Courses and Materials

Courses

Global Environmental Change

Instructors: D'Arcy Meyer Dombard, Sarah Cadieux
Term(s) and Year(s) Offered: Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016
Course Level: Introductory
Course Description: EAES 101
Course Syllabus: EAES 101 Schedule (Acrobat (PDF) 119kB Apr10 17)

In Global Environmental Change, materials from the following modules were used: 1) Climate of Change: Interactions and Feedbacks between Water, Air and Ice, 2) A Growing Concern: Sustaining Soil Resources through Local Decision Making, 3) Interactions between Water, Earth's Surface, and Human Activity, 4) Cli-Fi: Climate Science in Literary Texts, 5) Carbon, Climate, and Energy Resources, and 6) Systems Thinking.

Only portions of units or modules were used and/or adapted in order to be used as in-class activities that could be done in 10-20 minutes by a group of 175 students. This meant developing classroom response system (iClicker) questions to supplement an activity (i.e.-revising a gallery walk to a series of iClicker polling questions, or adding an iClicker question to a think-pair-share or calculation) both as a form of assessment as well as to gage understanding and comprehension. Many of the modules that were used in Fall 2016 had also been used in Fall 2015 and Spring 2016. The major difference in Fall 2016 was the inclusion of two new modules (Carbon, Climate, and Energy Resources, and Systems Thinking), and incorporating iClicker questions. Additionally, we were able to adapt activities from the Climate of Change: Interactions and Feedbacks between Water, Air, and Ice into one 2 hour lab exercise that were led by teaching assistants. You can find the lab exercise in the Materials Developed section on the right.

Earth, Energy and the Environment

Instructor: Stefany Sit, Carol Stein
Term(s) and Year(s) Offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2016
Course Level: Introductory
Course Description: EAES 111
Course Syllabus: EAES 111 Syllabus (Acrobat (PDF) 101kB Apr14 17)
Course Schedule with specified InTeGrate Modules: EAES 111 Schedule (Acrobat (PDF) 47kB Apr10 17)

We used module material from 1) Living on the Edge, 2) Humans Dependence on Natural Resources, and 3) Environmental Justice and Freshwater Resources. Different unit modules were adapted to be used in portions of our already existing class framework and schedule. Activities were modified to fit our large enrollment (130+ students) courses, which typically meant trying to condense InTeGrate handouts into a single double-sided page and including questions that could be used with a classroom response system. Because of confinements in class, conducting gallery walks and jigsaws were difficult and time consuming. So we typically presented data or plots through lecture slides and then had students do work with a neighbor and report out their findings. For example, for Living on the Edge, we projected data of hazards associated with the Mount St. Helens eruption on the board and then asked students iClicker questions about their observations from the data. Additionally, while we were using the Environmental Justice and Freshwater Resources module on Love Canal we showed shorter clips of interviews with Lois Gibbs and then went through the timeline as a whole class on the board. Then short iClicker questions were asked about the possible materials in the ground and the amount of time it took contaminants to travel to nearby homes. In general pre-class work and in-class activities were additionally supported by questions on weekly review assignments that were administered on Blackboard.

Earth Materials

Instructor: Kathy Nagy
Term(s) and Year(s) Offered: Fall 2015
Course Level: 2nd year
Course Description: EAES 230

The sand mining activity from Humans Dependence on Natural Resources was used during one of the lab sessions. A few additional questions as well as some Google Earth questions were added to help supplement the activity. You can find the updated activity in the column on the right.

Earth Systems

Instructor: Max Berkelhammer
Term(s) and Year(s) Offered: Spring 2016
Course Level: 2nd Year
Course Description: EAES 295

A multi-week end-of-term project was developed using InTeGrate themes, including Geoscientific Thinking, Systems Thinking, and Data Analysis. As part of the project, students use a simplified climate model to understand how Earth's climate responds to greenhouse gas and orbital forcing with an emphasis on the last interglacial period. A more detailed description of the assignment is provided in the Materials Developed section to the right.

