16 Biology
Allied Health Microbiology
Author: OpenStax
Description: The Microbiology OpenStax textbook has been modified to be a better fit for an Allied Health Microbiology class offered in a 10-week term (as opposed to a semester structure). Whole chapters have been removed, as well as individual sections within remaining chapters. Text portions with unwarranted detail have been modified to streamline the information being presented. In the chapters focusing on specific diseases, only select diseases have been highlighted, to reduce the overall amount of information being covered in the modified textbook. Any figures or tables accompanying the eliminated sections have been removed as well.
Biochemistry Free For All
Authors: Kevin Ahern, Indira Rajagopal, and Taralyn Tan
Description: We are happy to welcome you to our second Open Educational Resource (OER) textbook, Biochemistry Free For All. Biochemistry is a relatively young science, but its rate of growth has been truly impressive. The rapid pace of discoveries, which shows no sign of slowing, is reflected in the steady increase in the size of biochemistry textbooks. Growing faster than the size of biochemistry books have been the skyrocketing costs of higher education and the even faster rising costs of college textbooks. These unfortunate realities have created a situation where the costs of going to college are beyond the means of increasing numbers of students.
Biology
Biology I & Biology II
These texts were developed through Lumen Learning to provide a solid biological foundation for non-science students.
Includes: instructor resources, student resources, applications, and summaries.
Biology 2e
Biology 2e is an OpenStax biology textbook with all of the concepts covered in two terms of first year biology. It was written by biology professors from several American institutions and is faculty-reviewed.
Includes: instructor resources, slides, simulations, applications, summaries, exercises, and solutions.
Biology for Majors I & Biology for Majors II
These texts were created through Lumen Learning to provide an expansive overview of introductory biology for science students. The broad and specific approaches within these texts provides academic freedom for instructors and provides the necessary information for students.
Includes: applications, instructor resources, exercises, assignments, and solutions.
Biology Open Educational Resources
Cell Biology, Genetics, Molecular Biology, Evolution and Ecology
This textbook has been successfully adopted. It should be noted that it was written in the context of Indian universities and has a dedicated section to Indian ecology; however, it is a high-quality resource that covers all of the necessary concepts.
Includes: exercises.
Chemical Biology & Biochemistry Laboratory Using Genetic Code Expansion Manual
Authors: Ryan Mehl, Kari van Zee, and Kelsey Kean
Description: Throughout this manual, you will find asides, entitled “Deep Thoughts,” on a variety of different topics. These are intended to guide you to develop a deeper understanding of your project and of the techniques you are using as well as to provide some things to consider when designing your experiment, analyzing your results, and carrying out various steps of this laboratory. These suggestions are by no means exhaustive but are intended to help you think critically about what you are doing and guide your design and thought process.
Concepts of Biology – First Canadian Edition
This textbook was designed as an introductory biology course for non-science students. It has been successfully adopted and it was written by professors of biology.
Includes: instructor resources, student resources, simulations, summaries, exercises, and solutions.
Environmental Biology
Foundations of Neuroscience
Author: Casey Henley
Description: Foundations of Neuroscience is aimed at undergraduate students new to the field of neuroscience. The first edition specifically targets students enrolled in Neurobiology at Michigan State University and primarily contains topics covered in that course. For example, only three sensory systems are discussed in this version of the text. Future editions will continue to expand the number of topics and concepts presented.
This OER is unique in its presentation of neuroscience content. The text is divided into short, easily digestible chapters that focus on one concept. Pairing the text with images, animations, and videos provides students with multiple ways of learning the content. The text is written with the undergraduate student that is new to neuroscience in mind. Neuroscience terminology is introduced in an easy-to-understand manner, and supporting content is clear and concise to minimize cognitive load not associated with understanding new material
Each chapter ends with an interactive quiz for student self-evaluation of the content. Quiz questions provide feedback, so students can self-check their understanding at the end of each concept and receive immediate feedback about their learning.
From Growing to Biology: Plants 1e
Author: Gokhan Hacisalihoglu
Description: Ready to find out how plants are grown and function? Take a fantastic voyage through plants. From Growing to Biology: Plants 1e brings the latest information for understanding of traditional and modern plant growing, form, and production. Topics covered in 30 chapters include concise and up-to-date ‘big picture’ infographics, student learning outcomes (SLOs), key vocabulary, assessment, as well as identification of 120 species, and more. Moreover, author Dr. G. Hacisalihoglu emphasizes on learning concepts, binding those concepts together with a visual approach to make learning faster and more memorable.
