Biology is designed for multi-semester biology courses for science majors. It is grounded on an evolutionary basis and includes exciting features that highlight careers in the biological sciences and everyday applications of the concepts at hand. To meet the needs of today’s instructors and students, some content has been strategically condensed while maintaining the overall scope and coverage of traditional texts for this course. Instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom. Biology also includes an innovative art program that incorporates critical thinking and clicker questions to help students understand—and apply—key concepts.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Identify the main characteristics of bryophytesDescribe the distinguishing traits of liverworts, hornworts, and mossesChart the development of land adaptations in the bryophytesDescribe the events in the bryophyte lifecycle

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Discuss the challenges to plant life on landDescribe the adaptations that allowed plants to colonize the landDescribe the timeline of plant evolution and the impact of land plants on other living things

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Describe the traits shared by green algae and land plantsExplain the reasons why Charales are considered the closest relative to land plantsUnderstand that current phylogenetic relationships are reshaped by comparative analysis of DNA sequences

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Identify the new traits that first appear in tracheophytesDiscuss the importance of adaptations to life on landDescribe the classes of seedless tracheophytesDescribe the lifecycle of a fernExplain the role of seedless vascular plants in the ecosystem

This template course was developed from generally available open educational resources (OER) in use at multiple institutions, drawing mostly from a primary work published by OpenStax College Concepts of Biology, but also including additional open works from various sources as noted in attributions on each page of materials.

This material is labwork meant to be used in conjunction with the Candela "Biology II" course.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Identify the parts of a typical leafDescribe the internal structure and function of a leafCompare and contrast simple leaves and compound leavesList and describe examples of modified leaves

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Describe how red and blue light affect plant growth and metabolic activitiesDiscuss gravitropismUnderstand how hormones affect plant growth and developmentDescribe thigmotropism, thigmonastism, and thigmogenesisExplain how plants defend themselves from predators and respond to wounds

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Identify the two types of root systemsDescribe the three zones of the root tip and summarize the role of each zone in root growthDescribe the structure of the rootList and describe examples of modified roots

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Describe the main function and basic structure of stemsCompare and contrast the roles of dermal tissue, vascular tissue, and ground tissueDistinguish between primary growth and secondary growth in stemsSummarize the origin of annual ringsList and describe examples of modified stems

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Describe the shoot organ system and the root organ systemDistinguish between meristematic tissue and permanent tissueIdentify and describe the three regions where plant growth occursSummarize the roles of dermal tissue, vascular tissue, and ground tissueCompare simple plant tissue with complex plant tissue

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Define water potential and explain how it is influenced by solutes, pressure, gravity, and the matric potentialDescribe how water potential, evapotranspiration, and stomatal regulation influence how water is transported in plantsExplain how photosynthates are transported in plants

Inanimate Life is an open textbook covering a very traditional biological topic, botany, in a non-traditional way. Rather than a phylogenetic approach, going group by group, the book considers what defines organisms and examines four general areas of their biology: structure (their composition and how it comes to be), reproduction (including sex), energy and material needs, and their interactions with conditions and with other organisms. Although much of the text is devoted to vascular plants, the book comparatively considers ‘EBA = everything but animals’ (hence the title): plants, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants (‘algae’, as well as some bacteria and archaebacteria), fungi, and ‘fungal-like’ organisms. The book includes brief ‘fact sheets’ of over fifty organisms/groups that biologists should be aware of, ranging from the very familiar (corn, yeast) to the unfamiliar (bracket fungi, late-blight of potato). These groups reflect the diversity of inanimate life.

This open course for Plants, Society, and the Environment was created under a Round Six ALG Textbook Transformation Grant. Topics include cell structure, photosynthesis, taxonomy, biomes, domestication, agriculture, and medicine.