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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Sociology

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Justice, Power, and Activism: What the Goldman Environmental Prize Winners Teach Us About Resilience and Democracy
Jason Lambacher, University of Washington-Tacoma Campus
This activity is a set of student-centered exercises that enable students to learn about the individual stories of Goldman environmental prize winners, the activism and organizing that grounds their work, and the underlying political and social contexts from which their struggles emerge. The lesson inspires critical reflection about justice, power, and democracy in green politics, and encourages ways to make personal connections to activism and environmental work.

On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
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Scientific Debate and the Nature of Certainty
Laura Triplett, Gustavus Adolphus College
Students discuss and learn about the nature of scientific knowledge in the context of scientific and non-scientific debates about climate change. This 50-minute module can be taught in a small- to very large-size introductory religion, philosophy or ethics class.

On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
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Community Flood Risk Assessment from Rising/Surging Seas Project
Kevin Kupietz, Elizabeth City State University
Globally 634 million people, 10% of the world's population, live in coastal areas less than 10 meters above sea level. According to 2010 census data, 123 million people, 39% of the United States population, live in coastal counties with an estimated increase to this number by 8% in the 2020 census. As natural disasters have been seen to increase in frequency and severity in the past five years coupled with expected sea rises from climate change it is important that anyone involved with the safety and resiliency planning of their organization/community have an understanding of how to scientifically assess risk from flooding in order to mitigate and recover from the effects. This project allows students the ability to develop skills to utilize computer modeling systems and to apply the data to real world communities in examining risk to structures as well as different groups in the community.

CUREnet Exemplary Collection This CURE has been identified as exemplary based on CUREnet's review criteria.
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Afghan Poppies, Climate Change and War: Thinking Systemically About Us and Them
Karen Litfin, University of Washington-Seattle Campus
This contemplative practice inquires into the complex web of interdependencies linking global climate change, the War on Terror, Afghan poppy production, opiate addiction, and food security through the lens of systems theory. The exercise challenges students to consider these linkages not only conceptually but also somatically and emotionally.

A Game-Based Social Resilience Workshop: Thinking about Communal Response to Change
Joli Sandoz, The Evergreen State College
Social resilience is the capacity of a social entity to learn and adapt to sudden or gradual change, while continuing to fulfill the entity's purpose or function. This integrative and experiential workshop prompts students to apply previous learning about social resilience, social equity, social dilemma, and governance by experiencing several ways to approach a collective action problem in equitable resource distribution and management. The collective problem is modeled in the form of a card game that requires players to manage 12 plots of commonly-held crop and forest land under various conditions.

Interdisciplinary Problem-Solving Project for the Science Classroom
Liliana Caughman
Students are assigned unique roles and work independently to solve a complex problem from the perspective of their role (i.e. sociologist, educator, historian, etc.) Students then work collaboratively to present their findings and action plan to the "tribal council".

Environmental Advocacy Project
Anita Harker, Whatcom Community College
This assignment requires that students research the historical context of an environmental issue within their own communities and apply different types of organizing/advocacy tactics for instigating social change.

Afghan Poppies, Climate Change and US Heroin: Thinking Systemically About Us and Them
Karen Litfin, University of Washington-Seattle Campus
This very simple contemplative exercise is rooted in my "Person/Planet Politics" approach, which invites students to into an experiential relationship with a global socioecological phenomenon: in this instance, Afghan poppy production. It can be adapted to a range of courses and a range of topics within those courses. The basic question is: "Who am I in relation to this?"

Social Change and the Climate Crisis: Toward a Sustainable Future
Mary Lou Finley, Antioch University
Students gain hands-on research experience and increase their understanding of the applicability of theories of social change and further information about climate change.