This unit has students build on a system diagram, to include new knowledge about quantitative values and relationships. They will also write about and discuss what they know about their systems, the questions that still remain, and how to find answers to their questions.

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In this two-day activity spanning Units 4 and 5, students analyze spatial variation in climate through a map-based jigsaw exploration of NASA's Earth's Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) data. By the end of the activity students will have created maps and graphs illustrating the global radiation balance and used their knowledge to develop and refine hypotheses regarding impacts of global climate change.

In Unit 5 (day 2 of activity) students work in new groups that include members who analyzed each of the three ERBE datasets from day 1 of the activity (Unit 4). These synthesis groups work together to summarize their observations and infer regions of radiation excess and deficit in graph and map forms. These new figures are used to facilitate a whole-class discussion of the global radiation balance. The unit ends with a discussion of how atmospheric circulation acts to balance the radiation budget and the impacts of a changing climate on other Earth systems.

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In this week-long unit students will explore Critical Zone function and dynamics as they relate to nutrient cycling in agricultural systems and nutrient pollution into aquatic systems. This unit is generally subdivided into three sections: (1) nutrient pollution (2) agricultural importance and (3) Critical Zone function and dynamics in relation to nutrient cycling. The students will use data sets, interactive activities, primary literature, and videos to allow them to examine the role that the CZ plays and how that role changes with differing land uses. Important present-day topics of food production, clean water, nutrient pollution, and sustainable agriculture are examined using a CZ lens. Students will interact with each other on a variety of scales (individual, small groups, entire class) and using a variety of modes (presentations, written reports, question and answers, and class discussion) in this unit. Additionally, optional activities are provided if lab activities are able to be accommodated. The unit ends with a summative assessment assignment that is based on an innovative call for proposals to combat one of America's most widespread, costly, and challenging environmental problems: nutrient pollution.

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This unit is the module's capstone project: developing a conceptual model of the climatic and societal effects of a catastrophic volcanic eruption occurring in modern times. Through independent research and in-class collaboration, students explore the climatic and societal effects of past volcanic eruption events. Students are then introduced to the large Toba eruption event, review concept maps, concept sketches, and system diagrams, and are are given examples and guidelines for conceptual model design. Students complete their written summary outside of class.

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Students are introduced to the concept of geoengineering, "the deliberate large-scale intervention in the Earth's climate system, in order to moderate global warming" (The Royal Society). The goal is for them to leverage their acquired knowledge from previous units in physical oceanography, ocean chemistry, biodiversity, and ecosystem ecology to evaluate the validity and/or the risk of geoengineering (systems thinking). Current and future generations will be required to make informed decisions on whether they support strategies that result in irreversible changes in Earth's carbon cycle.

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Unit 6 covers the preliminary design of a rainwater harvesting unit. Pre-class assignments provide background on rainwater harvesting. An active learning exercise steps student teams through the process of sizing a rainwater harvesting cistern, using water demand estimates from Units 4 and 5. The activity leads into a revision of the water system mind map developed in previous units.

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Unit 7 continues the use of the CME Building Case Study to explore water sustainability in the context of a building. The activity is extended to the catchment level, and a new tool for catchment level storm water management is introduced. Students are exposed in the pre-class assignments to low impact development (LID) and green infrastructure and the EPA National Stormwater Calculator. In class, the central activity is applying the EPA National Stormwater Calculator to evaluate an LID control plan for the CME building case study. The unit brings together concepts from previous units through the use of the calculator. The impact of landscapes, buildings, and other features on storm water runoff is illustrated. And the potential benefit of LID controls is analyzed. The homework assignment engages students in the search for a local green infrastructure site to take a picture and summarize the site in the context of a sustainable site.

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Unit 9 is a group activity that requires students to apply the material they have learned in Units 1 -- 8 in an urban water system design project. Students are presented with a scenario and are required to select options to design a feasible and sustainable urban water system that considers the triple bottom line in their design. The design project requires that students consider hydrologic processes (e.g., evapotranspiration, runoff) in designing outdoor landscaping and amount of pervious and impervious area. Students also consider indoor water use efficiency and other methods (e.g., rain barrels) to reduce water consumption. Students are also asked to consider the connection between urban development and atmospheric processes. Students apply systems thinking by connecting hydrologic and atmospheric processes with the human built system. Student groups present their design to the class and assess each other's designs. These activities can be used as a summative assessment for the entire module.

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This activity uses concept mapping as a tool for students to experience the complexity that is inherent in many sustainability-related issues.

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Students will be answering the question of when government intervention is justified in protests and demonstrations. Students will prepare a concept map of claims and finding evidence to support their claims.

This is a concept and curriculum map for the water cycle aligned to Oklahoma's Academic Standards (OAS). It is currently a work in progress.