Scott Linneman: Using Exploring Geoscience Methods with Secondary Education Students in Methods in Secondary Education for Science Teachers at Western Washington University
This one quarter, 5-credit course is for pre-service secondary science teachers. It includes the study of literature, curriculum, and teaching strategies in life, Earth, and physical sciences for grades 4-12. Students also participate in peer teaching and school observations. Prerequisites include admission to the secondary teaching program and a major or concentration in natural sciences; one course as an introduction to secondary education; and one course as an introduction to science education.

Louisa Bradtmiller: Modeling Earth Systems at Macalester College
Louisa Bradtmiller, Macalester College
Building skills and confidence through modeling This course attempts to teach students to think like a modeler in a single semester, without any pre-requisites in math or computer science. By using a visually-based software package and introducing a few new ideas and skills each week, students acquire the tools they need to test hypotheses with their own independently-constructed models by the end of the course. The course was unique for me because there was almost no lecturing; just a few minutes at the start of each week's 3-hour block. The fact that the students spent almost all of in-class time each week working on translating the readings into working models meant that they got to try, fail, ask questions, talk with each other, and try again, all with the instructor present.

Kirsten Menking: Using Modeling Earth Systems in Modeling the Earth at Vassar College
Kirsten Menking, Vassar College
I used the Modeling Earth Systems materials in my senior seminar at Vassar College in the spring of 2016. I have taught a numerical modeling course for many years now, but this was the first time that the course focused entirely on the climate system. Fourteen students, drawing from the programs in Earth Science, Biology, and Environmental Studies, took the course. During that time, students learned the fundamentals of modeling in the context of exercises about Earth's radiative equilibrium with the sun, the role of life in moderating climate, the impact of changes in Earth's orbital cycles on the growth and decay of ice sheets, how climate change affects thermohaline circulation (and vice versa), and how human greenhouse gas emissions are altering global temperatures, among other topics.

Dr. Dave Bice: Using Modeling Earth Systems in Modeling the Earth System at The Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
David Bice, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
This course attempts to teach students to think like a modeler and learn about Earth System dynamics through the construction and experimentation with computer models. At Penn State, this is a required class for a new major on Earth Science and Policy, and its prerequisites include calculus, chemistry, and introductory earth science. There were no traditional lectures in this class; students came to each class period having completed the background reading. The class periods were working sessions in which the students worked through exercises that guided them through constructing and then experimenting with models created in STELLA (a visually-based program for creating models).

Karl Kreutz: Using Systems Thinking in Global Environmental Change at University of Maine
Karl Kreutz, University of Maine
My course focuses on the reservoir of atmospheric carbon dioxide – what controls it, how it has changed in the geologic past, how it is changing now and the role that humans have played in its evolution, the effects on Earth's energy balance, and potential future climate and environmental implications. Because these processes play out on a range of time and space scales, direct experimentation is difficult in an undergraduate setting. Systems thinking provides an ideal platform for understanding the flow of carbon between reservoirs, and for gaining an appreciation of how important the intersection of earth science and society is with respect to carbon, climate, and energy. Implementing this module made a dramatic difference in the class, improving student learning on everything from global models of the carbon cycle to the formation and flow of methane in our local peat bog.

Ashlee Dere: Introduction to the Critical Zone at University of Nebraska at Omaha
Ashlee Dere, University of Nebraska at Omaha
The Introduction to the Critical Zone modules work well as a small (< 20 students) upper level/graduate course for geoscience majors and is now a permanent part of our geoscience curriculum. The materials employ active learning techniques that are enjoyable to work on with the students and provide a strong foundation in Critical Zone Science. Students really enjoyed the interdisciplinary nature of the material and the opportunity to use real data and practice skills they are likely to use in their jobs. The students reported and demonstrated improvement in their critical thinking skills and confidence in problem solving because the course focused on building skills rather than memorizing content.

Kathryn Baldwin: Using Soils and Society at Eastern Washington University
This is an introductory science and social studies methods course intended for pre-service K–8 teachers. Pre-service teachers typically take this course mid-way through the teacher preparation program at EWU. This course is designed to introduce pre-service K–8 teachers to methods and materials for teaching science and social studies in elementary and middle school.

Marshall Shepherd: Using Water Sustainability in Cities at the University of Georgia
The United Nations estimates that by the year 2025, 60% of the world's population will live in cities. Human activity in urban environments alters atmospheric composition; impacts components of the water cycle; and modifies the carbon cycle and ecosystems. A more integrated understanding of the complex interactions of the urban environment and the Earth system is needed. To understand the urban-climate system linkage, an interdisciplinary effort combining in situ and remote sensing, modeling, and human dimension assessment is ultimately required.

Terri Plake: Using Water, Agriculture, and Sustainability in Hydrology: Sacred Waters at Northwest Indian College
terri plake, Northwest Indian College
A Success Story in Building Student Engagement I teach at a tribal college in the Pacific Northwest. The module was piloted in an introductory hydrology course that focuses on our local hydrologic systems with emphasis on salmonid habitat. The course is an elective for the Bachelors Degree in Native Environmental Science and taken by students interested mainly in natural resource management. Class size is generally 5-8 students, however the module was piloted in a class with only 2 students enrolled.

Richard David Gragg III: Using Lead in the Environment in Fundamental of Environmental Science at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
My course, Fundamentals of Environmental Science, is one of four sections taught spring and fall semesters, is an introductory environmental science course for non-science majors with a fairly broad environmental emphasis. I engage the students through lectures and discussions in the context of case studies; a co-authored online textbook: Your Environmental Connections; essay assignments and exams; and a final creative project presentation. This module substituted an existing module on the same topic in the syllabus.