1. Cultivate empathy for humans and non-humans who are experiencing the negative consequences of climate change through storytelling.

2. Gain an understanding of and an appreciation for traditional indigenous knowledge and culture.

3. Recognize climate change as a symptom of the historical and systemic injustice of colonization and oppression of indigenous tribes.

4. Identify western redcedar trees and dieback symptoms versus normal seasonal changes, and use this information to participate in a citizen science project.

5. Describe the effects of climate change on the geographic distribution of western redcedar populations.

6. Describe the causes and effects of drought stress on redcedar trees.

7. Participate in a citizen science project designed by WSU extension service and administered through iNaturalist.

8. Identify steps for further participation in the western redcedar Dieback project.

9. Communicate the ecological and cultural importance of western redcedar to a general audience outside our classroom.

10. Ideally, gain a sense of empowerment through learning about the success of the White River Restoration project.

I use this activity with a botany class size of 24 college students who are not science majors at a two-year college. It is a project with a homework assignment completed prior to a lecture session that prepares students for a field experience where they collect data about western redcedar trees. The activity ends with a civic engagement assignment. I use three hours of class time for this activity and students have an additional estimated hour of homework outside of class. Students download the free online iNaturalist app to their cellular phones, which is where they upload their cedar tree data. I provide students with paper handouts, which I print out before class, and they use a pencil or pen and clipboard to collect their cedar data in the field. I also use a learning management system (Canvas) to distribute and grade assignments that students complete outside of class, but this could be replaced by printing out handouts and having students turn the handouts in to you when completed. Prior to this activity, students should have a basic understanding of photosynthesis; plant cells, particularly leaf anatomy and stomata; cohesion of water molecules through hydrogen bonding; and general knowledge that climate change results in hotter conditions and water stress (drought). These concepts prepare them to learn about the effects of climate-induced water stress on redcedar trees.

The activity could also be used in a non-science-major biology or environmental science course where topics in cell biology or hydrogen bonding in water are covered. It could also be used in an introductory biology course intended for students earning STEM degrees, where courses focus on plant anatomy, in particular cavitation of cells and water transport from roots to leaves. This activity could be used in similar courses at a four-year college or university or adapted for high school biology or environmental science courses. It could also be adapted to an online and asynchronous format as well.

Please Note: In this activity description, I often use the word "cedar" as the simpler form of "western redcedar."

About three hours of class time is needed to implement this activity with a class of about 24 students and this is described first. Further below, I suggest adaptations that can be made to implement this activity for larger class sizes and/or to reduce the amount of class time required and/or adapt it to an asynchronous and online format.

Implement In Class With Small Class Size (24 Students):

Instructor Class Preparation: Prepare handouts or online access to homework assignment and civic engagement reflection; check all links to all articles and videos used in all steps below; prepare a PowerPoint or other presentation for lecture and discussion.

Step 1: Homework Assignment (1 hour of work outside of class). In this assignment, students learn the basic science behind why western redcedar trees are dying in the face of climate change and some introductory information about these trees' habitat. Students read an excerpt from a research paper (primary source, PDF file provided below) about the scientific reasons for western redcedar dieback resulting from climate change. They also read a news article, as an example of how a secondary source summarizes scientific information from primary sources and can make scientific information more accessible to the layperson. They also learn about how drought affects the tree's water column in the news article. Finally, students learn about cedar habitat from the Forest Health Watch Western Redcedar Dieback website, which is a project led by Washington State University.

Homework - Climate Impacts on Western Redcedar.docx (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 16kB May30 24)

Research Paper.pdf (Acrobat (PDF) 973kB May17 24)

Step 2: Lecture and Discussion (1 hour). I use a PowerPoint to structure this part of the activity. I begin this class session by asking students to quickly discuss, with one other person in the class, what they learned from their homework assignment in terms of why western redcedar trees are dying. This is a short discussion that lasts only a few minutes. I follow this up with an overview of the science of transpiration and the importance of cohesion and adhesion of water molecules during this process to explain how climate-induced drought stress causes increased cavitation in cedar trees. I show the first minute of a YouTube video about drought stress in trees to help students understand cavitation with an analogy of a rope snapping. I also show students how western redcedar trees are experiencing a range shift as a result of climate change.

After an overview of the science behind the western redcedar dieback and climate change, I shift the focus of the class session toward the climate justice issues it creates for Northwest Tribes. In response, students have a classroom discussion about the potential impact to local indigenous peoples if this tree were lost, and what remedies might slow or prevent this loss . (See Slide 12 of the PowerPoint presentation for discussion prompts.)

