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Engaging Question

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Engaging Question

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I use an "engaging question" on the first day of class in all of my courses. This activity is designed to be both engaging and central to all of the course content. That is, the activity is designed around questions that we can keep coming back to, over and over, after each learning unit. This approach not only provides a unifying focus for the course, but it also provides an opportunity to model critical thinking as we revisit the question each time with a different perspective. For the Dynamic Earth and Global Change (the Physical Geology course at Macalester) I chose a question about climate change. The activity starts with two graphs (plots of surface temperature and atmosphere CO2 composition for the past 1,000 years). Students are asked to describe the graphs, interpret the graphs, make some predictions, and explain the graphs using basic earth science processes.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

Subject:: Applied Science; Biology; Computer, Networking and Telecommunications Systems; Education; Environmental Science; Information Science; Life Science; Mathematics; Measurement and Data; Statistics and Probability
Material Type:: Activity/Lab; Lesson Plan
Provider:: Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College
Provider Set:: Teach the Earth
Date Added:: 08/18/2019

Engaging With Earthquake Hazard and Risk

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Engaging With Earthquake Hazard and Risk

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This introductory activity engages learners in the study of earthquake hazards and the risk these hazards pose to humans in the communities in which we live. Learners will compare three maps of Anchorage, AK, depicting spatial information related to seismic hazards to generate questions about the factors that influence shaking intensity and damage to the built environment during earthquakes.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

Subject:: Biology; Life Science
Material Type:: Activity/Lab
Provider:: Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College
Provider Set:: Teach the Earth
Date Added:: 09/29/2022

Engineering Self-Cleaning Hydrophobic Surfaces

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Engineering Self-Cleaning Hydrophobic Surfaces

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This biomimetic engineering challenge introduces students to the fields of nanotechnology and biomimicry. Students explore how to modify surfaces such as wood or cotton fabric at the nanoscale. They create specialized materials with features such as waterproofing and stain resistance. The challenge starts with student teams identifying an intended user and developing scenarios for using their developed material. Students then design and create their specialized material using everyday materials. Each students test each design under specific testing constraints to determine the hydrophobicity of the material. After testing, teams iterate ways to improve their self-cleaning superhydrophobic modification technique for their design. After iterating and testing their designs, students present their final product and results to the class.

Subject:: Biology; Life Science; Physical Science
Material Type:: Activity/Lab
Provider:: TeachEngineering
Provider Set:: MakerChallenges
Date Added:: 08/29/2019

Enthalpy of Magmatic Crystallization

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Enthalpy of Magmatic Crystallization

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This is a problem set that gets students to think quantitatively about magmas. To be most effective, it should be done in conjunction with a showing of some or all (I recommend some...) of the movie "Volcano". How much water would be needed to stop a lava flow on Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles?!

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

Subject:: Biology; Life Science
Material Type:: Activity/Lab
Provider:: Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College
Provider Set:: Teach the Earth
Date Added:: 08/17/2019

Environmental Advocacy Project

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Environmental Advocacy Project

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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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Subject:: Agriculture; Agriculture and Natural Resources; Applied Science; Biology; Composition and Rhetoric; English Language Arts; Environmental Science; Environmental Studies; Health, Medicine and Nursing; History; Life Science; Social Science; Sociology
Material Type:: Activity/Lab
Provider:: Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College
Provider Set:: Teach the Earth
Author:: Anita Harker, Whatcom Community College
Date Added:: 11/19/2021

Environmental Assessment Course

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Environmental Assessment Course

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The classic campus-based project is an environmental or sustainability assessment, often referred to as an environmental audit. This course, taught at Carleton in 2001, describes how this type of project can be undertaken. In this scenario, a student, campus environmental group or class researches aspects the envinormental impact of the school.

