Frequency of Large Earthquakes -- Introducing Some Elementary Statistical Descriptors
Len Vacher, Dept of Geology, University of South Florida
Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum module. Students examine the number of large earthquakes (magnitude 7 and above) per year for 1970-1999 and 1940-1999. QL: descriptors of a frequency distribution.

Sustainability and Changing Rates of Change
Christopher Coughenour, The Evergreen State College
To understand sustainability, students must understand rates of change. This activity includes a primer on basic rates concepts and an exercise that motivates critical thinking about rates of change and sustainability with an analysis of historical petroleum production rates data from the United States and the world.

Developing a Transportation Survey to Estimate Gasoline Use by Campus Commuters
Steven Bogart, Shoreline Community College
Through this activity, students in a liberal arts mathematics class will develop experience with real-world statistical concepts through the context of sustainability: estimation, survey writing, sampling techniques, and data analysis.

Estimating Greenhouse Gas Offsets as Part of Shoreline Community College's Greenhouse Gas Inventory
Charles Dodd, Shoreline Community College
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.

Sally Salivates Seashells by the Seashore- Ocean Acidification and the Effect on Sea Shells
Rus Higley, Highline Community College, and Vanessa Hunt, Central Washington University
In this lesson we review "Acids and Bases" taught in a previous lesson and, through a scientific method, will look at the impact of an acid on different types of shells. Students will reinforce previous learning of scientific principles including acids/basis and will develop a real experiment using the scientific method.

How Many Plants Make a Future? The Carbon Dioxide Challenge
Rus Higley, Highline Community College Marine Science and Technology Center, Vanessa Hunt and Timothy Sorey, Central Washington University
This activity focuses on the role of photosynthesis in a sustainable future. Students explore the effect of photosynthesis and respiration in a 'closed systems' containing plankton, marine plants, and fish. By calculating carbon dioxide uptake and production in these systems, they predict a plant: animal ratio sufficient to maintain a system in carbon dioxide 'balance' for one hour.

Modeling Atmospheric CO2 Data
John B. VanLeer, Cascadia Community College
In this activity, students will use actual CO2 data from the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii to create their own "Keeling Curve"; conduct an analysis of the data; and, attempt to match it to a mathematical function. They will then use the function to predict increases in CO2, both historical and future.

A Monarchy Deposed: The Demise of the Monarch Butterfly
Daniel Abel
Monarch butterflies (scientific name: Danaus plexippus) migrate annually to forests in central Mexico from Canada and California. Those surviving the 1200 - 2800 mile migration overwinter in Mexico. In this activity, students will learn about the conservation biology of monarch butterflies, threats to their survival, the implications of their potential extinction, and ways to protect the species.

Bakken Oil From Shale, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Global Oil Economics
Robert McConnell
Students work with oil production data to assess the environmental impact, and economic controls, of oil production and consumption.

Arctic Sea Ice Extent
Bill Bauldry
Student teams investigate Arctic Sea Ice by analyzing actual data and making predictions. A worthwhile extension is to predict the first year that the Arctic Ocean will be ice free.