BIOLOGY Exploring Life is a new kind of high school biology program.

The program:

• provides interactive activities that reinforce important concepts
• caters to all types of learning styles
• engages students with hands-on laboratories and computer activities
• adds action to learning

The product's developers simultaneously built the three components of this program (text, Web site, and laboratory manual) so that they work together to provide a seamless and well-integrated experience for your high schooler.

That may not sound all that innovative! But let's take a moment to consider why our method is different from other high school biology programs. Most publishers build their textbook first and all the other "stuff" last. That is, the textbook is the center of the product constellation and the other elements (Web sites, CD-ROM's, teacher support materials, laboratory activities) are considered supplements, most often built once the book is complete. This method hinders opportunities for integrating the various elements of the program. To make use of the laboratories, the activities on the CD-ROM or accompanying Web site, teachers must figure out how best to do that. Meaningful cross-referencing seldom occurs and the various elements do not support each other well. Often different people develop the program's components so there is almost no graphic or visual connection between them.

By developing the book, Web site and labs together, the BIOLOGY Exploring Life team was able to take advantage of the very best ways to integrate the program. For example, illustrations in the textbook become animations online, activities in the lab manual have correlated simulations online to engage students in the upcoming lab procedures, concepts explained in the textbook have companion Online Activities to drive home the point and give student practice with the details. And since the BIOLOGY Exploring Life components were all built together the "look and feel" of the program is uniform. So, as your student moves from the book, to the lab, to the Web site, it feels to them as if they are moving between different rooms of the same house, In short, there is less opportunity for confusion, and more opportunity for comprehension.

If your high school is considering adopting BIOLOGY Exploring Life, you and your children will have a wonderful time exploring biology together. We invite you to look around our Web site and get to know more about our project.

Here are the answers to a few questions you may have about the program.

If our high school adopts this program will I have to buy a computer for my son or daughter?

No. After the program is adopted at your school each student in the class will have a unique online identification (ID) that will give them access to the BIOLOGY Exploring Life online activities from any computer that is hooked up to the Internet. The computer they use for studying could be at school, in a media lab, in the library, or at home. If they can get onto the World Wide Web, they can get into BIOLOGY Exploring Life.

Will my child be able to study the BIOLOGY Exploring Life Web site from home?

If you have a computer in your home that is Internet-enabled then, yes, they will. One of the big advantages to this program is that students can review the BIOLOGY Exploring Life online activities from any Internet-enabled computer without lugging home heavy books or other packages. Regardless of where they log in, their work, their answers to questions and their quiz scores are stored under their own unique ID.

Is this program any more or less rigorous than other high school biology programs?

BIOLOGY Exploring Life is built with the 9th/10th grade high school course in mind. The authors and editors have paid very close attention to state and national standards and the content included in the program is in keeping with other competing products.

Why is the BIOLOGY Exploring Life textbook so much shorter than others I've seen?

BIOLOGY Exploring Life is roughly 200–300 pages shorter than other competitors (depending on which book you examine). This shorter length is possible because of our sharp focus on a manageable number of key concepts (big ideas) and the placement of all boxes and special features, typically found in textbooks, to the BIOLOGY Exploring Life Web site where they can be treated in a more engaging and interactive way.

I see that this book is connected to the National Science Foundation. What's that all about?

The development team received an NSF grant to evaluate the program as it was developed. Over 44 teachers in schools across the country tested multiple chapters of BIOLOGY Exploring Life with their students during the 2001 and 2002 school years. The results of those student pilots were passed directly on to the program developers. As a result the design, format, content, and pedagogical structure of BIOLOGY Exploring Life were improved by the thoughtful feedback of hundreds of high school biology students and teachers. The pilot testing will continue in 2003. Click on the NSF Evaluation button on this site's home page to learn more about our NSF-funded evaluation.