Water Optimism - focusing on solutions for the hydrosphere in a take-home final exam
Laura Guertin, Penn State Brandywine
This take-home final exam asks students to demonstrate their improved skills in searching for sources (information literacy) and writing on freshwater science/society/policy intersections (science literacy), and ...

Rally Speeches for Coastal Optimism
Laura Guertin, Penn State Brandywine
Storytelling is an effective way to communicate what is happening along our local-to-international coastal zones. However, most of the stories students hear are ones of "doom and gloom." Therefore, ...

Baseflow recession
Les Hasbargen, SUNY College at Oneonta
This baseflow recession exercise will help students build skills in analyzing time series data in a spreadsheet. It should also open their eyes to the variation in streamflow, both at a single location over a year, ...

Old Sticks in the Mud: Hazards of Lahars from Mount Rainier Volcano
Patrick Pringle, Centralia College
Volcanic debris flows (lahars) flow long distances, bury and aggrade river valleys, and cause long-term stream disturbances and dramatic landscape changes. Students will evaluate the nature, scale, and history of ...

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 ...

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 ...

McGee Creek Geomorphic History
Sarah Hall, College of the Atlantic; Calla Schmidt, University of San Francisco; Becca Walker, Mt. San Antonio College
At the McGee Creek field site, students observe geomorphic features that provide evidence for at least 2 processes (one tectonic and one climatic) influencing this landscape as well as ongoing modification of this ...

The Dark Side of Mineral Mining
Karen Helgers, Ulster County Community College
Students choose one of four short articles to read about mineral mining, including the impacts of mining on the Native American community in the region. Each article highlights a specific example where the ...

Inland water chemistry: the Nordic Lake Survey 1995
Tom Andersen, University of Oslo, Norway
While the ionic composition of surface seawater is basically the same anywhere in the world's oceans, the chemistry of inland waters can vary by orders of magnitude over short distances. In this activity we ...