• Nature of Science: In order to develop a deeper understanding of the life sciences, today's students need to develop an appreciation for the fact that science a process, and that this process has application to their everyday lives. This theme focuses on how scientists do science, and the importance of scientific inquiry.
• Evolution: Evolutionary change, and the mechanism of natural selection, are the the core unifying concepts of the biological sciences. By following this theme through the chapter, the students will develop a better understanding of how evolution has shaped, and continues to shape, life on this planet.
• Biological Systems: From cells to ecosystems, all life is interconnected. This theme acts as a method of developing a holistic approach to the study of the life sciences, by demonstrating how some of the same principles that regulate life at the cellular level have a role in physiology and ecosystem biology.

The themes run through each chapter and tie the material together with the following tools:

• Unit Learning Outcomes: Each unit now contains unit-level learning outcomes that will assist your students in understanding how the diverse concepts in the biological sciences are connected by common threads. As is the case with all learning outcomes in the text, these unit level objectives are assessable from within Connect. The unit level learning outcomes are integrated with the three themes by use of a variety of assets:
• Following the Themes: The introduction of each theme (Nature of Science, Evolution, Biological Systems) is presented at the beginning of each chapter. These statements provide a summary of how the content of that chapter will apply to each of the three themes.
• Thematic Feature Readings. While each theme is integrated into the entire chapter, the authors have also designed feature readings to engage your students in the nature of science, evolution, and biological systems. Each reading contains 'questions to consider' to promote scientific inquiry in your students.-
• Connecting The Concepts with the Themes: At the end of the chapter, the authors provide a brief synopsis of how each theme was integrated into the chapter. This further develops the theme as a series of learning thread, allowing the instructor and student to bring related concepts together more easily.

• Learning Outcomes/Check Your Progress: The author has identified 3-4 Learning Outcomes for each heading. These have been constructed using Bloom's Taxonomy and will allow assessment of key concepts. At the end of each section there are questions to help students assess and apply their understanding of the material in that section.
• Before You Begin: Allows the students to assess whether they have mastered prerequisite key concepts before proceeding further into the chapter material.
• Media Integration: Today's students are primarily digital and visual-based learners. In this edition we have added vibrant Media ICONS throughout the chapter to indicate where relevant animations, video and MP3 files are available to students through Connect. They are designed to enhance the relevancy and applications of the chapter content.

Dr. Michael Windelspecht: The integration of text and the digital world are now complete with the addition of Dr. Michael's Windelspecht's expertise in the development of digital learning assets. For over ten years, Dr. Michael Windelspecht served as the Introductory Biology Coordinator at Appalachian State University, in Boone NC where he directed a program that enrolls over 4,500 non-science majors annually. Dr Windelspecht has acted is the leading architect in the design of the Mader media content for McGraw-Hill's ConnectPlus and LearnSmart. These assets allow instructors to easily design interactive tutorial materials, enhance presentations in both the online and traditional environments, and assess the learning objectives and outcomes of your course.

• An integrated, printable eBook, allowing for anytime, anywhere access to the textbook.
• Dynamic links between the problems or questions you assign to your students and the location in the eBook where those problems or questions are covered.
• You can assign fully integrated, self-study questions.
• Pagination that exactly matches the printed text, allowing students to rely on ConnectPlus as the complete resource for your course.
• Embedded media, including animations and videos.
• Customize the text for your students by adding and sharing your own notes and highlights.

LearnSmart - Bright futures begin with a smarter way to learn. LearnSmart monitors students' learning styles as it teaches and adapts instantly based on their performance. Measure-Assess and monitor students levels. Adapt-Provide interactive assessments based on strengths & weaknesses. Empower-Map out a personalized plan for successful learning.

Mader: Biology, 11e Companion Site is a vast array of electronic teaching and learning tools, including animations and videos with quizzing, pre-tests, practice quizzes, post-tests, and on-line labs.

Presentation Center - Build instructional materials wherever, whenever, and however you want! Presentation Center is an online digital library containing assets such as photos, artwork, animations, PowerPoints, and other types of media that can be used to create customized lectures, visually enhanced tests and quizzes, compelling course websites, or attractive printed support materials. Access to your book, access to all books! This ever-growing resource gives instructors the power to utilize assets specific to their adopted textbook as well as content from other McGraw-Hill books in the library. Presentation Center's dynamic search engine allows you to explore by discipline, course, textbook chapter, asset type, or keyword. Simply browse, select, and download the files you need to build engaging course materials. All assets are copyrighted by McGraw-Hill Higher Education but can be used by instructors for classroom purposes.