Courses and Materials

Courses

Course: Environmental Literacy (ENVL 105)

Instructor: Colleen Hatfield, Biological Sciences
Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016
Course Level: Lower Division

Course description: This course introduces students to the issue and practices of environmental literacy. Environmental literacy is the capacity to perceive and interpret the relative health of environmental systems and to connect the environment to human physical, mental, and social health. Students are encouraged to recognize that their lives depend upon the environment, and that their personal decisions affect the environment.

Influence of InTeGrate Materials: Hatfield uses seven InTeGrate units in two sections of her Environmental Literacy course, including from the Climate of Change, Human Dependence on Minerals and Environmental Justice modules. Over the course of this project, Environmental Justice units were added (starting Spring 2016) and data collection has become more streamlined to minimize students' "survey fatigue."

Course: The American West (GEOG 106)

Instructor: Don Hankins, Geography and Planning
Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016
Course Level: Lower Division

Course description: This course investigates the historical cultural geography of the American West, emphasizing how various cultural groups have each made a unique imprint on the western landscape.

Influence of InTeGrate Materials:Climate of Change, Unit 2 and A Growing Concern, Sustaining Soils, unit 3 were selected due to their relationship to existing course lessons. The Climate of Change unit 2 was implemented via a flipped class, whereby students were provided an online lecture covering the basics of climate processes and their relationship to the region of the American West. In class, students were provided a short focused lecture on El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) along with examples of how ENSO impacts on regions of the American West, and a brief overview of climate data used to model ENSO predictions. Students were sorted into groups to review provided climate data, and make observations of that data. At the end of the class time, students were reconvened for a summary discussion of findings. My hope in introducing students to these data, is that they will gain analytical skills necessary to discern climate and other data they may encounter in the future.

A Growing Concern, Sustaining Soils unit 3 was integrated into an existing lecture and activity involving soil texture analysis. Students were provided a brief lecture on soil development and soil orders of the American West. They also learned about soil characteristics used by soil scientists, and why those characteristics are important for land-use planning and other purposes. Students were provided one of two soil samples to conduct soil texture analysis using the Thien Texture by Feel method. Once students had completed this portion of the exercise, they utilized the SoilsWeb app to verify their findings for the polygon where their soil was collected. They were provided a list of questions, which prompted them to explore data within the SoilsWeb app for the soil polygon of their sample. My hope in introducing students to these tools is to familiarize students with ways of knowing more about the soils around them, and the importance of soils in their lives.

Course: Introduction to Environmental Science (GEOS 130)

Instructor: Eric Willard, Geological & Environmental Science
Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016
Course Level: Lower Division

Course description: An introduction to human impact upon planet Earth. Scientific principles applied to air pollution, water pollution, and solid and radioactive waste problems. Population dynamics, world hunger, and environmental issue analysis are also covered.

Influence of InTeGrate Materials: Two modules from the Climate of Change module, Unit 2 and Unit 4 were used in this course

Unit 2: Before coming to class students are asked to read introductory chapter on water and the hydrologic cycle. In class, I deliver a lecture on El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and a brief overview of climate data used to model ENSO predictions. Students were sorted into groups to review provided climate data, and make observations of that data. It is a jigsaw activity in that each group has different data related to ENSO. The students all interpret the data and come together as a class to assimilate all the data into a comprehensive understanding of how ENSO changes temperature, precipitation, and pressure.

Unit 4: Before coming to class students read an introductory chapter on climate change. In class I deliver a short lecture on climate data, albedo, and the Greenland ice sheet. Students in groups work with data sets of albedo and learn how it affects the melting of glaciers in Greenland.

Course: Religion, Ethics and Ecology (RELS 247)

Instructor: Bruce Grelle, Comparative Religion
Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016
Course Level: Lower Division

Course description: An introduction to ways that religious and secular world views and ethics influence attitudes, behaviors, and policies toward the environment, society, and economy. The course considers alternative views of self and society, the relationship between human beings and the natural world, and issues of lifestyle, justice, and sustainability.

Influence of InTeGrate Materials: Climate of Change was embedded in our discussion of contemporary issues and policy debates. Unit 6 of this module, Adapting to a Changing World, focuses on shifting national attitudes about climate change. This supports the course's focus on the connection between people's worldviews and their responses to environmental issues. The unit also provides a series of case studies that involve students in a consideration of various mitigation and adaption strategies for dealing with such problems as heat waves, rising sea levels, and for climate related risks taken on by the insurance industry. The case studies illustrate the complex relationship between environmental, social, and economic considerations and provide students with practice in applying their values to real world problems.

Course: Environmental Science (GEOS 330)

Instructor: Eric Willard, Geological & Environmental Science
Fall 2015
Course Level: Upper Division

Course description: Human impact on life-support systems; use of physical and ecological principles in environmental management and protection; discussion of land use and its environmental impact; and an evaluation of human influence on natural cycles.