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Subject:: Agriculture and Natural Resources; Biology; Chemistry; Environmental Studies; Life Science; Physical Science
Material Type:: Full Course; Lesson Plan; Syllabus
Provider:: Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College
Provider Set:: Teach the Earth
Date Added:: 11/30/2021

An Environmental Assessment of Newark Road Prairie

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An Environmental Assessment of Newark Road Prairie

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The goal of this exercise is for students to complete a basic environmental assessment of Newark Road Prairie, a 35-acre wet-mesic prairie and state natural area owned by Beloit College.

The exercise is completed over a 5-week period as the class covers chapters on Streams and Flooding, Soil Resources, and Groundwater Resources. Students visit the prairie once a week during a 2-hour class period. Two additional 2-hour class periods per week are devoted to lecture, discussion, and analysis of field data. During the site visits, students conduct an initial field reconnaissance, measure the discharge of a stream that flows through the prairie (inflow and outflow), describe prairie soils, and measure water levels at seven previously installed water table wells and four staff gages. The field data can be collected in any order after the field reconnaissance is completed.

All field data, including GPS coordinates of the positions of discharge measurements, soils samples, and wells, are recorded in a standardized data dictionary (using GPS Pathfinder Office/TerraSync software) on a handheld PC. A satellite image of the prairie is loaded on the handheld PC, so that students can see where they are relative to other physical features as they collect their data. Data are downloaded in the lab and utilized for the construction of a water table map (by hand) and an assessment of site conditions and potential impacts.

In addition to the data collected in the field, students are given a topographic map of the region, which they utilize to delineate the basin for the stream that flows through the prairie, and a soils map of the prairie, with which they compare their own soil descriptions. They are also given a land use map of the region. Using all of this information, students write a 4 to 5 page report that describes current conditions and potential challenges or threats to the preservation and management of the prairie.

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Subject:: Biology; Life Science
Material Type:: Activity/Lab
Provider:: Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College
Provider Set:: Teach the Earth
Date Added:: 12/10/2020

Environmental Ethics

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Environmental Ethics

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This course focuses on two sets of issues in environmental ethics. The first set of issues, emerging significantly from practices such as animal agriculture and animal captivity in zoos, research facilities, and other settings, concerns the moral status of non-human animals. What kind of moral consideration are non-human animals owed? Do they have rights, and if so, how extensive are those rights? As a philosophy class, our emphasis is on the analysis of concepts and the critical evaluation of arguments. Beyond gaining a familiarity with the issue of the moral status of animals (along with the second issue of the class, not discussed here, concerning global climate change), students should expect to develop their analytic and evaluative skills through in-class discussion and a range of writing assignments.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

Subject:: Agriculture and Natural Resources; Biology; Environmental Studies; Life Science
Material Type:: Activity/Lab
Provider:: Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College
Provider Set:: Teach the Earth
Date Added:: 12/06/2021

Environmental Geology of the Area where you Live

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Environmental Geology of the Area where you Live

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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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Subject:: Biology; Business and Communication; Earth and Space Science; Hydrology; Life Science; Management; Political Science; Social Science
Material Type:: Lesson Plan
Provider:: Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College
Provider Set:: Teach the Earth
Date Added:: 11/30/2021

Environmental Health Risk Inventory

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Environmental Health Risk Inventory

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To complete this activity, students can follow the instructions and the tutorial in the Environmental Health Risk Inventory website. In doing this, they will gain an understanding of how to use on-line tools and databases as well as the processes of compiling an environmental health risk inventory for a specific locale. In the activity, students will address the question: "how healthy is your neighborhood?" Students will address anthropogenic and naturally-occurring health risks in their hometown or neighborhood by using data collected from online mapping tools and databases. Students will also complete a reflective summary based on the data that they collect.

