{"id":14078,"date":"2012-11-07T09:01:22","date_gmt":"2012-11-07T15:01:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scienceblogs.com\/gregladen\/?p=14078"},"modified":"2012-11-07T09:01:22","modified_gmt":"2012-11-07T15:01:22","slug":"illustrated-guide-to-home-biology-experiments-book-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregladen.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/07\/illustrated-guide-to-home-biology-experiments-book-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Illustrated Guide to Home Biology Experiments (book review)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>One of the more popular books I’ve ever reviewed here, judging by the number of people who read the review, was this one on home chemistry<\/a>. Now, let’s see if we can meet or beat the physical sciences with this new title:Illustrated Guide to Home Biology Experiments: All Lab, No Lecture (DIY Science)<\/a>\"\". Robert Bruce Thompson, author of the chemistry book, has teamed up with Barbara Fritchman Thompson, to produce this new work.<\/p>\n

The book has a lot of experiments in it, organized in a reasonable way, with complete instructions on everything. I would prefer to see more graphics illustrating the procedures and materials, but there are illustrations and they are good. I would just like more. The 30 or so experiments (parsed out into a much larger number of procedures) is targeted towards middle and high school students and in particular, home schoolers, but also hobbyists. The Illustrated Guide to Home Biology Experiments: All Lab, No Lecture (DIY Science)<\/a>\"\" is designed to be used along side a biology text.<\/p>\n

One of the best ways to evaluate a book like this may be to look at the Table of Contents. So, here it is, unformatted: <\/p>\n

