Volcanic eruptions can produce large amounts of debris in the form of sediment. Volcanic sediment is a serious hazard that can flood river valleys, bury homes and wash out bridges and roads. In the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, many billions of cubic meters of sediment flowed down from the mountain through the surrounding river valleys, which caused major flooding and damage to the homes of people living downstream.

In the “Sediment on the Move” storyline, fourth-grade students explore the hazards of volcanic sediment and solve the problem of managing these hazards. This robustly developed and problem-based learning unit supports teachers in creating a rigorous and rich experience for students through use of fully-developed teacher support resources (Google Slides for students ready to be used), rich media (videos, images, first-person narratives), and a plethora of engaging and 3-dimensional formative assessments.

Through various activities, scientific inquiry and exploration, students become acquainted with the size and scale of volcanic sediment as a long-term hazard for communities that live downstream of volcanoes. In this unit students design their own community and roleplay as city council members. Students collaborate with characters who model real-world career professionals (such as engineers, geologists and emergency managers) who help them design their own solutions to the problem of volcanic sediment. Through science, teamwork, and communication, students generate and compare multiple solutions to help their community be prepared for the hazards and challenges from volcanic sediment. At the end of the storyline, students create recommendations and design plans to share with other communities facing similar challenges.

THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS. This activity is a way to begin a course with reflection by students about their extraordinary good fortune in being able to take advantage of higher education. Students are asked to define their obligations, course goals, and commitments to work and integrity during the course. The student activities include two homework exercises assigned in sequence at the beginning of a course. In-class discussion held after the assignments are completed and the responses are reviewed by the teacher will hopefully establish some shared community ideas of ethical norms in the course.

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Residents along the U.S. Gulf Coast are familiar with the flooding hazards associated with storms, yet many are unaware of the risk of sea level rise. Shoppers at a local mall had a chance to explore the potential impacts of sea level rise on their communities.

STILL IN DEVELOPMENT
Students engaged in this activity examine the scientific and ethical dimensions of iron fertilization as a geoengineering strategy to mitigate global warming. Students will analyze data from iron fertilization studies to answer the scientific question of whether or not iron fertilization increases biological productivity and carbon sequestration. Students will then discuss/debate the ethical considerations of employing iron fertilization.

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City officials in Tybee Island, Georgia, recognized sea level rise as a growing problem for their community. Visualizations from a sea level rise viewer helped them raise awareness of the city's vulnerabilities and led to development of Georgia’s first sea level rise plan.

This segment from American Experience: Simple Justice captures the legal issues and opening arguments in Brown v. Board of Education.

Based on their locations, many water and wastewater utilities face an inherent risk of flooding. Here’s how a small drinking water utility recognized its risk and took steps to reduce it.

Remove a problem species and make a natural soap! Lindsay Hollister, JPPM's horticulturalist, shares how to identify the invasive English Ivy vine and make a soap from the saponins it naturally produces. These molecules naturally deter predators from eating the species, but their structures also make them bond to both waters and fats. Consider using the video or conducting the activity at your location as an integrated introduction to learning about biodiversity and the structures of molecules or atoms, since saponins are valuable as a soap because they are able to bond with either water or fats/lipids.

Always be sure you can successfully identify a plant before using it and take precautions to avoid negative reactions.

This resource is part of Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum’s open educational resources project to provide history, ecology, archaeology, and conservation resources related to our 560 acre public park. JPPM is a part of the Maryland Historical Trust under the Maryland Department of Planning. If you evaluate or use this resource, please respond to this short (4 question!) survey at bit.ly/3GrTjPk

Soil Carbon STEM Kit. The Natural Sciences Education & Outreach Center collaborates with CSU faculty, National Parks and citizen science programs to translate their current scientific research into unique STEM experiences for students in the form of Educational Kits that can be checked out. Each kit contains just about all of the materials needed (minus common things like water and paper towels) to explore some really interesting scientific research topics.The kits are available for teachers and informal educators in Colorado to check out for a duration of a week by submitting either a local pickup form or a delivery form available at the linked website. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVNHtSSSa8c This kit is provided free for educational use. This kit is available in Spanish also at the link provided. .

