Your opinions on these Biology and Chemistry textbooks?

[missbrokensmile]

I'm looking for supplementary material for HL Biology and HL Chemistry. But, where I live, hardly any libraries stock IB textbooks, and if you want to purchase them, they need to be specially ordered :/ So, I'd love to hear your opinions on these books. Any sort of reviews/comments/whether it's worth getting them or not (as they're quite expensive)...

I'd prefer a textbook with more than the minimum content on the syllabus rather than concise material, because I came in late to both courses, and missed about 4 topics... :/

Currently I have the Oxford textbooks (both the course companion and study guides) for both subjects. I find the Oxford texts a bit heavy, and because I missed quite a few lessons, don't have the background knowledge to understand some aspects, hopefully one of these texts can fill that gap (and help with future topics?).

Biology:

- Higher Level Biology for the IB Diploma (Ward, et al) <http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pearson-Baccalaureate-Biology-International-Editions/dp/043599445X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257336386&sr=8-1>

- Biology for the IB Diploma (Clegg) <http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/034092652X?ie=UTF8&tag=ibda-21&link_code=as3&camp=2506&creative=9298&creativeASIN=034092652X>

I'm definetely going to buy one of these books, but I'm not sure which one is better. I've seen the sample pages of the Pearson textbook, and it looks good from what I saw, but perhaps the Clegg text is better? I'm not sure, I couldn't find any sample pages...

I'm also thinking of buying a Chemistry textbook, but I'm not sure if it's worth it (these textbooks are pretty expensive) because I also have the IBID textbook (2nd edition) for Chemistry. I think this text is okay, except it has quite a few mistakes in it and some explanations are pretty clumsily worded :/

Chemistry:

- Higher Level Chemistry for the IB Diploma (Brown, et al) <http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pearson-Baccalaureate-Chemistry-International-Editions/dp/0435994409/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258637420&sr=1-1>

Thanks!

Edited November 19, 2009 by missbrokensmile

[Sandwich]

We had those Pearson books in the library at my school (haven't seen the Clegg one before anywhere) and I have to say if you're after more simplified material, you're probably barking up the wrong tree. As I recall they're packed full of random misc extra stuff. Honestly, I don't think you can get textbooks much lighter material-wise than the Course Companions & Study Guides! If you're struggling to pick stuff up, you'd probably be better off paying your teacher to coach you through it a bit rather than getting a textbook, in my opinion. If I was going to recommend any textbook for HL Bio with less rather than more headache, it'd be the ones you have

Snap to the Chemistry. Possibly upgrade to the newest IBID book (is the 2nd edition one pre-2007? The syllabus may have changed, I know our school had loads of old ones), but that's also the best IB Chem textbook! They had that in the library and it was waayyyy better than our Course Companions (which were the ones we were given by the department).

The IB Chem Course Companion had some mistakes in it too, but all in all wasn't bad if you're desperate for a second textbook and really don't like the IBID explanations. Just I would've said the IBID one was better from the start

[missbrokensmile]

Oooh, thank you for your comments.

I guess I'm not looking for a textbook that's easier, but has better, more in-depth explanations, if that makes sense? Texts that elaborate more, and offer more information. Because the Oxford books are good, I like them. But they just don't offer much in terms of better explanations (at least I think). I feel like they try to concisely explain a concept in the shortest sentence possible.

I think the IBID Chemistry text is good. The explanations elaborate a lot more (compared to Oxford), but yeah, I have the older edition, which is not as great as the current one. My teacher has is it, and when saw it, I found it so much better than the past edition (though a lot of it was rehashed exactly the same as the 2nd edition). I guess it might be worth buying the new edition.

[KiwiFruit]

Biology:

Andrew Allot has a very good book for the IB Diploma and only around 18British Pounds. I only studied that and have been getting 7's most of the time for my Biology Tests. http://www.amazon.com/Biology-IB-Diploma-Andrew-Allott/dp/0199151431 .

I really recommend that book. Also there is no substitute for your syllabus, whatever text book you get you need to go through it with the syllabus in the other hand as many text books will blab on about things not in the syllabus. Also http://click4biology.info/ is very helpful for Biology.

Wish you luck .

[MissP]

I'm looking for supplementary material for HL Biology and HL Chemistry. But, where I live, hardly any libraries stock IB textbooks, and if you want to purchase them, they need to be specially ordered :/ So, I'd love to hear your opinions on these books. Any sort of reviews/comments/whether it's worth getting them or not (as they're quite expensive)...

I'd prefer a textbook with more than the minimum content on the syllabus rather than concise material, because I came in late to both courses, and missed about 4 topics... :/

Currently I have the Oxford textbooks (both the course companion and study guides) for both subjects. I find the Oxford texts a bit heavy, and because I missed quite a few lessons, don't have the background knowledge to understand some aspects, hopefully one of these texts can fill that gap (and help with future topics?).

Biology:

- Higher Level Biology for the IB Diploma (Ward, et al) <http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pearson-Baccalaureate-Biology-International-Editions/dp/043599445X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257336386&sr=8-1>

- Biology for the IB Diploma (Clegg) <http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/034092652X?ie=UTF8&tag=ibda-21&link_code=as3&camp=2506&creative=9298&creativeASIN=034092652X>

I'm definetely going to buy one of these books, but I'm not sure which one is better. I've seen the sample pages of the Pearson textbook, and it looks good from what I saw, but perhaps the Clegg text is better? I'm not sure, I couldn't find any sample pages...

I'm also thinking of buying a Chemistry textbook, but I'm not sure if it's worth it (these textbooks are pretty expensive) because I also have the IBID textbook (2nd edition) for Chemistry. I think this text is okay, except it has quite a few mistakes in it and some explanations are pretty clumsily worded :/

Chemistry:

- Higher Level Chemistry for the IB Diploma (Brown, et al) <http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pearson-Baccalaureate-Chemistry-International-Editions/dp/0435994409/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258637420&sr=1-1>

Thanks!

Hey..

I've got both of the books and I think they are both really good.

The course is explained well in both books.

Our teacher also gives us notes from the Pearson book, which is according to the syllabus so I recommend this one.

Hope this helps

[pomoni]

What's your opinion on the Biology IBID and the Biology Oxford Course Companion?

[Amber]

I think the best option would be to talk to your teacher. Your teacher will probably have some good connections to the best books, and advise you the books that will stick to the topics taught!

Have a wonderful day!

[IOwnAndPwnU]

Our school provided us with on of the Biology textbooks (Clegg). Personally, I found that this book is very colorful - it has lots of pictures, labeled diagrams and color coded text. So if you're a visual learner, this book is fantastic. It even comes with a CD (although, it only has the Options on it).

I can't say about the other Biology book you mentioned, but if you're a visual learner, Clegg's is the one for you.