Chapter 1 Introduction
\nUsing this Book with Your Curriculum
\nPlanning and Scheduling
\nWork Areas
\nMaintaining a Laboratory Notebook
\nChapter 2 Equipping a Home Biology Laboratory
\nMicroscopes and Accessories
\nMicroscope Accessories
\nCulturing Equipment and Supplies
\nHistology Equipment and Supplies
\nGeneral Laboratory Equipment
\nMajor Equipment
\nPrepared Slides
\nSpecimens
\nChapter 3 Laboratory Safety
\nPrepare Properly
\nDress Properly
\nAvoid Laboratory Hazards
\nDon\u2019t Do Stupid Things
\nChapter 4 Using a Microscope
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure I-1-1: A Microscope Tour
\nBuild a Darkfield Apparatus from Pocket Change
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 5 Mounting Specimens
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure I-2-1: Making Wet Mounts
\nProcedure I-2-2: Making Smear Mounts
\nProcedure I-2-3: Making Hanging Drop Mounts
\nProcedure I-2-4: Making Sectional Mounts
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 6 Staining
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure I-3-1: Simple Staining
\nProcedure I-3-2: Gram Staining
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 7 Building and Observing Microcosms
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure II-1-1: Gathering Materials
\nProcedure II-1-2: Building Aquarium Microcosms
\nProcedure II-1-3: Building Winogradsky Column Microcosms
\nProcedure II-1-4: Observing Winogradsky Column Microcosms
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 8 Observing Succession in Aquarium Microcosms
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure II-2-1: Observe Succession in Microcosms
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 9 Observing the Effects of Pollution in Microcosms
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure II-3-1: Build Polluted Microcosms
\nProcedure II-3-2: Observe Succession in Polluted Microcosms
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 10 Acids, Bases, and Buffers
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure III-1-1: Percentage and Molar Concentrations
\nProcedure III-1-2: Effect of Concentration on pH
\nProcedure III-1-3: pH of Household Materials
\nProcedure III-1-4: Buffers
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 11 Carbohydrates and Lipids
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure III-2-1: Investigating Sugars
\nProcedure III-2-2: Investigating Starches
\nProcedure III-2-3: Investigating Lipids
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 12 Proteins, Enzymes, and Vitamins
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure III-3-1: Investigating Proteins
\nProcedure III-3-2: Investigating Enzyme Catalysis
\nProcedure III-3-3: Assaying Vitamin C Concentration in Urine
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 13 Coacervates
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure III-4-1: Prepare and Observe a Coacervate
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 14 Extracting, Isolating, and Visualizing DNA
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure III-5-1: Extracting and Visualizing DNA
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 15 Build a Gel Electrophoresis Apparatus
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure III-6-1: Making the Gel Casting Container and Comb
\nProcedure III-6-2: Assemble the Apparatus
\nChapter 16 Simulated DNA Separation by Gel Electrophoresis
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure III-7-1: Prepare Running Buffer
\nProcedure III-7-2: Prepare and Cast the Gel
\nProcedure III-7-3: Load and Run the Dye Specimens
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 17 Chlorophyll and Photosynthesis
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure IV-1-1: Observing Carbon Dioxide Uptake
\nProcedure IV-1-2: Determining the Effect of Light Intensity on Photosynthesis
\nProcedure IV-1-3: Chromatography of Plant Pigments and Locating Cellular Energy Reserves
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 18 Investigating Osmosis
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure IV-2-1: Observing Osmosis in Chicken Eggs
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 19 Investigating Cell Division
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure IV-3-1: Observing Mitosis
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 20 Sampling Plant Populations in a Community
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure V-1-1: Choosing and Preparing the Survey Area
\nProcedure V-1-2: Surveying the Plant Community
\nProcedure V-1-3: Performing a Population Count
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 21 Observing the Effect of Rhizobia on Plant Growth
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure V-2-1: Grow Lima Beans With and Without Rhizobia
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 22 Air Pollution Testing
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure V-3-1: Building Particle Traps
\nProcedure V-3-2: Positioning and Exposing the Particle Traps
\nProcedure V-3-3: Counting and Identifying Particles
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 23 Soil and Water Pollution Testing
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure V-4-1: Obtaining Soil and Water Specimens
\nProcedure V-4-2: Testing the Reagents
\nProcedure V-4-3: Making Boron Concentration Comparison Standards
\nProcedure V-4-4: Testing Specimens for Boron
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 24 Exploring Mendelian Genetics
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure VI-1-1: Testing Subjects for the Ability to Taste PTC
\nProcedure VI-1-2: Charting Inheritance of PTC-Tasting Ability
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 25 Observing Specialized Eukaryotic Cells
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure VII-1-1: Observing Onion Epidermal and Elodea Leaf Cells
\nProcedure VII-1-2: Comparing and Contrasting Eukaryotic Cells
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 26 Preparing Culturing Media
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure VII-2-1: Preparing Normal Saline and Nutrient Media
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 27 Culturing Bacteria
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure VII-3-1: Staining and Observing the Original Culture
\nProcedure VII-3-2: Inoculating Plates and Tubes
\nProcedure VII-3-3: Producing Pure Cultures
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 28 Investigating Bacterial Antibiotic Sensitivity
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure VII-4-1: Testing Antibiotic Sensitivity
\nProcedure VII-4-2: Culturing an Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Strain
\nProcedure VII-4-3: Retesting Sensitivity of the Resistant Strain
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 29 Investigating Protista
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure VIII-1-1: Observing Spirogyrae
\nProcedure VIII-1-2: Observing Euglenae
\nProcedure VIII-1-3: Observing Amoebae
\nProcedure VIII-1-4: Observing Paramecia
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 30 Investigating Fungi
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure IX-1-1: Observing Zygomycota
\nProcedure IX-1-2: Observing Ascomycota
\nProcedure IX-1-3: Observing Basidiomycota
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 31 Investigating Simple Plants: Mosses and Ferns
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure X-1-1: Observing Moss Structures
\nProcedure X-1-2: Observing Fern Structures
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 32 Investigating Seed Plants
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure X-2-1: Observing Germination of a Seed Plant
\nProcedure X-2-2: Observing Root Structures
\nProcedure X-2-3: Observing Stem Structures
\nProcedure X-2-4: Observing Leaf Structures
\nProcedure X-2-5: Observing Reproductive Structures
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 33 Investigating Porifera and Cnidaria
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure XI-1-1: Observing Porifera
\nProcedure XI-1-2: Observing Cnidaria
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 34 Investigating Platyhelminthes, Nematoda, and Annelida
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure XI-2-1: Observing Platyhelminthes (Flatworms)
\nProcedure XI-2-2: Observing Nematoda (Roundworms)
\nProcedure XI-2-3: Observing Annelida (Segmented Worms)
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 35 Investigating Arthropods
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure XI-3-1: Observing and Comparing Arthropod Structures
\nProcedure XI-3-2: Observing Insect Metamorphosis
\nReview Questions
\nChapter 36 Investigating Vertebrate Tissues
\nEquipment and Materials
\nBackground
\nProcedure XI-4-1: Observing Epithelial Tissues
\nProcedure XI-4-2: Observing Connective Tissues
\nProcedure XI-4-3: Observing Muscle Tissues
\nProcedure XI-4-4: Observing Nervous Tissues
\nReview Questions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the more popular books I’ve ever reviewed here, judging by the number of people who read the review, was this one on home chemistry. Now, let’s see if we can meet or beat the physical sciences with this new title:Illustrated Guide to Home Biology Experiments: All Lab, No Lecture (DIY Science). Robert Bruce … Continue reading Illustrated Guide to Home Biology Experiments (book review)<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[4140,40,4141],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5fhV1-3F4","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregladen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14078"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregladen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregladen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregladen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregladen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gregladen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14078\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregladen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregladen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregladen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}