Solar Cars STEM Kit. The Natural Sciences Education & Outreach Center collaborates with CSU faculty, National Parks and citizen science programs to translate their current scientific research into unique STEM experiences for students in the form of Educational Kits that can be checked out. Each kit contains just about all of the materials needed (minus common things like water and paper towels) to explore some really interesting scientific research topics.The kits are available for teachers and informal educators in Colorado to check out for a duration of a week by submitting either a local pickup form or a delivery form available at the linked website. This kit is provided free for educational use. This Kit is available in Spanish.

This brochure is offered as a tool for science, technology, engineering and mathematics educators who are working with students with disabilities. Some activity descriptions are supplemented with case study examples addressing a particular disability.

Through the innovative use of a collection of tools, Maryland has begun identifying which of its roads and bridges are vulnerable to climate-related events.

In microeconomics, supply and demand is an economic model of price determination in a market. It postulates that, holding all else equal, in a competitive market, the unit price for a particular good, or other traded item such as labor or liquid financial assets, will vary until it settles at a point where the quantity demanded (at the current price) will equal the quantity supplied (at the current price), resulting in an economic equilibrium for price and quantity transacted.

Changing ocean chemistry could have a disastrous impact on shellfish and fisheries in Puget Sound. The Suquamish Tribe is working with partners to inform the public about this problem while they elicit support for research and monitoring the issue.

The SFTool is a robust, practical and engaging resource for facility managers, purchasing agents, designers, tenants, and the general public to understand why sustainability matters and how to take practical steps to create healthier, more comfortable, high-performance workplaces. SFTool explains sustainable options and enables informed decision-making by making it easy to learn about sustainability topics, view planning strategies, explore virtual spaces, identify federal sustainability requirements, practice managing a building, read case studies and share knowledge.

From changes in traditional foods to concerns of displacement from rising seas, this coastal community in the Pacific Northwest is assessing potential impacts to make decisions for their future.

Ten brief descriptions are provided of cases in which there appear to be ethical issues in the practice of geology. Most are drawn from engineering geology, but no detailed prior knowledge of applied geology is necessary. The intent of these descriptions is to nucleate discussion about ethical decisions that must be made in the practice of geology.

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To Drill or Not to Drill is a multidisciplinary problem based learning exercise, which intends to increase students' knowledge of a variety of topics through a real world environmental topic. In addition, drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) impacts students either directly (depending on the age level) or indirectly (through their parents) as gas prices soar to record high levels.

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This single instrumental qualitative case study explores and thickly describes job performance outcomes based upon the manner in which self-directed learning activities of a purposefully selected sample of 3 construction managers are conducted, mediated by the use of Web 2.0 technology. The data collected revealed that construction managers are concerned with the performance expected of them, in addition to how well they perform their work-related activities (orientation to learning), indicating that organizations should provide guidelines on the use and expected outcomes of self-directed learning in addition to providing the tools, resources, and time (environmental factors) to match performance needs; construction managers feel that work-related activities expected of them, how well the work-related activities are performed, and consequences for poor performance at work are determining factors in selecting Web 2.0 technologies; while construction managers understand the need for rules restricting the use of Web 2.0 technologies in performing their jobs, they feel these rules do hinder their performance because access to specific information they need to answer a question, solve a problem, or research to learn something new is sometimes restricted; and successful performance outcomes are determined by compliance to expected performance behaviors of others, such as answering a question or solving a problem an architect or superintendent have presented, as well as expectations construction managers have set for themselves. The following are appended: (1) Call for Participation--Web 2.0 Technology Project; (2) Informed Consent Letter and Form/Template; (3) Semistructured Interview Guide; and (4) Permission to Conduct Research Study.

Homer, Alaska, has been taking action to reduce climate change for almost a decade. As the ten-year anniversary of their first plan looms on the horizon, the community is engaging in conversations about adaptation.