Science Matters,
No.3, 2009.
Reviewed by: Josephine Cali
"...easy access to topics and
cross referencing to
the contents page... offers flexibility to schools...
...
provide a good
foundation for further studies"
BIOZONE Biology Modular Workbook Series is a comprehensive
suite of Biology
Workbooks that are suitable for NSW Year 11 (Preliminary) and
Year 12 (HSC) Biology Students. They have been designed to
complement students’ regular class or school biology textbook/
s, not as a substitute to it. The format of each of the books in
the series is the same, which is as follows:
Contents – clear and allow students to quickly scan the contents
to see where the information they are seeking is located.
How to use this Workbook instruction – guides students to look
for key words which are in bold, learning objectives and up to
date internet addresses which are so important for students
conducting secondary source investigations. This feature alone
could save students many hours searching for hours looking
for relevant websites.
Explanation of Terms – this section depicts commonly used
terms in Biology. Students studying the NSW HSC are
encouraged to use the published Board of Studies Glossary
of terms rather than the BIOZONE lists, as there are some
differences in terminology. E.g. assess is missing in the BIOZONE
list and there are verbs in the BIOZONE list that are not on the
BOS list e.g. derive.
Using the Internet – this section of each book helps students
to use the BIOZONE Website, which contains even more up to
date information and podcasts. The Internet is a major source of
information for students and the BIOZONE resources seamlessly
link the worksheets with the resources listed.
Concept Maps – these help students to piece together the major
focus areas of the workbooks. Some students find concept
maps more beneficial than others so at worst they provide a
summary of the contents of the book while for most students,
the concept map probably helps them to visualize the links
between the theory, skills, and applications of biology.
Resources Information – a variety of relevant resources such
as textbooks, journals, periodicals, and dictionaries are listed.
These are relevant to secondary source investigations as well
as general research for particular dot points.
Answers – are available for all of the worksheets in the series.
These are available in electronic format on a CD.
Review of individual volumes available
Anatomy and Physiology
This workbook examines human structure and function. The first
part of the workbook – Cells and Tissues is particularly relevant
to Patterns in Nature. This book also contains relevant pages
on homeostasis and the endocrine system, which are relevant
to the HSC core module Maintaining a Balance.
For students studying the option Communication, there are
several useful pages with diagrams that depict the structure of
the eye, hearing and the skin senses. This book also contains
worksheets relevant to The Search for Better Health core
module. In particular the worksheets on The Body’s Defences
(p. 131) and The Immune System (p. 139) are useful. These
pages contain relevant information which is presented both
diagrammatically and concisely. The comparison between
Mitosis and Meiosis (p. 30) is a particularly useful teaching
tool as presenting these two processes as a comparison
can improve student understanding. Biological principles
are emphasised throughout this book, for example diffusion,
active transport and osmosis. This workbook emphasises the
increasing role of technology in our lives, which is particularly
important for teaching and learning Stage 6 Biology outcomes
P3-5 and H3-5. The diagrams used in the workbook are both
2D and 3D. This allows students to see locations of various
organs and labelled structures while at the same time they
are able to see real life examples. All human body systems aswell as cell biology and tissues are comprehensively covered
in this workbook.
Cell Biology and Biochemistry
This workbook contains worksheets on The Molecules of Life
and Photosynthesis. The Many of the worksheets are relevant
to the Patterns in Nature, Preliminary core module. Some of
my favourite worksheets in the book are Nucleic Acids (p. 17)
and Root Cell Development (p. 94). These worksheets clearly
present information and concepts in an easy to understand way.
Cell Biology & Biochemistry covers the structure, function, and
study of cells and their components, including the processes
that occur in the nucleus of cells.
Ecology
This workbook is most relevant to the Preliminary core module A
Local Ecosystem. It examines fundamental concepts in ecology
such as ecosystems, populations, and changes in ecosystems.