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Subject:: Agriculture and Natural Resources; Biology; Environmental Studies; Life Science; Mathematics; Measurement and Data
Material Type:: Activity/Lab
Provider:: Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College
Provider Set:: Teach the Earth
Date Added:: 11/19/2021

Environmental Justice, Fall 2004

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Environmental Justice, Fall 2004

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Examines theories and practice of environmental justice, concerns about race, poverty, and the environment in both domestic and international contexts, exploring and critically analyzing philosophies, frameworks, and strategies underlying environmental justice movements. Examines case studies of environmental injustices, including: distribution of environmental quality and health, unequal enforcement of regulations, unequal access to resources to respond to environmental problems, and the broader political economy of decision-making around environmental issues. Explores how environmental justice movements relate to broader sustainable development goals and strategies. This class explores the foundations of the environmental justice movement, current and emerging issues, and the application of environmental justice analysis to environmental policy and planning. It examines claims made by diverse groups along with the policy and civil society responses that address perceived inequity and injustice. While focused mainly on the United States, international issues and perspectives are also considered.

Subject:: Anthropology; Biology; Ecology; Life Science; Social Science
Material Type:: Full Course
Provider:: MIT
Provider Set:: MIT OpenCourseWare
Date Added:: 01/01/2004

Environmental Justice in Tacoma: A Non-Majors Qualitative Assessment of Pollution and Public Policy in the Local Community

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Environmental Justice in Tacoma: A Non-Majors Qualitative Assessment of Pollution and Public Policy in the Local Community

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This activity is designed to get non-environmental majors to qualitatively examine their own community for evidence of environmental injustice. Using a mix of evidence from online sources (U.S. Census, EnviroMapper, Toxic Release Inventory, Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, etc.) and field observations, student groups describe the population and pollution sources found within an assigned elementary school district in Tacoma.

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Subject:: Agriculture and Natural Resources; Biology; Chemistry; Environmental Studies; Life Science; Physical Science
Material Type:: Activity/Lab
Provider:: Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College
Provider Set:: Teach the Earth
Date Added:: 12/01/2021

Environmental Reconnaissance of a Salt Marsh

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Environmental Reconnaissance of a Salt Marsh

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This is a field and computer laboratory exercise that introduces undergraduate students, advanced high school students, and members of the general public to using Google Earth, GPS, aerial imagery, and an online illustrated vegetation and tidal marsh environment identification guide to distinguish and map vegetational and physical environmental zones within a salt marsh. They also learn about the physical and ecological relationships between these environments.

Students use GPS devices to collect field data as waypoints and tracks, and upload the data to computers in GPX format. They learn to open the data in Google Earth along with infrared and color aerial imagery, and use the GPS data to interpret the aerial imagery. Using Google Earth tools, they draw polygons to demarcate the boundaries of environmental zones in the wetlands that they recognize on the imagery.

The students and instructors also take photographs of the students in each of these environmental zones and embed the photographs into information balloons of placemarks in Google Earth.

The exercise was originally designed for use at Flax Pond, a salt marsh on the North Shore of Long Island. However, it can easily be adapted for use in other tidal marshes, and can serve as a template for developing similar activities to be conducted at other locations in which aerial imagery can be used to distinguish various forms of land cover.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

Subject:: Biology; Earth and Space Science; Life Science; Oceanography
Material Type:: Activity/Lab
Provider:: Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College
Provider Set:: Teach the Earth
Date Added:: 09/26/2022

Environmental Research Project

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Environmental Research Project

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The assignment is the development of scientific research project proposal, tailored to a specific range of course-appropriate topics and mimicked after current calls for NSF proposals in Environmental Science, Environmental Engineering, or Low temperature geochemistry. Project components include a one paragraph pitch, submission of a draft for peer-review, and submission of the final proposal with a response to peer comments. A final, oral or poster presentation is an optional component. This is a multi-week assignment, and typically a significant componenent of the course grade.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

Subject:: Agriculture and Natural Resources; Biology; Environmental Studies; Life Science
Material Type:: Lesson Plan
Provider:: Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College
Provider Set:: Teach the Earth
Date Added:: 09/06/2020

Environmental Studies

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Environmental Studies

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Students cooperatively conduct original research in Marine Geology utilizing marine practices on Lake Champlain, NY - Vermont. The lab section of the course is used to develop and implement a research project. The students are given a research question to solve. To proceed, they must first review all available literature and then design a research program. They then implement that program using marine and laboratory equipment that is available to them and report on their outcomes after a semester-long investigation.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

