Instructor Stories and Adaptations

Michelle A. Fisher, M.N.S.: Using Changing Biosphere in Biology for Majors at Three Rivers College
Michelle Fisher, Three Rivers Community College
Over a 5-week period, I incorporated the "Changing Biosphere" module into the Ecology section of my Biology for Majors course to allow students to explore the interdependence between the biotic and abiotic world through changes in relationships among the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. This Spring 2018 semester, I had 16 students. The class had four 50-minute lectures, one 2-hour lab per week. The course is for 5 Credit Hours (Contact Hours: Lecture 4 hours, Laboratory 2 hours. Total 6 hours per week). We met on T/Th from 8:00 AM – 10:45 AM Through use of the module, I hoped to connect the geosciences to the study of ecology and to the understanding humans as actors in the dynamic and evolving nature of ecosystems. I hoped to integrate scientific data of the geologic record of biodiversity to apply student understanding of how the Earth's interrelated systems have responded to change in the past to address the grand challenge of threats to biodiversity in modern day.

Ellen Wisner: Using InTeGrate Materials in General Biology II at University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Ellen Wisner, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
I used material from three different Integrate modules in my General Biology II course. This is the second biology course taken by majors at UNCC, and covers evolution, animal and plant structure and function, and ecology. As a part of the course students do a service learning project related to sustainability. These modules helped to incorporate more discussion of topics related to sustainability in the course, and helped to better link their service learning project to the material covered during class.

Molly Redmond: Using InTeGrate Materials in Biology 3144 (Ecology) at UNC Charlotte
Molly Redmond, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Teaching the Carbon Cycle, Climate Change, and Feedback Loops in Introductory Ecology I used material from the Carbon, Climate and Energy Resources Module and the Changing Biosphere Module, along with some inspiration from the Systems Thinking Module, in my intro Ecology class. This a required core class for Biology majors at UNCC and consists largely of juniors and seniors, but most students have little to no background in environmental science or ecology. I taught two sections of this class, each section had 76 students and met twice a week for 75 minutes. I did the activities in both sections. Our classroom was designed for active learning, with 76 desks on wheels. These desks can face forward during the lecture portion of the class or be moved into groups for activities. This flexible arrangement works very well for my class, which is mix of traditional lecture, frequent clicker questions, and longer group activities. The room has five projectors, so students can see slides on all walls of the room. The one downside is that the room is so full of desks, it's challenging for me to move around the classroom and nearly impossible for the students to move around out of their desks. I modified the InTeGrate materials to suit the physical structure of the classroom and my relatively large (but not huge) classes.

Teaching about the Critical Zone and the Changing Biosphere
Nov 30 2016 Wednesday, November 30th 10:00 am PT | 11:00 am MT | 12:00 pm CT | 1:00 pm ET Presenters: Camille Holmgren (SUNY Buffalo State) and Tim White (Penn State University) This webinar is part of a series supporting ...