Camille Holmgren

Unit 5: The Sixth Extinction part of Changing Biosphere
In this unit, students will prepare by reading a couple of articles describing the causes and rates of mass extinctions, including the current "Sixth Extinction," and why conservation is important to ...

Unit 4: Impacts of Environmental Change on Organisms: Horses part of Changing Biosphere
In this unit, students will gain a deep-time perspective on how life evolves on a dynamic planet. They will use the Equidae (horse family) as a case study to examine the relationship among climate, biomes, and ...

Unit 3: The Interconnected Nature of the Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, and Biosphere part of Changing Biosphere
Using a systems dynamics approach, students will work in groups to conceptualize and construct a model of the global carbon cycle considering five major Earth systems: atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, ...

Lost At Sea part of Introductory Courses:Activities
Students work as teams to "sail" around the North Atlantic using their knowledge of latitude, longitude, time, winds, and ocean currents to complete the voyage.

Tectonics, Earthquakes, Volcanoes part of Introductory Courses:Activities
This is a two-part homework exercise. In the first part, students use on-line courseware from California State University, Los Angeles to investigate seismograph records. In the second part, students complete a ...

World Natural Environments part of Introductory Courses:Courses
This is an introductory physical geography course that explores the dynamics of the earth's physical environment including the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere and the linkages between these ...

Changing Biosphere part of Changing Biosphere
This module will give students a series of experiences exploring relationships among changes in the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. By studying a series of historical and current examples of the ...

Camille Holmgren: Using Changing Biosphere in World Natural Environments at SUNY Buffalo State part of Changing Biosphere
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.