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LaunchPad for What is Life? A Guide to Biology with Physiology (Six Month Access)
Third Edition| ©2015 Jay Phelan
LaunchPad is an eBook, resources for students and instructors, LearningCurve adaptive quizzing, and management tools for instructors. All packaged in a sleek intuitive interface and ready to use in minutes.
Institutional Prices

LaunchPad is an eBook, resources for students and instructors, LearningCurve adaptive quizzing, and management tools for instructors. All packaged in a sleek intuitive interface and ready to use in minutes.
Features
LaunchPad
Developed with extensive feedback from instructors and students, W.H. Freeman’s new online course space offers:
Developed with extensive feedback from instructors and students, W.H. Freeman’s new online course space offers:
- Pre-built units for each chapter, curated by experienced educators, with media for that chapter organized and ready to assign or customize to suit your course.
- All online resources for the text in one location, including an interactive e-Book, LearningCurve adaptive quizzing (see below), Bio 101 Tutorials, Q Animations, graph-reading and data analysis activities, assessment questions (written by the author), all instructor resources, and more.
- Intuitive and useful analytics, with a Gradebook that lets you see how your class is doing individually and as a whole.
- A streamlined interface that lets you build an entire course in minutes.
LearningCurve
In a game-like format, LearningCurve adaptive and formative quizzing provides an effective way to get students involved in the coursework. It offers:
- A unique learning path for each student, with quizzes shaped by each individual’s correct and incorrect answers.
- A Personalized Study Plan, to guide students’ preparation for class and for exams.
- Feedback for each question with live links to relevant e-book pages, guiding students to the reading they need to do to improve their areas of weakness.
New to This Edition
This Is How We Do It
In each chapter, Jay Phelan highlights an intriguing question--Does sunscreen use reduce skin cancer risk?---and shows how scientists have approached the problem and thought it through. It’s an effective new way to guide students through the process of science and develop their science literacy skills.
Over 50% New Photos
Drawn mainly from Jay Phelan’s favorite photographs, the images for What Is Life? have also been a hallmark feature of the text. In the new edition, over half of the images are new.
Meticulously Enhanced Art Program
The art program in What Is Life? is the product of a unique collaboration between Jay Phelan and illustrator Tommy Moorman. Along with a number of new figures, instructors will see that nearly ever graphic has been refined and enhanced.
R&R (Review and Rehearse)
Each chapter now concludes with a four-page visual summary which represents the key ideas with a brief recap and the central illustration from each section. R & R also includes short answer and multiple-choice questions, making it ideal for chapter review, exam preparation, or as assignments.
LaunchPad
Developed with extensive feedback from instructors and students, W.H. Freeman’s new online course space offers:
LearningCurve
In a game-like format, LearningCurve adaptive and formative quizzing provides an effective way to get students involved in the coursework. It offers:
In each chapter, Jay Phelan highlights an intriguing question--Does sunscreen use reduce skin cancer risk?---and shows how scientists have approached the problem and thought it through. It’s an effective new way to guide students through the process of science and develop their science literacy skills.
Over 50% New Photos
Drawn mainly from Jay Phelan’s favorite photographs, the images for What Is Life? have also been a hallmark feature of the text. In the new edition, over half of the images are new.
Meticulously Enhanced Art Program
The art program in What Is Life? is the product of a unique collaboration between Jay Phelan and illustrator Tommy Moorman. Along with a number of new figures, instructors will see that nearly ever graphic has been refined and enhanced.
R&R (Review and Rehearse)
Each chapter now concludes with a four-page visual summary which represents the key ideas with a brief recap and the central illustration from each section. R & R also includes short answer and multiple-choice questions, making it ideal for chapter review, exam preparation, or as assignments.
LaunchPad
Developed with extensive feedback from instructors and students, W.H. Freeman’s new online course space offers:
- Pre-built units for each chapter, curated by experienced educators, with media for that chapter organized and ready to assign or customize to suit your course.
- All online resources for the text in one location , including an interactive e-Book, LearningCurve adaptive quizzing (see below), Bio 101 Tutorials, Q Animations, graph-reading and data analysis activities, assessment questions (written by the author), all instructor resources, and more.
- Intuitive and useful analytics , with a Gradebook that lets you see how your class is doing individually and as a whole.
- A streamlined interface that lets you build an entire course in minutes.
LearningCurve
In a game-like format, LearningCurve adaptive and formative quizzing provides an effective way to get students involved in the coursework. It offers:
- A unique learning path for each student, with quizzes shaped by each individual’s correct and incorrect answers.
- A Personalized Study Plan, to guide students’ preparation for class and for exams.
- Feedback for each question with live links to relevant e-book pages, guiding students to the reading they need to do to improve their areas of weakness.

