Advanced exploration of the ecological consequences of trophic downgrading in mixed/short grass prairies in North America
Dennis Ruez, University of Illinois at Springfield
North American ecosystems have fundamentally changed over the late Pleistocene and Holocene; from a system dominated by mammoths, to bison, to domestic livestock. Given the very different body size and herd formation of these 'ecosystem engineers', it is likely that animals influence soil structure, water tables, vegetation and other animals in the ecosystems. What has been the ecological influence of the continued 'downsizing' of the largest animals in the ecosystem?

Peter Selkin, University of Washington-Tacoma Campus; Laurel Goodell, Princeton University; Rachel Teasdale, California State University-Chico
This unit builds on what students have learned about transform fault hazards to introduce the idea of risk. Students examine earthquake risk along the San Andreas Fault in San Francisco by examining public school ...

Unit 2.1: Why are waves created and what is the point of them?
Sandra Penny, Russell Sage College
Waves are observable all over the place, so why do they exist? Students analyze properties such as wave speed, distance traveled, and time elapsed through their own explorations. They are introduced to new lab ...

What are the ecological consequences of trophic downgrading in mixed/short grass prairies in North America?
Dennis Ruez, University of Illinois at Springfield
North American ecosystems have fundamentally changed over the late Pleistocene and Holocene; from a system dominated by mammoths, to bison, to domestic livestock. Given the very different body size and herd formation of these 'ecosystem engineers', it is likely that animals influence soil structure, water tables, vegetation and other animals in the ecosystems. What has been the ecological influence of the continued 'downsizing' of the largest animals in the ecosystem?

Ecological Autobiography
Maureen Ryan, Western Washington University
The ecological autobiography is a multi-stage reflective and written exercise that draws on students' personal history and experiences as they consider the ecological context of some period of their lives. The goal is to individually and collectively explore how the landscapes and ecological communities we have inhabited influence us as individuals, set the context of our lives, and influence our expectations of landscape.

Migration: An Empathy Exercise
Maureen Ryan, Western Washington University
Migration: An Empathy Exercise is a multi-step reflective exercise designed to build empathy and personal insight into processes of loss, change, and reconnection associated with the disruption of personal and cultural connections to landscape.

Courting Environmental Justice: Science, Community Knowledge and Public Health
Lin Nelson, The Evergreen State College
While this module was developed when we followed the federal criminal case around WR Grace and asbestos exposure in a small Montana mining town, it can be adapted for a range of learning experiences regarding environmental justice, argumentation, strategizing, remediation and sustainability.

Understanding flood risk at the community level
Lisa Doner, Plymouth State University
University level activity on floodplain risks. Uses FEMA maps and SERC river geomorphology videos.

The Pangea Puzzle
Katherine Ryker, University of South Carolina-Columbia; Callan Bentley, Piedmont Virginia Community College; Mark Uhen, George Mason University
Students learn how to use the Paleobiology Database (PBDB) to produce maps of fossils on the present day Earth's surface, as well as past continental configurations. They do this by mapping the occurrence of ...

What Lives Down There?
laStelshia Speaks, Baltimore County Public Schools
Learners will travel through a process of learning involving reading a book together, comparing video presentations to information within the book, utilize vocabulary to demonstrate expansion of retained ...