Research Guides: Open Educational Resources: Physics, Geology, & Astronomy

Physics

College Physics - OpenStax
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.
Simple Nature
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.
Motion Mountain
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 Unification.

Geology

Physical Geology
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.
Geology
An online course in geology taught using a mastery approach.
Historical Geology
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.

Astronomy

Astropedia
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.
Astronomy - OpenStax (Coming Soon)
An introductory book on astronomy. Still in draft form and final book version coming soon.

Supplemental Materials

comPADRE
Collection of resources and services that cater to both Physics instructors and learners. It is a platform through which learners and instructors are given the ability to publish and search for high quality resources created for their specific needs.
PhET - University of Colorado
Helps students visually comprehend concepts, PhET simulations animate what is invisible to the eye through the use of graphics and intuitive controls such as click-and-drag manipulation, sliders and radio buttons.
Physics Classroom
Collection of Physics tutorials that cover all topics typically covered in college level Physics I and Physics II courses. Newton's laws, vectors, momentum, work and energy, rotational motion, optics, relativity, electricity and magnetism are discussed.
Symmetry - Dimensions of Particle Physics
Image bank containing many diagrams and illustrations that might be useful when teaching particle physics as well as many images related to the field and study of particle physics.
Astronomy Center
Collection of digital resources for college-level introductory astronomy faculty and students.
NASA
Lots of resources such as pictures, images, videos and other materials for the study and teaching of astronomy and other sciences.
LibreTexts Geology
Principal hub of the UC Davis LibreTexts project, which is a multi-institutional collaborative venture to develop the next generation of open-access texts to improve STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) at all levels of higher learning.
USGS Education - United States Geological Survey
Provides impartial information on the health of our ecosystems and environment. USGS monitors, analyzes, and provides scientific understanding about natural resource conditions, issues, and problems.
The National Map - United States Geological Survey
The geographic information available from The National Map includes orthoimagery (aerial photographs), elevation, geographic names, hydrography, boundaries, transportation, structures, and land cover.