5 comments about American Medical Association Boy's Guide to Becoming a Teen.

1. no problem with order/purchase/or delivery. was requested by a school library, subject matter relevant, will be used til wears out



2. I was looking for a book that was not so detailed that it read like a text book, but had enough substance to answer the questions a preteen may have. As a mom I read through it myself first for appropriateness and then gave it to my 9 year old. Initially he skimmed through it and read only the parts he wanted. However, I find that he does go back to it periodically as a reference when needed. Sometimes the book provided him the answers he was looking for and other times it was just the starting grounds for a talk. Either way it is serving its purpose.



3. We were looking for a book for our son similar to The Care & Keeping of You: The Body Book for Girls (American Girl Library) that we bought for our daughter, and this book seems to be one of the best. We bought 2, one for our son and one for a realtive, but when we received it, we found that there are materials on some pages that are objectionable or against our regligion. We returned one copy and kept one.
   
   Overall the book is a good reference except the masturbate part. It implies that it is not normal to not masturbate, and the only negative to masturbating a lot is not having time for other things. Medical materials note that masturbating a lot can negatively affect the bowel movement and other organs in the body, too.
   
   The book also talk about oral and anal sex, which might not be appropriate to your early teens. We plan to guide our son through these objectionable pages.



4. Nice book, but I bought it for a teen and the subtitle says its actually for a preteen.



5. Well presented material in a manner that will hold interest of the intended age group. Not just about birds/bees, but peer pressure and other emotions encountered as a boy enters puberty.

2 comments about Prentice-Hall Biology.

1. The book is a very good book, but the owner made it out to be in much better condition that it was.



2. I home school my child and even though I'm a christian I still give her a well rounded education from both the secular and christian perspective, as that is what she will receive when she gets into college. I also feel she should be educated from both sides or she will have no right to speak on the subject. I believe this is an excellent biology book, written from the evolution theory premiss, but one of the best written books for teaching and learning on the subject from that point of view. They make it easy and fun to read. They also have places in the book referencing websites that you can go to that show actual experiments on line, as well as further information on the subject that keep the lesson fresh, fun and interesting for the student while learning. I would highly recommend this book as a teaching tool.

5 comments about Discovering Geometry: An Investigative Approach.

1. ...takes a "hands-on" approach so that a student is required to actually "do" geometry -- as opposed to memorizing postulates and then stacking them to generate proofs...in so doing, the student taken through typical stages of investigation -- an observation leads to a speculation leads to an hypothesis that leads to a search for what is needed to confirm the hypothesis...what the student acquires are skills at problem solving that are more general, more realistic, and more practical to the real world...more mathematical types might argue that there's not enough good ol'Euclid...however, my opinion is that Euclid and his proofs are basically mind numbing and I know of no evidence to suggest that such an approach is particularly beneficial...



2. This Geometry book is designed for students to learn through investigations of conjectures with hands-on activities. Sounds great...but it's not at all. Many of the activities deal with the use of patty paper, or tracing paper, and heavily emphasizes the use of geometry tools such as compasses and protractors to create types of lines, angles, or polygons. Many of the activities are difficult for students to see the relationships the book wants them to discover. The homework assignments are TERRIBLE! Many of the problems are extremely difficult, or just too simple. The online teacher materials are a joke. They offer a worksheet for each section of the book that contains many of the same problems the book does. The online assessment resources are awful. Even worse, if a student needs to take a book home, and they don't understand - the book doesn't explain the conjectures to the reader, it makes them try to discover (or rediscover) them doing ridiculous patty paper activities. It is a very difficult book for a student to read to get quick information on how to do a problem.
   
   The only reason my school district chose this book is because the publisher's Algebra and Algebra II books are excellent, and they wanted the students to experience a similar format for their Geometry class. But this book is horrible.



3. The book arrived fast and in great condition. I was happy with the service although I was worried a little before the book arived, because the seller didn't respond to me email.



