Introduction to Earth Science is a 530+ page open textbook designed to provide a comprehensive introduction to Earth Science that can be freely accessed online, read offline, printed, or purchased as a print-on-demand book. It is intended for a typical 1000-level university introductory course in the Geosciences, although its contents could be applied to many other related courses.

This text includes various important features designed to enhance the student learning experience in introductory Earth Science courses. These include a multitude of high-quality figures and images within each chapter that help to clarify key concepts and are optimized for viewing online. Self-test assessment questions are embedded in each online chapter that help students focus their learning. QR codes are provided for each assessment to allow students using print or PDF versions to easily access the quiz from an internet-capable device of their choice.

Adapted from openly-licensed works in geoscience, the sequence of the book differs from mainstream commercial texts in that it has been arranged to present elementary or foundational knowledge regarding rocks and minerals prior to discussion of more complex topics in Earth Science. Unlike prominent commercial texts for Earth Science, this book dedicates an individual chapter to each of the three major rock types, the processes of mass wasting, geological time, Earth history, and the origin of the universe and our solar system. Book content has been further customized to match the Pathways General Education Curriculum at Virginia Tech with a focus on Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) for Pathways Concept 4, Reasoning in the Natural Sciences.

Are you a professor reviewing or adopting this book for a course?
Instructors adopting or reviewing this text are encouraged to record their use on this form: https://bit.ly/interest_intro_earth_science. This helps the book's sponsors to understand this open textbook's impact.

How to Access the Book
This text is available in multiple formats including PDF, a low-resolution PDF which is faster to download, and ePub [coming mid 2023]. These are available at: https://doi.org/10.21061/introearthscience. The book is also available in HTML/Pressbooks at https://pressbooks.lib.vt.edu/introearthscience. Softcover print versions with color interior are available at the manufacturer’s lowest price at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1957213361. The main landing page for this book is https://doi.org/10.21061/introearthscience.

PDF: ISBN 978-1-957213-34-7
HTML/Pressbooks: ISBN 978-1-957213-33-0
https://pressbooks.lib.vt.edu/introearthscience
Print: ISBN 978-1-957213-36-1 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1957213361
ePub: ISBN 978-1-957213-35-4 [expected mid 2023]

Table of Contents
1. Understanding Science
2. Plate Tectonics
3. Minerals
4. Igneous Processes and Volcanoes
5. Weathering, Erosion, and Sedimentary Rocks
6. Metamorphic Rocks
7. Geologic Time
8. Earth History
9. Crustal Deformation and Earthquakes
10. Mass Wasting
11. Water
12. Coastlines
13. Deserts
14. Glaciers
15. Global Climate Change
16. Energy and Mineral Resources
17. Origin of the Universe and Our Solar System

Find, Adapt, and Share Resources
If you wish to share resources you build from this book or find those shared by other adopters of this book, please join the Instructor Resource Portal in OER Commons at https://www.oercommons.org/groups/introduction-to-earth-science-instructor-group/12785

Attribution
This work includes content from multiple sources reproduced under the terms of Creative Commons licenses, Public Domain, and Fair Use. Specifically: Chapters 1-16 are adapted from An Introduction to Geology https://slcc.pressbooks.pub/introgeology (CC BY NC SA) by Chris Johnson, Matthew D. Affolter, Paul Inkenbrandt, and Cam Mosher. Chapter 17 is adapted from Section 22.1 of Chapter 22 “The Origin of Earth and the Solar System” by Karla Panchuk in Physical Geology, 2nd edition (CC BY) by Steven Earle https://opentextbc.ca/physicalgeology2ed/part/chapter-22-the-origin-of-earth-and-the-solar-system, with Sections 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, and 7.4 of Chapter 7 “Other Worlds: An Introduction to the Solar System” https://openstax.org/books/astronomy-2e/pages/7-1-overview-of-our-planetary-system from OpenStax Astronomy, 2nd edition https://openstax.org/details/books/astronomy-2e (CC BY). And, figures are from a variety of sources; references at the end of each chapter describe the terms of reuse for each figure. Version notes located at the end of the book describe author changes made to these materials by chapter.

