In this natural science lab, students examine different soil profiles along a hillside. Understanding about topsoil formation and conservation is then related to sustainable agriculture and carbon sequestration and its importance in mitigating climate change.

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The activity combines aspects of Earth science (volume of oceans and ice sheets) with calculus (area of a 1x1 degree tile) and Matlab programming. Students calculate the volume of oceans and of ice sheets given the 1x1-degree digital elevation file. They then determine how much ocean levels would rise if all is on Antarctica and Greenland were to melt. To solve this problem in Matlab entry-wise matrix multiplication, loops, selection of cells using the "ginput" command, and different visualizations (grid and contours) are useful. Conceptually students need to think about inundation of coastal areas and shifting of coastlines.

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This activity with a lab report instructs students to solve and plot 160,000 years' worth of ice core data from the Vostok ice core using Excel or similar spreadsheets to analyze data. Students learn about ice cores and what they can tell us about past atmospheric conditions and the past atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and CH4.

SYNOPSIS: This lesson introduces African environmentalist Wangari Maathai and links deforestation with the concepts of governance, poverty, and income opportunities for women in Kenya.

SCIENTIST NOTES: This lesson introduces students to the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Wangari Maathai and deforestation. The Global Forest Watch resource is continually updated. This lesson has passed the science quality assessment.

POSITIVES:
-Learning Wangari Maathai’s story is empowering for students because it emphasizes the fact that nobody is too small to make a difference. Maathai grew up in poverty in rural Kenya. Now she is remembered as one of the most powerful voices for environmental conservation, proper governance, and peace.
-This lesson can inspire students to take direct action, just like Wangari Maathai.
-This lesson is excellent for teaching the interdependence of environmental conservation, proper governance, poverty, income opportunities, and women's rights.
-Global Forest Watch is an incredible resource. It has beautiful, detailed data. Students may want to continue exploring on their own time.
ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:Wangari Maathai (1940-2011) was an environmental and political activist and the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
-In 1977, she founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental organization focused on planting trees and promoting gender equality.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-Making the connection between deforestation and other topics (governance, poverty, income opportunities, and women’s rights) might be difficult for some concrete thinkers.
-You could frame these topics using the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
-Goal 1: No Poverty
-Goal 5: Gender Equality
-Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
-Goal 15: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

This is a ten-question quiz of basic to intermediate information about global climate change.

In this video, students learn that the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska in 1989 was not the sole cause of the decline of species in the local ecosystem. Rather, an explanation is posited for why some animal populations were already in decline when the spill occurred. Many of these animals share a common food: the sand lance, a fish whose populations have shrunk with the steady rise in ocean temperature that began in the late 1970s.

This video documents the challenges that climate change presents for four specific Arctic predators: polar bears, Arctic foxes, beluga whales, and walruses.

Two graphs from the NASA Climate website illustrate the change in global surface temperature relative to 1951-1980 average temperatures. The NASA plot is annotated with temperature-impacting historic events, which nicely connect an otherwise challenging graphic to real-world events.

In this podcast - Going to war for the environment? Dr Matthew Humphrey, Reader in Political Philosophy assesses a controversial theory by Australian academic Professor Robyn Eckersley.

Professor Eckersley is among a group of experts who believe that military intervention may be reasonably used to protect natural resources.

Climate scientists project that future climate conditions will result in increased risk of wildfire across much of the Southwest. Although fires are a natural part of Southern California landscapes, efforts by SDG&E and their partners may help minimize the impacts of future fires.

This video takes viewers high into the Rocky Mountain snowpack, where researchers dig snow pits to explore the source of Colorado's water supply. Highlights the importance of snowpack on the supply of fresh water available in western and southwestern states. Snowmelt dynamics are discussed, including the impact of a warming climate.

SYNOPSIS: This lesson activates students’ background knowledge about water and allows them to make connections while introducing the types and locations of water in the world.

