Life Sciences
Book Collections & Textbooks
Biology for Majors I
A gateway biology course; provides principles of biology for students majoring in Natural Science, medical and healthcare fields; second of a two-course sequence; primary topics: history of life, body systems, and ecology (including Biology Powerpoints). Developed by Lumen Learning, and based on the OpenStax textbook Biology, supplemented with relevant materials from Khan Academy and videos from multiple sources.
Cell Biology, Genetics, and Biochemistry for Pre-Clinical Students
"An undergraduate medical-level resource for foundational knowledge across the disciplines of genetics, cell biology and biochemistry. This USMLE-aligned text is designed for a first-year undergraduate medical course that is delivered typically before students start to explore systems physiology and pathophysiology. The text is meant to provide the essential information from these content areas in a concise format that would allow learner preparation to engage in an active classroom."
Environmental Biology
Covers environmental issues from a biological perspective; studies scientific foundation of environmental topics to help students develop a nuanced understanding of today’s most pressing environmental issues.
Foundations of Neuroscience Interactive Textbook
Foundations of Neuroscience is aimed at undergraduate students new to the field of neuroscience. Text is paired with images, animations, and videos providing students with multiple ways of learning. 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.
Open Neuroscience Initiative
The Open Neuroscience Initiative is a free to use undergraduate level neuroscience textbook. [CC BY-NC-SA]
Research & Repositories
- Wikispecies: Wikispecies is a wiki-based online project supported by the Wikimedia Foundation. Its aim is to create a comprehensive free content catalogue of all species; the project is directed at scientists, rather than at the general public.
- Understanding Evolution : a non-commercial, education website, for teaching and learning about the science of evolutionary biology; covers what evolution is, how it works, and how it factors into our lives; site contains a Image Library - Understanding Evolution and a Teaching resource database for searching lessons and tools by grade level and topic. [CC BY-NC-SA]
- Health Education Assets Library (HEAL): The Health Education Assets Library (HEAL) is a collection of over 22,000 freely available digital materials for health sciences education; now housed at the University of Utah J. Willard Marriott Digital Library.
Open Courseware & Learning
- MIT Biology OpenCourseWare: MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) is a web-based publication of virtually all MIT course content. Resources include videos, lectures notes, audio lectures.
- MIT Open Learning Library: Getting up to Speed in Biology: Designed to help prepare incoming MIT students for their first Introductory Biology Course; free to use; if enrolled in the course as an anonymous user, all of the content is available; to track progress, an account must be created.
- Anatomy & Physiology I & II: To access OER, enter course and click on “Anatomy & Physiology (Open + Free) - Enter Without an Account” -This course focuses on "a few themes that, when taken together, provide a full view of what the human body is capable of and of the exciting processes going on inside of it." The themes are: Structure and function of the body; Homeostasis; Levels of Organization; Integration of Systems. Contents include: pre-tests, ample practice opportunities, 3D interactive images, walkthrough videos, and other special tools and applications to increase comprehension of anatomy and physiology.
- Quantitative Undergraduate Biology Education and Synthesis (QUBES): The QUBES platform, a BioQUEST project, is a social cyberinfrastructure that provides an open and inclusive virtual space for sharing STEM classroom activities and resources, discussing teaching and the adaptation of educational materials to specific institutional contexts, and working together to develop new ideas and insights that contribute to STEM education reform.
-
Biology for Majors I - Lumen Learning: A gateway biology focusing on principles of biology for students majoring in a natural science, or the medical and healthcare fields. It is the first of a two-course sequence. Primary topics include biochemistry, cell structure and function, genetics, heredity, evolution, and modern applications of biology. Developed by Lumen Learning, this course is based on the OpenStax textbook Biology, supplemented with relevant materials from Khan Academy and videos from multiple sources.
Images
- Public Health Image Library (PHIL): Created by a working group at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), "PHIL offers an organized, universal electronic gateway to CDC's pictures." Created for public health professionals, scientists, educators, students, and the public to use for reference, teaching, presentation, and public health messages
Videos
Interactive
- PhET Simulations: Physics, Chemistry, Biology: “Founded in 2002 by Nobel Laureate Carl Wieman, the PhET Interactive Simulations project at the University of Colorado Boulder creates free interactive math and science simulations. PhET sims are based on extensive education research and engage students through an intuitive, game-like environment where students learn through exploration and discovery.”
- Interactive STEM activities: Life Science: Interactive models and activities developed by the Concord Consortium and curriculum experts; funded by the National Science Foundation.
- LibreStudio Biology: H5P embeddable interactive content; openly-licensed; learning activities include::image sequencing, multiple choice, drag & drop, fill in the blanks, interactive book, true/false, question sets, interactive video, sort the paragraphs, collage, and more.