Global Climate Change and Earth History
Bob Mackay, Clark College
This course introduces students to Global Change Science through lecture presentations, classroom discussions, assigned readings, and activities designed specifically to complement lecture topics. The course is ...

The Earth's Record of Climate
Kevin Theissen, University of St. Thomas (MN)
In this course students explore the Earth's climate system and the climatic changes that have occurred during the history of the planet. Students get a hands-on introduction to the collection, analysis,and ...

Human Dimensions of Climate Change: Past and Future
Persaram Batra, Mount Holyoke College
In this course we will examine how rapid climate change has affected human civilizations in the past and how it might in the future. Through a critical reading of the literature and by analysis and discussion we ...

Robert MacKay: Using Earth's Thermostat in Meteorology 101: The Atmosphere and the Environment at Clark College
Bob Mackay, Clark College
Earth's Thermostat module engaged my introductory meteorology students in actively learning about energy flows and balances within the Earth system. Our module units help my student learn by analyzing data using the methods of geoscience. Systems thinking in relation to Earth's energy balance climate and society is also a central theme of our module.

Allison Dunn: Using Earth's Thermostat in Physical Geography at Worcester State University
Allison Dunn, Worcester State University
Capturing students' interest with real data I teach Physical Geography, a survey class that introduces students to the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere. I incorporated the Earth's Thermostat module in lieu of my typical coverage of chapters on Earth's energy balance, temperature, and climate change. My students really responded to the in-class activities, and you could hear an excited buzz as different groups worked their way through the material for each activity. I think this module is especially powerful because it lets students directly engage with the data behind a major societal issue (climate change). By working with the data itself, instead of reading about it in a text, they felt a greater ownership and understanding of this challenge facing our society.

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.

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.

Climatology
Cindy Shellito, University of Northern Colorado
This course is designed to help students gain a scientific understanding of the physical aspects of Earth's climate system and the factors that influence climate change. We explore the global balance of energy ...

Steve Burian: Using Water Sustainability in Cities at the University of Utah
The goal of the course is to empower students to effect change, by giving them the knowledge and opportunity to connect global and regional issues to local conditions and behaviors. The focus was water and sustainability, with case studies, position papers, field trips, and guest speakers all providing varied perspectives of the key water issues. Topics include governance, community engagement, climate and water, water institutions, and water management.

Sandra Penny: Using Regulating Carbon Emissions in Energy and the Environment (SCI-105) at Bard College
Sandra Penny, Russell Sage College
We spent 4 weeks on this module at the conclusion of a 14-week semester in an introductory course called "Energy and the Environment." Inclusion of this module is my first attempt to reform the course into a more activity-based environment that recognizes that global warming is a topic of special importance to the students. The real strength of this unit is that it brings in economics and politics to the discussion of climate change. About half of my students were business and public policy majors, and they welcomed the opportunity to make connections between a topic about which they are deeply concerned – global warming – and the topics that they have already chosen for their major field of study.