From Growing to Biology: Plants 1e is packed full of horticultural information that is ideal for both academia and industry growers. It is basic enough that if you are just getting started learning plants, you will be able to catch up. Always remember that practice makes permanent and keep going to take your learning plant bio to new levels.
HHMI’s BioInteractive
Human Biology
Author: Christine Miller
Description: This textbook is ideal for an introductory level Human Biology course. It is aligned with the British Columbia Adult Basic Education learning outcomes for Provincial Level Biology, which is the equivalent of Grade 12 Anatomy and Physiology. This textbook begins with an introduction to sciences and the scientific method, and then addresses the human body in increasing scale: from biological molecules, to cells and tissues, to organs and all eleven organ systems; with an overarching focus on health. The text employs clear writing, case studies for each chapter, interactive self-marking study activities, highlights of Indigenous knowledge and examples, pop-up glossary, and links to resources for extending learning.
An Interactive Introduction to Organismal and Molecular Biology
Author: Andrea Bierema
Description: This “textbook” is interactive, meaning that although each chapter has text, they also have interactive HTML5 content, such as quizzes, simulations, interactive videos, and images with clickable hotspots. Students receive instant feedback when they complete the interactive content, and therefore, can learn and check their understanding all in one place. The first unit introduces students to the nature of science, including scientific controversies, and information literacy, including how to analyze literature and identify stakeholders. Unit 2 is organismal biology, including carbon cycling and population growth, and unit 3 is molecular biology with a focus on gene expression.
Khan Academy
Boost your understanding of most biology topics you will study in high school or freshman college year.
Microbiology
MIT OpenCourseWare
Undergraduate and graduate level course materials.
A Mixed Course-Based Research Approach to Human Physiology
Author: Karri Haen Whitmer
Description: The Biology 256 Laboratory course was designed to provide students with hands-on access to modern techniques in human physiological analyses using the course-based research pedagogical approach. In this course, students will learn how to perform literature searches; generate research questions and hypotheses; design experiments; collect, analyze, visualize and interpret data; and present scientific findings to others. The Biol 256L curriculum offers a high-impact human physiology experience that fosters the critical thinking skills required to be a successful citizen in a modern world filled with misinformation.
National Science Foundation
Projects, research, grant information, media, classroom resources, and much more.
Neuroscience: Canadian 1st Edition Open Textbook
Author: Dr William Ju
Editors: Georgia Bains, Ingrid Barany, Maksym Shcherbina, and Summer Lee
Description: Neuroscience: Canadian 1st Edition Open Textbook is a comprehensive source that examines the nervous system, neurodegeneration, techniques in studying neuroscience and emerging topics in the field.
Neuroscience: Canadian 2nd Edition
Author: Dr William Ju
Editors: Georgia Bains, Ingrid Barany, Maksym Shcherbina, and Summer Lee
Description: Neuroscience: Canadian 2nd Edition Open Textbook is a comprehensive source that examines the nervous system, neurodegeneration, techniques in studying neuroscience and emerging topics in the field.
Ocean Portal
OER Commons: BIology
OpenStax (aka Connexions) Science and Technology
Open Textbooks Library: Biology
PhET: Biology
PLOS: Open for Discovery
A Primer for Computational Biology
Author: Shawn T. O’Neil
Description: A Primer for Computational Biology aims to provide life scientists and students the skills necessary for research in a data-rich world. The text covers accessing and using remote servers via the command-line, writing programs and pipelines for data analysis, and provides useful vocabulary for interdisciplinary work.
Quantitative Ecology: A New Unified Approach
Authors: Clarence Lehman, Shelby Loberg, and Adam Clark
Description: Quantitative Ecology introduces and discusses the principles of ecology from populations to ecosystems including human populations, disease, exotic organisms, habitat fragmentation, biodiversity and global dynamics. The book also reformulates and unifies ecological equations making them more accessible to the reader and easier to teach.
Species-Habitat Associations: Spatial data, predictive models, and ecological insights
Authors: Jason Matthiopoulos, John Fieberg, and Geert Aarts
Desciption: This book represents the first milestone of a live project. Future editions of this book will see chapters on model transferability, data integration, exemplar analyses of survey and telemetry data, dedicated R functions, links to population modelling, occupancy modelling, as well as non-linear and mechanistic modelling. A copy of the book, which we plan to continuously update (with new versions in the future) can also be accessed in gitbook format at: https://bookdown.org/jfieberg/SHABook/.