Skills and fieldwork are covered in such a way that students can
learn practical skills without actually undertaking the fieldwork
itself. For example, the workbook could be used to teach/learn
the skill of quadrat and transect sampling before going out
into the field to conduct the mandatory fieldwork. Worksheets
such as Energy Flow in an Ecosystem (p. 41) and Growth in a
Bacterial Population (p. 59) are particularly useful to students
as they can practice numeracy and graphing skills in a real
world context.
Environmental Science
This workbook would be more suited to students studying Earth
and Environmental Science. Many of the pages in this workbook
are duplicated in the Ecology workbook. This workbook explores
Earth’s systems, its geology and ecology. It also looks at the
ways in which humans interact with their natural environment.
Some pages are relevant to the Life on Earth Preliminary core
module for example the Earth’s History (p. 11) and Fossil
Formation (p. 13).
Evolution
One of the concepts that puzzles Biology students is the
origin of Eukaryotic Cells. Worksheet RA2, p. 14 helps to
demystify this concept. The cut out worksheet on Continental
Drift and Evolution can help students relate evidence for
matching continental margins to fossil evidence (Evolution
of the Australian Biota Focus 1). Some worksheets such as
Polyploidy in Wheat (p. 63) and Evolution of Springtails (p. 93)
are relevant to The Code Broken Option. Many worksheets in
this book allow students to engage in critical thinking where
they can evaluate the available evidence, which has led to our
current understanding of evolution.
Genes and Inheritance
This workbook is most relevant to the study of Blueprint of Life
HSC core module and The Code Broken Option. Genes and
Inheritance clearly explains transcription ad translation. The
diagrams used to explain DNA Translation can assist student
understanding of the process. The section on Mutations and
mutagens would also be relevant to Stage 5 Science as this
area is not covered well in popular junior science textbooks,
particularly beneficial mutations (p. 67). Both Monohybrid (core)
and dihybrid crosses (option) are included. The worksheet
on dihybrid crosses is particularly useful as it uses diagrams
and letters to demonstrate the typical ratios of the offspring.
The Pedigree Analysis worksheet (p. 109) is useful as it allow
students to test their skills in interpreting pedigrees and making
relevant conclusions.
Health and Disease
This workbook is invaluable for the Search for Better Health
HSC core module. The workbook matches many of the dot
points in the topic such as the differences between health
and disease, treatment and control of disease, epidemiology,
diseases caused by prions, bacteria, etc. The lifecycle of Malaria
(p. 74) is covered with sufficient detail for an HSC Biology
student without going overboard on detail. The Search for Blood
Substitutes and Kidney Dialysis (p. 123) worksheets explore
some of the ideas in the Maintaining a Balance Topic. This
workbook provides an appropriate level of coverage of human
disease, and the role of medicine in treating and preventing
disease.
Human Evolution
This workbook would be most suited to the Human Story Option.
The book explores primate biology, humans as primates, and
helps students to interpret fossil evidence. The Hominin Data
Sheets (p. 37) are comprehensive and enable students to make
comparisons between various Hominin species.
Microbiology & Biotechnology
This workbook is most relevant to the Biotechnology and
the Code Broken options. The Ethics of GMO Technology
(p. 74) is useful to students as it scaffolds some advantages
and disadvantages (problems) of using GMOs. Modern
biotechnologies such as genetic engineering, cloning, and
genome research are examined in this workbook.
Skills In Biology
This workbook is particularly useful to students who miss skills
or practical lessons or who require greater consolidation of
skills. The Structure of a Report (p. 56) outlines the important
aspects of a scientific report. Individual worksheets are then
dedicated to the various parts of a report. The worksheet on
writing a Discussion (p. 59) is particularly useful as this is an
area that students do not have a solid grasp of from Stage 5
Science.
Many of the worksheets in this book are included in the
other modular workbooks e.g. the classification and ecology
worksheets. Skills in Biology provides comprehensive guidelines
for planning and conducting first hand investigations in both the
laboratory and the field. |
