Tori Bartley February 17, 2014 Textbook Review Paper Ck12.

org is a very useful website for teachers because it provides virtual textbooks to the masses. While students may not have access to textbooks, Ck-12 has free, online texts for a wide range of subjects. They are user friendly and arranged by topic, which are click-able. They offer pre-assembled text books and teachers may customize textbooks as well, starting from scratch or modifying other teachers. Ck-12 Biology Concepts is a text created by the site that I have used for reference in my student teaching. While analyzing the text, I have taken notice of how the text presents the nature of science and how evolution is discussed. The text begins with a discussion of the scientific method and then discusses scientific experiments and theories, and the chapter on evolution covers Darwin's theory of evolution, natural selection, the history of life, and evidence of evolution. To begin, the text first discusses the scientific method. The explanation of the steps was generic; it was very typical to what someone would expect to read. There was a good example for butterflies and how a student could carry out the scientific method after observing the eyespots and their effect on predators. There is also an accompanying video which could be valuable to some learners and is not available in traditional textbooks. While the scientific method is easy for students to understand and replicate, it does not depict the nature of science very well. It shows the nature of science in a very linear way that may be misleading to students. There are also practice and review questions at the end of each page. I think these questions are really good because they span several levels of Blooms taxonomy. For example, the first is what is a hypothesis, and then another is what cause lyme disease which was not talked about. Next, the text talks about experiments variables, samples, etc. I thought this page was really informative. It explained the elements of an experiment well. It gave an in depth look into experiments

as well as several descriptions and videos about various experiments. This showed more diversity and variability in experiments that is more authentic to the nature of science that the scientific method lacks. I was not thrilled with the overall depiction of the nature of science in this text. I think the text did a much more thorough discussion of subsequent topics. Therefore I would definitely need to consult other sources in order to teach the nature of science. Fortunately with the ability to design textbooks on this site, I would be able to alter one to better suite my needs. The discussion of evolution in this text is very thorough. It begins with fossil record and the difference between relative and absolute dating, and then the geological time scale. It then discussed how the Earth formed, the first organic molecules and the first cells, and then the evolution of Eukaryotes. Then it discusses each era, classifications, Darwin, natural selection, Hardy-Weinberg, origin of species, coevolution, macroevolution, and animal evolution. The discussion in this area is extensive and very well put. The section is more or less in time order. I think this is a good way of framing the chapter. If I were to teach this topic, I would either discuss it in this order or in the order of discovery. The examples, videos, and diagrams are very helpful here as well. Sickle cell anemia is used as an example for natural selection and then there is a great diagram that shows stabilizing, disruptive, and directional selection. Both are good tools to aid understanding. I would definitely use this text as a tool to teach evolution. There is a lot of information in this section and has multiple modes of relaying the information as well as examples that could be used to gain a deeper understanding. They could also be used for further investigation and transitional lessons. For example the sickle cell anemia is great to explain natural selection but it can also transition into genetics. Overall I really enjoy working with this website and its versatility. I am excited to utilize this in my classroom in the future.