Initial Publication Date: April 20, 2017
Camille Holmgren: Using Changing Biosphere in World Natural Environments at SUNY Buffalo State
About this Course
This is an introductory general education course. Although required for our majors, it is primarily populated by non-majors seeking to fulfill their natural science requirement.
44
students
Two 75-minute sessions
Syllabus (Microsoft Word 62kB Jun23 16)
Nature of geography; Earth-sun relationships; maps and map interpretation; and classification, distribution, and origins of the major elements of the natural environment: weather, climates, soils, natural vegetation, landforms, and developmental processes.
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
- Demonstrate understanding of the tools and scientific methods used to explore natural phenomena
- Describe the factors that influence weather and climate and explain how and why climates vary over the globe
- Demonstrate knowledge of ecosystem processes, their characteristics, and the global distribution of Earth's biomes
- Demonstrate knowledge of landform development processes and the global distribution of landforms
- Relate physical geography to contemporary life, especially human impacts on the natural environment.
Topics: Scientific method, solar energy, seasons, temperature, global atmospheric circulation, weather, global climates & climate change, biogeography, geologic time and life, plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes, water resources, coastal processes.
A Success Story in Building Student Engagement
This module was used over several weeks in an introductory physical geography course. Although required for geography majors, it is primarily populated by non-majors seeking to fulfill their natural science requirement. The focus on a big issue facing society—extinctions and biodiversity loss—led to a high level of engagement among students who came to the course with a range of academic backgrounds, interests, and abilities. Students were also introduced to scientific uncertainty and the idea that there is not always a single answer or approach for addressing societal issues such as setting priorities for biodiversity conservation.
The module promoted discussion and led to participation by students who had not previously volunteered questions or answers in class.
My Experience Teaching with InTeGrateMaterials
I taught this module in a 75-minute class period, which is longer than the 50-minute time period for which the lessons were designed. I used the extra time to implement the units at a more leisurely pace and/or had incorporated pre- and/or post-class assignments into the class time.
Relationship of InTeGrate Materials to my Course
I used the materials in the final third of my course after having covered material on the atmosphere, weather, climate and climate change, and biogeography. I used Unit 1 as an introduction before I covered plate tectonics, earthquakes, and volcanoes (non-Integrate material). After this, I returned to Integrate and used the rest of the units without a break.
*Note: revisions made after piloting re-ordered the units and some materials that were used. Changes indicated parenthetically below.
Unit 1:
- The Unit 1 reading and quiz were put on Blackboard course management software and assigned to be completed before class. Students had the option to retake the quiz as many times as they wanted, to encourage them to go back into the article and figure out what they missed.
- The timeline activity went well, and students seemed to get a very good feel for how bunched up events were in the last 500,000 million years.
- I passed around fossils during the Marine Biomes through Time section (stromatolite, trilobite, brachiopod, orthoceras, fish). The students loved this, and looking at fossils helped students to think about what gets preserved and why it is often difficult to identify species from fossil materials given preservation issues.
- I did not do the optional section on bias.
Unit 3 (now Unit 2):
- Set up: I printed packets for each of the four reading groups that included the study guide, activity overview sheet (with the questions for the reading, but omitting the instructions for the in-class part of the activity to minimize confusion), the readings, and the relevant quiz. I divided the class into four equal groups based on last name, and had students come pick up their packets based on names at the very end of the class prior to the activity. I also put PDF versions of the packets (and the name guide) on Blackboard for students not in class. I told students that I would collect the quiz at the beginning of class. To facilitate this, I made sure quizzes were on a separate double-sided sheet at the end that could be easily torn off from the packet and handed in.
- At the beginning of class, I had the students hand in their quizzes based on their groups and grab a colored tag with the group code for forming teams. This would have been too long for a 50-minute class or much larger class, but worked okay for the mid-sized class.
Unit 4:
- I started with the short video, which fits well into a 75-minute class period. However, for shorter classes this could be assigned for students to watch before class.
- Although some instructors may choose to spend more time on the phylogeny, for the purposes of this unit, I found that it worked well to quickly explain that the bars show when genera lived in past and that lines were analogous to family trees like those linking ancestors (parents, grandparents, and so on).
- I did not use the optional section on modern horse management.
Unit 5 (this material is no longer part of this module):
- I incorporated the pre-class assignment into the class period and made the report a homework assignment to be done individually for points.
- Groups may discover that they are missing some pieces of information (life span, etc.) for a bird. I used this opportunity to explain that in the real world we are often missing data we would like and have to do our best to make decisions without it.
- Students wanted to jump into Overview and Report during initial 10-minute period. Be explicit that they should ignore these at first and just read through the material.
- Students seemed reluctant at first to exchange info with other groups. I explained that to evaluate the life history and niche breadth traits of their bird, they needed to compare it to other species to see how theirs stacked up. I.e., is 2 years a long lifespan for a bird? How does this compare to other birds?
Unit 6 (now Unit 5):
- Set up: the readings and quiz were placed on Blackboard and assigned prior to class.
- I had all groups share top criteria for setting conservation priorities, although in shorter or larger classes one could just sample a few groups. Many different criteria were chosen, and I stressed that there was no best criteria.
- I used the unit with no modifications.
Assessments
I used all of the formative assessments embedded within the units except for Unit 3 (now Unit 2), where I had students turn in the handout for grading instead of the optional homework. The formative assessments allowed me to monitor student learning, provide feedback, and identify gaps and misconceptions. These could then be addressed while teaching the module and in my revision of materials. The summative assessment was included as part of the final exam, but could also be assigned as homework.
Outcomes
My primary goals for this module were to increase knowledge and foster curiosity about the natural environment by students at my urban institution. The focus on biodiversity loss, a critical issue facing society, really sparked interest. This was clear both in the classroom and pre- and post-instruction surveys. Through the module students were truly able to see the impact humans are having on biodiversity and could evaluate this impact in the context of the long-term geologic record.
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