Geoethics Case Study: The Keystone Pipeline--Energy, Jobs or Environment?
Dave Mogk, Montana State University-Bozeman
David Mogk and Andrew Thorson, Montana State University-Bozeman Summary The Keystone Pipeline is a complex project that raises important environmental, economic, and international policy issues. Tar sands from ...

Online Discussion Prompts for Introductory Geology
Karen Kortz, Community College of Rhode Island; Jessica Smay, San Jose City College
This set of 17 online discussion prompts are designed to encourage students to apply, explore, and reflect on course topics. Some are content-specific (e.g. investigate misconceptions about a certain topic or take ...

Geoethics Case Study: Pebble Mine, Alaska
Dave Mogk, Montana State University-Bozeman
David Mogk, Montana State University-Bozeman Summary The proposed Pebble Mine, Alaska, is one of the world's biggest proven Cu-Au-Mo deposits. However, it is located at the headwaters of rivers that flow into ...

Ethical Dilemmas of Backcountry Skiing and Guiding
Dave Mogk, Montana State University-Bozeman
Dave Mogk, Emma Vigers and Matt Wood, Montana State University-Bozeman Summary This case study explores decision-making in high risk settings such as back-country skiing. The scenarios presented have application ...

Geoethics Forums: The Grey Side of Green
Shaun Taylor, University of Washington-Seattle Campus
Shaun Taylor, University of Washington / Educurious Summary Geoethics Forums is a format for a classroom discussion and creative resolution of an ethical issue. Students research a particular dilemma, identify ...

Ten Brief Cases With Ethical Issues
Vince Cronin, Baylor University
Vincent S. Cronin, Baylor University Summary Ten brief descriptions are provided of cases in which there appear to be ethical issues in the practice of geology. Most are drawn from engineering geology, but no ...

Ethics and Paleontology: Dinosaur Wars
Jim Schmitt, Montana State University-Bozeman
Jim Schmitt, Montana State University-Bozeman Summary Dinosaur fossils capture the interest of students and the public, but their study, collection, and disposition often engender signficant highly-publicized ...

Does A River Have Rights?
Michael Phillips, Illinois Valley Community College
Michael Phillips, Illinois Valley Community College Summary Individual students have different ethical "lines." This class discussion proceeds with a series of prompts that presents a set of scenarios ...

The Nature of Science and Scientific Fraud
Dexter Perkins, University of North Dakota-Main Campus
Dexter Perkins, University of North Dakota Summary There are two parts to this exercise but they are stand-alone if desired. The first part deals with the nature of science: what is science, what does it involve, ...

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 ...

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 ...

Crater Counting Lab exercise
Kevin Mullins, Coconino County Community College
This lab is designed to teach students how we can estimate the age of other planetary surfaces by counting and size-binning impact craters. It also illustrates some examples of how erosional or deopositional ...

The Cosmic Calendar
Erika Grundstrom, Vanderbilt University
In this activity, one takes ALL of time, from the beginning of time (i.e., the Big Bang) all the way up to today, but one compresses it into one year. One can do this for all levels of students depending on how ...

Should iron fertilization be used to mitigate global warming?
Elizabeth Gordon, Fitchburg State University
Elizabeth Gordon, Fitchburg State University Summary STILL IN DEVELOPMENT Students engaged in this activity examine the scientific and ethical dimensions of iron fertilization as a geoengineering strategy to ...

Geoethics Forums
Shaun Taylor, University of Washington-Seattle Campus
Shaun Taylor, University of Washington / Educurious Summary Geoethics Forums is a format for a classroom discussion and creative resolution of an ethical issue. Students research a particular dilemma, identify ...

Case of GMOs in Environmental Cleanup
Daniel Vallero, Duke University
Daniel Vallero, Duke University Summary This case represents various agendas, hidden and otherwise, that can come into play during environmental remediation. Context Audience: Teachers at a summer institute, ...

Presenting science to the public: The ethics of outreach
Joy Branlund, Northeastern Junior College
Joy Branlund, Southwestern Illinois College Summary This case study involves class discussion about (a) the environmental concerns of developing a new industrial project (in this case, a new mine in Minnesota), ...

Water Development: A Philosophical and Ethical Issue
Dexter Perkins, University of North Dakota-Main Campus
Dexter Perkins, University of North Dakota Summary This is a seven part module that deals with water development. The goal is to get students thinking about water development in terms of its appropriateness, and ...

Setting the Context, Goals, Obligations and Commitments for a Course
Vince Cronin, Baylor University
Vincent S. Cronin, Baylor University Summary THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS. This activity is a way to begin a course with reflection by students about their extraordinary good fortune in being able to take advantage ...

Developing ethical and privacy sensitivity towards geocoded data
John Carr, University of New Mexico-Main Campus
John N Carr, University of New Mexico-Main Campus Summary This case study is intended to develop an awareness of the ethical and privacy implications for the creation, sharing, interpretation, and use of geocoded ...