Activity 1: Systems Thinking Vocabulary Introduction
Cameron Weiner, Middlebury College
This 30 minute activity introduces systems and systems thinking vocabulary. The activity uses a bathroom sink to introduce simple systems vocabulary. At the end of the activity, students think about the importance ...

Investigating Bacterial Contamination in Snapfinger Creek
Samantha Andrews, Georgia State University
Water quality is a global concern for natural and potable water sources. Lack of access to clean water due to poor sanitation can lead to microbial disease outbreaks, such as cholera, that can cause serious ...

Unit 2: Sensory Log & Holistic Reflection
Lisa Phillips, Texas Tech University; Kate Darby, Western Washington University; Michael Phillips, Illinois Valley Community College
In this unit, students will keep a log of immediate, personal sensory experiences by pausing once each hour over a period of ten hours and recording the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and tactile experiences they ...

Part 2: Field work planning & investigation
Kate Darby, Western Washington University; Michael Phillips, Illinois Valley Community College; Lisa Phillips, Texas Tech University
In Part 2 of this unit, student groups will plan and execute the field collection of sensory data (scents and/or sounds) using previously developed data collection protocols. The advantage of using sensory data is ...

Unit 4: Case Study Analysis
Lisa Phillips, Texas Tech University; Kate Darby, Western Washington University; Michael Phillips, Illinois Valley Community College
In this unit, student groups will evaluate different environmental case studies to critically investigate qualitative and quantitative data analysis, collection, and inquiry. Students will begin to consider ...

Unit 5: Sensory Map Development
Kate Darby, Western Washington University; Michael Phillips, Illinois Valley Community College; Lisa Phillips, Texas Tech University
In this unit, student groups will use sensory data (scents and/or sounds) collected in the field to create maps of the sensory environment and relate their findings to larger environmental problems identified in ...

Unit 3: Food Systems In Action
Richard D. Schulterbrandt Gragg III, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University; John Warford, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University; Cynthia Hewitt, Morehouse College; Akin Akinyemi, Florida State University; Cheryl Young, Heritage University; Bakari McClendon, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
In the capstone, Unit 3, students are provided a real-world example of local community action to address the challenge of "healthy food access." The 2015 Leon County (Florida) Sustainable Communities ...

Unit 2: Fluvial Processes that Shape the Natural Landscape
Julie Monet, California State University-Chico
In this unit, students examine the interaction between the hydrologic cycle and rock cycle through exploring the processes of weathering, erosion, transport and deposition of sediments both in real stream systems ...

Unit 3: How Streams Change
Kyle Gray, University of Northern Iowa
Students use Google Earth to observe two river systems and characterize changes in gradient from the headwaters to the mouth, and relate changes in those gradients to different rock types. At one location, they ...

Unit 2: Systems Thinking and the Wicked Problem of Global Food Security
Rebecca Boger, Brooklyn College, CUNY; Russanne Low, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies; Amy Potter, Armstrong State University
Armed with an overview of the complexity of issues associated with global food security, this unit begins by contextualizing food security as an example of a wicked problem. Wicked problems are problems that are ...