Collections

Biological Sciences Open Textbooks  by various (various CC licences).

From Galileo Open Learning Materials.

Courses

Biology Course Hub Site by various (CC BY).

Links to the course sites for Biology courses taught at Keene State College in Keene, NH.

Introduction to Biology by Carnegie Mellon University (CC BY-NC-SA).

This introductory course defines biology and its relationship to other sciences. We examine the overarching theories of life from biological research and also explore the fundamental concepts and principles of the study of living organisms and their interaction with the environment. We will examine how life is organized into hierarchical levels; how living organisms use and produce energy; how life grows, develops, and reproduces; how life responds to the environment to maintain internal stability; and how life evolves and adapts to the environment.

Modern Biology  by Carnegie Mellon University (CC BY-NC-SA).

The Modern Biology course covers specialized and somewhat advanced topics in the fields of cellular biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, and genetics. It does not cover organismal biology or taxonomy. The course is carefully planned to provide the background that biology students will need for advanced biology classes. Non-biology majors will also find this course useful as it explains many of the concepts and techniques currently discussed in the popular press.

The Story of the Woolly Mammoth by Chloe Young (CC BY).

A resource pack consisting of three lessons, set out over three detailed presentations accompanied by student worksheets, that focus on the extinction of the Woolly Mammoth as a means of teaching students about Biodiversity and Interdependence.

To Bee or not to Bee  by Natash Michaelides (CC BY).

A series of workshops that aims to express the importance of bees to our planet by teaching about pollination, bee diversity, and the adaptions that honey bees have made in their hives to allow them to be efficient in their jobs. There are three detailed lesson plans based on the following topics: pollination, bee diversity, and hexagons in the beehive.

Images

Animal Dissection Images by various (CC BY-SA).

A collection of animal dissection images created by BCIT. Images include bony fish, clams, dogfish, frogsm pigeons, rats, and squids.

Biology 351 Anatomical Illustrations  by Corrina Most, Katherine Tran, Olivia Seweryn, Graham Hagan  (CC BY-NC-SA).

These anatomical illustrations were created by Biological and Pre-Medical Illustration (BPMI) students that had previously attended the course, BIOL351: Comparative Chordate Anatomy. The students worked closely with the lab instructor to develop detailed anatomical illustrations of the specimens studied in the lab, which allowed the students to showcase their work. The images were then incorporated in the lab handbook for the course and made more widely available as open educational resources.

Bioscience Image Library (CC0)  owned by Berkshire Community College Bioscience Image Library (CC0).

The Biology Image Library is a growing collection of over 900 text-supported microscopic and macroscopic images and videos drawn from commercially prepared slide collections and live specimens commonly used in the study of Biology, Botany, Zoology, Histology and Microbiology.

Pacific Open Images owned by University of the Pacific (CC BY-NC-SA).

These open images were created by faculty at the University of the Pacific.

Supplementary Materials

Animal Dissection Images Library owned by Berkshire Community College Bioscience Image Library (CC BY).

A collection of dissection images from the British Columbia Institute of Technology.

Bioinformatics & Raspberry Pi by Heleen Plaisier, Daniel Barker, and Stevie A Bain (CC BY).

The 4273π project provides materials for teaching and learning bioinformatics, including an SD card image for the low-cost Raspberry Pi computer. The resource is tailored for bioinformatics use and includes open educational resources for computational biology.

Supercytes by University of Edinburgh (CC BY-NC-SA).

Supercytes is a card game and resource pack (with animated cartoons) about having fun with Biology and encouraging an early interest in science. The resource is designed for use in schools (ages 9-18) (or school science clubs).

Textbooks

Applied Bioinformatics by David A. Hendrix (CC BY).

From Oregon State University. Please note that this is the first edition of the text. Applied Bioinformatics is frequently updated, and the current edition may be downloaded from the Applied Bioinformatics site.

Biology LibreTexts Library by various (CC BY-NC-SA).

A collection of open textbooks, assignments, and other educational resources on biology subjects.

Bumble bees of Unama’ki by Hannah Kosick (CC BY-NC-SA).

This buzzing guide for naturalists introduces the young and the young at heart to bumble bees in Cape Breton. Through interactive quizzes, videos, and text, readers learn all about bumble bees in their community and discover what they can do to protect them.

Concepts of Biology by Charles Molnar and Jane Gair (CC-BY).

In this survey text, directed at those not majoring in biology, we dispel the assumption that a little learning is a dangerous thing. We hope that by skimming the surface of a very deep subject, biology, we may inspire you to drink more deeply and make more informed choices relating to your health, the environment, politics, and the greatest subject that are all of us are entwined in, life itself. This text also includes 80 interactive H5P activities that you can use to evaluate your understanding as you go.