LaunchPad for What is Life? A Guide to Biology with Physiology (Six Month Access)
Third Edition| ©2015
Jay Phelan
Digital Options

LaunchPad
Get the e-book, do assignments, take quizzes, prepare for exams and more, to help you achieve success in class.

LaunchPad for What is Life? A Guide to Biology with Physiology (Six Month Access)
Third Edition| 2015
Jay Phelan
Table of Contents
Part 1 THE FACTS OF LIFE1. Scientific Thinking | Your best pathway to understanding the world 2. Chemistry | Raw materials and fuel for our bodies 3. Cells | The smallest part of you 4. Energy | From the sun to you in just two stepsPart 2 GENETICS, EVOLUTION, AND BEHAVIOR5. DNA, Gene Expression, and Biotechnology | What is the code, and how is it harnessed? 6. Chromosomes and Cell Division | Continuity and variety 7. Genes and Inheritance | Family resemblance: how traits are inherited 8. Evolution and Natural Selection | Darwin’s dangerous idea9. Evolution and Behavior | Communication, cooperation, and conflict in the animal world
Part 3 EVOLUTION AND THE DIVERSITY OF LIFE10. The Origin and Diversification of Life on Earth | Understanding biodiversity11. Animal Diversification | Visibility in motion12. Plant and Fungi Diversification | Where did all the plants and fungi come from? 13. Evolution and Diversity among the Microbes | Bacteria, archaea, protists, and viruses: the unseen world
Part 4 ECOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT14. Population Ecology | Planet at capacity: patterns of population growth15. Ecosystems and Communities | Organisms and their environments 16. Conservation and Biodiversity | Human influences on the environment
Part 5 PLANT LIFE17. Plant Structure and Nutrient Transport | How plants function and why we need them 18. Growth and Reproduction in Plants | Problem solving with flowers and wood . 19. Plants Respond to their Environments | Defending and regulating while rooted in the ground .
Part 6 HEALTH AND PHYSIOLOGY20. Introduction to Animal Physiology | Principles of animal organization and function 21. Circulation and Respiration | Transporting fuel, raw materials, and gases into, out of, and around the body 22. Nutrition and Digestion | At rest and at play: optimizing human physiological functioning 23. Nervous and Motor Systems | Actions, reactions, sensations, and addictions: meet your nervous system 24. Hormones | Mood, emotions, growth, and more: hormones as master regulators . 25. Reproduction and Development | From two parents to one embryo to one baby 26. Immunity and Health | How the body defends and maintains itself

LaunchPad for What is Life? A Guide to Biology with Physiology (Six Month Access)
Third Edition| 2015
Jay Phelan
Authors

Jay Phelan
Jay Phelan teaches biology at UCLA, where he has taught introductory biology in large lectures for majors and nonmajors for fifteen years. He received his PhD in evolutionary biology from Harvard in 1995, and his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Yale and UCLA. His primary area of research is evolutionary genetics, and his original research has been published in Evolution, Experimental Gerontology, and the Journal of Integrative and Comparative Biology, among others. His research has been featured on Nightline, CNN, the BBC, and NPR; in Science Times and Elle; and in more than a hundred newspapers. He is the recipient of more than a dozen teaching awards. With Terry Burnham, Jay is the coauthor of the international best-seller Mean Genes: From Sex to Money to Food—Taming Our Primal Instincts. Written for the general reader, Mean Genes explains in simple terms how knowledge of the genetic basis of human nature can empower individuals to lead more satisfying lives. Writing for a nonscientific audience has honed Phelan’s writing style to one that is casual and inviting to students but also scientifically precise.

LaunchPad for What is Life? A Guide to Biology with Physiology (Six Month Access)
Third Edition| 2015
Jay Phelan
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