Abstract - An authentic regional planning public workshop activity was modified and used to introduce the Earth surface portion of an Earth Science lecture course. Undergraduate non-science majors completed the activity during the Spring 2003 semester at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, TN. Most activity participants lived within incorporated areas in one of America’s most rapidly urbanizing metropolitan statistical areas (Nashville, TN). Participants completed the activity during three fifty-minute lecture periods and a small part of a fourth lecture-period, and worked in eight-student groups during two-thirds of the activity. They applied map-reading skills and learned about the local environment while forming opinions about how the region should grow, exploring the potential consequences of their preferences (for both developers and the environment), and making judgments about the relative importance of various environmental challenges and hazards. A participant survey showed that most supported the continued development and re-use of the activity, as well as the development of one to three additional three-lecture-period activities. Activities like this one may better-serve students who like to learn through face-to-face interactions with peers and teachers.
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