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Biological Science, 7th edition

Published by Pearson (February 6, 2019) © 2020

  • Scott Freeman University of Washington
  • Kim Quillin Salisbury University
  • Lizabeth Allison College of William and Mary
  • Michael Black California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
  • Greg Podgorski Utah State University
  • Emily Taylor California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
  • Jeff Carmichael University of North Dakota

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For introductory biology courses for science majors.

Discover biology, develop skills, and make connections

Known for its discovery-based, student-centered approach, Scott Freeman's Biological Science emphasizes higher-order thinking, skill development and active learning. Strategies in the text go beyond memorization and guide students in making connections between core concepts and content.

The 7th Edition weaves one case study throughout the entire text, showing biology concepts are connected and helping students make connections across biology. New content includes updated coverage of advances in genomic editing, global climate change and insights into the evolution of land plants.

Hallmark features of this title

  • Big Picture concept maps integrate visuals and words to help students synthesize concepts, patterns, and information across chapters for challenging topics in biology,
  • You should be able to… activities encourage students to analyze important patterns within each Big Picture concept map.
  • Put It All Together Case Studies for each chapter enable students to apply knowledge they learned in the chapter to a new, related situation straight from contemporary research.
  • BioSkills reference section appears between Chapters 1 and 2, drawing attention to key skills students need to succeed in biology with easy-to-find reference material that supports the skill development throughout the course.

New and updated features of this title

  • End-of-Unit Case study, featuring poison newts and garter snakes, is introduced in Chapter 1 and woven throughout the entire text. It shows that biology concepts and various biology sub-disciplines (genetics, evolution, physiology, ecology, etc.) are connected.
  • Making Models boxes target additional skills and applications and appear at strategic points throughout chapters. These guide students in deepening their understanding of biology concepts by learning to interpret and create visual models.
  • Learning objectives appear at the beginning of each section to guide students and describe what they will be expected to learn.

Highlights of the DIGITAL UPDATE for Pearson eText (available for Spring 2021 classes)

  • NEW: Insider Tips are brief, student-informed videos featuring expert-student study strategies. Tips include understanding terminology, retrieval practice, confronting misconceptions, drawing models, transferring knowledge, spacing study and cultivating a growth mindset.
  • NEW & UPDATED: Content includes climate change impacts (Ch 2); genomics coverage including single-cell sequencing, applications made possible by next generation DNA sequencing, lateral gene transfer in eukaryotes, application of PCR in COVID-19 testing, CRISPR-Cas systems in nature and examples of CRISPR-Cas9 in gene therapy. (Ch 20); control of cell specialization during development (Ch 21); more inclusive sexual selection content (Ch 23); insights on SARS-CoV-2, the COVID-19 pandemic, and mRNA vaccines (Chs 33, 48).

Highlights of the DIGITAL UPDATE for Mastering Biology (available for Spring 2021 classes)

Instructors, no need to create a new course. Digital updates have been added.

  • NEW: Pearson® Interactive Labs are structured around the process of science and feature real-world scenarios and guided feedback so students can make and learn from their mistakes.
  • NEW: GapFinder Modules assess prerequisite knowledge and recommend personalized remediation specific to individual knowledge gaps.
  • NEW: Study Skills Dynamic Study Modules are student-centered and address test taking, studying vs. learning, time management, resources, accountability, reading and taking notes.

Features of Mastering Biology for the 7th Edition; published 2018

  • 24 Figure Walkthrough Videos guide students through key figures, Narrated explanations, figure markups, and questions reinforce important points.
  • Making Models activities include instructional whiteboard videos plus application questions to help students develop the skills of interpreting visual models.
  • Scientific Thinking Activities help students develop an understanding of how scientific research is conducted and include research questions such as “Can Scientists Use Gene Expression Data to Personalize Cancer Treatment?
  1. Biology: The Study of Life
    BioSkills

UNIT 1: THE MOLECULAR ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF LIFE

  1. Water and Carbon: The Chemical Basis of Life
  2. Protein Structure and Function
  3. Nucleic Acids and an RNA World
  4. An Introduction to Carbohydrates
  5. Lipids, Membranes, and the First Cells

UNIT 2: CELL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION

  1. Inside the Cell
  2. Energy and Enzymes: An Introduction to Metabolism
  3. Cellular Respiration and Fermentation
  4. Photosynthesis
  5. Cell–Cell Interactions
  6. The Cell Cycle

UNIT 3: GENE STRUCTURE AND EXPRESSION

  1. Meiosis
  2. Mendel and the Gene
  3. DNA and the Gene: Synthesis and Repair
  4. How Genes Work
  5. Transcription, RNA Processing, and Translation
  6. Control of Gene Expression in Bacteria
  7. Control of Gene Expression in Eukaryotes
  8. The Molecular Revolution: Biotechnology, Genomics, and New Frontiers
  9. Genes, Development, and Evolution

UNIT 4: EVOLUTIONARY PATTERNS AND PROCESSES 

  1. Evolution by Natural Selection
  2. Evolutionary Processes
  3. Speciation
  4. Phylogenies and the History of Life

UNIT 5: THE DIVERSIFICATION OF LIFE 

  1. Bacteria and Archaea
  2. Diversification of Eukaryotes
  3. Green Algae and Land Plants
  4. Fungi
  5. An Introduction to Animals
  6. Protostome Animals
  7. Deuterostome Animals
  8. Viruses

UNIT 6: HOW PLANTS WORK

  1. Plant Form and Function
  2. Water and Sugar Transport in Plants
  3. Plant Nutrition
  4. Plant Sensory Systems, Signals, and Responses
  5. Flowering Plant Reproduction and Development

