Biology is designed for multi-semester biology courses for science majors. It is grounded on an evolutionary basis and includes exciting features that highlight careers in the biological sciences and everyday applications of the concepts at hand. To meet the needs of today’s instructors and students, some content has been strategically condensed while maintaining the overall scope and coverage of traditional texts for this course. Instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom. Biology also includes an innovative art program that incorporates critical thinking and clicker questions to help students understand—and apply—key concepts.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Define global climate changeSummarize the effects of the Industrial Revolution on global atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrationDescribe three natural factors affecting long-term global climateList two or more greenhouse gases and describe their role in the greenhouse effect

Concepts of building technology and experimental methods. Projects vary yearly and have included design and test of strategies for daylighting, passive heating and cooling, and improved indoor air quality. Experimental methods focus on measurement and analysis of thermally driven and wind-driven airflows, lighting intensity and glare, heat flow and thermal storage, and load deformation of materials. Experiments are conducted at model and full scale and are often motivated by ongoing field work in developing countries.

Weather and climate is designed to function as two mini-courses that are highly integrated and interdependent. It is necessary to understand the elements of weather in order to understand climatic systems and outcomes. The course is not taught in a deterministic manner but from an ecological standpoint with a focus upon the interaction of site and situation, basic concepts to Geographers.