4. I had the misfortune of learning geometry from this textbook as a student, and now I have the misforture of teaching from it. I remember hating math as a high school student, and textbooks like these were the culprit. In high school, math was always presented as a set of problem-solving techniques that I had to learn and memorize. I was generally able to solve whatever problems came my way, but it always seemed like a trivial and pointless exercise. Luckily, I had some great college professors who made me realize that math was much more than memorizing algorithms, but a comprehensive logical system grounded in deductive reasoning.
   
   Geometry is the only math course in which rigorous deductive reasoning can be made accessible to high school students -- and not surprisingly, it was the first area of mathematics to be axiomatized (by Euclid). Unlike algebra or calculus, almost all of the theorems and formulas in geometry can be systematically obtained from postulates in a way that is intelligible to high school students; on the other hand, I have yet to see an algebra teacher attempt to prove Cramer's Rule or the Binomial Theorem to their students. The fact that geometry introduces students to a different, mathematical way of thinking is the only justification for maintaining geometry as a standalone math course, rather than integrating it into algebra courses. Otherwise, the "facts" of geometry are nothing remarkable in themselves. So what if opposite sides of a parallelogram are congruent? It wouldn't be that difficult to teach students that "fact" in an algebra class when they're learning about slopes of parallel lines. But what's important is that students understand and see how this fact derives systematically from already known facts.
   
   What does all this have to do with the book at hand? "Discovering Geometry" reduces geometry to the same collection of facts and algorithms that students have been doing in every math class since elementary school. While the problems that Michael Serra devises are occasionally interesting and even clever, he completely misses the point of geometry -- to understand WHY those "facts" are true.
   
   Unlike many critics of this book, I do not have any inherent qualms with the investigative approach to learning geometry. Investigation plays a central role in mathematics, and I applaud the author for giving inductive reasoning its fair shake in this book. But investigation has become more of an ideology than a pedagogical tool in this book. Even my weakest students groan at having to do some of the investigations, whose results they deem obvious. There are simply too many unnecessary investigations, many of which exist only to aggrandize the author's educational philosophy.
   
   As a student, I used the second edition of this book. The author has clearly made significant improvements for the third edition, but there are still serious pedagogical flaws. While Chapter 13 is a valiant attempt at introducing students to the deductive method of geometry, it is too little, too late. High school math classes rarely reach the last chapter, and separating the proofs from the theorems themselves feels artificial and contrived. The author makes another questionable pedagogical decision to area and volume into nonconsecutive chapters, Ch. 8 and 10 -- just so he can prove the Pythagorean Theorem using area in Ch. 9. But if he would only introduce similarity before the Pythagorean Theorem, he would be able to prove the Pythagorean Theorem using similar triangles in a much more elegant and motivated way.
   
   The unorthodox ordering of topics to which I have previously alluded creates problems for even the author. There are many practice problems that require concepts or techniques from later chapters. For example, students are asked to construct a square in Chapter 3 given a diagonal, before either the properties of quadrilaterals (Ch. 5) -- or even the properties of triangles (Ch. 4) -- have been introduced! How students are supposed to "guess" that the diagonal of a square bisects the angles -- I do not know. Furthermore, the first proof in the text is a paragraph proof that the perpendicular bisectors of a triangle are concurrent. I can only imagine the horrified looks on the faces of Serra's students. And these are supposedly students who are having too much trouble with the two-column proofs!
   
   There are outright mistakes in the textbook as well besides the usual typos. On page 333, Serra defines an irrational number as a number whose "decimal form never ends" and a transcendental number as a number whose "pattern of digits does not repeat." So according to his definition, 1/3 would be an irrational number, and sqrt(2) would be a transcendental number -- the former false for obvious reasons, the latter because sqrt(2) satisfies the polynomial equation x^2 - 2 = 0. Moreover, this is something that a reasonably bright high schooler might be expected to know -- much less an ostensibly expert math teacher!
   
   In his manifesto "Tracing Proof in Discovering Geometry," Serra attacks two-column proofs, saying that "so many students fail to master two-column proofs that some teachers are skeptical of claims that all students can learn geometry." While I agree that two-column proofs misrepresent mathematics and make proofs unnecessarily complicated, I'll gladly take them over "Discovering Geometry" any day.