To prepare the students for their discussion, I show the first four minutes of The Story of Cedar video to introduce the ways that Northwest Tribes use cedar and how the "uses" of cedar are viewed as gifts. Then, I play a brief audio file x̌əpayac - Western Redcedar Tree, created by the Puyallup Tribal Language Program, so that students hear how the word "cedar" is pronounced in Lushootseed, the language spoken by coast Salish tribes. On my campus, we have a Lushootseed Learning group as a result of a desire by the Puyallup tribe, through their language program, for "revitalizing the Twulshootseed language by producing language users." I also share excerpts from "Climate change impact assessment and adaptation options" (Puyallup Tribe of Indians) and Summer Harvest: Cedar Teachings (Indigeneous Leadership Academy) to further convey the Northwest Tribes' perspectives. Finally, just before the discussion starts, I show two more videos. One is called The colonialist roots of climate change, which I hope will emphasize to students the connections between climate change and social injustice and the injustice of what we've done to indigenous peoples through climate colonialism. The other is Why cedar is sacred to Pacific Northwest tribes. (There is another worthwhile video, Voices of the Native Northwest Coast, which you might want to use also. I do not show it due to lack of class time, but it provides a longer and more holistic overview of the culture of Northwest Tribes, including the spiritual importance of cedar trees. The discussion questions that follow these videos are focused on the importance of cedar to Northwest Tribes, how these tribes are disproportionately impacted by climate change, and why it is important to center indigenous voices as we transition away from fossil fuels to avoid further harm.

Climate Justice Cedars & PNW tribes.pptx (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 726kB May30 24) (Use Slides 1 through 12 for Step 2.)

Step 3: Field-Based Data Collection (1 hour). This part of the activity takes about an hour of field work, during which students work in groups of four to collect data. Use Slide 13 of the PowerPoint presentation (from Step 2) for this step. We have redcedar trees on our campus showing signs of top stress, but if you need to travel to another location to access western redcedar trees, then this part of the activity could take longer. I prepare students for their field-based data collection by introducing them to the cedar project on the Forest Health Watch website, which is a citizen science initiative. I show students a video about Western Redcedar Dieback Research and Community Science, which is a Forest Health Watch project led by Washington State University. Also, prior to going outside to collect data, I ask students to download the free online iNaturalist app to their cellular phones, which is where they eventually upload their cedar tree data and answer questions (see Handout). While in the field, I ask students to write the data they collect on a printed handout using a clipboard and pen or pencil. They give the handout to me, as their graded work, at the end of the data collection activity, after they have uploaded their data to iNaturalist. To support their data collection, I print out multiple copies of the Tree Health Classification Field Manual (see PDF file below) ahead of time and put them into a binder, providing one to each group, to help students collect cedar data in the field. These manuals are provided by the Western Redcedar Dieback project and are found on the Forest Health Watch website. Printing these ahead of time prevents students from using a tiny, difficult-to-see electronic PDF version of the manual viewed on their cellular phones. This was a time-saver because students did not have to spend time scrolling through the PDF file on their phones to find information.

Data Collection Handout.docx (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 27kB May30 24)

Redcedar Dieback Field Guide.pdf (Acrobat (PDF) 2.5MB Apr26 24)

Step 4: Civic Engagement Activity (1 hour). Use Slides 14 and 15 of the PowerPoint presentation (from Step 2) for this step. This part of the activity occurs after we return to the classroom from outdoors. Students work in groups to plan and carry out a civic-engagement activity related to cedar dieback. The groups choose from a list of options. Before they begin work in groups, I give them an overview of civic engagement and how scientists use it to share the results of their work with the public and policymakers. As part of the civic engagement activity, I share a video of a story of change in this bioregion that conveys how engaging civically can lead to positive outcomes. The story is not focused on redcedar trees (because I could not find a story directly related to redcedar), but it does portray a local river-restoration project focused on riparian habitat, which arose from a collaboration among local tribes, city officials, and the public. The project emphasizes how tribes are leading and are at the forefront of the restoration effort, with social justice shaping their engagement. After sharing this video, White River Restoration in Sumner, Washington State,  I ask students to discuss one of three questions with another student (see file below for questions) which ask them about their experiences of connecting over a common cause, the most valuable ideas they learned from the video, and the strengths, talents, and passions they think they have that could help them engage with the world to promote climate justice. I then present some science-based solutions to the redcedar dieback as well, including thinning the understory to help cedars access more water, shading, assisted population migration, and seed lot selection.

White River Discussion Questions.docx (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 17kB May10 24)

Step 5: Reflection on Civic Engagement (15 minutes of work outside of class). This is a short assignment at the end of this activity where students upload proof that they completed their civic engagement and answer one reflection question. Students choose from a list of questions that give them the opportunity to reflect on whether they think their actions will impact this climate justice issue, how they can use their experience during this activity, and the skills they practiced, to contribute to climate justice in their communities, whether they felt like they were heard, what it was like to engage in civic action as a member of their community, other forms of civic action they had you engaged in previously that were similar or different, and whether they have a desire to participate in this type of civic action and why or why not.

