Campbell Biology in Focus, 4th Edition AP® Edition ⓒ 2025

Campbell Biology in Focus, published by Pearson, combines clarity, accuracy, and innovation to connect ideas. By emphasizing the synthesis of knowledge rather than the repetition of facts, this program prepares students for success in the sciences and beyond.

  • Fully covers the College Board’s AP® Biology Curriculum Framework
  • Text updated to reflect new scientific findings
  • Additional visual aids help students interpret diagrams and models
  • This program is accompanied by the Pearson Mastering® platform with eText.
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AP Biology Program with Digital Integration

Prepare students for the AP Biology exam with a course that speaks to students’ interests and teachers’ passion.

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Structured to Connect Big Ideas

Three to seven Key Concepts form a framework and organization for each chapter focusing on Big Ideas for context with support from insightful details.

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Improve Visual Literacy and AP Exam Readiness

Visualizing Figures teach students interpretive strategies and come accompanied by AP-focused questions recalling the chapter’s Big Ideas, essential knowledge, and Science Practices.

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Focus on Scientific Skills and Problem Solving

Students master the Framework’s Scientific Practices with Scientific Skills Exercises that build up proficiency in data analysis, graphing, experimental design, and math.

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Flexible Online Learning Capabilities

Mastering® Biology from Pearson provides access to a range of resources that students can explore at their own pace to deepen their understanding of the material.

AP® Biology Curriculum Teaching Solutions

  • LabBench®
  • Figure Walkthroughs
  • New Galapagos Evolution Video Activities
  • Evaluating Science in the Media
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute Short Films

  • 13 Investigations
    The new LabBench features 13 investigations with animations, explanatory figures, and questions to keep students engaged.
  • AP Biology Alignment
    This version aligns closely with the AP Biology Learning Objectives and Science Practices with step-by-step guidance through concepts and techniques needed to understand and conduct investigations.
  • Practicing the Scientific Method
    Students make predictions, justify conclusions, evaluate data, apply mathematical techniques, and analyze the results of their investigations.
  • Broad Range of Topics
    Topics include Cellular Respiration, Biotechnology, Restriction Enzyme Analysis of DNA, Energy Dynamics, Cell Division, Transpiration, Fruit Fly Behavior, Diffusion, and more.

  • Key Figures
    Key figures guide students through deeper explanations of what they are looking at with narrated explanations, figure markups, and questions to reinforce important points.
  • Active Participation
    The questions further encourage students to become active participants in their learning.

  • On-Location Filming
    Filmed on the Galapagos Islands, Peter and Rosemary Grant bring to life the dynamic evolutionary forces that impacted the finches Darwin studied on Daphne Major Island.
  • Connected Activities
    Six videos, with assignable activities, explore important concepts and data from the Grants’ field research.

  • Coaching Activities
    Coaching activities guide students through a step-by-step process for evaluating the authority, motivation, and reliability of online sources of scientific information.
  • Relevant Topics
    Topics include genetically modified organisms, head injuries, tanning and skin cancer, and more.

  • Focused Topics
    Documentary-quality movies explore topics ranging from the discovery of the double helix to evolution.
  • Assignable Questions
    Teachers can assign questions in conjunction with the videos.

Online Platform for Your Program

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Mastering®

Mastering® Biology with Pearson eText provides personalized teaching and learning with a host of resources for hands-on exploration of biology.

  • Test Prep Workbook for AP

The Test Prep workbook authored by award-winning AP® Biology instructors Fred and Theresa Holtzclaw helps students develop science skills and practice for the AP exam. Available for separate purchase.



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Correlation for AP®

Our solutions for AP® are designed to support and correlate the College Board's Course and Exam Descriptions for each corresponding course.