5. Excellent condition. I used least expensive shipping so textbook took a while to arrive.

5 comments about Algebra 2 Practice Workbook with Examples.

1. I was not even aware that this book existed. Found it on Amazon and it matches perfectly with the course. Great price, quick shipping



2. I bought this workbook to use with students I am tutoring over the summer. Each page in the workbook has an example on it followed by a few problems. (The number of practice problems varies depending on the topic. For example, one page has students write and graph three inequalities to solve a word problem; this page only had the one problem to solve.) The book's format is perfect for my students because they can refer to the example if they have forgotten how to work the problems, and the number of problems is small enough that they don't feel overwhelmed (especially since they are on summer break!).



3. How is one to know they are learning/progressing if they can not check their solutions? This book is a waste. Now i've got to buy something that has the solutions.



4. Workbook was brand new, came in the time promised and was exactly what we wanted!



5. I did buy algebra 2 book and practic work books and i did mentioned to seller including the book number but unfortunately i got different text book that doesnot match with the work book. Now i don't know what to do with the two different books i.e work book and algebra 2 text book
   if you have any suggestion please let me know
   vijay

5 comments about Math on Call: A Mathematics Handbook.

1. I used this book when I was student teaching and it was an awesome resource. I like the tricks it gives you to remember key points. For example, to remember the geometric angles, the book gives you this sentence: All Riddles Often Sound Ridiculous. Take the first letter of each word and you remember your angles from smallest: Acute, Right, Obtuse, Straight, Reflex How cool is this?



2. The book has been very useful for myself and my family. With Math On Call, anyone can learn math, it is simply fantastic!



3. This book has every topic that you could think of for Middle School Mathematics. It has great examples and I would definitely recommend this to anyone.



4. This book is labeled as a resource book for basic mathematics, a reference to be consulted by students when a topic needs to be refreshed. The sections are:
   
   *) Numeration - the base ten numeration system, rational and irrational numbers
   *) Number theory - factors, powers and roots
   *) Computation - addition, subtraction, multiplication and division
   *) Algebra - the basic notation, properties, tactics, equations and relations and functions
   *) Graphs and statistics - organizing and graphing data, standard deviation is the most complex statistic covered
   *) Geometry - plane and solid geometric figures, angles
   *) Ratio, proportion and percent
   *) Probability and odds - counting techniques of permutations and combinations, probability and odds.
   
   A series of supplemental tactics appears in the appendix.
   The coverage of each item is extremely brief, therefore this book cannot be used to educate, the reader must already have covered and understood the topic for it to be useful. My opinion is that the best use of the book is for the teacher or helpful parent to use it as a quick refresher of the mathematical topics to be covered. If the student is confused, looking through this book will likely not be of much help.



5. This book has helped with homework tremendously. Especially for Mom, not always remembering how some of the math processes work.

No comments about Biology: Reading And Study Workbook a.

5 comments about Archimedes and the Door of Science (Living History Library).

1. I plan to use this in my 5th grade classroom. We focus on Ancient Greece and it is accessible and filled with useful information.



2. This book is engaging and funny, smart and clever, profound and simple. It may be the best book I have read this year, because even though written for young readers, it is packed with information.
   
   Ancient Sicily becomes accessible as a culture and lifestyle through this book. And Archimedes' discoveries are made clear through written descriptions and illustrations that are perfect for the text. The information about the way children were instructed in Syracuse, and then about how Archimedes furthered his education, was compelling. The love of learning shines in this book.
   
   The geometry chapters are advanced, but not too difficult. And the section about the war machines he invented was downright fun!
   
   There are immediate applications for learning at home -- creating mobiles to learn about centers of gravity, using levers and screws and pulleys, studying eclipses and the solar system. This is an excellent, excellent book.
   
   First written in 1962, republished by Bethlehem Books, and a must-read. Enjoy it for yourself!



