Threading Climate Justice, an Equity Ethic, and Systems Thinking Through a General Chemistry Course part of Curriculum for the Bioregion:Activities
Using a series of case studies incorporated into lectures, activities, and laboratory sessions, I thread climate justice throughout the first quarter of General Chemistry. Case studies highlight social justice issues exacerbated by the climate crisis, which humanizes abstract chemistry content and engages students with an equity ethic. For some case studies, students use systems thinking to identify the compositions and phases of matter present in real-world environments and contexts.

Afghan Poppies, Climate Change and US Heroin: Thinking Systemically About Us and Them part of Curriculum for the Bioregion:Activities
This very simple contemplative exercise is rooted in my "Person/Planet Politics" approach, which invites students to into an experiential relationship with a global socioecological phenomenon: in this instance, Afghan poppy production. It can be adapted to a range of courses and a range of topics within those courses. The basic question is: "Who am I in relation to this?"

Courting Environmental Justice: Science, Community Knowledge and Public Health part of Curriculum for the Bioregion:Activities
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.

Investigating Local Food: Meet Your Washington Farmers part of Curriculum for the Bioregion:Activities
This assignment sequence seeks to stimulate students' thinking and writing about food production in the western Washington bioregion through a series of activities combining readings, class discussion, fieldwork, and writing assignments. Collaborative work in and outside of class culminates in students' interviewing local farmers and vendors at farmers markets and writing a surprising informative essay.

The Dark Side of Mineral Mining part of Teaching Activities
Students choose one of four short articles to read about mineral mining, including the impacts of mining on the Native American community in the region. Each article highlights a specific example where the ...

Sensitivity of Parameters in Chaotic Systems part of Teaching Computation with MATLAB:MATLAB Workshop 2019:Activities
In this computer lab activity, students explore and discuss the nature of the sensitivity of parameters in a chaotic system. As a result, they understand the challenges of numerical simulation and/or parameters ...

Toxic Hygiene: How Safe Is Your Bathroom? part of Curriculum for the Bioregion:Activities
Students learn about potential safety and health concerns of personal hygiene products. Students examine labels and advertisements of these projects and then engage in rhetorical and cultural analysis of these advertisements.

Delocalized Diets: Globalization, Food, and Culture part of Curriculum for the Bioregion:Activities
This assignment addresses cultural sustainability by asking students to go beyond distinguishing between five subsistence strategies to examining the impact of globalization on diet and culture.

Climate Instability and Disease part of Curriculum for the Bioregion:Activities
The module was designed to introduce students to a variety of biological processes of infectious disease that are connected through human activities and climate instability.

Chemistry Laboratory Waste Evaluation part of Curriculum for the Bioregion:Activities
From the scientific viewpoint, this evaluation will help the students see a process instead of just a data collection event, and they will get to practice estimating amounts. They will also need to determine the products of any reactions performed during the experiment. From the standpoint of sustainability, this evaluation is intended to help the student recognize the environmental "cost" of an experiment-in consumables used and in waste products generated.