Understanding the Carbon Cycle: A Jigsaw Approach
David Hastings, Eckerd College
In this "jigsaw" exercise, each student is assigned one of five geochemical processes in the carbon cycle to research, fully understand, and then explain to others in groups of five. At the end of class ...

Is that true?
Steve Hovan, Indiana University of Pennsylvania-Main Campus
Ask students to research the "truth" behind statements from recent news articles and provide their opinion about what is "true". These assignments can be done as often as the instructor feels ...

Effectively engaging with climate skeptics
Jessica Kleiss, Lewis & Clark College
One of my persistent challenges as a climate scientist involves friendly conversations with my extended (climate skeptic) family over the Thanksgiving table, as I try to inform and guide their perceptions about ...

El Niño and Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions in the Tropical Pacific
Tim Cook, Worcester State University
This activity investigates the oceanographic and climatic characteristics of El Niño/La Niña (ENSO) events using observational data from moored ocean buoys in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Data are obtained from ...

Acidification of the Oceans at the time of KPg event and Now
Cathy Carpenter, Norwich City School District; Shaundra Davis, Richfield Springs Central School District
This activity will engage students in researching the sequence of events and effects of the KPg event. Students will compare using data the acidification of oceans today to the acidification of the oceans after the ...

Climate, Climate Change, and Racism
Kaatje van der Hoeven Kraft, Whatcom Community College
Students engage in a discussion about climate change by both watching videos and reading an article to learn about the science behind climate change and some of the impacts of our warming climate. They then post ...

Finding and predicting hurricane activity through GIS
Jennifer Gebelein, Florida International University
Students must be able to search for, find, download, display, query and map hurricane and other relevant GIS data. Hurricane data spans 1851-2008 and is from: http://www.fgdl.org/metadataexplorer/explorer.jsp ...

Tectonics of Fiction
Kyle Fredrick, Pennsylvania Western University - California
This writing project of our Tectonics course is assigned at the start of the semester and due near the end. It is a group project that encourages creativity, cooperation, and synthesis of an entire ...

Research project to consider how projected climate change will impact a region of interest to the student
Susan Kaspari, Central Washington University
Students consult the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) chapters on climate projections and the primary scientific literature to write a research paper and present their results to the ...

Ozone Pollution
Omowumi Alabi, University of Missouri-Kansas City
This lab exercise is designed to provide a basic understanding of a real-world scientific investigation. Students are introduced to the concept of tropospheric ozone as an air pollutant due to human activities. ...