Laura Rademacher: Environmental Science for Informed Citizens at University of the Pacific
Laura Rademacher, University of the Pacific
My course is an introductory environmental science course. Over time, I've incorporated more opportunities for active learning in the classroom and students respond favorably to spending additional time on the topics they find most compelling. The incorporation of integrate modules has provided new opportunities for active learning in the classroom. Most of the modules lead students through case studies, many of which are focused on regions outside of California and those could broaden my students' perspectives on these issues.

Climate Change: Past & Present, Local & Global
Cheryl Manning, OrbWeaver Consulting, LLC; Rondi Davies, CUNY Queensborough Community College
Average inquiry level: Guided inquiry In this laboratory exercise for introductory geology or environmental science courses, students use data to examine climate change in their local environment. They compare ...

Riparian Plant Lab
Julie Stoughton, University of Nevada-Reno
In this field exercise for an introductory environmental science course, students investigate plant cover and type in a riparian area using transects. The final assignment is a lab report that includes a summary data table, a graph of cover types along their transect and an analysis of riparian health.

Introductory Concepts in Soil Chemistry
J McClelland
This is an introductory lab for Environmental Science, investigating the bulk density of soil and water holding capacity.

Modeling Rare Plant Distributions Using ArcGIS
Elizabeth Crook, University of California-Irvine
In this activity, students work with rare plant occurrence data from the Nature Reserve of Orange County, California to create species distribution maps in ArcGIS. Students are given shapefiles of species ...

Greenhouse Effect Lab
Krista Larsen, Carleton College
In this lab, students measure temperature changes inside soda bottles (one with CO2 added, the other with only air inside) as incandescent light is shined on them to model the Greenhouse Effect.

Ocean Acidification and Modern Extinctions
Steve Wang, Swarthmore College
This lesson plan and lab activity is designed for middle school students and is intended to take two classes or lab periods. Students learn about pH, ocean acidification, and the connection to modern extinctions. ...

Measuring Ground Motion with GPS: How GPS Works
Shelley E Olds, EarthScope Consortium
With printouts of typical GPS velocity vectors found near different tectonic boundaries and models of a GPS station, demonstrate how GPS work to measure ground motion.GPS velocity vectors point in the direction that a GPS station moves as the ground it is anchored to moves. The length of a velocity vector corresponds to the rate of motion. GPS velocity vectors thus provide useful information for how Earth's crust deforms in different tectonic settings.

Hurricanes Unit Overview
LuAnn Dahlman, NOAA; John McDaris, Carleton College
In this EarthLabs module, students will do hands-on experiments and study hurricanes in satellite imagery and visualizations. They'll also explore over 150 years of storm data to find out when and where these storms occur. If students are studying hurricanes during hurricane season, they can monitor the position and status of storms in real time. Hurricanes can serve as an exciting entry point into understanding everyday weather, or a culminating topic for an Earth system or environmental science unit.

Explore Real Data from an Ice Core
Jason Cervenec, Ohio State University-Main Campus; Stacy Porter, Wittenberg University
Ice core data allow students to explore a number of patterns while learning that researchers need to gather and interpret evidence to understand Earth's past. Students will explore core data collected in ...