Open Educational Resources at MDC: Overview: Sciences

Covers 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.

Designed for the typical introductory biology course for non-majors, covering standard scope and sequence requirements.

A dynamic textbook for the two-semester human anatomy and physiology course for life science and allied health majors. The book is organized by body system and covers standard scope and sequence requirements.

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.

A one- (evolving into two) semester introductory course on the evolutionary, molecular, genetic, genomic & systems foundations of modern biology

Focuses on experimental support for what we know about cell and molecular biology. Written to serve as the introductory biology course for biology majors with high school chemistry and biology prerequisites as well as for “gateway” cell and molecular biology courses for students with a college-level general biology and general chemistry course background.

The Boundless Microbiology textbook is a college-level, introductory textbook that covers the subject of Microbiology, one of the building blocks of the life sciences. Boundless works with subject matter experts to select the best open educational resources available on the web, review the content for quality, and create introductory, college-level textbooks designed to meet the study needs of university students.

Introductory textbooks on biology from Boundless. The organization of content aims to build a strong foundation in Biology. The Boundless Biology Textbook is fully customizable.

An introduction to biology intended for non-majors. Focus areas include chemical foundations, cell 

Written by three Chemistry professors for the one-semester General, Organic and Biological Chemistry course. The authors designed this textbook from the ground up to meet the needs of a one-semester course.

Chemistry is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of the two-semester general chemistry course. Students earn the core concepts of chemistry and understand how those concepts apply to their lives and the world around them.

This title is an adaptation of the OpenStax Chemistry text and covers scope and sequence requirements of the two-semester general chemistry course. Introduces atomic and molecular structure much earlier than the traditional approach, delaying the introduction of more abstract material so students have time to acclimate to the study of chemistry.

An introduction to the basic concepts of chemistry, including atomic structure and bonding, chemical reactions, and solutions. Other topics covered include gases, thermodynamics, kinetics and equilibrium, thermodynamics, redox, and chemistry of the elements.

Represents a step in the evolution of the general chemistry text that reflects the increasing overlap between chemistry and other disciplines. Discusses exciting and relevant aspects of biological, environmental, and materials science usually relegated to the last few chapters, and provides a format that allows the instructor to tailor the emphasis to the needs of the class.

Written by David W. Ball of Cleveland State University, this book is intended for a one-semester introductory or preparatory chemistry course.

Written by William Reusch, this virtual textbook allows for visualization of 3D-molecular models while teaching principles of Organic Chemistry.

The world’s first and only open content organic
chemistry textbook written by a team of experts and chemistry professors from Cleveland State University and other institutions.

A textbook for a two-semester, sophomore-level course in Organic Chemistry in which biological chemistry takes center stage. For the most part, the text covers the core concepts of organic structure, structure determination, and reactivity in the standard order. What is different is the context: biological chemistry is fully integrated into the explanation of central principles, and as much as possible the in-chapter and end-of-chapter problems are taken from the biochemical literature.

An introduction to the nature of the universe. Use it to research or review our solar system, stars, galaxies, and the history of the universe. Each chapter has a set of corresponding homework questions.

An introductory book on astronomy. Still in draft form and final book version coming soon.

Meets standard scope and sequence requirements for a two-semester introductory algebra-based physics course. The text is grounded in real-world examples to help students grasp fundamental physics concepts.

A calculus-based physics textbook meant for the type of freshman survey course taken by engineering and physical science majors, or for AP Physics C. It uses a nontraditional order of topics, with energy coming before force.

An entertaining and free e-book on physics – the science of motion. Comes in 6 volumes: 1) Fall, Flow and Heat; 2) relativity and Cosmology; 3) Light, Charges, and Brains; 4) the Quantum of Change; 5) Pleasure, Technology,and Stars; 6) The Strand Model-A Speculation on Unific

A comprehensive introductory text on the physical aspects of geology, including rocks and minerals, plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes, glaciation, groundwater, streams, coasts, mass wasting, climate change, planetary geology and much more.

An online course in geology taught using a mastery approach.

This book explains how it is even possible to reconstruct the history of the earth from data that is available in the present. Emphasis of the book is methodological and explains how it is known rather than what is known.

This textbook is a comprehensive lab manual for the core curriculum Introductory Geosciences classes with both informational content and laboratory exercises. Topics include basic laws and theories in Geology, the Earth's interior and plate tectonics, water and climate change, igneous rocks and volcanoes, and earthquakes.