InTeGrate Modules and Courses >Coastal Processes, Hazards and Society > Student Materials > Capstone Project Stage 2
InTeGrate's Earth-focused Modules and Courses for the Undergraduate Classroom
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These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
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These student materials complement the Coastal Processes, Hazards and Society Instructor Materials. If you would like your students to have access to the student materials, we suggest you either point them at the Student Version which omits the framing pages with information designed for faculty (and this box). Or you can download these pages in several formats that you can include in your course website or local Learning Managment System. Learn more about using, modifying, and sharing InTeGrate teaching materials.
Initial Publication Date: December 7, 2016

Capstone Project Stage 2

Course Capstone Project and Assessment: Coastal Vulnerability Audit

At this stage, you should be well into your vulnerability audit. We are halfway through the course modules and it is important that we assess your progress to see that you are setting yourself up for success to complete the capstone project appropriately. If you have fallen behind, this is your chance to catch up.

CVAT Instructions:

We give you two ways to assess and document your progress. First, you should have been using the CVAT weekly to guide your data collection and organize your ideas and research information as you prepare for your Google Earth audio-annotated tour.

Stage 1: Capstone Overview – Ready, Set, Go

►Stage 2: Physical System Assessment

Stage 3: Vulnerability Planning & Action

Stage 4a: Vulnerability, Planning & Action

►Stage 4b: Site Specific Concerns or Considerations

Stage 4c: Recommended Resiliency Action Plans

►Stage 4d: References and Key Resources

CVAT Assessment: Where do you stand?

Given the listed stages above, you should have at this point:

  1. Selected, notified your instructor of your research site, and confirmed that it is assigned to you.
  2. Initiated research and data compilation in the sections that are highlighted above. These include work on Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 4b, Stage 4d at a minimum.
  3. Initiated a PowerPoint portfolio (or similar digital notebook like OneNote, etc.). It should contain Excel plots of shoreline profiles, sea-level projections, etc. from earlier assignments
  4. Developed a Google Earth folder in your "My Places" folder that has key geographic, geologic features noted and as appropriate with descriptions and links to external resources
  5. Compiled an initial list of questions that you have about your site related to key course topics and initiated significant efforts to answer them to enhance your learning outcomes.

Note: You will need to download the Worksheet linked below to turn in your assignment. The tables that you will be updating are shown below for your convenience. As noted earlier, DO NOT give one-word responses as you fill in the CVAT. You need to think deeply about each response and write responses that reflect that depth of thought as informed by your research.

Files

Download Worksheet (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 21kB Sep7 16)

Capstone Stage 2 Plan:

A second way to think about and evaluate your progress is through systems thinking. The two-part diagram below is designed to help you think about the interactions of various Earth systems around your chosen coastal zone that produce positive and negative feedbacks and how they affect the human landscapes of your city. Download an animated PowerPoint version of this diagram here (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 240kB Sep7 16); view it in Slide Show mode to step through the steps in the plan.

Work through the five steps, starting with A2. On a separate sheet of paper, write a paragraph that explains how the coastal setting affects people, infrastructure, resources, and more. Do the same for B2 through E2. Be sure to discuss relationships among the various components of the systems, specifying the nature of the relationships. If you are unsure of how to denote these relationships, see the animated PowerPoint (in slide show mode) that you can download here (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 72kB Sep7 16).

These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
Explore the Collection »