Physical Systems in Earth and Space Science

Instructor: Stefany Sit
Term(s) and Year(s) Offered: Fall 2016
Course Level: Introductory, Pre-Service Teachers
Course Description: NATS 105
Course Syllabus: NATS 105 Syllabus (Acrobat (PDF) 215kB Apr14 17)
Course Schedule with specified InTeGrate Modules: NATS 105 Schedule (Acrobat (PDF) 46kB Apr10 17)

We used module material from 1) Living on the Edge and 2) Carbon, Climate, and Energy Resources. Different unit modules were adapted to be used in portions of our already existing class framework and schedule. Activities were modified to include a combination of lectures slides, single page handouts, and classroom response system questions (iClickers). For instance, in Living on the Edge, several data sets were provided by the authors, but instead of providing those individual data packets to each student. We displayed the data on lecture slides and then asked students iClicker questions. Several times throughout the semester we were also able to separate students into small groups at the beginning of class that could work on problem solving and analysis together at classroom white boards. From the Carbon, Climate, and Energy Resources module, we printed extra large data plots of temperature and carbon dioxide that were posted all over the room and allowed students to mark them up and annotate trends and anomalies.

Current Topics in Earth and Environmental Sciences

Instructor: Andrew Dombard, D'Arcy Meyer Dombard
Term(s) and Year(s) Offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2016
Course Level: 2nd Year
Course Description: EAES 290

As part of our overall goals for the program, we wanted to focus on career development. In this course, we were able to collaborate with the Office of Career Services who helped our students learn more about job opportunities they could pursue with a major from our department. A new resume assignment that is implemented over 2-3 class days was developed to help students think about their geoscientific skills in context of how they could be applied to their future careers. A copy of the assignment is available in the Materials Developed section to the right.

Teaching Materials

Modules Adapted

Climate of Change: Interactions and Feedbacks between Water, Air, and Ice

• Parts of this module have been adapted into a lab called Climate: Past, Present, Future
• Prior to lab, students read the reading for Unit 1 (Climate Forecasting and Adaptation though the Ages) and answered a series of questions focusing on climate of the past.
• Unit 4 (Slow and Steady?) is done as is as a portion of the lab.
• Unit 5 (Systems @ Play) - Case Study 5.1 (Interactions: Climate's Tangled Web) is done as-is within the lab to focus on climate in the future

Humans' Dependence on Mineral Resources

• Unit 1 (People, Products, and Minerals) was used mostly "as-is". We shortened some discussion of the review to spend more time to discuss the activity on economic development and resource use. We have a very diverse student body who come from and have relatives from around the world. So we tied in some more discussion of international consumption and production rates.
• Unit 2 (Boom and Bust) was used to focus on an in-class case study of rechargeable batteries.Unit 3 (Mining and Mining Impacts) - We used the pre-class powerpoint on mining processes and impacts in class and then focused on the case study for a can of soda.
• Unit 4 (Mineral Resources Created By Sedimentary Processes) - Activity 4.2 was used in a lab setting. In Part 1, students were asked to locate the mine using "street view" in Google Earth and some additional questions were asked related to sea level changes. In Part 4, a video (Floridamines_tio2.wmv) from the DuPont website sand mine operations was used. Also, in Part 4, a question was added asking students to use Google Earth to locate another potential mining site to the north, and to explain how they chose the new site.

A Growing Concern: Sustaining Soil Resources through Local Decision Making

• Unit 3 (Natural and Agricultural Erosion Rates) was adapted to a worksheet to walk students through the geospatial examination of authentic data of calculating erosion rates. As opposed to a think-pair-share, students used iClickers to weigh in on which environment is the most erosive.

Interactions between Water, Earth's Surface, and Human Activity

• Unit 1 (Hydrologic Cycle) - Water, Water everywhere is done as a demonstration. Page 1-3 of the worksheet was used (without energy diagram), and iClicker questions were added.
• Unit 2 (Fluvial Processes that Shape the Natural Landscape) - Part 1: Characteristics of a River System worksheet was used as is to observe how fluvial processes shape the surface of the Earth. In addition to the worksheet. iClicker questions were added to gage understanding of zones and systems.