About the Author
Laura Neser, Ph.D. is an Instructor in the Department of Geosciences at Virginia Tech. Dr. Neser earned her B.S. in Geosciences at Virginia Tech in the spring of 2008 and completed her Ph.D. in Geological Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) in 2014. Her doctoral research focused on the structural geology, sedimentology, and stratigraphy of formations that were deposited along the flanks of the Beartooth Mountains as they rose during late Paleocene-Eocene time. Dr. Neser has worked as an athletic tutor and online instructor at The University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC), in temporary positions as an Adjunct Instructor at Chowan University (Murfreesboro, NC) and Full-Time Lecturer at Indiana State University (Terre Haute, IN), and as a Professor at Seminole State College (Sanford, FL) before starting as an Instructor at Virginia Tech in the fall of 2021.

Although she is currently focused on teaching online sections of Introduction to Earth Science, Earth Resources, Society and the Environment, and Climate History, her teaching background is significantly broader and includes Environmental ‬Science, Astronomy, Environmental ‬Ethics, Earth History, Structural Geology, and Field Geology‬.

Suggested Citation
Neser, Laura (2023). Introduction to Earth Science. Blacksburg: Virginia Tech Department of Geosciences. https://doi.org/10.21061/introearthscience. Licensed with CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0.

Report Errors: https://bit.ly/report_error_intro_earth_science
View Errata: https://bit.ly/errata_intro_earth_science

Funding and Project Support
This publication was made possible in part through funding and publishing support provided by the Open Education Initiative of the University Libraries at Virginia Tech.

Accessibility Statement
Virginia Tech Publishing is committed to making its publications accessible in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The Pressbooks (HTML) and ePub versions of this text are tagged structurally and include alternative text, which allows for machine readability.

Disclaimer
This work may contain components (e.g., illustrations, or quotations) not covered by the license. Every effort has been made to clearly identify these components but ultimately it is your responsibility to independently evaluate the copyright status of any work or component part of a work you use, in light of your intended use. Please check the references at the end of each chapter before redistributing.

Short Description:
Introduction to Earth Science is designed to provide a comprehensive introduction to Earth Science that can be freely accessed online, read offline, printed, or purchased as a print-on-demand book. It is intended for a typical 1000-level university introductory course in the Geosciences. NewParaThis open textbook includes various features designed to enhance the student learning experience. These include a multitude of high-quality figures and images within each chapter that help to clarify key concepts and are optimized for viewing online. Self-test assessment questions are embedded in each online chapter that help students focus their learning. NewParaAre you a professor reviewing or adopting this book for a course? Instructors adopting or reviewing this text are encouraged to record their use on this form: https://bit.ly/interest_intro_earth_science This helps the book's sponsors to understand this open textbook's impact.NewParaPDF and ePub (coming soon) versions, and a link to order a print version are available at https://doi.org/10.21061/introearthscience .

Word Count: 363466

ISBN: 978-1-957213-33-0

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

In this lab I simply have students dissolve halite and sylvite in water at various temperatures. I use this experiment to introduce students to the principles of equilibrium thermodynamics, as well as basic lab skills, data analysis, and lab report writing. Students use basic laboratory skills to conduct their experiments then analyze their data using a spreadsheet program such as Excel. They then write up their results and discussion in a formal lab report.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

Short Description:
"An Introduction to Geological Field Trips: Case Study Avonlea Badlands, Saskatchewan" emerged out of the passion of a few people for fieldwork. During the COVID-19 pandemic there was a real need to replace the actual field trips - forbidden during the pandemic - with something else that will give the student a taste or a tease of fieldwork. More than being the conclusion, this project wants to be the inspiration that will carry the student out of the classroom and into the field. Consequently, how do you prepare for a field trip? It is easy to assume that somebody else will know everything about the area where you're going and you're just going along for the ride - because at the end of the day you are there to learn. Absolutely true, but being mentally prepared will make everything seem less overwhelming, less foreign and consequently, way more enjoyable. Yet, even the preparation process can feel like a big white elephant in the room. Where do you start? Obviously with the first page of the book.The authors are grateful to receive funding support from the University of Regina’s OER Publishing Program Small Project Grant, which enabled us to actually carry real fieldwork in the Avonlea Badlands in Southern Saskatchewan to collect all the data for this book.

Long Description:
“An Introduction to Geological Field Trips: Case Study Avonlea Badlands, Saskatchewan” is trying to fill the gap between the student and the fieldwork. Most commonly, the geology student is thrown into the fire while in the field trips and has to process a lot of information on the fly. Consequently, sometimes is hard to see the full picture. This book wants to be the starting point for every student looking to embark in that first geological field trip. How to prepare? What to do? How to approach the field work? Which data should be collected? Where to start? It is a work in progress and as the students will learn more about preparation so, too, the authors will learn more and more about the questions that the student has before, during and after the field trip. We are grateful to all the people that contributed to this book. Your dedication to student success is admirable!