3. This book has a lot of good information about how math concepts were discovered over time by Archmedes. Some of the concepts are involved, but it is written at a level that allows young children (8 yrs and up) to access the ideas. The text could easily be used to branch off to classroom/home study science or math explorations. An excellent introduction to the possible depths of mathematics/science study in a light manner that children will find engaging.



4. This book is about Archimedes' life. He found out how to measure a circle and the principle of buoyancy. He invented the Archimedes' screw. He moved a ship full of cargo with one hand and a machine he built. And he did all this without electricity. I think that you will love this book.



5. My 12 year old and then my wife have read this nifty little book before I got to read the father's day present. I generally like less-than-one-hour biographies with pictures, particularly of inventors.
   Great book for readers at 4th grade level and above.
   For adults, if you admit to liking cliff notes, I would recommend this book on Archimedes first, before buying something more scholarly.

5 comments about Geometry: Practice Workbook With Examples.

1. nowhere does the description mention that the text is required to understand what is going on in this workbook. I believed it to be a standalone and it is not. It was a tremendous waste of my money and time and I feel cheated!



2. I am a teacher assistant for a teacher that plans her lessons around this workbook. Instead of taking notes she goes through this workbook to teach the lesson. This is a good idea because the students are taking more time learning instead of worrying about writing everything down. However, this is NOT the workbook to do this with. I will agree that it covers a lot of good material and has some good examples, but the parts meant to "teach" are terrible. All of the problems are fill in the blank. Any math educator should know that there are MANY different ways to solve one algebra problem. Well, when solving for an unknown angle in a triangle, this workbook has fill in the blank spaces for solving the equation. Something like: __x + 2 = 3__ + x. I even had to step back and try and figure out what the workbook wanted for each blank because it sometimes would solve equations in a completely different way than I would think to do. Therefore, the students only see one way and we miss out on class discussions of how their classmates solved the same equation. The worst part is, when they get to a problem on their homework were they have to do everything themselves (no fill in the blanks) they are lost. This is especially prevalent in the sections on proofs. The workbook presents 3 different ways to write proofs, 2-column, flowchart, and paragraph (though 2-column is the mostly used) Anyway, the workbook also does fill in the blank proofs. Even MORE so than with algebra equations, proofs use reasoning and creativity. The fill-in-the-blank method takes both of these aspects out of the proof writing process. When my students took their first quiz where the proof was NOT fill in the blank, they were stuck, didn't know what to do and I had to make the proofs extra credit. After that I got rid of this workbook and started teaching them how to do work on their own.
   
   I understand that this is just a 2 dollar workbook, but if you plan on getting a resource for your students to use, do NOT order this workbook! The only thing this workbook teaches the students to do is be dependent on being given TOO much information. Get something else that teaches students to reason on their own and make connections between relationships in ways that makes sense to them... not just the one way that this workbook forces the students to do.



3. I don't believe this book was very helpful. No answers in book or explaination of problems. Shipment was quick.



4. Wonderful price .Fast delivery. What more can you ask for. I have told numerous parents about purchasing their kids school books from Amazon.The process is fast,easy and reliable.Your site will be our 1st stop when purchasing books in the future. Thank You !!!



5. covers good material but the only solutions are to the examples. the follow up problems after the example do not have solutions. i was disappointed by that.

4 comments about Algebra 2, Student Edition.

1. This item was advertised as text AND CD. It was only the CD. When you order item and attempt to get in contact with seller, there is no response. It wasn't flawed......I would be careful when ordering from them to get in contact FIRST. Once you've paid......no satifaction guareented.



2. I have taught and tutored math since 1989 and this is one one of the best Algebra II books out there. Clear examples, plenty of practice problems, presents a solid Algebra 2 curriculum, and has very few--if any--mistakes. I highly recommend it.



3. good buy good shape wish the ISBN # was on it but it is the right book



4. Thank you for the textbook received in a timely manner and in excellent condition .

1 comments about Algebra 1: Homework and Practice Workbook.

1. this is great. but no answers included so i (parent) have to figure it out the answers :)