Cli-Fi: Climate Science in Literary Texts

• Unit 1 (Overview of Earth's Climate System). Unit 1 Part 1 assignment was used as part of a class on climate data and identifying vs. variability. Additional graphs of CO₂ and temperature data back 100 years, 100,000 years and 1 million years were added to the end of the worksheet to expand into interpreting paleoclimate data. iClicker questions were added in for assessment and to gage comprehension.

Carbon, Climate, and Energy Resources

• Unit 2 (The Carbon Cycle). Climate Connections YouTube videos were given to students as a pre-class assignment, with an online quiz. Where is the carbon was done as in in-class Think, Pair, Share with supplemental iClicker question.
• Unit 4 (Fossil Fuel Formation) - We used this mostly "as-is". We assigned students to different groups to focus on either Coal or Oil/Natural Gas and then had representatives from each group report out. Then as a class we discussed which statements described both types of fossil fuels.
• We combined Unit 3 and Unit 5 (Geologic Record of Past Climate and Modern CO₂ accumulation) - We focused on using paleoclimate proxies and added an additional component focused on how to interpret and analyze data focused trying to determine what was normal "variability" and what looked more like "change" in the historical record. We printed out large graphs of foraminifera, Vostock ice core, and modern records of CO₂ and temperature from Mauna Loa.

Systems Thinking

• Unit 1 (Introduction to Systems Thinking-What is a system?). The introductory system slides were added to a lecture on the water cycle and residence time.

Environmental Justice and Freshwater Resources

• Unit 5 (Hazardous Waste and Love Canal). Short clips of Lois Gibbs speaking about the event were used during class and then a brief timeline was reviewed. Students then discussed with their neighbors and reported out on the following questions: What materials (rock, sediment) and/or sequence of materials in the ground would have caused contaminants to leak to the surface? How long did it take the contaminants to travel to homes?

Materials Developed

Lab Exercise - Climate: Past, Present, Future

2-Hour Lab Exercise - Climate Lab (Acrobat (PDF) 4.6MB Nov30 16)

Extra Google Earth file - Climate Lab: Google Earth Files (KMZ File 402kB Dec1 16)

Activities from the Climate of Change: Interactions and Feedbacks between Water, Air, and Ice were adapted into one 2 hour lab exercise. In the lab students look at and analyze past and present climate data and evaluate how interactions between climate system components can lead to climate variability that impacts human societies. Students also simulate climate systems through the use of models, and evaluate system feedbacks and outputs as a result of variations in forcing mechanisms and climate system components.

Class Activity - Albedo of Chicago

10-15 Minute Activity - Albedo_Chicago (Acrobat (PDF) 8.6MB Nov30 16)

This is a short class activity to demonstrate how albedo can be applied to urban regions, where instead of investigating albedo of ice or snow, we look at the reflectivity of land used for commercial, residential, and industrial purposes.

Class Activity - The Debate Over Hydraulic Fracturing

50 Minute Class Lecture - HydraulicFracking-PPT (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 24.9MB Nov30 16)

This is a full class lecture that includes an introduction to hydraulic fracturing and a mini-debate about its potential advantages and disadvantages. Some of the videos and news media articles could be used as pre-class assignments if you want to have a longer debate or broader class discussion. If teaching assistants or other faculty are available, it can be fun to have the Pro and Con sides of hydraulic fracturing presented by two different individuals.

Class Activity - Resume Writing

Multiple Day Assignment Instructions - Resume Activity Instructions (Acrobat (PDF) 60kB Dec1 16)

Job Advertisements - Resume Activity - Job Ads (Acrobat (PDF) 516kB Dec1 16)

Students choose among a variety of jobs ads and decide where they would like to apply. Students are then assigned to write a resume and during the following class period, students evaluate each others' resumes and decide on the best candidate for each job ad. It may be beneficial to have someone from your Office of Career Services come to class to present on resume writing.

Class Project - Earth System during Interglacials

Multi-Week Project - The Earth System during Interglacials

Students use a simplified climate model to understand how Earth's climate responds to greenhouse gas and orbital forcing with an emphasis on the last interglacial period. Students use the changes in climate to make inferences to how the Earth system (including biosphere) responds to warming.