Word Count: 17033

ISBN: ISBN-13:978-0-7731-0780-9

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

Geology is the core discipline of the earth sciences and encompasses many different phenomena, including plate tectonics and mountain building, volcanoes and earthquakes, and the long-term evolution of Earth’s atmosphere, surface and life. Because of the ever-increasing demand for resources, the growing exposure to natural hazards, and the changing climate, geology is of considerable societal relevance. This course introduces students to the basics of geology. Through a combination of lectures, labs, and field observations, we will address topics ranging from mineral and rock identification to the origin of the continents, from geologic mapping to plate tectonics, and from erosion by rivers and glaciers to the history of life.

Free Textbook for College-Level Introductory Geology Courses

Short Description:
This text is provided to you as an Open Educational Resource which you access online. It is designed to give you a comprehensive introduction to Geology at no or very nominal cost. It contains both written and graphic text material, intra-text links to other internal material which may aid in understanding topics and concepts, intra-text links to the appendices and glossary for tables and definitions of words, and extra-text links to videos and web material that clarifies and augments topics and concepts. Contact the authors at edits@opengeology.org with edits, suggestions, or if adopting the book.

Word Count: 153765

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

Students are are introduced to Excel and its capabilities by building some simple spreadsheets.

Students continue their introduction to Excel by building spreadsheets that estimate the risk of a major earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone to Benton County, Oregon.

Introduction to Oceanography is a textbook appropriate to an introductory-level university course in oceanography. The book covers the fundamental geological, chemical, physical and biological processes in the ocean, with an emphasis on the North Atlantic region.

Short Description:
Learn about igneous and metamorphic rocks (and how to analyze them), the fun way! Students learn concepts and practice knowledge by conducting inquiries guided with examples based on videos and interactive diagrams.

Word Count: 20627

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

GEO 131: Introduction to Physical Geography is an OER course that provides a comprehensive overview of Earth's natural systems and the forces that shape its physical landscape. Students will explore key topics such as weather, climate, hydrology, ecology, geology, and tectonics. Through both lectures and hands-on lab exercises, students will examine the processes of volcanism, erosion, soil formation, and glaciation, and learn to apply geographic theories to real-world issues. The course emphasizes understanding the distribution of natural features and the scientific principles that explain Earth's physical geography.

Introduction to seismic theory, measurements and processing of seismic data to final focussed image for geological and/or physical interpretation.This course deals with the most important aspects of reflection seismics. Theory of seismic waves, aspects of data acquisition (seismic sources, receivers and recorders), and of data processing (CMP processing, velocity analysis, stacking, migration) will be dealt with. The course will be supplemented by a practical of 6 afternoons where the students will see the most important data-processing steps via exercises (in Matlab).

This pressbook is a lab manual for an introductory course on physical geology.

This activity is an indoor lab where students build a model to observe the effects of weathering and erosion.

In this field activity students will discover some of the factors that influence weathering of rock by making observations, asking questions and completing an investigation of their own design in a local cemetery.

This activity is a field investigation where students will be able to observe sinkholes located in the southeastern Minnesota area and a cave system in Forestville State Park which will assist them in defining Karst topography.

This activity is a guided inquiry where students develop questions around a group of rocks, use their observation skills to describe the attributes, record and analyze their findings, and use their data, in conjunction with available resources, to categorize the rocks .

Average inquiry level: Structured
This lab activity provides an introduction to rock classification. Classification is useful because it allows scientists to identify patterns and organize information. In this lab, students investigate rocks by developing their own classification schemes. They then learn how scientists classify rocks, and make connections to rock formation processes. This lab is designed for face-to-face instruction.
Learning objectives for this lab activity:

Identifying types of observations that are useful in identifying rocks
Categorize rocks based on observable physical characteristics, and explain why classification is an important aspect of science
Classify rocks as sedimentary, igneous, or metamorphic, and justify why each rock is included in its classification group
Reflect on how their classification schemes compared to the one used by geologists

Key words:rock classification, observation, identification, inquiry, igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks, metamorphic rocks, jig-saw activity

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

In this classroom guided inquiry lesson, students will explore the properties of rocks. Students will make observations of granite and develop a hypothesis explaining what makes a rock.

This activity is a lab presentation where students gather data about rocks from their area and hypothesize what the rocks are and where they came from.