This demonstration uses sulfuric acid and crushed copper ore (malachite) to produce a solution of copper sulfate and carbonic acid in a beaker. When a freshly sanded nail is dropped into the copper sulfate solution, native copper precipitates onto the nail. The process is similar to that of heap leaching at a copper mine. The entire set-up can be placed on a wheeled cart and completed in less than 15 minutes in class. Students enjoy seeing the copper crystals form on the nail, and the experiment provides the basis for many avenues of discussion, from chemical reactions and mineral formation to problems with mine tailings and acid mine drainage.

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This teaching activity addresses environmental stresses on corals. Students assess coral bleaching using water temperature data from the NOAA National Data Buoy Center. Students learn about the habitat of corals, the stresses on coral populations, and the impact of increased sea surface temperatures on coral reefs. In a discussion section, the connection between coral bleaching and global warming is drawn.

In this video, Jonathan examines the biology of coral reefs and their importance to the marine ecosystem. Please see the accompanying lesson plan that discusses pH and ocean acidification for educational objectives, discussion points and classroom activities.

In this activity, student teams identify the locations of coral reefs around the world, examine infrared satellite images of the Earth, and research the impacts that are threatening the survival of coral reefs. Each team creates a short oral presentation describing the coral reef they have researched. Students then plot on a composite map the locations where coral bleaching is occurring. Student worksheets, a teacher guide, and assessment rubric are included. This activity is part of Coastal Areas: Coral Reefs in Hot Water, part of the lesson series, The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change.

Coral Reefs in Hot Water is a short video displaying computerized data collected on the number of reefs impacted by coral bleaching around the world.

This project is intended as a long-term (3 weeks -- 1 month) lab exercise near the end of a combined Stratigraphy/Sedimentology course. The project utilizes real world data provided by CONSOL Energy of Pittsburgh, PA, and the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey. This project has been assigned once and is being revised. Instructions have been left somewhat vague in an attempt to force students into discovering some of the more mechanical details of this process themselves.

By the latter third of the course, students have described sedimentary rocks in detail and have constructed vertical sections of rock at several outcrops around campus. The course is moving from Sedimentology/Petrology into Stratigraphy. This project is designed to illustrate the basic principles of lithostratigraphy, which are covered concurrently in the lecture portion of the class.

The project 'unfurls' over several weeks. If students are provided with the entire project at one time they generally get overwhelmed, so the project is presented piecemeal, allowing the students to expand the project as they complete one section.

Step 1: Core description 40 feet of core from the Conemaugh Group of southwestern Pennsylvania is made available to the students. They must describe the core, define lithologic units, identify specific sedimentary structures, and construct a stratigraphic column. (Students struggle with detail versus efficiency of completion, given one full lab period (3 hours) and a week to complete the assignment, many students will get lost in the detail)

The goal is to build familiarity with the type of data available to geologists as they go about constructing maps for resource estimates. Additionally, the lithologies present in this core will be similar to those described in the geologist and drilling logs necessary to complete the next step.

Each step is evaluated independently in this step concern is primarily with identification of basic lithologies (coal, sandstone, shale, limestone).

Step 2: construction of strip logs for 25 core holes in northern West Virginia. Students are provided with a location map, logs for 25 holes, and elevation data. They must construct strip logs suitable for correlation, deciding upon scale and detail of presentation. Students are provided with a CD including the location map and a .pdf for each drill record.

The logs vary between the simplicity of driller data (60' of "blue" shale) and the detail of geologist descriptions, students must balance the detail and simplicity. Additionally, students were faced with "long" logs (i.e. greater than 500') and "short" logs (i.e. less than 100'). This turned out to be extremely difficult, some students got very lost, producing long detailed logs that left them without much time for the last two steps.

Students are again provided with a week to construct the strip logs, including the lab time for the week. Strip logs are evaluated for detail, accuracy, and utility (in many cases too much detail can be as confusing as too little).

Step 3: construction of stratigraphic cross sections. The first time this project was assigned, there was little guidance provided to students beyond "choosing logs that covered the largest stratigraphic interval." This exceeded the grasp of most students so additional guidance will be provided in the next iteration of this project. A generalized stratigraphic column illustrating the basic characteristics of the Monongahela and Conemaugh groups will be provided to assist students with recognition of the basic formations.

Students will be required to construct a stratigraphic cross section through selected wells on the west side of the project area. This cross section will demonstrate the use of marker beds and the lateral continuity of stratigraphic units.

The second cross section will run east-west onto the western flank of the Chestnut Ridge anticline. The datum for this cross section will be surface elevation. This cross section will illustrate the problems of stratigraphic correlation when combined with geological structures. The rock becomes consistently older as one proceeds towards the axis of the anticline. The prominent red beds and the absence of coals, in the eastern portion of the map area indicate the presence of the Chestnut Ridge Anticline.

Evaluation of the cross sections will be based upon the accuracy of the correlations. Students are allowed a week to produce cross sections (including lab). The stratigraphic cross section should accurately delineate the Redstone, Pittsburgh, and Sewickley coals. These occur in sequence and are fairly easy to identify. Successful completion of the east-west cross section will require identification of the approximate stratigraphic position of the Monongahela-Conemaugh contact.

Step 4: construction of isopach maps. Students are then required to identify specific coal and sandstone units within their cross sections, correlate those across the map region and construct isopach maps of those units.

This requires that the students now extend what they have learned from the previous three weeks, extend those correlations to the core holes not included in the basic stratigraphic analysis. The thickness of the coal and sandstone should be identified and isopach maps constructed.

