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Biology for Life: A Guide to Our Living World, 1st Edition

Melanie Peffer

  • Copyright 2027
  • {{checkPublicationMessage('Published', '2026-02-10T00:00:00+0000')}}
Starting At £45.00 See pricing and ISBN options
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Biology for Life: A Guide to Our Living World 1st Edition by Melanie Peffer
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Overview

Biology for Life: A Guide to Our Living World is more than just a textbook. It is biology told through our daily experiences. Helping students attain the biology knowledge needed to make informed decisions in our everchanging world starts with helping them to identify biology in their lives. An exclusive partnership with National Geographic makes the text come alive – both with the inclusion of breathtaking images as well as discoveries of National Geographic Explorers from diverse backgrounds. The approach is student-friendly, putting the needs and perspectives of non-majors first. Study tips, coaching, and the author’s own enthusiasm for the topics encourage student engagement and support learning, all with an eye towards answering the often-asked question: “why do I need to know this?”

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Meet the Authors

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Melanie Peffer

Dr. Melanie Peffer is a teaching assistant professor and research scientist Level II at the University of Colorado Boulder. Dr. Peffer received her B.S. and Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Pittsburgh and completed her postdoctoral appointment in Learning Sciences from Georgia State University. Her research focuses on how people learn, understand and engage with biology content. She’s particularly interested in how educational technology like simulations and serious games can assess what people know and believe about the nature of science knowledge. Dr. Peffer is an accomplished writer and science communicator. Her book Biology Everywhere:How the Science of Life Matters to Everyday life won gold in the 2022 Colorado Independent Publisher Awards for educational texts. Thousands of learners from across the world have enrolled in her highly rated massive open online courses, including Biology Everywhere and Designing Effective Science Communication. She also developed a TED-ED lesson, The Artist who won a Nobel Prize...in medicine and gave a TED talk based on her book, How rethinking biology and positively change your life. Dr. Peffer's approach to teaching biology was shaped based on her experiences teaching non-majors biology, interacting with the public, and her background in the learning sciences. To address pervasive dread, fear, and disillusionment with biology content, she teaches science in a manner conducive to human learning and with deliberate and varied connections to the real world. She believes when students see science as applicable and related to their daily lives and experiences, that the material becomes more accessible.

What's New

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  • REAL-WORLD APPLICATION Written from the ground up to include vivid, relatable examples that spark curiosity and connect complex concepts to everyday life, the real world is a central feature, not an aside.
  • EXCLUSIVE PARTNERSHIP WITH NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Students are introduced to the compelling discoveries of National Geographic Explorers from diverse backgrounds, enabling exploration of contemporary research.
  • EVIDENCE-BASED PEDAGOGY Dr. Peffer's 10+ years researching how students learn biology ensures that best practices from the educational research, including design elements and effective strategies for learning the material, facilitate student success.
  • CLEAR AND VIBRANT ART PROGRAM Figures present complex topics in a readily understandable way, while the National Geographic partnership ensures that stunning visuals take center stage.
  • CRITICAL THINKING Students are asked to problem-solve and draw conclusions with Digging into Data, a feature that provides them with a scaffolded opportunity to interpret scientific research.
  • SCIENTIFIC LITERACY Help students understand that science is a process, not a set of facts, with the Process of Science feature, which highlights unexpected and exciting ways science works in the real world.
  • CURRENT AND RELEVANT Each chapter details a scientific discovery, insight or phenomenon focused on current data, while providing tools to distinguish real science from pseudoscience and misinformation.
  • INSPIRE CURIOSITY Spark students’ curiosity to learn more with interesting chapter openers focused on real world, thought-provoking questions relating to the unit theme and chapter.

Table of Contents

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Chapter 1: Invitation to Biology
UNIT 1 NUTRITION (Chemistry of life)
Chapter 2: The Chemistry of Biology
Chapter 3: The Molecules of Life
Chapter 4: Energy Capture and Transformation
UNIT 2 CANCER (Cell Biology)
Chapter 5: The Secret Life of the Cell
Chapter 6: The Cell Cycle and Cancer
UNIT 3 HUMAN REPRODUCTION (Genetics)
Chapter 7: The Central Dogma
Chapter 8: Inheritance
Chapter 9: Biotechnology
UNIT 4 THE MYTH OF BIOLOGICAL RACE (Evolution)
Chapter 10: Evidence for Evolution
Chapter 11: Process of Evolution
Chapter 12: Results of Evolution: The Diversity of Life
UNIT 5 CLIMATE CHANGE (Ecology)
Chapter 13 Population Ecology
Chapter 14 Communities and Ecosystems
Chapter 15 Conservation Biology
Chapter 16 Survey of the Human Body

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MindTap Options

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MindTap
Each MindTap product offers the full, mobile-ready textbook combined with superior and proven learning tools at one affordable price. Students who purchase digital access can add a print option at any time when a print option is available for their course.

This Cengage solution can be seamlessly integrated into most Learning Management Systems (Blackboard, Brightspace by D2L, Canvas, Moodle, and more) but does require a different ISBN for access codes. Please work with your Cengage Learning Consultant to ensure the proper course set up and ordering information. For additional information, please visit the LMS Integration site.

Standalone Digital Access — Ultimate Value

Recommended and most popular

  • ISBN-10: 8214184703
  • ISBN-13: 9798214184708
  • RETAIL £45.00
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Textbook Only Options

Traditional eBook and Print Options

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  • ISBN-10: 035797610X
  • ISBN-13: 9780357976104
  • RETAIL £51.50

  • ISBN-10: 0357975987
  • ISBN-13: 9780357975985
  • RETAIL £132.00
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Supplements

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Cengage provides a range of supplements that are updated in coordination with the main title selection. For more information about these supplements, contact your Learning Consultant.

FOR STUDENTS

International MindTap Instant Access for Peffer's Biology for Life: A Guide to Our Living World

ISBN: 9798214184708