Based on a learning study on resources that use verbal text and image and the theory of cognitive load, the article analyzes four collec tions of Biology textbooks. For our analysis, we chose the theme "The Nitrogen Cycle", which showed inadequate instructional planning, over loading the cognitive resources of the student. Thus, the study of the four collections indicates the need for a better planning of images in the Biology textbook guided by criteria aiming to make the use of pictorial resources more effective. At the end we propose a few indications for the area of research and the teaching of Science and Biology.
Biology teaching; textbooks; working memory; cognitive load