Is The Water Safe for Aquatic Life? part of Curriculum for the Bioregion:Activities
Sue Habeck, Tacoma Community College
In this field activity students ponder sustainability issues such as point and non-point sources of pollution (including personal contributions), impacts of pollution, and potential mitigations.

An Environmental Analysis of Lake Waughop part of Curriculum for the Bioregion:Activities
Karen Harding, Pierce College
Through an analysis of water quality in a nearby lake, students are introduced to basic chemical techniques such as titrations (both acid/base and oxidation/reduction), atomic absorption spectrometry, and uv/vis spectrometry

How Many Plants Make a Future? The Carbon Dioxide Challenge part of Curriculum for the Bioregion:Activities
Rus Higley, Highline Community College Marine Science and Technology Center, Vanessa Hunt and Timothy Sorey, Central Washington University
This activity focuses on the role of photosynthesis in a sustainable future. Students explore the effect of photosynthesis and respiration in a 'closed systems' containing plankton, marine plants, and fish. By calculating carbon dioxide uptake and production in these systems, they predict a plant: animal ratio sufficient to maintain a system in carbon dioxide 'balance' for one hour.