_ had greater microbial biomass and faster organic matter mineralization than that of shorter plants, suggesting that the sediment microbes helped support plant productivity. The sediment and root-adjacent (rhizosphere) microbiomes of taller plants were also more diverse. Among _S. alterniflora_ of all sizes, root microbes were less diverse than sediment and rhizosphere microbes, implying that the roots were colonized by highly competitive microorganisms..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Designer rootstocks enable fruit trees to thrive under otherwise unbearable conditions, providing strong anchorage and defending against biological and nonbiological stressors. But what role does the root microbiome play in this assistive act? To find out, researchers used 16S rRNA sequencing to examine the rootstocks of Valencia orange trees in Florida. Results showed that the genetic makeup of different rootstocks determined how the root microbiome responded to compost treatment. The aspects of the root microbiome that were rootstock- specific included bacterial abundance, diversity, and community composition. These findings suggest that specific bacteria drive changes in nutrient concentrations accessed by different rootstocks. Understanding this intimate relationship is important to supporting overall plant health and could inspire research into how root microbes might affect other parts of trees..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Students learn how scientific terms are formed using Latin and Greek roots, prefixes and suffixes, and on that basis, learn to make an educated guess about the meaning of a word. Students are introduced to the role played by metaphor in language development.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Above ground, plants can seem fairly simple, but below, there is a rich world full of hidden activity. To promote their growth, plants secrete chemicals from their roots that can affect the soil and air around them. This helps them adapt to environmental conditions, stressors, and pathogens. But how these chemicals affect the plants’ microbiota is poorly understood. A recent study evaluated chemical interactions between peanut plants and cassava, which are often co-cultivated. The researchers found that cassava plants produced cyanide, which induced stress in peanut plants. This caused the peanut plants to emit ethylene, a volatile hormone that diffuses through gas and water in the soil. Ehtylene, in turn, attracted specific microbial species that helped to remineralize the soil, ensuring that the peanut plants could increase their yield alongside cassava..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.