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."

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.

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.

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.

Bioregion Assignment
Claus Svendsen, Department of Environmental Conservation, Skagit Valley College
A weekly bioregion homework assignment exploring for the student local landscape changes. What were the past natural conditions and native uses to todays uses, as well as projected changes in the coming decades.

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.

An Assessment of Riparian Vegetation in a Human-Influenced Landscape
Lisa Carlson, Centralia College
Given that humans historically have heavily used rivers and the lands along them for agriculture, transportation and other activities, how does human impact currently affect riparian ecosystems in a rural region? Students will address this question through several activities.

Catching Cheaters: Using Salmon Phylogenetic Analysis to Identify Atlantic Salmon Mislabeled in Local Stores as Pacific Salmon
Erica Cline, University of Washington Tacoma
Students use phylogenetic analysis to identify farmed Atlantic salmon mislabeled as wild Pacific salmon by local stores and suppliers. This project allows students to apply molecular methods such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA sequencing to a real- world issue.