Civic Engagement Reflection.docx (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 15kB Apr26 24)

Implementing in a Larger Class Size and/or Using Less Class Time and/or in an Online and/or Asynchronous Format:

This activity could be used in similar, larger-enrollment courses at a four-year college or university. In very large class sizes, this activity can be completed during laboratory or breakout sessions that have smaller numbers of students. The amount of in-class time needed for the activity can also be shortened, especially for more content-packed majors-level STEM courses such as biology, by providing video lectures and completing discussions using a discussion board feature on a learning management system (Step 2) and/or directing students to use tutorial videos found on the Forest Health Watch website to complete the field-based data collection on their own (Step 3). The tutorials would show students how to download the app, use the app, and collect the data. They could also complete the civic engagement work on their own instead of during class time in groups (Step 4). All of these alternate means of completing the assignment could also be used to implement this activity in an online and asynchronous format.

As an instructor who will be leading students in field-based data collection, it is very important to go through the entire process yourself ahead of time, including downloading the iNaturalist app, doing the data collection yourself using the field guide, and then entering the data into iNaturalist when you are finished. This helps make sure materials will be accessible to your student population. Additionally, if you want to use this activity, either in Washington State with cedars or somewhere else with another type of tree, it is very important to familiarize yourself with how to accurately identify trees by learning the distinguishing characteristics of the tree. On my college campus, there are western redcedars as well as California incense cedar (Calocedrus decurrens) and yellow cedar, also known as Alaska yellow cedar (Callitropsis nootkatensis). These three trees look very similar. I learned this by inaccurately identifying one tree, submitting the data to the Western Redcedar Dieback Research and Community Science project through the iNaturalist app, and then hearing back from scientists working on the project that I had submitted data for a yellow cedar tree instead of a western redcedar. (Thankfully, the project asks you to upload a photo of each tree for which submit data, and they check the photos for proper identification!) Incense cedars are fairly easy to distinguish from western redcedar because they have larger cones, even though the needles look similar. However, yellow cedars are a little trickier because the cones are the same size and needles look the same, but the cones do look different, if you know what they look like and what to look for. The Forest Health Watch Western Redcedar Dieback Project does not recommend any particular time of year or month for the data collection, so the field data collection part of this activity can be done during any month or season.

The civic engagement part can be shortened by giving students only one or fewer options. For example, you could tell students that every group or individual will write a letter to the city council explaining the science behind the cedar dieback and their ideas for how the city can address the issue. Limiting their civic engagement to something more defined reduces the amount of class time that student groups need to brainstorm and agree on what they would like to undertake.

Our campus has a strong collaboration with the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, including a campus Lushootseed language learning group and a committee focusing on this collaboration. I also recommend finding out if your campus has similar collaborations and working with those groups as you implement this activity, educating yourself about whose land you are occupying (the Native Land map provides a starting point), learning about indigenous ways of knowing (such as by reading "Old Growth Children," a chapter in Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmer), learning more about local indigenous cultures and finding resources for your activity on the websites of local tribes instead of other sources.

I present students with a wide range of civic engagement options that involve different possibilities for outreach to others regarding the redcedar dieback issue. I leave this part of my activity completely open-ended for students, but creative ways to scaffold civic engagement have been recently developed by other leaders and participants in the Climate Justice in Undergraduate STEM Teaching Incorporating Civic Engagement (CJUSTICE) project, which is the initiative funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation NSF that provided me with the support and resources to create and teach my activity. For example, Sonya Remington Doucette (Bellevue College, Washington, USA) created this civic engagement scaffolding activity in her General Chemistry course, where student share results of their air pollution research projects with a relevant community, in order to introduce students to the idea of civic engagement and prepare them to undertake it: Planning for Civic Engagement.docx (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 19kB May30 24). Jessica Pikul (South Seattle College, Washington, USA) uses this activity to help students choose appropriate individuals to approach, in terms of those who are likely to take action to address the issue or who are in a position to address it, and also to help students shape their messaging if they are writing letters or emails: Communicating With Public Representatives.pptx (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 193kB May30 24) At the time of the publication of my activity, both of these instructors were working on publishing their activities to this collection also, and more detail about both activities will be available soon.

I use a mixture of formative feedback to inform my teaching practices and summative feedback to evaluate student learning.

1. Cultivate empathy for humans and non-humans who are experiencing the negative consequences of climate change through storytelling.

2. Gain an understanding of and an appreciation for traditional indigenous knowledge and culture.

3. Recognize climate change as a symptom of the historical and systemic injustice of colonization and oppression of indigenous tribes.

