Module 2: History of Food Systems part of Future of Food
Steven Vanek, Pennsylvania State Univ-Penn St. Erie-Behrend Coll; Karl Zimmerer, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
This second module in the Future of Food course provides a historical overview of the emergence and development of food systems until the present. Module 2.1, the first half of this module, describes the transition ...

Capstone Project Stage 1 part of Future of Food
Gigi Richard, Fort Lewis College
The goal of the Future Food Scenarios capstone project is for the students to investigate the food systems in a particular region in depth, and in particular to identify the current situation, determine the ...

Module 6: Crops part of Future of Food
Heather Karsten, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
This module introduces students to key features of crop plants. The first part explores how climate and soil influence human selection of annual and perennial plants and how plant life cycles contribute to soil ...

Module 7: Soils and a Systems Approach to Soil Quality part of Future of Food
Heather Karsten, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
This module introduces what is meant by soil quality or soil health, indicators of soil quality, and the multiple cropping system approaches that can enhance soil quality for agricultural production. In the first ...

Module 11: Human-Environment Interactions part of Future of Food
Steven Vanek, Pennsylvania State Univ-Penn St. Erie-Behrend Coll; Karl Zimmerer, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
Module 11 focuses on the way that human-environment interactions in food systems respond to stress. Food production systems and food systems in general face adversity and must have sources of resilience to overcome ...

Module 10: Food Systems part of Future of Food
Steven Vanek, Pennsylvania State Univ-Penn St. Erie-Behrend Coll; Karl Zimmerer, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
Module 10 continues the theme of human-environment interactions seen at a smaller scale with agroecosystems in Module 8, and develops the ideas of coupled human-natural systems (CHNS) begun at the beginning of the ...

Module 1: Introduction part of Future of Food
Steven Vanek, Pennsylvania State Univ-Penn St. Erie-Behrend Coll; Karl Zimmerer, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
In the two introductory modules (1.1 and 1.2) of the course we will introduce the main theme of the course: learning about food systems as systems that combine human social systems, with the natural earth system ...

Summative Assessment: Creating a model part of Modeling Earth Systems
Kirsten Menking, Vassar College; Louisa Bradtmiller, Macalester College; David Bice, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
The summative assessment for this course requires students to construct, utilize, and critique a numerical model of a climate-related Earth system of their choosing. The project involves four pieces: creating a ...

Unit 2: Modeling Population part of Modeling Earth Systems
Kirsten Menking, Vassar College; David Bice, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
In this unit, students create three different STELLA models to explore a variety of concepts related to population growth and resource use. The first model simulates the classic lynx-snowshoe hare predator-prey ...

Unit 2: Application of Concepts to Case Studies part of Major Storms and Community Resilience
Patricia Stapleton, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Lisa Doner, Plymouth State University; Lorraine Motola, Metropolitan College of New York
In Unit 2, students apply and evaluate foundational concepts about storm hazards and risk in the context of two cases studies: Superstorm Sandy (2012) and the Storm of the Century (1993). Through different ...