View Correlation

More About Biology in Focus

  • Lisa A. Urry Author Bio
    Lisa A. Urry (Units 1 and 2) is Gibbons Young Professor of Biology at Mills College. After earning a B.A. at Tufts University, she completed her Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Lisa has conducted research on gene expression during embryonic and larval development in sea urchins. Deeply committed to promoting opportunities in science for women and underrepresented minorities, she has taught courses ranging from introductory and developmental biology to a nonmajors course called Evolution for Future Presidents.
  • Michael L. Cain Author Bio
    Michael L. Cain (Chapter 1 and Units 3, 4, and 7) is an ecologist and evolutionary biologist who is now writing full-time. Michael earned an A.B. from Bowdoin College, an M.Sc. from Brown University, and a Ph.D. from Cornell University. As a faculty member at New Mexico State University, he taught introductory biology, ecology, evolution, botany, and conservation biology. Michael is the author of dozens of scientific papers on topics that include foraging behavior in insects and plants, long-distance seed dispersal, and speciation in crickets. He is also a coauthor of an ecology textbook.
  • Steven A. Wasserman Author Bio
    Steven A. Wasserman (Unit 6) is Professor of Biology at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). He earned an A.B. from Harvard University and a Ph.D. from MIT. Working on the fruit fly Drosophila, Steve has done research on developmental biology, reproduction, and immunity. Having taught genetics, development, and physiology to undergraduate, graduate, and medical students, he now focuses on introductory biology, for which he has been honored with UCSD’s Distinguished Teaching Award.
  • Peter V. Minorsky Author Bio
    Peter V. Minorsky (Unit 5) is Professor of Biology at Mercy College in New York, where he teaches introductory biology, ecology, and botany. He received his A.B. from Vassar College and his Ph.D. from Cornell University. Peter taught at Kenyon College, Union College, Western Connecticut State University, and Vassar College; he is also the science writer for the journal Plant Physiology. His research interests concern how plants sense environmental change. Peter received the 2008 Award for Teaching Excellence at Mercy College.
  • Rebecca B. Orr Author Bio
    Rebecca B. Orr (Ready-to-Go Teaching Modules, eText Media Integration) is Professor of Biology at Collin College in Plano, Texas, where she teaches introductory biology. She earned her B.S. from Texas A&M University and her Ph.D. from University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. Rebecca has a passion for investigating strategies that result in more effective learning and retention, and she is a certified Team-Based Learning Collaborative Trainer Consultant. She enjoys focusing on the creation of learning opportunities that both engage and challenge students.
  • Neil A. Campbell Author Bio
    Neil A. Campbell (1946—2004) earned his M.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles, and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Riverside. His research focused on desert and coastal plants. Neil’s 30 years of teaching included introductory biology courses at Cornell University, Pomona College, and San Bernardino Valley College, where he received the college’s first Outstanding Professor Award. He was also a visiting scholar at the University of California, Riverside. Neil was the founding author of Campbell Biology, upon which this book is based.
  • Table of Contents

    1 Introduction: Evolution and the Foundations of Biology

    UNIT 1 Chemistry and Cells
    2 The Chemical Context of Life
    3 Carbon and the Molecular Diversity of Life
    4 A Tour of the Cell
    5 Membrane Transport and Cell Signaling
    6 An Introduction to Metabolism
    7 Cellular Respiration and Fermentation
    8 Photosynthesis
    9 The Cell Cycle

    UNIT 2 Genetics
    10 Meiosis and Sexual Life Cycles
    11 Mendel and the Gene Idea
    12 The Chromosomal Basis of Inheritance
    13 The Molecular Basis of Inheritance
    14 Gene Expression: From Gene to Protein
    15 Regulation of Gene Expression
    16 Development, Stem Cells, and Cancer
    17 Viruses
    18 Genomes and Their Evolution

    UNIT 3 Evolution
    19 Descent with Modification
    20 Phylogeny
    21 The Evolution of Populations
    22 The Origin of Species
    23 Broad Patterns of Evolution

    UNIT 4 The Evolutionary History of Life
    24 Early Life and the Diversification of Prokaryotes
    25 The Origin and Diversification of Eukaryotes
    26 The Colonization of Land
    27 The Rise of Animal Diversity

    UNIT 5 Plant Form and Function
    28 Vascular Plant Structure and Growth
    29 Resource Acquisition, Nutrition, and Transport in Vascular Plants
    30 Reproduction and Domestication of Flowering Plants
    31 Plant Responses to Internal and External Signals

    UNIT 6 Animal Form and Function
    32 The Internal Environment of Animals: Organization and Regulation
    33 Animal Nutrition
    34 Circulation and Gas Exchange
    35 The Immune System
    36 Reproduction and Development
    37 Neurons, Synapses, and Signaling
    38 Nervous and Sensory Systems
    39 Motor Mechanisms and Behavior

    UNIT 7 Ecology
    40 Population Ecology and the Distribution of Organisms
    41 Ecological Communities
    42 Ecosystems and Energy
    43 Conservation Biology and Global Change

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