LibGuides: Zero Textbook Cost: Biology & Microbiology

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

BSC1005 - Life in Its Biological Environment
This course is an introduction to biological structure, function processes, principles, and concepts. This course fulfills the General Education Requirement.
BSC1005L - Biology Laboratory
This course provides students hands-on experience using concepts of biological science that are covered in the lecture course BSC 1005.

Textbooks

Biology 2nd Edition by Various Authors (2020): OpenStax.

Biology 2e is designed to cover the scope and sequence requirements of a typical two-semester biology course for science majors. The text provides comprehensive coverage of foundational research and core biology concepts through an evolutionary lens. Biology includes rich features that engage students in scientific inquiry, highlight careers in the biological sciences, and offer everyday applications. The book also includes various types of practice and homework questions that help students understand—and apply—key concepts.

Concepts of Biology (for non-majors) by Various Authors (2020): OpenStax.

Concepts of Biology is designed for the typical introductory biology course for nonmajors, covering standard scope and sequence requirements. The text includes interesting applications and conveys the major themes of biology, with content that is meaningful and easy to understand. The book is designed to demonstrate biology concepts and to promote scientific literacy.

General Biology I: Survey of Cellular Biology by Lisa Bartee and Christine Anderson (2019): Open Oregon Educational
Resources.

BI101A is a survey course that introduces the discipline of cellular biology, exploring topics including the scientific method, parts of a cell, and how cells function. This book focuses on putting those topics into an appropriate context for students who are not biology majors.

General Biology II: Survey of Molecular Life and Genetics by Christine Anderson and Lisa Bartee (2019): Open Oregon
Educational Resources.

BI102A is a survey course that introduces the discipline of molecular biology and genetics, exploring topics including cell division, protein production, inheritance and gene regulation. This book focuses on putting those topics into an appropriate context for students who are not biology majors.

Human Biology by Suzanne Wakim & Mandeep Grewal (2020): Butte College/ASCC OERI.

Human biology is an interdisciplinary area of study that examines humans through the influences and interplay of many diverse fields such as genetics, evolution, physiology, anatomy, epidemiology, anthropology, ecology, nutrition, population genetics, and sociocultural influences; it is closely related to physical anthropology.

LibreTexts

Human Biology by Douglas Wilkin (2015): CK12 Foundation.

This open licensed textbook is part of full series of anatomy and physiology content provided by ck12.org. Full table of contents and subjects available at the book homepage.

Microbiology by Various Authors (2020): OpenStax.

Microbiology covers the scope and sequence requirements for a single-semester microbiology course for non-majors. The book presents the core concepts of microbiology with a focus on applications for careers in allied health. The pedagogical features of the text make the material interesting and accessible while maintaining the career-application focus and scientific rigor inherent in the subject matter. Microbiology’s art program enhances students’ understanding of concepts through clear and effective illustrations, diagrams, and photographs.

Microbiology by Peggy O'Sullivan (2019): Alberta Open Educational Resources/Medicine Hat College.

This Microbiology textbook, adapted from the Boundless version, is intended to provide health care professionals with a working knowledge of infectious disease. Much of the book is devoted to the structure/function relationships in pathogenic microorganisms and how these relationships are expressed in host-parasite interactions. The text also examines Microbial diseases of specific organ systems as well as host response mechanisms.

Microbiology for Allied Health Students by Molly Smith & Sara Selby (2017): University System of Georgia.

Microbiology for Allied Health Students is designed to cover the scope and sequence requirements for the single semester Microbiology course for non-majors and allied health students. The book presents the core concepts of microbiology with a focus on applications for careers in allied health. The pedagogical features of Microbiology for Allied Health Students make the material interesting and accessible to students while maintaining the career-application focus and scientific rigor inherent in the subject matter.

Cell and Molecular Biology: What We Know and How We Found Out by Gerald Bergtrom (2020): UWM Digital
Commons.

A grasp of the logic and practice of science is essential to understand the rest of the world around us. To that end, this text remains focused on experimental support for what we know about cell and molecular biology, and on showing students the relationship of cell structure and function. Rather than trying to be a comprehensive reference book, the Basic text selectively details investigative questions, methods and experiments that lead to our understanding of cell biology.

Introductory Statistics for the Life and Biomedical Sciences by Julie Vu and David Harrington (2020): OpenIntro.

Introduction to Statistics for the Life and Biomedical Sciences discusses the important ideas used to support an interpretation (such as the notion of a confidence interval), rather than the process of generating such material from data (such as computing a confidence interval for a particular subset of individuals in a study). This allows students whose main focus is understanding statistical concepts.

Lab Manuals

Biology I Lab Manual (SUNY BioLabs via Lumen/OER Services)

Biology I Lab Manual (Lumen)

Biology II Lab Manual (Lumen)

General Biology Lab Manual (College of the Canyons)

Introduction to Microbiology Lab Manual (College of the Canyons)

Principles of Biology I Lab Manual (Dalton State College)

Principles of Biology II Lab Manual (Dalton State College)

Courses

Biology (Blue Mountain Community College)
A Canvas course archive from Blue Mountain Community College for Bio 101, 102 & 103. Includes syllabi, assessments, supplementary materials, readings, etc.
Biology for Majors I (Lumen)
This gateway biology course provides a strong foundation in the principles of biology for students majoring in Natural Science, 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. The course incorporates Cerego practice sets to aid students as they learn relevant vocabulary.
Biology for Majors II (Lumen)
This gateway biology course provides a strong foundation in the principles of biology for students majoring in Natural Science, medical and healthcare fields. It is the second of a two-course sequence. Primary topics such as the history of life, body systems, and ecology are covered in this course.
Biology for Non-Majors I (Lumen)
Biology for Non-Majors I introduces students to the basics of the scientific process, the chemical foundations of life, cell structure and function, photosynthesis, cellular respiration, genetics and inheritance, and evolution. Designed for non-life science majors, this course is the first in a two-part series that completes a survey of biological principles.
Biology for Non-Majors II (Lumen)
Biology for Non-Majors II introduces students to the basics of the scientific process and covers some of biology’s most compelling topics surrounding the history and diversity of life, including discussion on the different kingdoms of life, with focus on plants and animals, as well as an introduction to ecology. Designed for non-life science majors, this course is the second in a two-part series that completes a survey of biological principles.
Exploring Environmental Biology (ASCCC OERI)
A series of 12 original high-quality videos for digital biology and environmental science courses. A transcript and a set of multiple- choice questions accompanies each captioned OER video.
Human Biology (ASCCC OERI)
This Human Biology resources cartridge contains the Butte College OER Human Biology textbook chapters and sections as separate pages within Canvas Modules. Each module includes supplemental materials such as answers to the back of chapter questions, interactive quizzes, discussion assignments, homework assignments, worksheets, and activities that are built to link directly with the textbook chapters. We hope that these instructor resources will help you assess your students' understanding of basic human anatomy and physiology. Additionally, these resources will provide you a seamless way to integrate learning resources that encourage students to read the textbook. Because the chapters of the book are directly linked to the LibreTexts that is hosting the textbook, any updates made in LibreTexts will automatically be updated in the Canvas shell.
Introduction to Molecular and Cellular Biology (Saylor)
This course is intended for the student interested in understanding and appreciating common biological topics in the study of the smallest units within biology: molecules and cells.