The lesson content focuses on designing investigations concerning the notion of scale through a series of investigations on their campus. The overarching goal is to foster a connection to the earth through an investigation of the local environment.

Geographic information systems (GIS), once used predominantly by experts in cartography and computer programming, have become pervasive in everyday business and consumer use. This unit explores GIS in general as a technology about which much more can be learned, and it also explores applications of that technology. Students experience GIS technology through the use of Google Earth on the environmental topic of plastics in the ocean in an area known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The use of this topic in GIS makes the unit multidisciplinary, incorporating the physics of ocean currents, the chemistry associated with pollutant degradation and chemical sorption to organic-rich plastics, and ecological impact to aquatic biota.

The purpose of this resource is to use a land cover type map to make environmentally sound decisions.

This jigsaw activity introduces students with Arctic weather data using a role-playing activity that has students read and interpret graphs while considering the optimal time to plan a research mission to the Arctic.

The history of earthquakes in the San Francisco Bay area is plotted on a digital map and analyzed in this video segment adapted from NOVA.

This short lesson was designed in collaboration with a 7th grade Life Science teacher (Paul Jeffery). The idea behind the lesson is to help students better understand ecological and geographical classifications by teaching them at the same time in their Life Science class and their Geography class. Teaching the two classifications together will help reinforce the idea of classification. While this lesson would best be taught outdoors it can also be adapted to the indoors.

A learning activity for the "Do You Know That Clouds Have Names?" book in the Elementary GLOBE series. Using information from the book and their observations, students construct a sky scene with trees and buildings as reference points on the ground and cloud types ordered by altitude in the sky. Students will describe clouds using their own vocabulary and will then correlate their descriptions with the standard classifications of cloud types used by the GLOBE Program. The purpose of the activity is to help students identify some of the characteristics of clouds and to enable students to observe clouds, describe them in a common vocabulary, and compare their descriptions with the official cloud names. Students will be able to identify cloud types using standard cloud classification names. They will know that the names used for the clouds are based on three factors: their shapes, the altitude at which they occur, and whether they are producing precipitation.

A learning activity for the "Do You Know That Clouds Have Names?" book in the Elementary GLOBE series. Students will explore the difference between the three types of contrails, make observations of contrails outside, and record their observations. Fifteen minutes later they will make follow-up observations to see how the contrails they observed have changed. The purpose of the activity is to help students identify contrails and learn to distinguish between the three types of contrails and to understand that contrails are human-made and some contrails become clouds in the sky. Students will be able to (1) identify the three types of contrails; (2) understand that contrails are created by jet airplanes; and (3) understand that some contrails become clouds.

This assignment requires that students research the historical context of an environmental issue within their own communities and apply different types of organizing/advocacy tactics for instigating social change.

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Students collect data for this term project starting with the first lab exercise and continuing throughout the semester. As each unit is covered in the text, class, and lab, students are directed to collect data relevant to their term project. For example: Topographic maps are covered at the start of the semester and students must locate their home; describe its location using the Public Land Survey, Universal Transverse Mercator, and Longitude-Latitude Systems; and describe the local topography. When natural hazards (flooding, slopes, earthquakes, volcanoes, and radon gas) are covered, students must use web resources (some of which are provided by the instructor at http://www2.ivcc.edu/phillips/geology/environmental_research.htm), local resources (such as the local fire chief, library, mayor, relatives, and neighbors), and personal observation to identify hazards and assess the risk they pose; these hazards are submitted as part of a lab assignment. The information collected is analyzed using the principles discussed in class and feedback is provided on pieces that are submitted throughout the semester. At the conclusion of the semester, students organize the collected information, add illustrations (maps and photos), analyze and evaluate the materials collected, and conclude the report with a discussion of how the area should be developed in the future based on the principles learned in the class.

The activity shows the students the immediate relevance of the material as it is covered, shows the students the types of information publicly available, and helps them develop critical analysis skills. The activity introducers students to basic geologic knowledge and shows them how to make use of it.

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With e-pals, students develop real-life writing and social experiences, learn the format of a friendly letter and parts of an e-mail message, and discover other cultures, languages, and geographic areas.

This is a service-learning project for students in Geography 204 (Weather, Climate and Ecosystems). Students will assess prior estimates of carbon offsets associated with plant and soil biomass on their college campus; and as a result, they will understand the complexity of measuring the complex sources of carbon emissions and offsets; address the challenges of coordinating data collection and field measurement; and realize importance of estimation in public policy contexts.

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In this activity, students use authentic Arctic climate data to explore albedo and its relationship to seasonal snowmelt as a self-reinforcing feedback mechanism, which is then applied to large scale global climate change.

This activity introduces students to the Arctic and Arctic climate. Through a virtual exploration of the geography of the Arctic students become familiar with the region. They are then introduced to meteorological parameters that Arctic research teams use.

This lesson is a presentation of famous scientist throughout history where the students will learn and take notes about the contributions and discoveries made in science.

Students explore the impact of changing river volumes and different floodplain terrain in experimental trials with table top-sized riverbed models. The models are made using modeling clay in aluminum baking pans placed on a slight incline. Water added "upstream" at different flow rates and to different riverbed configurations simulates different potential flood conditions. Students study flood dynamics as they modify the riverbed with blockages or levees to simulate real-world scenarios.

Focusing on air, water, land and life, this video describes how these components are connected in the Earth system through the flow of energy, cycles of water and biogeochemistry. Methods of studying the Earth system, ranging from field observations to analysis of satellite images are discussed. This video is one of the 24-part instructional video series describing scientific protocols used by GLOBE (Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment), a worldwide, hands-on, K-12 school-based science education program.

This video highlights students taking scientific measurements to support investigations in atmospheric science, hydrology, soils, and land cover. It shows students reporting data through the Web, creating scientific visualizations for analysis, and collaborating with students and scientists around the world. This is one two introductory videos in the 24-part GLOBE video series. GLOBE (Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide, hands-on, K-12 school-based science education program.

This video highlights students taking scientific measurements to support investigations in atmospheric science, hydrology, soils, and land cover. It shows students reporting data through the Web, creating scientific visualizations for analysis, and collaborating with students and scientists around the world. This is one of two introductory videos in the 24-part GLOBE video series. GLOBE (Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide, hands-on, K-12 school-based science education program.

This video demonstrates students locating and preparing a study site where they can conduct field observations. The procedure used when describing a soil profile is outlined. The properties of soil are described, including the structure, color, consistence, and texture, as well as the presence of roots, rocks and free carbonates. Safety precautions are stressed. The resource includes a video and a written transcript, and is supported by the Soil Characterization, Field Measurement Protocol in the GLOBE Teacher Guide. This is one of five videos about soils in the 24-part instructional video series describing scientific protocols used by GLOBE (Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment) a worldwide, hands-on, K-12 school-based science education program.