Influence of InTeGrate Materials: Two modules from the Climate of Change module, Unit 2 and Unit 4 were used in this course

Unit 2: Before coming to class students are asked to read introductory chapter on water and the hydrologic cycle. I.n class, I deliver a lecture on El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and a brief overview of climate data used to model ENSO predictions. Students were sorted into groups to review provided climate data, and make observations of that data. It is a jigsaw activity in that each group has different data related to ENSO. The students all interpret the data and come together as a class to assimilate all the data into a comprehensive understanding of how ENSO changes temperature, precipitation, and pressure.

Unit 4: Before coming to class students read an introductory chapter on climate change. In class I deliver a short lecture on climate data, albedo, and the Greenland ice sheet. Students in groups work with data sets of albedo and learn how it affects the melting of glaciers in Greenland.

Course: American Environment (HIST 341)

Instructor: Philip Clements, History
Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016
Course Level: Upper Division

Course description: History of the attitudes, concepts, and public policy toward the American environment, including the natural, rural, and urban environments. Emphasis on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Influence of InTeGrate Materials: Climate of Change Unit 4: Slow and Steady was embedded in the course as the first of three activities designed to educate students about anthropogenic global climate change. Deployed exactly as suggested by the module's creators, Slow and Steady illustrates how the climate sciences function, while subsequent activities (a documentary film and reading activity) unpack the significance of scientific consensus toward anthropogenic global climate change, and its socio-economic ramifications.

Course: Environmental Economics (ECON 365)

Instructor: Janine Stone, Economics
Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016
Course Level: Upper Division

Course description: This course includes analysis of the costs and benefits of environmental preservation. Systems for creating economic incentives for pollution abatement. Criteria for establishing optimum pollution abatement, including efficiency, safety, and sustainability standards. Impacts of population growth on global environmental problems. Alternative energy use patterns and their impact on energy markets and global environmental health.

Influence of InTeGrate Materials: Three modules from the "Human's Dependence on Earth's Mineral Resources" unit were used in in Environmental Economics (Econ 365), an introductory economics course geared toward non-majors. Unit 2 is easily used within lectures teaching the basics of supply and demand within an economics course. Units 3 and 6, related to the environmental effects of mining activities, fit well in the context of a discussion of externalities and the optimal extraction of mineral resources over time. For all activities, students completed the unit readings prior to class, and unit materials were incorporated into homework assignments and lecture. For instance, for Unit 3, students completed readings on the steps associated with mineral extraction/ site remediation and were then directed to an EPA website where they had to look up contaminants listed in the reading and discuss the type of regulatory approach (strict safety considerations versus a cost-benefit analysis) used to set the standards for that contaminant. The overall goal of incorporating all units was to ensure students understand that no economic analysis of resource use can be completed without a fundamental understanding of the earth sciences. Over the course of the three semesters of this project, activities from the selected units have been more seamlessly embedded in class activities in terms of using examples and data from the module, rather than starting an entire InTeGrate activity in the class periods.

Course: World Food and Fiber (PSSC 390)

Instructor: Lee Altier, College of Agriculture
Fall 2015, 2016
Course Level: Upper Division

Course Description: This course is a macro perspective on the development of agriculture around the world. The exploration of how ancient civilizations adapted to climate variability fits very well with my course on the disparate ways in which cultures acquired and utilized sources of food. After discussing the three case studies, we continued the discussion about the current predicament with global warming. Does awareness about climate change give us an advantage over the ancient civilizations? Are we more likely to adapt successfully?

Influence of InTeGrate Materials: Unit 6 of Climate of Change worked well to bring the dialogue to present circumstances, and the students were actively engaged. I also liked how starting with civilizations that were dramatically disrupted by a changing climate, changed the discourse from a question about whether climate change is occurring to the question about whether we can do anything about it.

Course: Food Forever (PSSC 392)

Instructor: Lee Altier, College of Agriculture
Spring 2016 (PSSC 392)
Course Level: Upper Division

Course description: This course is a global perspective on sustainable food production practices.

Influence of InTeGrate Materials: Unit 6 of Climate of Change fits well into our discussion about climate as a major determinant of how and what food can be grown around the world. I use the online survey in Unit 6 to get students to begin to think about weather patterns and assess their own assumptions and beliefs about climate change. In class, I show a variety of examples regarding climate change to explore concepts of mitigation and adaptation. For Unit 2 of A Growing Concern, on soil properties, I bring in lots of demonstrations, so students can feel soil textures, see the effect of textures and organic matter on percolation, and see examples of soil aggregates. I also include a demonstration about making bread to reinforce the idea that, like with bread, the effects of texture, structural development, and microbial activity are determinants of soil quality.

Teaching Materials

Modules Adapted

See the course descriptions at left for details on how the modules were adapted in each case.

• Climate of Change
• Environmental Justice
• Human Dependence on Mineral Resources
• A Growing Concern

Materials Developed

In most cases we used original materials that are posted in the modules and units, but revised a few items slightly.

Climate of Change Unit 1 Modified student activity sheets (Acrobat (PDF) 204kB Nov21 16)
The activity is completed per instructions in the unit, but the worksheets are slightly revised.

Climate of Change Unit 6 Updated Data (Acrobat (PDF) 2.8MB Nov21 16)
Slides in this file include additional data about Americans' ideas of climate change and contain updated data from those posted with the Climate of Change module