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I am a college student and have just about no experience with Biology. I was homeschooled and took a bit of biology, however, not only did I do very little of the program—but it was at a homeschool event that was taught by parents in the community and sometimes didn't always include the most factual of information.

As such, I would love to expose my self to biology. I love animals and think it might be interesting—but have no exposure to base this off of.

Is there a good book or something I can spend some time reviewing? Are there any resources that may help me better understand what the study of ecology is about and if I am interested in it?

P.S. I am having some struggle formatting this title in a way that would make it easier for fellow students to find this questions. If you have a better way of stating it, please recommend a change.

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    – bob1
    Commented Sep 27 at 4:35

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This question is quite difficult because we don't know how much biology you have, so even recommendations of text books might be well above what you want. For instance, if you don't have some understanding of evolution, then phylogenies and taxonomy might be a struggle to grasp intellectually.

Your college might have some textbooks available to give you something to browse; try the basic Biology ones aimed at first-year students; they'll be called something like "Biology" or "General Biology". Otherwise try checking out the texts at Libretexts; they have an ecology bookshelf. If these are both beyond you, you will need to look at high-school texts or try taking foundational courses to give you the basics.

There is high-school level information available on sites such as Khan Academy as well as others. I had a quick skim of some of the Khan Academy pages and they seem OK, and they have a decent reputation for free content on many topics.

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  • $\begingroup$ Thank you so much for your response! Please treat me as if I have no exposure! $\endgroup$
    – SpreadingKindness
    Commented Sep 27 at 4:55
  • $\begingroup$ @SpreadingKindness I recommend starting by reading Wikipedia or "A very short introduction" type of book to get familiar with the terminology. Such introductory texts can act as an equivalent for lectures. Only after your brain has indexed the rough brushes of ecology should you read the textbook, as the textbook can be daunting and demotivating for beginners. $\endgroup$
    – Young Jun Lee
    Commented Sep 28 at 19:10
  • $\begingroup$ I agree that a broad balanced textbook on biology and ecology (which should naturally also include some evolution) would be the best bet. $\endgroup$
    – fileunderwater
    Commented Nov 6 at 14:55

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