How Did This Landscape Form? A Field-Based Exercise to Enhance Awareness of the Natural Environment
Lyn Gualtieri, Seattle University
In this activity students will investigate a landform (such as a waterfall or lake) in the field and apply the scientific method to come up with a geologic hypothesis. The focus of the activity is on making observations of the natural environment and fostering a "sense of place."

Assessing Local Sea Level Rise
Ken Tabbutt, The Evergreen State College
Students will read primary scientific literature, work collaboratively, think critically, and utilize GIS as a tool to visualize and quantify spatial and temporal changes in hydrological systems.

Developing a Sense of Place with Pre-service Science Teachers
Andrew Gilbert, The Evergreen State College
The lesson content focuses on designing investigations concerning the notion of scale through a series of investigations on their campus. The overarching goal is to foster a connection to the earth through an investigation of the local environment.

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.

Quantifying Our Stream: A Field Lab on Stream Channel Morphology and Stream Discharge
Emma Agosta, Shoreline Community College
In this field and lab activity, students will collect field data and take measurements at specified cross-sections at a local stream. They will later analyze in lab the data collected and use it to calculate stream discharge and to draw conclusions about stream channel dynamics.

Geochemical Clues and Biological Insights: Characterizing the Importance of Salmon in Northwest Streams
Kena Fox-Dobbs, University of Puget Sound
Students use geochemical tools used to track the presence of marine (salmon) derived nutrients in the terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems of creeks where salmon spawn. They also explore pros and cons of hatchery-raised salmon.

Town Planning using Geological Constraints
Tracy Furutani, North Seattle Community College
Students are divided into teams, each charged with writing a plan for the expansion of a fictional town in the North Cascades foothills. The town council (the instructor) has decided upon several expansion projects, such as an airport and housing subdivisions, and the student teams receive information about the bedrock geology, hydrology, soils, and slope stability of the area. Students present their plans in a open forum to the other students, and there is a vote of the students on the most reasonable science-based plan.

The Vital Role of Soil in Sustainable Ecosystems
Midori Sakura, Cascadia Community College
In this natural science lab, students examine different soil profiles along a hillside. Understanding about topsoil formation and conservation is then related to sustainable agriculture and carbon sequestration and its importance in mitigating climate change.

Mining Decisions: Developing New Perspectives on Mineral Extraction
Katie Chenu, Seattle Community College-Central Campus
Students examine different stakeholder-perspectives with respect to a local mining project. Debate and discussion will highlight environmental, economic, and social justice issues.

Using Google Earth Layers to Understand Local Geomorphology
Ralph Hitz, Tacoma Community College
Using Google Earth to understand how geomorphology may control shallow groundwater flooding and surface hydrology.