UNIT 7: HOW ANIMALS WORK 

  1. Animal Form and Function
  2. Water and Electrolyte Balance in Animals
  3. Animal Nutrition
  4. Gas Exchange and Circulation
  5. Animal Nervous Systems
  6. Animal Sensory Systems
  7. Animal Movement
  8. Chemical Signals in Animals
  9. Animal Reproduction and Development
  10. The Immune System in Animals

UNIT 8: ECOLOGY 

  1. An Introduction to Ecology
  2. Behavioral Ecology
  3. Population Ecology
  4. Community Ecology
  5. Ecosystems and Global Ecology
  6. Biodiversity and Conservation Biology

About our authors

Scott Freeman received a PhD in Zoology from the University of Washington and was subsequently awarded an Alfred P. Sloan Postdoctoral Fellowship in Molecular Evolution at Princeton University. He has done research in evolutionary biology on topics ranging from nest parasitism to the molecular systematics of the blackbird family and is coauthor, with Jon Herron, of the standard-setting undergraduate text Evolutionary Analysis. Scott is the recipient of a Distinguished Teaching Award from the University of Washington and is currently a Principal Lecturer in the UW Department of Biology, where he teaches introductory biology for majors, a writing-intensive course for majors called The Tree of Life, and a graduate seminar in college science teaching. Scott's current research focuses on how active learning affects student learning and academic performance.

Lizabeth A. Allison is Chancellor Professor of Biology at the College of William & Mary. She received her PhD in Zoology from the University of Washington, specializing in molecular and cellular biology. Before coming to William & Mary, she spent eight years as a faculty member at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. Liz teaches introductory biology for majors and upper division molecular biology courses. She has mentored graduate students and more than 120 undergraduate research students, many of them coauthoring papers with her on intracellular trafficking of the thyroid hormone receptor in normal and cancer cells. The recipient of numerous awards, including a State Council for Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV) Outstanding Faculty Award in 2009, Liz received one of the three inaugural Arts Shouland Sciences Faculty Awards for Teaching Excellence in 2011, and a Plumeri Award for Faculty Excellence in 2012. In addition to her work on this text, she is author of Fundamental Molecular Biology, now in its second edition, with a third edition under way. Lead Author; Chapters 1, 33, 48 and BioSkills / laalli@wm.edu

Michael Black received his PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from Stanford University School of Medicine as a Howard Hughes Predoctoral Fellow. After graduation, he studied cell biology as a Burroughs Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England. His current research focuses on the use of molecules to identify and track the transmission of microbes in the environment. Michael is a professor of Cell and Molecular Biology at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, where he teaches introductory and advanced classes for majors in cell biology and microbiology. In addition to his teaching and research activities, Michael serves as the director of the Undergraduate Biotechnology Lab, where he works alongside undergraduate technicians to integrate research projects and inquiry-based activities into undergraduate classes. Chapters 2-12 / mblack@calpoly.edu

Greg Podgorski received his PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Penn State University and has been a postdoctoral fellow at the Max Plank Institute for Biochemistry and Columbia University. His research interests are in biology education, developmental genetics, and computational biology. Greg's most recent work has been in mathematical modeling of how patterns of different cell types emerge during development and how tumors recruit new blood vessels in cancer. Greg has been teaching at Utah State University for more than 20 years in courses that include introductory biology for majors and nonmajors, genetics, cell biology, developmental biology, and microbiology, and he has offered courses in nonmajors biology in Beijing and Hong Kong. He has won teaching awards at Utah State University and has been recognized by the National Academies as a Teaching Fellow and a Teaching Mentor. Chapters 13-21 / greg.podgorski@usu.edu

Kim Quillin received her BA in Biology at Oberlin College summa cum laude and her PhD in Integrative Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, as a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow. Kim has worked in the trenches with Scott Freeman on every edition of Biological Science, starting with the ground-up development of the illustrations in the first edition in 1999 and expanding her role in each edition. Kim currently serves as the Curriculum Coordinator for Introductory Biology for Salisbury University (SU), a member of the University System of Maryland, where she is actively involved in the ongoing student-centered reform of the course for biology majors. She also serves as the Curriculum Facilitator for the biology department, focusing on programmatic review and alignment of the SU biology curriculum to the Vision and Change core concepts and competencies. Chapters 22-25, 30-32, 49-54 / kxquillin@salisbury.edu

Jeff Carmichael received his BS in Biology from Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania and his PhD in Plant Biology from the University of Georgia. As an undergraduate student, he spent some time studying enzyme kinetics through a fellowship at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. His graduate work focused on sexual reproduction in an intriguing group of seed plants. He has been teaching and coordinating Introductory Biology at the University of North Dakota (UND) for more than 20 years. He also works with the campus-wide Teaching Transformation and Development Academy, where he helps other faculty members incorporate evidence-based best teaching practices in their courses. He has received excellence in teaching awards at UND and as a graduate student in Georgia. Chapters 26-29 and 34-38 / Jeffrey.Carmichael@und.edu

Emily Taylor earned a BA in English at the University of California, Berkeley. She then earned a PhD in Biological Sciences from Arizona State University, where she conducted research in the field of environmental physiology as a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. She is currently a professor of Biological Sciences at the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. Her student-centered research program focuses on the endocrine and reproductive physiology of free-ranging reptiles, especially rattlesnakes. She teaches numerous undergraduate and graduate courses, including introductory biology, anatomy and physiology, endocrinology, and herpetology, and received the California Faculty Association's Distinguished Educator Award in 2010 and Cal Poly's Distinguished Teaching Award in 2012. Chapters 39-47 / etaylor@calpoly.edu

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