Textbooks & Lab Manuals | Geography
World Regional Geography
From the Summary:"World Regional Geography presents an overview of the discipline by introducing students to key themes and concepts in the discipline of geography through a study of the world’s regions. This text approaches geography as experts understand the discipline, focusing on connections and an in-depth understanding of core themes. This thematic approach, informed by pedagogical research, provides students with an introduction to thinking geographically. This text emphasizes depth over breadth by arranging each chapter around a central theme and then exploring that theme in detail as it applies to the particular region. In addition, while chapters are designed to stand alone and be rearranged or eliminated at the instructor’s discretion, the theme of globalization and inequality unites all of the regions discussed. This core focus enables students to draw connections between regions and to better understand the interconnectedness of our world. This text was written with the backward course design model in mind and the content of each chapter was structured around these learning objectives. Because of this backward design focus, the length of each chapter is considerably shorter than most traditional textbooks. The intention is for the instructor to supplement the text with problems, case studies, and news articles and to use the text as a springboard for discussing deeper issues."
Spatial Thinking in Planning Practice:
An Introduction
to GIS
From the PDX Open:"The goals of this textbook are to help students acquire the technical skills of using software and managing a database, and develop research skills of collecting data, analyzing information and presenting results. We emphasize that the need to investigate the potential and practicality of GIS technologies in a typical planning setting and evaluate its possible applications. GIS may not be necessary (or useful) for every planning application, and we anticipate these readings to provide the necessary foundation for discerning its appropriate use. Therefore, this textbook attempts to facilitate spatial thinking focusing more on open-ended planning questions, which require judgment and exploration, while developing the analytical capacity for understanding a variety of local and regional planning challenges.
While this textbook provides the background for understanding the concepts in GIS as applicable to urban and regional planning, it is best when accompanied by a hands-on tutorial, which will enable readers to develop an in-depth understanding of the specific planning applications of GIS. Chapters in this text book are either composed by the editors using Creative Common materials, or linked to a book chapter scanned copy in the library reserve. In the end of each chapter, we also provided several discussion questions, together with contextual applications through some web links."
Textbooks & Lab Manuals | Environmental Science
LibreTexts
Fundamentals of Geology
From the Attributions Page:"Original content from Kimberly Schulte (Columbia Basin College) and supplemented by Lumen Learning. The content on this page is copyrighted under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license."
BCcampus
Physical Geology
From the Summary:"Physical Geology is 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. It has a strong emphasis on examples from western Canada, especially British Columbia, and also includes a chapter devoted to the geological history of western Canada. The book is a collaboration of faculty from Earth Science departments at Universities and Colleges across British Columbia and elsewhere."
Laboratory Manual for Introductory Geology
From the Summary:"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.
Authors:
Bradley Deline is a professor in paleontology at the University of West Georgia. I specialize in fossil echinoderms, with a particular focus on Ordovician crinoids.
Randa Harris is a geology professor at the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, GA.
Karen Tefend is a Professor in the Geology Department at the University of West Georgia, Carrollton, GA."
Peer Reviews
Lumen
Geology
From the About Page:"This survey course covers the fundamentals of geology and earth science, helping students understand how the Earth was formed and the forces shaping its continued evolution. It also introduces students to how geological resources are used in human civilization. Key topics include rock and mineral formation; weathering and soil formation; plate tectonics; Earth’s interior; crustal deformation; earthquakes and volcanoes; mass movement; hydrology; and applications of geological resources for human use. This course was developed by Kimberly Schulte from Columbia Basin College with contributing work from Lumen Learning. The course is based on Wenatchee Valley College’s Geology 101, material from the USGS and CK-12, and videos from multiple sources. "
Courseware
Geosciences | LibreTexts Library
LibreTexts is "a is a multi-institutional collaborative venture to develop the next generation of open-access texts to improve postsecondary education at all levels of higher learning. The LibreTexts approach is highly collaborative where an Open Access textbook environment is under constant revision by students, faculty, and outside experts to supplant conventional paper-based books."
LibreText Library is funded and produced by the University of California, Davis, the U.S. Department of Education, Merlot, and the National Science Foundation.
LibreText Geosciences resources include:
- Complete courses from the University of California Davis: Structural Geology; Oceanography; Introduction to Geopshysics; and others.
- Modules including Simulations and Visualizations
- Homework Exercises
- Geosciences Open Textbooks
Media: Data, Podcasts, Videos, Interactives, Software
National Park Service
Grand Geologic Tour
This site includes numerous Park Service resources covering the geology of the National Parks, including the servicewide Geodiversity Atlas, "the largest collection of NPS geoscience information ever compiled." The atlas "provides information on geoheritge and geodiversity resources and values all across the National Park System to support science-based management and education. The NPS Geologic Resources Division and many parks work with National and International geoconservation communities to ensure that NPS abiotic resources are managed using the highest standards and best practices available."
Oxford University
School of Geography and the Environment Podcasts
From the Description:"These online audio resources consist of lectures, seminars and interviews from the School of Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford."
Oxford University
Malaria Atlas Project Podcast
From the Description:"Featuring researchers from the Malaria Atlas Project at the University of Oxford, this series of podcasts looks at some of the statistical methods that can be used to model malaria and other infectious diseases globally, as well as statistical modelling more generally.
The Malaria Atlas Project (MAP) brings together researchers based around the world with expertise in a wide range of disciplines from public health to mathematics, geography and epidemiology. Their task is to generate new and innovative methods of mapping malaria risk, ultimately to produce a comprehensive range of maps and estimates that will support effective planning of malaria control at national and international scales."