SCIENTIST NOTES: The lesson discusses water, where it is located, spatial extent on Earth, the different forms of water, including estuaries, and how humans can connect with it for abstractive and non-abstractive purposes without altercation. It also provides clear insights for students to understand water resources and the interactions within the marine ecosystem. The images, videos, and accompanying materials in the lesson are well-sourced, and this lesson is recommended for classroom use.

POSITIVES:
-This lesson builds an understanding of the importance of water in our lives.
-This lesson features kinesthetic learning as students move their bodies into yoga poses.
-Students develop an understanding of different types of water.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-This is lesson 1 of 4 in our K-2nd grade Water and Plant Survival unit.
-You will need a copy of Wet by Carey Sookocheff or a similarly themed book for this lesson.
-You will need a large open area for students to complete the yoga exercises. This could be in the classroom or outside.
-Students need green and blue colored pencils or crayons for the Inspire section of the lesson.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-The Shared Reading Guide in the Teacher Document includes several discussion questions. Choose the ones that are best for your students’ interests and experiences with the topic.
-Students can think-pair-share during the read aloud to make predictions or answer questions.
-Sentence frames in the Inquire section are differentiated for student proficiency:
-Circle = basic
-Triangle = target
-Square = challenge
-You can pause the read aloud for students to make observations and predictions about the story.
-There are multiple graphic organizers to choose from in the Investigate section. Use the option menu in the Teacher Slideshow to choose the option that best suits your classroom and students.
-Students with restrictions in mobility can participate in mindful breathing and enjoy as many of the yoga poses as are comfortable for their bodies. Suggestions for modifications are listed in the speaker notes of the Teacher Slideshow.
-If specific directions for yoga poses prove difficult, read the prompts about the living things and play the videos. Instruct students to move their bodies naturally mimicking what they see.
-The Student Document includes several options for the Inspire section. Provide students with scaffolding as appropriate to their reading and writing level.
-Possible extension: Look at the map to find an estuary near your school.

This visualization, from the US Geological Survey, provides a simple schematic of the various pathways that water can take as it cycles through ocean, lakes, atmosphere, surface and ground.

SYNOPSIS: In this lesson, students learn about the water cycle and how climate change impacts its patterns.

SCIENTIST NOTES: This lesson introduces students to water cycle, water scarcity, and issues related to water conservation and climate change, including the global water crisis. Water scarcity and pollution are also discussed, and students are required to test hypotheses to determine if there is a relationship between climate change and the water cycle. All the data sources are properly cited, and this lesson has passed our science credibility process.

POSITIVES:
-Students share diverse perspectives and ideas using the journal prompts which encourage action.
-Students build on their unit journal with each additional lesson in the unit.
-Students participate in multiple interactive and hands-on learning activities to engage in kinesthetic, auditory, and visual learning.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-This is lesson 1 of 4 in our 6th-8th grade Water Cycle, Deforestation, and Climate Change unit.
-Prior set-up is necessary for the Inquire section.
-Materials required for the demonstration include the following:
-4 heat lamps (on a hot sunny day you can use the sun along with a way to amplify the sun's rays)
-3 bowls
-3 mugs or cups
-Plastic wrap
-A recommended heat lamp can be purchased here.
-Previous student knowledge of the water cycle and climate change will be beneficial in this unit. This interactive game can help students learn about the water cycle.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-Students may use the Emotions Board for vocabulary support as they watch the video in the Inquire section.
-The demonstration may be completed in lab groups with each group experimenting with a different system (control, drought, global warming).
-Students may be placed in mixed-ability lab groups to aid in understanding.
-Interactive diagrams can be differentiated based on ability.
-Journal prompts can be used for whole group discussions.

In this lesson, students learn about the water cycle and how climate change impacts its patterns.

Step 1 - Inquire: Students contemplate their relationship with water and observe a demonstration to determine if shifting climates may affect the water cycle.

Step 2 - Investigate: Students explore an interactive diagram about the water cycle.

