Bottled Versus Tap Water: What You Drink and Why
Marie Villarba, Seattle Central Community College
In the activity students learn about the properties of solutions, acidity and pH, electrolytes versus non-electrolytes, and solution concentration. Hopefully, this activity will also dispel common misconceptions about tap water and bottled beverages.

What is Local?
William R. Teska, Pacific Lutheran University
Through a hands-on examination of a nature preserve/park in a nearby urban setting and with classroom discussions and activities, students become aware that individuals are affected differently by the preservation of nature or by development of natural resources.

Developing a Transportation Survey to Estimate Gasoline Use by Campus Commuters
Steven Bogart, Shoreline Community College
Through this activity, students in a liberal arts mathematics class will develop experience with real-world statistical concepts through the context of sustainability: estimation, survey writing, sampling techniques, and data analysis.

Visualizing Social Justice in South Seattle: Data Analysis, Race, and The Duwamish River Basin
Eunice Blavascunas, University of Washington
We examine the factors of race and environmental contamination, starting from the premise (and data proving) that race is not a biological, scientifically valid category, but a social, historical construction with real world consequences for equal access to health, resources, and power.

Town Planning using Geological Constraints
Tracy Furutani, North Seattle Community College
Students are divided into teams, each charged with writing a plan for the expansion of a fictional town in the North Cascades foothills. The town council (the instructor) has decided upon several expansion projects, such as an airport and housing subdivisions, and the student teams receive information about the bedrock geology, hydrology, soils, and slope stability of the area. Students present their plans in a open forum to the other students, and there is a vote of the students on the most reasonable science-based plan.

Mapping Place, Writing Home: Using Interactive Compositions On and Off the Trail
Kate Reavey, Peninsula College
Students will choose a physical place to study, a site that is close enough to visit at least four times during the quarter/semester. Using writing prompts, text-based research, and close observations in the "field" (the chosen place), students will create a "mashup" of spatially referenced pop-up balloons. These will include researched and narrative prose, citations and links, and some visual images, embedded into a map via Google Earth technology. Through this unique presentation, the research and writing can encourage viewers to better understand the place they have chosen to study.

Nature and Food
Liz Campbell, Seattle Central Community College
In this activity students read articles or excerpts of books to explore the topic of sustainability in terms of food webs, roles of plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria and their own food choices. Students continue their exploration of these kingdoms with a visit to a farmers' market and a grocery store to compare locally grown foods and grocery store selections.

Estimating Greenhouse Gas Offsets as Part of Shoreline Community College's Greenhouse Gas Inventory
Charles Dodd, Shoreline Community College
This is a service-learning project for students in Geography 204 (Weather, Climate and Ecosystems). Students will assess prior estimates of carbon offsets associated with plant and soil biomass on their college campus; and as a result, they will understand the complexity of measuring the complex sources of carbon emissions and offsets; address the challenges of coordinating data collection and field measurement; and realize importance of estimation in public policy contexts.

Studying the Social/Cultural, Environmental, and Economic Impacts of Flooding on Chehalis River Basin Communities in a Geology Course
Michelle Harris, Centralia College
Students apply their knowledge of river processes, floodplains, and flooding to learn about, evaluate, and share flood mitigation strategies developed by governments and non-profit organizations in collaboration with local communities and tribal nations. Through strategy evaluation using social/cultural, environmental, and economic perspectives, students learn about the disproportionate impacts of floods and flood mitigation on marginalized communities near their college. Students conduct interviews to share information about sustainable flood mitigation strategies with community members who are affected by flooding and reflect on the effectiveness of their efforts.

Ocean Acidification in a General Chemistry Laboratory Experiment: Scientific Data and Indigenous Knowledge
Jessica Pikul, Seattle Community College-North Campus
Students explore the effects of ocean acidification by measuring the mass loss in seashells and the calcium ion concentration in seawater. Alongside data collection during a series of laboratory sessions, students learn about the disproportionate effects of ocean acidification on indigenous livelihoods, food security, and cultural practices, as well as how indigenous knowledge and practices can be used to address acidification locally. The activity ends with students composing an email to an elected official in which they express their opinion about the issue using claim–evidence–reasoning formatting.