Environmental Biology  by Joni Baumgarten (CC-BY).

This open textbook covers the most salient environmental issues from a biological perspective. The text is designed for an introductory-level college science course or as a course for non-science majors. Topics include the fundamentals of ecology, biodiversity, pollution,  climate change, food production, and human population growth and the biological concepts that allow a student to understand the large challenges facing our society.

Evolutionary Developmental Biology  authored, remixed, and/or curated by Ajna Rivera (CC BY-NC-SA).

The fields of Development and Evolution cannot be truly separated. When we study Developmental Biology we are mostly looking at a fine-tuned mechanical and genetic process that has been selected on for eons. Not only can evolution select on the final product – a working, fertile adult – but also can act at each developmental stage. It is easy to see how evolution acts through natural selection on adults, but how can it act on development itself?

Female Biology  by Jennifer Dever (CC BY-NC-ND).

This is a textbook designed for an upper-level course in female biology.  It focuses on the evolutionary underpinnings of the female sex and covers topics ranging from the genetic basis of sex to sexual selection. Female-specific health issues are also introduced. Readers should have a general knowledge of biology.

Human Biology by Christine Miller (CC-BY-NC).

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. Each chapter begins and ends with a case study related to the chapter topic.  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.  Images are meant to be inclusive and were chosen with equity/diversity/inclusion in mind.

An Interactive Introduction to Organismal and Molecular Biology by Andrea Bierema (CC BY-NC-SA).

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.

Introducing Mathematical Biology by Alex Best (CC BY).

Mathematical modelling plays an increasingly important role in almost any area of life sciences, and this interactive textbook focuses on the areas of population ecology, infectious diseases, immunology and cell dynamics, gene networks and pharmacokinetics. It is aimed at anyone who is interested in learning about how to model biological systems, including undergraduate and postgraduate mathematics students who have not studied mathematical biology before, life-sciences students with an interest in modelling, and post-16 mathematics students interested in university-level material. Some mathematical knowledge is assumed, and the mathematical models used are all in the form of ordinary differential equations.

Introduction to Systems Biology: Handout for Flipped-classroom Teaching by Thomas Sauter (author) and Marco Albrecht (author)  (CC BY).

This book is an introduction to the language of systems biology, which aims to facilitate the understanding of biochemical networks, metabolic modeling and system dynamics. This handout is all about self-paced learning, supports the flipped-classroom concept, and kick-starts with scientific evidence on studying. Each chapter comes with links to external YouTube videos, learning checklists, and Integrated real-world examples to gain confidence in thinking across scientific perspectives. The result is an integrated approach that opens a line of communication between theory and application, enabling readers to actively learn as they read.

Library Skills for 2nd Year Biological Sciences  by Lauren Stieglitz (CC BY).

This tutorial covers the library skills required for students in 200-level Biological Sciences courses with these objectives:

• • Understand the difference between popular and scholarly sources and know the different types of scholarly sources
  • Know how to read a scholarly article
  • Learn how to effectively search for articles and access library material from home
  • Know how to properly cite sources and avoid plagiarism

A Primer for Computational Biology by Shawn T. O’Neil (CC BY-NC-SA).

This book aims to teach these basics of scientific computing: skills that even in fields such as computer science are often gained informally over a long period of time. This book is intended for readers who have passing familiarity with computing. While these concepts will likely be useful to researchers in many fields, I frame most of the discussion and examples in the analysis of biological data, and thus assume some basic biological knowledge, including concepts such as genes, genomes, and proteins.

Principles of Biology  by Lisa Bartee; Walter Shriner; and Catherine Creech (CC-BY).

The Principles of Biology sequence introduces biology as a scientific discipline for students planning to major in biology and other science disciplines. Laboratories and classroom activities introduce techniques used to study biological processes and provide opportunities for students to develop their ability to conduct research.

Videos

Biology textbook playlist  by Charles Molnar (CC-BY).

A YouTube playlist containing a collection of biology-related videos featuring biology instructor Charles Molnar at Camosun College in Victoria, British Columbia.

iBiology by the iBiology team (CC BY-NC-ND).

Open-access free videos that convey the excitement of modern biology and the process by which scientific discoveries are made. The aim is to let you meet the leading scientists in biology, so that you can find out how they think about scientific questions and conduct their research, and can get a sense of their personalities, opinions, and perspectives.

Media Attributions

• BC Map by Adamwashere (CC BY-NC-SA).
• Canada Map Icon by Icons8 (CC BY-ND).