Biology 2e is designed to cover the scope and sequence requirements of a typical two-semester biology course for science majors. The text provides comprehensive coverage of foundational research and core biology concepts through an evolutionary lens. Biology includes rich features that engage students in scientific inquiry, highlight careers in the biological sciences, and offer everyday applications. The book also includes various types of practice and homework questions that help students understand—and apply—key concepts. The 2nd edition has been revised to incorporate clearer, more current, and more dynamic explanations, while maintaining the same organization as the first edition. Art and illustrations have been substantially improved, and the textbook features additional assessments and related resources.

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Discuss the role of carbohydrates in cells and in the extracellular materials of animals and plants
Explain carbohydrate classifications
List common monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides

Explore and review the biological molecules necessary for life.

A free CK-12 account is required to view all materials.

These Fizzy's Lunch Lab videos and lesson plan provide an informative overview of food and nutrition topics with an emphasis on carbohydrates and sugar. Using these materials, students will understand and categorize foods that are made up of simple and complex carbohydrates and sugars. [4:08]

Here you can learn about biochemistry, the chemistry of the living world. Content explores carbohydrates, lipids, amino acid structure and proteins, enzymes, nucleic acids, and metabolism.

Here you can learn all about carbohydrates! Content explores what carbohydrates are used for in the body, as well as the different types: saccharides, regular sugars, and polysaccharides.

Page focuses on the processes involved in the generation of monosaccharides and their absorption into the digestive tract. Image shows the transport of glucose across the intestinal epithelium.

This public health resource provides information on carbohydrates. Very in-depth, discussing what carbohydrates are, how they work, and popular diets related to carbohydrates.

This video segment adapted from NOVA illustrates why carbon is at the center of life on Earth. It also asks whether carbon-based life might exist on other planets. [1:38]

This activity is a classroom experiment where students gather data on which foods contain starch. They use observation and develop their own hypothesis to create a question they would like to discover about starches.

Most people know that fats and calories are connected to our weight, but what is their correlation? This article analyzes their relationship and how an understanding of these items can benefit your body. Links to related articles are also available.

Here is help in figuring out the information provided on food labels. Be sure you are getting the nutrition you need from the foods you eat.

This pathway provides an overview of biological macromolecules and their properties. The resources in this pathway can be used to introduce or review the structure and function of lipids, carbohydrates, proteins, and nucleic acids. For a deeper look at this topic, we recommend the pathway Biological Macromolecules from the OpenStax textbook Biology for AP® Courses.

Find out what the human body needs to function at its best, and why.

All cells, organs and tissues of a living organism are built of molecules. Some of them are small, made from only a few atoms. There is, however, a special class of molecules that make up and play critical roles in living cells. These molecules can consist of many thousands to millions of atoms. They are referred to as macromolecules (or large biomolecules).