Here is a valuable one-semester course text for non-science majors that delivers! It is concise, focused on material that will enable students to make intelligent choices about the future of the earth, and written in a style that will enable students to make connections to their own lives.
Students want to know how science relates to their lives, how the biosphere works, what is wrong with it, and what they can do to make a difference. Now there is a new text that provides the information students need and gives real-life examples that make the learning process more interesting and relevant.
THREE MAIN DIVISIONS OF TEXT
1. What science is and what students need to know about it
2. The biosphere, how it works, and its current problems
3. What students can do about the problems
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Sharon La Bonde Hanks teaches biology at William Paterson College in New Jersey. She holds a Ph.D. from Rutgers University. Her 33 years in teaching have concentrated on biology and environmental science, with research focused on ecology, taxonomy and systematic palynology. She has a special interest in writing about the discipline, assessment and race/gender issues in science. Hanks is the author of a major text on how to teach biology using the process approach. In addition, she runs workshops and is a consultant, an expert perennial gardener and naturalized landscaper, and an avid student of Tai Chi. She is most proud of her memberships in the New Jersey Audubon Weis Ecology Center, Habitat for Humanity, and the Nature Conservancy.
Stated in reasonable and highly readable language, Ecology and the Biosphere addresses some of the most critical problems facing planet Earth: overpopulation, global warming, nutrient cycle disruptions, soil loss, productivity (food), loss of species diversity, water pollution, air pollution, loss of tropical rain forests and temperate forests, ozone depletion, toxic waste, and acid rain. Here is a text that presents information of concern in a format that prepares the reader for analyzing environmental and/or ecological issues. When faced with additional information from sources such as television, magazines, or newspapers that relate to a biospheric or environmental issue, readers should be able to clearly state the issue, question or problem under discussion; identify which scientific laws, theories, principles concepts, or processes are important to understanding the matter under discussion; formulate questions that need to be addressed when discussing the issue at hand; construct arguments for continuing current practices; construct arguments for changing or discontinuing current practices; and decide which solution they prefer and, through a written and well-developed discussion, explain their reasoning.
