IB Diploma Programme: Biology Course Companion – Andrew Allott & David Mindorff
Name: IB Diploma Programme: Biology Course Companion
Author: Andrew Allott & David Mindorff
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2007
Pages: 400
ISBN: 0199151458
My Review
This Biology book has all the content you need for both Standard Level and Higher Level. It contains some really heavy reading that would require some teacher explanation for most learners. The book is set out into chapters and the HL content is presented in the same chapter as the SL content, but this is clearly noted with a ‘HL’ mark next to content Standard Level students need not worry about.
The fact the book has all the information you need to know from the syllabus makes it fantastic. However, the book is very mono in terms of colour. The pages are black and a faded orange which is really boring. The diagrams are good, but the lack of colour could make them difficult to understand for some people. Some of my friends dislike this book because they learn and remember best with colours, if this is you, get this book and also go for the C.J Clegg book as the diagrams are more colourful.
The book retails for on average £18 or $38, it is always in stock, unlike the C.J Clegg book.
If you can suffer the lack of colour then this book is perfect. I would recommend this book alongside the C.J Clegg book.
Pros
Great content
Great price
Good availability
Good diagrams
Cons
Some content may be hard to understand
You will most likely get sick of the orange
Similar Textbooks:
- Biology for the IB Diploma – C.J Clegg
- Biology for the IB Diploma: Study Guide – Andrew Allott
- IB Diploma Programme: Economics Course Companion – Ian Dorton & Jocelyn Blink
- Biology Standard Level (Heinemann Baccalaureate)(Pearson Baccalaureate) – Alan Damon, Randy McGonegal, Patricia Tosto & William Ward
- Biology Higher Level (Heinemann Baccalaureate)(Pearson Baccalaureate) – Alan Damon, William Ward, Patricia Tosto & Randy McGonegal (Update!)
One word to describe this IB textbook
AMAZING
I’m at an IB school in the USA and I use this textbook for Biology, my school loans them to us for a small fee, but I bought my own copy because it’s helpful for at home.
I like the end of chapter questions and the answer section at the back, so I can have a little sneak peak! I hope to get a 7 in the exam and around 36 points in total for my International Baccalaureate!
Does anyone know if there is a teacher’s book to go with this? I teacher Higher level Biology and I’ve made my own mark schemes for most of the data qs but my students like to see the actual mark schemes to help them understand where they gain or lose marks.
I love this textbook, it helps me so much on my most difficult subject!
Thanks,
Laura
Sorry, but this book is no where near as good for IB Biology as the other option (Study Guide for the IB).
This one (we call it the Tiger textbook) simply has far too much information, in a form that is not concise enough. You have to trawl through to get what you’re looking for. The other one has the syllabus nicely laid out so you know exactly what you have to learn.
Maybe if you want to study medicine and understand the things going on beyond what you need to know, then get this book, otherwise get the more concise Study Guide (probably cheaper too).
I’ve been looking to buy a book about Biology for my daughter, and I seem to have found one now.
Thanks to this post and the comments that have been posted below — I have finally decided to buy the book. Got any affiliate links I could use?
/Nabil, long-time reader but first-time commenter.