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 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 ...

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 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 ...

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 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 ...

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 3: Managing the Risks of Lead Exposure part of Lead in the Environment
Katrina Korfmacher (University of Rochester), Richard Gragg (Florida A&M), Martha Richmond (Suffolk University), and Caryl Waggett (Allegheny College)
In the past two units, students considered the strengths and limitations of scientific tools to identify exposure pathways and demographic patterns of lead poisoning. In Unit 3, students evaluate domestic ...

Unit 1: Foundational Concepts part of Major Storms and Community Resilience
Lisa Doner, Plymouth State University; Lorraine Motola, Metropolitan College of New York; Patricia Stapleton, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Unit 1 introduces foundational concepts in geoscience, emergency management, and political science that are critical for developing a systems thinking approach and for achieving the learning objectives in the storm ...