6-5 A free, online textbook for Historical Geology

Session: Geoscience Education in the Western U.S and México. Practices, Pathways, and Partnerships. (Posters)

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Our free, online, open educational resource (OER) “Historical Geology” has evolved through 2025. Creative Commons licensed at https://opengeology.org/historicalgeology, the text is an adaptable resource that allows adopting instructors to mix and match content areas, choosing their own adventures for students through geologic time. The text now includes 14 “traditional” chapters on major geology themes (rocks, stratigraphy, geologic time, plate tectonics, mass extinctions, paleoclimate, etc.), & 35 case studies reviewing particular places, events, taxa, or phenomena. The length and format of case studies vary: some are videos, others are mainly graphical, or traditional text-based explorations. There are also 7 pages classified as “tools of the trade,” emphasizing skills such as outcrop sketching, reading geologic maps, and interpreting paleo-up indicators in sedimentary rocks. Finally, we feature 15 virtual field experiences (e.g., Siccar Point, West Texas, and Glacier National Park) and 14 virtual sample sets (e.g., igneous rocks, sediment samples, relative dating). A series of lab exercises are new additions. Pages are rich with interactive imagery, such as embedded virtual globes, 3D models, GIGAmacro and GigaPan images, Google Maps, image galleries, animated GIFs, and self-test quizzes. Feedback from nearly 80 surveyed instructors (teaching 3000 students across the planet) is overwhelmingly positive. We will continue to add new materials to the site through 2026.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 58, No. 3, 2026

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