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Preface

Last updated

Mar 29, 2025
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- Program Page
- About the Authors

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About the Book

Welcome to Geology of California, an open educational resource (OER) "textbook" designed to support students in their exploration of California's diverse geology. This text is crafted with a student-centered pedagogical approach, incorporating multiple modes of engagement to enhance learning.

This text is also designed to be adapted— instructors should feel empowered to rearrange, remove, and add content to suit the unique needs of their students, whether they have an understanding of foundational geology concepts, need a review of said concepts, or are entirely new to the study of geology. This text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license, allowing reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and add to the material in any medium or format so long as:

Credit is given to the creators
It is only used for noncommercial purposes

Pedagogical Approach

In this textbook, students will interact with content in a variety of ways to support different learning styles and reinforce key concepts. Each chapter includes:

Text-based content, providing clear and concise explanations of geological principles.
Embedded images and videos, illustrating key concepts and real-world geological features.
Interactive H5P activities, designed as formative assessments to allow students to check their understanding and engage with the material in an interactive way.
A dynamic glossary, where glossary terms are underlined and popover definitions are provided in the online version of the text, ensuring a dynamic and engaging learning experience.

This multimodal approach helps students develop a deeper understanding of geology by integrating visual, textual, and interactive elements. Additionally, instructors may adapt these materials to align with their course objectives and student needs.

Organization of the Textbook

This textbook is organized into 19 chapters, progressing from fundamental geological concepts to more specialized topics. The first six chapters provide essential background knowledge for students who may not have prior experience with geology. These introductory chapters cover:

Introduction to the Geology of California – A broad overview of the text
Minerals and Rocks – An introduction to mineral properties, rock types, and the rock cycle.
Plate Tectonics – Understanding Earth's dynamic crust, plate boundaries, and the mechanisms driving plate motion.
Geologic Structures and Seismology – Exploring folds, faults, earthquakes, and how geologists interpret Earth's structural features.
Geologic Time – Examining relative and absolute dating methods, the geologic time scale, and Earth's history.
A Brief Geologic History of California – Highlighting major geologic events that have shaped California’s landscapes.

Beyond these foundational chapters, chapters 12-16 delve into California's physiographic provinces:

Cascade Range and Modoc Plateau
Basin and Range
Sierra Nevada
Klamath Mountains
Coast ranges
Great Valley
Mojave and Colorado Deserts
Transverse Ranges
Peninsular Ranges
California Coastline

Each chapter follows a structured format, with clearly defined learning objectives and summary sections to reinforce comprehension.

The final three chapters of the book explore major environmental and geologic issues influencing California, its residents, its economy, and its politics, including:

California's Climate
California's Water
California's Earthquake History and Hazards

Acknowledgments

This textbook is the result of collaboration among seven geoscience educators each representing a different California educational institution. This work has benefited from the input of educators, geoscientists, and accessibility specialists. We extend our gratitude to the Academic of California Community Colleges (ASCCC) Open Educational Resources Initiative (OERI) for recognizing the need for and supporting the creation of this resource, our subject matter expert reviewers Randy Reed (Shasta College) and Samuel Raskin (Folsom Lake College) for their invaluable pedagogical and geological feedback, Kim Saccio for helping to make this resource accessible for all students, and our project manager Shagun Kaur (De Anza College) for her unwavering support throughout the duration of this project. This resource is infinitely better because of them.

How to Use This Textbook

We encourage students to actively engage with the material by working through the embedded activities, revisiting key concepts, and utilizing the provided resources. Instructors may adapt or supplement the text as needed to fit their course structure. This flexibility ensures that the textbook can be tailored to different teaching styles and student needs.

We hope that this OER textbook serves as a valuable resource in your studies of California's unparalleled geology and fosters a deeper appreciation for the Earth and its dynamic systems.

Allison Jones (Sierra College), Martha House (Pasadena City College), Emily Wright (College of the Redwoods), Steven Newton (College of Marin), Cole Heap, P.G., Debra Brooks (College of the Canyons), Steven Skinner (California State University, Sacramento),
March 2025

References

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/