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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Unit 5 will delve more into an examination of food security using online ArcGIS. The class begins with a GIS-based exploration of data available for the three regions. The rest of the class period is provided for group work creating an action plan for a food insecurity issue teams have identified for their region. Students will utilize their maps from ArcGIS Online within their action plan. One component of the summative assessment, to be submitted in Unit 6, is a community-based action plan of how the selected community can increase food security and lessen vulnerability.

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Students will examine data that record the modern increase in carbon dioxide concentrations and the associated increase in average temperatures, and they will investigate the effects of carbon dioxide on various components of the Earth system (atmosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere -- oceans). Students also learn how the burning of fossil fuels contributes to increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide.

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Is sea level change globally uniform? How do sea level changes have the potential to influence major metropolitan areas during the next century? How should these changes be addressed, and who should be responsible for taking action? In this unit, the conclusion to the Ice Mass and Sea Level Change module, students explore the potential impacts of sea level change on the economy, infrastructure, and residents of Southern California and New York City. Students also consider how changes in these two regions will have a widespread influence on other US cities, even for landlocked communities.

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Online-adaptable: This sea level impact analysis is designed to be done in small groups and possibly with a class gallery walk. These would need to be converted to small online groups and online discussion. The Part 4 wall walk could potentially be adapted to class discussion that uses polling feature to see people's opinions. Arguments could be made verbally or with the chat box.

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In this unit, student groups will use sensory data (scents and/or sounds) collected in the field to create maps of the sensory environment and relate their findings to larger environmental problems identified in their guiding questions and hypotheses. This unit is designed to build upon prior units in which students develop guiding questions and hypotheses, field data collection protocols, and field investigation plans. The field investigation will require a base map on which to record data and a final map on which to display data and characterize the study area and environmental impact of the mapped data. The base map will be derived from aerial imagery if the investigation site is outside. The base map will be derived from a building schematic or floor map if an interior location is mapped.
Class time will be devoted to developing maps on which students will display the data collected in the field. Students will use Google Earth or other online resources to obtain aerial (or other schematic) imagery of their study area. They may use an aerial image as a base map or they may draw their own maps based on the aerial imagery. If the site is indoors, a blueprint or floor plan can be the base map, or students can draw their own maps based on an existing image or schematic.
Sensory mapping allows students to identify scent plumes as they migrate away from source locations. Odor plumes and sounds are analogous to plumes of contaminants that migrate through groundwater, surface water, and air. In many instances, the presence of unusual odors is an indicator of migrating contaminants and can lead to sampling by environmental professionals (including geoscientists) to confirm and quantify contaminant migration through the environment. These maps serve as representations of the complex odor or sound systems in the students' chosen geographical areas.

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In the final unit of the module, students will synthesize their understanding of climate science and modes of communication. Students are assigned to groups and given a climate change issue that they will use to demonstrate their understanding of ethos, pathos, and logos, when presented with a variety of audiences. The module summative assessment is designed to be administered after this unit.

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Unit 6 provides an opportunity for students to present their action plans and exchange knowledge about what they have learned in their team case study work. This unit builds on food security and Earth system science covered in the first three units. It can be taught in any course discussing food security or it can be modified to fit a variety of courses of in the sciences and social sciences. The activities included in this unit are appropriate for introductory-level college students or as a basis for more in-depth class discussions on food security for upper-level students.

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