This virtual field trip takes students to the site of a local …
This virtual field trip takes students to the site of a local groundwater controversy in Gallatin Valley, Montana. Students virtually travel through seven stops which highlight the groundwater hydrology, local geology, geologic history of the valley and local groundwater policy. During the virtual field trip, students are asked to role-play as geologists hired to evaluate the area. Ultimately, they are asked to formulate an argument for or against the development of a nearby subdivision and to support that argument with evidence they gathered on the virtual field trip. Evidence may include observational field notes, hypotheses and questions regarding the geology and geohydrology of the area as well as limited hydrological data. Students must produce a final report discussing the decision they made as a consulting geologist. Reports should include a well-supported argument using the data and information collected during the virtual field trip. This virtual field trip gives students an opportunity to explore a local dispute regarding groundwater and learn how geology, geohydrology and scientific data are involved in policy issues.
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Students use USGS WaterData website to find data on area, average annual …
Students use USGS WaterData website to find data on area, average annual discharge and response to high-precip events in small watersheds in southern New England. Data for the class are compiled to generate graphs showing the regional relationships between (1) area and discharge, and (2) area and time-lag between precip and maximum discharge.
terms: discharge, watershed, flood
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Students read one of two articles (the "cases") from High Country News, …
Students read one of two articles (the "cases") from High Country News, a bi-weekly periodical that covers environmental issues in the western North America. Both articles are about situations in which the use of ground water by irrigators has decreased the amount of surface water available for users with senior water rights. I divide the class into groups representing 1) surface water users, 2) ground water users, and 3) a regulatory board. The groups read and discuss each article and prepare a case to present to the regulatory board. After each group has prepared their case, we gather for a hearing, where groups of consultants present their cases and are questioned by the regulatory board. At the end, the regulatory board makes "decisions" on each "case". The decision isn't the focus of the exercise. The most valuable part is the subsequent discussion about the cases and the common issues in them that get the students to recognize the connection between surface and ground water and how humans have come up with confusing and sometimes scientifically conflicting sets of laws to regulate each.
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This module contains an 8-lesson curriculum to study greenhouse gases and global …
This module contains an 8-lesson curriculum to study greenhouse gases and global warming using data and visualizations. The students will summarize the issue in a mock debate or a presentation.
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In this exercise, students predict changes in the movement of a dissolved …
In this exercise, students predict changes in the movement of a dissolved plume in response to remedial pumping in an unconfined aquifer. The underlying conceptual model for the distribution of aquifer and aquitard materials is not known with certainty. Consequently, two alternative end-member conceptualizations are presented to students who are then asked to hypothesize differences in predicted responses at the pumping wells and nearby monitoring wells for each conceptual model. Predictions are compared to actual field data, and students discover that contaminant concentration measurements depend not only on the location of the observation point (in three dimensions), but also on the length of the screened interval through which water samples are collected. The activity is divided into three parts: (1) site/problem description, (2) formulation and testing of hypotheses for pumping wells, and (3) formulation and testing of hypotheses for monitoring wells. The activity gives students practice in three dimensional thinking and reinforces their intuitive understanding of contaminant plume migration in response to natural gradients and engineered stresses.
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We hear a lot about the “women’s vote” these days, although most …
We hear a lot about the “women’s vote” these days, although most young people take universal suffrage for granted and the fight for women’s right to vote is usually given scant attention in the classroom. Since the late 20th century, women have constituted the majority of the voting public. The number of female voters has exceeded the number of male voters in every presidential election since 1964. In this module we offer resources, information and ideas for examining the role of women in politics as voters and the history of their increased participation in the political sphere.
The goal of this module is to provide resources and information about the history of the women’s vote in the U.S. Looking at the women’s suffrage movement provides a framework for exploring the changing role of women in politics and society in the 19th and 20th centuries. The history of suffrage offers an opportunity to examine women’s roles at critical points in the nation’s history, and to think about the impact of women’s voting behavior on politics in our time.
In this exercise, we use the USGS real-time data available online, and …
In this exercise, we use the USGS real-time data available online, and use it to construct a rating curve for the Walla Walla river near Touchet. We then make a simple model of flood inundation in ArcGIS for the area around our gaging station.
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This award-winning collection of multimedia explainers is a starting point for students …
This award-winning collection of multimedia explainers is a starting point for students with little or no background knowledge of international relations and foreign policy. With accessible, jargon-free language and instructor-designed teaching resources, lessons on the World101 platform are non-partisan and developed in partnership with Council on Foreign Relation experts.
This is a series of NASA Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite …
This is a series of NASA Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite images taken over a 10 year period, 2000-2010, showing the extent of deforestation in the State of Rondonia in western Brazil over that period of time.
Students work in groups to develop posters that communicate their concept of …
Students work in groups to develop posters that communicate their concept of landscape following several field labs (soils, sediment analysis, river discharge, vegetation survey, aquatic life) at one location. They must consider four categories: landscape interactions, landscape history, life, and perspectives/communication.
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This activity utilizes publicly available, proposed national legislation to provide a platform …
This activity utilizes publicly available, proposed national legislation to provide a platform for student inquiry into the intersection of climate science, environmental economics and sustainable public policy.
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