Subject:: Agriculture and Natural Resources; Biology; Earth and Space Science; Environmental Studies; Life Science; Oceanography
Material Type:: Activity/Lab; Lesson Plan
Provider:: Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College
Provider Set:: Teach the Earth
Date Added:: 09/22/2022

Environmental impacts of oil production in Alaska

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Environmental impacts of oil production in Alaska

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An activity designed to enable the students to access the impact of oil-development on environment in Alaska. Students will draw conclusion based on various data and reading various views.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

Subject:: Biology; Life Science; Mathematics; Measurement and Data
Material Type:: Activity/Lab; Data Set; Lesson Plan
Provider:: Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College
Provider Set:: Teach the Earth
Date Added:: 01/26/2021

Environment and the Earth

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Environment and the Earth

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The Environment and the Earth class at the University of South Carolina participated in a campus environmental service-learning project where students collected data lighting, water fixtures, recycling bins, and trash in five academic buildings.

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Subject:: Biology; Earth and Space Science; Hydrology; Life Science
Material Type:: Activity/Lab; Homework/Assignment; Lesson Plan
Provider:: Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College
Provider Set:: Teach the Earth
Date Added:: 11/15/2021

The Epicenter of a Southwestern Earthquake

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The Epicenter of a Southwestern Earthquake

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This activity guides students to use the measured difference in P and S wave velocities to locate the epicenter of a minor earthquake in the Southwestern United States.

Click here to view the full activity on the K��yah Math Project website.

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Subject:: Biology; Life Science
Material Type:: Activity/Lab
Provider:: Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College
Provider Set:: Teach the Earth
Date Added:: 09/25/2022

Episodic tremor and slip: The Case of the Mystery Earthquakes | Lessons on Plate Tectonics

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Episodic tremor and slip: The Case of the Mystery Earthquakes | Lessons on Plate Tectonics

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Earthquakes in western Washington and Oregon are to be expected -- the region lies in the Cascadia Subduction Zone. Offshore, the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate subducts under the North American plate, from northern California to British Columbia. The region, however, also experiences exotic seismicity -- Episodic Tremor and Slip (ETS).In this lesson, your students study seismic and GPS data from the region to recognize a pattern in which unusual tremors--with no surface earthquakes--coincide with jumps of GPS stations. This is ETS. Students model ductile and brittle behavior of the crust with lasagna noodles to understand how properties of materials depend on physical conditions. Finally, they assemble their knowledge of the data and models into an understanding of ETS in subduction zones and its relevance to the millions of residents in Cascadia.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

Subject:: Biology; Life Science; Mathematics; Measurement and Data; Statistics and Probability
Material Type:: Activity/Lab
Provider:: Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College
Provider Set:: Teach the Earth
Date Added:: 08/27/2022

Equation Dictionary

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Equation Dictionary

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When equations are presented in class or in the context of textbook reading, students first evaluate whether the equation is appropriate for use in the dictionary (is it useful in many situations or specific to one problem? Is it a "final" version of an equation, or can it be simplified? Is it likely to be used in solving geophysical problems?) Once an equation is selected for the dictionary, students add a "definition" that includes (a) a short description of each variable and relevant constants, including appropriate units, (b) a written description of the process or relationships presented within the equation, and (c) any additional notes that help them understand the equation. The dictionary may be used on homework and exams, which encourages students to describe the equations in a manner that is meaningful to them. Thus, rather than simply write down the equation for seismic moment, a student might add "Seismic moment is a function of the size of the fault as well as the rigidity of the rock. The larger the fault or the displacement, the larger the earthquake". This activity allows students to evaluate their understanding of equations and the underlying physical processes.
Addresses student fear of quantitative aspect and/or inadequate quantitative skills
Addresses student misconceptions

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

Subject:: Biology; Life Science
Material Type:: Homework/Assignment
Provider:: Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College
Provider Set:: Teach the Earth
Date Added:: 09/05/2020