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.

Water and Civic Responsibility: An Online Discussion Exercise
Rob Viens, Bellevue Community College
Students apply their science learning to regional issues related to water quantity and quality.

Sustainability, Nuclear Waste, and the Hanford Site
John VanLeer, Cascadia Community College
An introduction to the Hanford Site in Washington, including its history, geology, and hydrology, and examines the sustainability issues associated with it.

Waste As A Resource
Ben Fackler-Adams, Skagit Valley College
Students understand the growing impact of waste and waste disposal on our environment and economy, and examines solutions to these issues through exploration of waste as a resource and the implementation of zero-waste manufacturing/building practices.

The High Cost of High Tech: Environmental and Human Costs of Metals
Carla Whittington, Highline Community College
Students conduct independent research on metal and metal ores resources, including exploring the human and environmental costs of metal mining, consumption, disposal, and recycling. A series of worksheets, completed outside of class, guide students in examining their own use and consumption of metals, learn the true importance of metals in their lives, and the impact of resource consumption to the human community.

Marine Debris: Fishing for Microplastics in Your Home
Julie Masura, University of Washington-Tacoma Campus
Students engage with the issue of plastics found in the ocean environment, by exploring products in their homes which contain plastics; they also learn how to calculate the concentration of plastics found in a chosen personal care product.

Garbage Archaeology
Gem Baldwin, Edmonds Community College
Students will look at the garbage we create as a culture in a deeper and more connected way and theorizing about the culture that creates and uses it. Designed for use in an online course, it could certainly be adapted for use in grounded courses as well.

Visualizing Social Justice in South Seattle: Data Analysis, Race, and The Duwamish River Basin
Eunice Blavascunas, University of Washington
We examine the factors of race and environmental contamination, starting from the premise (and data proving) that race is not a biological, scientifically valid category, but a social, historical construction with real world consequences for equal access to health, resources, and power.

Courting Environmental Justice: Science, Community Knowledge and Public Health
Lin Nelson, The Evergreen State College
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.

Doing Sociology: Media Portrayals of [Over]Consumption
Kayleen U. Oka, Seattle Central Community College
This assignment aims to illuminate connections among consumption/capitalism, media/ideology and the degradation of the environment. It also serves to introduce students to the data collection method of content analysis.