Step 3 - Inspire: Students watch a video and complete a series of questions in their student journals.

SYNOPSIS: In this lesson, students learn about watersheds, how human activities impact watersheds, and what communities can do to keep the watershed healthy.

SCIENTIST NOTES: This lesson allows students to learn about watersheds, their spatial distribution, and the role they play in improving water quality. Students will also learn about ways of protecting their local watersheds from pollution and other harmful human activities. The materials, maps, and activities embedded in the lesson were thoroughly reviewed, and this lesson has passed our science credibility process.

POSITIVES:
-This lesson provides opportunities for social-emotional check-ins so that students can recognize and understand their feelings as they learn about human-caused problems in watersheds.
-Students will work effectively in small groups.
-Students will feel empowered as they learn how to protect their local watershed and educate others about the importance of keeping the watershed healthy.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-Students should be familiar with the water cycle. The following resources can help students who are unfamiliar with the topic:
-Drop: An Adventure Through the Water Cycle by Emily Kate Moon
-Coloring Page: The Water Cycle
-Students should be able to read a map.
-Teacher will need to gather the following items for each small group for the two Crumpled Paper Watershed activities:
-2 sheets of blank paper
-1 spray bottle filled with water
-A black, brown, red, and blue water-soluble marker

DIFFERENTIATION:
-Students can work on the two Crumpled Paper Watershed activities in mixed-ability groups, pairs, or individually.
-You can tailor the written response activity in the Inspire section to suit students’ needs. For example, stronger writers can be tasked with including three or more terms from the glossary in their response.
-In this lesson, students are required to share their written responses with their local watershed council. You can change how students share their written responses. Further, you can require that students share their responses in more than one way (e.g., watershed council, social media post, newspaper article, etc.)

In this lesson, students learn about watersheds, how human activities impact watersheds, and what communities can do to keep the watershed healthy.

Step 1 - Inquire: Students think about how they use water in their everyday life and the important role that their local watershed plays in their community.

Step 2 - Investigate: Students complete two hands-on activities to understand how watersheds work and the impact that human activities have on watersheds.

Step 3 - Inspire: Students write a poem, short story, or letter about the importance of watershed health and share it with their local watershed council.

SYNOPSIS: In this lesson, students learn about the importance of water to Indigenous Peoples and the need to protect water today.

SCIENTIST NOTES: This lesson allows students to brainstorm ways to support Indigenous Peoples in protecting their waterways. The Indigenous Peoples of Oregon have been living with nature from inception, and this lesson suggests sustainable ways humans can live in harmony with nature. All the maps, images, videos and supporting materials embedded in the lesson are well-sourced. This lesson is recommended for teaching.

POSITIVES:
-This lesson focuses on historical and current injustices faced by Indigenous Peoples.
-This lesson offers students an opportunity to creatively brainstorm ways to protect waterways in the Willamette Valley.
-Students may experience sketchnotes for the first time.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-It is necessary to acquire We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom before the lesson. You can check your school library or local library to borrow a copy of the book.
-Students should add to their sketchnotes throughout the Investigate section. It may be necessary to prompt students intermittently to add to their sketchnotes as they transition from one part of the lesson to another.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-Allow students the choice to complete their sketchnotes on paper or on a device.
-Students are encourage to share their One-Pagers in ways that fit their learning style the best.

In this lesson, students learn about the importance of water to Indigenous Peoples and the need to protect water today.

Step 1 - Inquire: Students describe their personal experiences with local waterways.

Step 2 - Investigate: Students investigate the importance of water to the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, reflect on the need to live in reciprocity with rivers, and explore ways to be water protectors.

Step 3 - Inspire: Students create a One-Pager to demonstrate their learning and explain how they can ally with the Indigenous Peoples of Oregon to protect local waterways.

My article in Geography Review (2019) introduces upper-level high school students to the transboundary dimensions of ostensibly localized and domestic water security issues.