Publisher's Synopsis
Revised Printing of 4th Edition Now Available!In this collection of laboratory investigations we have chosen to follow Darwin's lead by highlighting some of the many forms of life's biological diversity and complexity - and there are many! Biological evolution, after all, is an extremely creative process. You'll be examining diversity and complexity from the level of DNA, to that of species, and finally to how species are assembled into communities and how these communities are studied. You'll also be looking at some of the important mechanisms and natural systems that underlie, maintain, and change biological diversity. It is not much of an exaggeration to say that life as we know it, in all its myriad and beautiful forms, is about variation and interaction.These labs are designed to be stand-alone activities that are primarily self-directed. You will find that your instructor will ""teach"" much less than you may be used to. Think of your instructor as a facilitator or as a resource for learning - the real learning is up to you. Said differently, the degree of learning you accomplish while conducting these investigations is almost entirely dependent on the effort you put into them, inside and outside the laboratory.