The first iteration of this project produced problems similar to those encountered in step 3. Better guidance and evaluation of the cross sections and allowing students less input on the choice of stratigraphic units to isopach should reduce the confusion.

Step 5: (optional) Interpretation and report writing : the first iteration of this project was running concurrently with a term paper. Instead of two separate projects, an interpretive report will be required. This is still in the planning stage and has not been assigned to students.

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In this activity, students examine how to grow plants the most efficiently. They imagine that they are designing a biofuels production facility and need to know how to efficiently grow plants to use in this facility. As a means of solving this design problem, they plan a scientific experiment in which they investigate how a given variable (of their choice) affects plant growth. They then make predictions about the outcomes and record their observations after two weeks regarding the condition of the plants' stem, leaves and roots. They use these observations to guide their solution to the engineering design problem. The biological processes of photosynthesis and transpiration are briefly explained to help students make informed decisions about planning and interpreting their investigation and its results.

Three hypothetical rock sections along an East-West transect are provided. Students correlate the three sections using the biostratigraphy of planktic forams (as a proxy for age), benthic forams (as a proxy of depth), and lithology (as a proxy of environment). Students are asked to provide an interpretation of the history of this depositional basin. An ash bed of known age is added and students are asked to determine if this new information affects their interpretation. Finally, an interesting lithologic feature is added, and students are asked to provide a geological explanation.

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You can find statistics in every day life - this example explains how to calculate the chance of a member of a committee is receiving a bribe. This resource is from PUMAS - Practical Uses of Math and Science - a collection of brief examples created by scientists and engineers showing how math and science topics taught in K-12 classes have real world applications.

This activity from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific asks students to compress all of time (from the Big Bang until now) into one year.
First, they have to pick major events (younger students can be given them) - this can lead to lively discussion! You can certainly be adaptable here.
Second, the best thing to do is have the students guess where each event should be on the Cosmic Calendar.
Third, have them look up or be given the actual time period when the event occurred.
Fourth, have them calculate (or be given) the "date" on the Cosmic Calendar.
Fifth, discuss! Debate! Reflect!

Files cannot be uploaded as they are copyrighted but they are easily found and freely available.
Authors: Therese Puyau Blanchard, Andrew Fraknoi, and the staff of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
URL: http://www.astrosociety.org/edu/astro/act2/H2_Cosmic_Calendar.pdf

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The arrow of time, from origin of the universe to the present and beyond spans several major epochs throughout all of history. Cosmic evolution is the study of the many varied changes in the assembly and composition of energy, matter and life in the thinning and cooling of the universe.

In this example students examine and critique an argument which implies that it is not cost effective to pay for an automobile with increased fuel efficiency. Using a few reasonable assumptions shows that some of the writer's quantitative claims are not very accurate.

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This activity has students investigate their own cost, CO2 output, and time for commuting. They then compare their commute to an environmentally conscious alternative by using comparable metrics.

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Students explore the science of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) by using a molecular modeling set to model the processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration—building on the concept of MFCs that they learned in the associated lesson, “Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration at the Atomic Level.” Students demonstrate the law of conservation of matter by counting atoms in the molecular modeling set. They also re-engineer a new molecular model from which to further gain an understanding of these concepts.

This assignment engages students in an environmental history class in the use of quantitative data, and raises questions about the nature and meaning of that data, and how it might be utilized.

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Students are given two questions for each concept, in which they must (1) calculate the composition of minerals in weight percent given relative proportions of given end members and (2) calculate mole percentages for feldspars based on their mineral analyses (provided).

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This Course Review and Approval Tool (CRAT) is the “workbook” that faculty use to design and plan their course with best practice in mind that addresses: curricular alignment with objectives, learning activities, practice assignments and quizzes, and higher-stakes assessments. The 10-tabbed spreadsheet is a digital multitool that centralizes and aggregates the entire course development, review, and approval processes. This tool is used to plan the course prior to its build in the Learning Management System (LMS) as part of an eight-module LMS-based support course that steps faculty through the process and gives them a learner-based perspective on how the tools work together and the features available to them for use in their own courses.

In addition to facilitating communication with multiple stakeholders who may share the document, the process MODELS a self- and peer-reviewed authentic assessment strategy that adapts itself well to any curriculum, whether for training, orientation, or credit-bearing coursework. It supports and models features of an intersection of agile design, backward design, and reflective practice in addition to encouraging authentic and formative assessment strategies. Providing all necessary documents in one easily accessed and bookmarkable document facilitates the process of course development by providing both a model and a touchstone for faculty who are often overwhelmed with the complexity of the process of developing or redeveloping courses regardless of delivery modality. While most of our faculty came to the program because of requirements for online or hybrid learning, most have exclaimed happily that they now apply this process to all of their courses and their learners have shown appreciation for the clarity and consistency that the tool promotes and supports.

The document also includes a dynamic link to future updates for anyone who adopts it and wants to follow its evolution. Feel free to adapt!

While this module was developed when we followed the federal criminal case around WR Grace and asbestos exposure in a small Montana mining town, it can be adapted for a range of learning experiences regarding environmental justice, argumentation, strategizing, remediation and sustainability.

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This activity is a field investigation where students observe plants, animals, and insects that are common to Minnesota.

Active learning modules to help students understand the role of cover crop species selection and design of mixed species cover crop plantings on multiple ecosystem services. Our current goal is to integrate lessons-learned from 8 years of research and extension activities into undergraduate education modules that can be widely distributed. Students completing these modules would be able to describe why cover crops are used, how different species of cover crop affect an array of ecosystem functions, how mixtures can be used to increase the multifunctionality of cover cropping systems, and factors that control mixture growth across sites. If the modules are delivered in the following order then these concepts build sequentially.