I assess all three of these learning outcomes together, using the same means. Students listen to my lecture, watch a few videos during class, and participate in a classroom discussion about these things. I mostly use formative assessment for these social justice-focused learning objectives by listening to student questions during class and/or walking around and hearing discussions happening within groups. During these activities, I can address misconceptions and other issues related to learning and students' progress meeting these outcomes that arise during class time. Material related to these learning goals also appears on their exams. However, exam questions are very open-ended. For example, for Learning Goal 2, I may ask a question such as: What are three things that you about traditional indigenous knowledge and culture that you learned?

4. Identify western redcedar trees and dieback symptoms versus normal seasonal changes, and use this information to participate in a citizen science project.

Students will learn to identify the symptoms of dieback during the field-based activity, using the field manual, my assistance, and their observations. I can do a formative assessment and provide formative feedback to students as I interact with them during the data collection portion of the activity. The Data Collection Handout is something that they submit to me for a grade, which is earned if they collect data in the table on the handout. Students are also asked to identify dieback symptoms on the exam that follows this activity.

5. Describe the effects of climate change on the geographic distribution of western redcedar populations.

Students are asked to describe the effects of climate change on the geographic distribution of western redcedar populations on the exam that follows this activity. This is based on the accuracy of their description, which was presented to them in class during Step 2 (Slide 8 of Climate Justice Cedars & PNW tribes.pptx (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 726kB May30 24)).

6. Describe the causes and effects of drought stress on redcedar trees.

Students are asked to describe the causes and effects of drought stress on cedar trees on the exam that follows this activity.This is based on the accuracy of their description, which was presented to them in a PowerPoint presentation during Step 2 (Climate Justice Cedars & PNW tribes.pptx (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 726kB May30 24)) and they also learned about it during their initial homework assignment (Step 1). I also conduct a formative assessment, prior to any summative assessment on an exam, when students are asked to discuss with a classmate why cedar trees are stressed and at risk of dying during Step 2 (Slide 2 of Climate Justice Cedars & PNW tribes.pptx (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 726kB May30 24)).

7. Participate in a citizen science project designed by WSU extension service and administered through iNaturalist.

This is Step 3 of this activity. On the Data Collection Handout, they indicate to me whether they have uploaded their data to iNaturalist.

8. Identify steps for further participation in the Western Red Cedar Dieback project.

Students search the Forest Health Watch project website to find ideas for further participation and I have them show me, during class time, where they can go on the website to sign up to become a community scientist and help contribute to this and other research.

9. Communicate the ecological and cultural importance of western redcedar to a general audience outside our classroom.

Students share what they learn outside the classroom through the civic engagement part of the activity (Step 4). I assess whether they've done this by looking at the proof they've uploaded as part of the reflection assignment (Step 5): Civic Engagement Reflection.docx (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 15kB Apr26 24)

10. Ideally, gain a sense of empowerment through learning about the success of the White River Restoration project.

I do a formative assessment of this learning goal during class time based on students' responses to the questions in the "White River Discussion Questions.docx" Word file (see Step 4), especially Question 3. For this learning goal, I award students academic credit for conscientiously reflecting on their learning about the White River case study, but not for stating that they feel empowered.

This work is supported in part by NSF IUSE grant DUE 2043535.

Primary research article for homework assignment (Step 1): Canary in the Forest? – Tree mortality and canopy dieback of western redcedar linked to drier and warmer summer conditions

Popular news article (secondary source) for homework assignment (Step 1): Has the iconic Western red cedar reached a tipping point?

Forest Health Watch: Western Red Cedar Project

New study sounds alarm, provides hope for Western red cedars

The origin of sounds in water-stressed trees (YouTube video)

Open Access Botany textbook by Ha, Morrow, and Algiers

The Story of Cedar - Sechelt Arts Fest 2015

x̌əpayac - Western Red Cedar Tree, Puyallup Tribal Language Program

Climate change impact assessment and adaptation options, 2016 (draft), Puyallup Tribe of Indians, a collaboration of the Puyallup Tribe of Indians and Cascadia Consulting Group

Summer Harvest: Cedar Teachings, Indigenous Leadership Academy

Voices of the Native Northwest Coast (YouTube video)

The colonialist roots of climate change by Doha Debates (YouTube video)

Western Redcedar Dieback Research and Community Science at Washington State University (YouTube video)

Tree Health Classification Field Manual, Western Red Cedar Dieback project, Washington State University and Forest Health Watch: Redcedar Dieback Field Guide.pdf (Acrobat (PDF) 2.5MB Apr26 24)

White River Restoration in Sumner, Washington State (YouTube video)

White River Restoration project website

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmer