Teaching Activities

These teaching activities have been submitted via a number of projects including On the Cutting Edge and may be useful in teaching Environmental Geology.



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Water Quality Module
This module was initially developed by Castendyk, D. and Gibson, C. 30 June 2015. Project EDDIE: Water Quality. Project EDDIE Module 6, Version 1. cemast.illinoisstate.edu/data-for-students/modules/water-quality.shtml. Module development was supported by NSF DEB 1245707.
Water quality is a critical concept for undergraduate students studying Earth Sciences, Biology, and Environmental Sciences. Many of these students will be asked to assess the impacts of a proposed anthropogenic ...

On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
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Climate Change Mind Map
Woody Moses, Highline Community College

On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
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Climate Justice and Health Impacts of Methane (so-called Natural Gas) in General or Introductory Chemistry
Heather Price, Seattle Community College-North Campus
In this activity, students explore the chemical forms of methane (CH4), learn about the various sources and uses of methane, and gain knowledge of human health impacts and the disproportionate impact of extraction pollution on poor and racialized communities. They also connect the social justice impacts of methane to methane chemistry and exercises in the classroom.

Carbon Dioxide Birthday
Heather Price, Seattle Community College-North Campus

Threading Climate Justice, an Equity Ethic, and Systems Thinking Through a General Chemistry Course
Sonya Doucette, Bellevue Community College
Using a series of case studies incorporated into lectures, activities, and laboratory sessions, I thread climate justice throughout the first quarter of General Chemistry. Case studies highlight social justice issues exacerbated by the climate crisis, which humanizes abstract chemistry content and engages students with an equity ethic. For some case studies, students use systems thinking to identify the compositions and phases of matter present in real-world environments and contexts.

Distribution and Fate of Volatile Organic Contaminants (VOCs)
Federico Sinche, Loyola University Chicago
Volatile organic contaminants (VOCs) are organic compounds generated from different industrial processes around the world. VOCs are ubiquitous contaminants, and some can be genotoxic, mutagenic and act as endocrine disruptors, thus representing a risk to ecosystems and human health. High levels of VOCs have been reported in industrialized countries such as the US. In this module, students will explore how the distribution of VOCs has changed over time. Students will then compare types and concentrations of VOCs among the US states in the context of geography, urbanization, industrialization, and fossil emissions as contributing factors of air pollution.

Systems Thinking and Civic Engagement for Climate Justice in General Chemistry: CO2 and PM 2.5 Pollution from Coal Combustion
Sonya Doucette, Bellevue Community College
Students apply chemistry to a climate justice case study using a systems thinking perspective in class and discuss the connections between chemistry and climate justice in a conversation with a community outside of the classroom for civic engagement. The instructor offers formative feedback during class time and in response to discussion posts. Feedback is meant to build understanding and application of concepts important to learning chemistry within a systems thinking context and using civic engagement to communicate how chemistry relates to climate justice.

Research Project on Pollutants in Sacrifice Zones for Chemistry Courses: The Role of Industry, Governments, Local Communities, and Scientists
Mandana Ehsanipour
Students learn about "Sacrifice Zones" in the United States, where neighboring communities are exposed to disproportionately high concentrations of toxic air pollutants, with a focus on petrochemicals. They learn about the health effects, as well as how communities impacted by the petrochemical industry can effect change and how scientists can act as allies. Students research a sacrifice zone and present it to the class, then post what they learned on social media.

Sensitivity of Parameters in Chaotic Systems
Namyong Lee, Minnesota State University-Mankato
In this computer lab activity, students explore and discuss the nature of the sensitivity of parameters in a chaotic system. As a result, they understand the challenges of numerical simulation and/or parameters ...

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 ...