LibGuides: Zero Textbook Cost: Astronomy

FSCJ OER Courses

The following OER courses are available for FSCJ faculty as full Canvas course shells. The complete list is available on the Faculty Exchange website. Contact the Center for eLearning (CeL) for access: Cel@fscj.edu

AST1002 - Astronomy
Students will become acquainted with the Solar System with emphasis on Earth and its satellite, the Moon. Students will also study other planets, satellites, minor bodies, the Milky Way and other galaxies, and the theories of the formation and development of the Universe. The course will discuss the stars and planets relevant to the most modern ideas.

Astronomy Textbooks

Astronomy by Various Authors (2020): OpenStax. CC BY.

Astronomy is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of one- or two-semester introductory astronomy courses. The book begins with relevant scientific fundamentals and progresses through an exploration of the solar system, stars, galaxies, and cosmology. The Astronomy textbook builds student understanding through the use of relevant analogies, clear and non-technical explanations, and rich illustrations. Mathematics is included in a flexible manner to meet the needs of individual instructors.

The Astronomy texbook is available at the following sites:

Our Solar System and Other Planetary Systems edited by Elizabeth Bell & Edith Soto (2018): College of the Canyons.

A collection of texts, including selections from Astronomy, an OpenStax resource, worksheets from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and resources from the Astronomy Education Group. Published by College of the Canyons for their ZTC (Zero Cost Textbooks) Initiative.

Our Solar System and Other Planetary Systems is available at the following site:

Online PDF

Astronomy Courses

Astronomy Course (Riverland/Minnesota State)
A course packet, downloadable zip file provided by Riverland Community College in Austin, Minnesota.
Astronomy Lectures from Lauren Woolsey (YouTube)
This set of videos represents various modules of lecture for an introductory astronomy course following the OpenStax Astronomy text.
Frontiers and Controversies in Astrophysics (Open Yale)
This course focuses on three particularly interesting areas of astronomy that are advancing very rapidly: Extra-Solar Planets, Black Holes, and Dark Energy. Particular attention is paid to current projects that promise to improve our understanding significantly over the next few years. The course explores not just what is known, but what is currently not known, and how astronomers are going about trying to find out.
Introduction to Astronomy (MIT OpenCourseWare)
Introduction to Astronomy provides a quantitative introduction to the physics of the solar system, stars, the interstellar medium, the galaxy, and the universe, as determined from a variety of astronomical observations and models.
Introduction to Astronomy (Open Course Library)
This course provides an introduction to the universe beyond the Earth. We begin with a study of the night sky and the history of the science of astronomy. We then explore the various objects seen in the cosmos including the solar system, stars, galaxies, and the evolution of the universe itself.