This course uses the basic principles of biology and earth science as a context for understanding environmental policies and resource management practices. Our planet is facing unprecedented environmental challenges, from oil spills to global climate change. In ENSC 1000, you will learn about the science behind these problems; preparing you to make an informed, invaluable contribution to Earth’s future. I hope that each of you is engaged by the material presented and participates fully in the search for, acquisition of, and sharing of information within our class.

Introduction to Environmental Science and Sustainability Canvas Commons Course

SUS 102

General Description:

This course serves to introduce students to the science behind critical environmental debates and the biological basis of creating and maintaining sustainable ecosystems. This course focuses on critical thinking skills to assess such questions as: how do we decide what to believe about environmental issues? How do we predict trends in population growth, or climate change? How do we calculate and understand uncertainty in these predictions? Should people eat lower on the food chain? How are human activities linked to the phosphorus and nitrogen cycles, and pollution and eutrophication? How can fisheries be made to be more sustainable? How can we quantify and value biodiversity? Can we restore “natural” ecosystems and should wolves be re-established in the west? What is valid science in the global warming debate?

Learning outcomes
Upon completion of this course students should have the ability to:
• Recognize and apply concepts and theories of population biology to interdisciplinary fields such as conservation ecology;
• Apply principles of evolutionary dynamics and ecosystem biogeochemistry to understand and predict effects of pollutants such as heavy metals, pesticides, or acid rain on ecosystems;
• Effectively debate and evaluate scientific arguments behind such diverse fields as genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or organic vs. conventional farming;
• Interpret data critically, and understand uncertainty in scientific data and model prediction in such diverse fields as nitrogen saturation and global climate change;
• Calculate carbon footprint, water footprint of human activities
• Develop an awareness of the responsibilities of professional scientists.

This course offers a broad overview of physical, chemical, biological, geological, principles of environmental sciences, and serves as a core course for EEOS majors. Examples will focus on linked watershed and coastal marine systems. The student will be introduced to natural processes and interactions in the atmosphere, in the ocean, and on land. There is a focus on biogeochemical cycling of elements as well as changes of these natural cycles with time, especially with recent anthropogenic effects. Topics include plate tectonics, global climate change, ozone depletion, water pollution, oceanography, ecosystem health, and natural resources.

Students are are introduced to Excel and its capabilities by building some simple spreadsheets.

Students continue their introduction to Excel by building spreadsheets that estimate the risk of a major earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone to Benton County, Oregon.

This activity is a field investigation where students will learn the importance of detail when nature journaling.

In this activity, students are introduced to locating and reading peer-reviewed scientific journal articles. It helps ease students into the process of locating, reading, and using journal publications. This activity can be done entirely in class or a combination of in-class with homework assigned. It is a helpful way to lead students toward searching for and using the peer-reviewed literature in their own research.

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The main goal of this multi-part field and lab exercise is to introduce students to practical aspects of soil and water geochemistry. Some of the analyses for this lab are conducted in the field using field analytical instruments and rest of the analyses is conducted in a wet chemistry/geochemistry lab. There are several objectives:
1. Learn how to sample water and soil samples in a safe and effective manner
2. Collect basic aqueous chemical parameters in the field
3. Compare field collected data with that obtained using advanced instruments in the laboratory
4. Determine bulk physical and chemical properties of the soils in the lab
5. Determine trace and major element concentrations of the soils in the laboratory
At the end of this exercise students will gain a better appreciation for how soil and water quality is assessed in multiple ways. They are also introduced to basic "tools-of-the-trade" in the environmental geochemistry and also using Excel to make simple and advanced calculations as well as for plotting data. During preparation of lab reports, they are introduced to basic elements of an effective data-based technical paper.

Key words: urban watershed, soil chemistry, water chemistry, aqueous geochemistry, field analysis, analytical chemistry

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This activity is a classroom chemistry lab where students will test different cleaning methods that could be used in oil spills. They will see the effects how oil spills damage animals and the environment.

This activity is a field investigation where students will observe, discuss, and gather evidence on how environmental changes affect animals that live in that habitat.

In this field lab students will investigate the biodiversity around their school. Students will perform a biodiversity count using transect line. The students will develop multiple hypotheses relating to biodiversity and propose additional procedures for studying, collecting and testing these questions.

This investigation is a field study where students compare the diversity of plants and insects in a naturally existing habitat to that of a human altered habitat.

This activity is field investigation where students map a neighborhood wetland and generate various watershed questions. Students identify engineered structures in or around this wetland and consider how flood water can be controlled.

This first grade field and classroom activity leads students to discover their natural world through observation and measurement.

In this activity students investigate soil pH differences and buffering capacity as it relates to acid rain, interpret and present their findings, and develop a new, experimental question.

This guided inquiry is a laboratory investigation on soil textures where students gather and analyze data, compare findings and develop new experimental questions.

In activity is a Biology field lab where students will investigate the relative health of an aquatic system based on bioindicators. Students will then summarize and reflect upon their findings.

This assignment is designed as a final project for students in my undergraduate 3 credit non lab elective geohydrology course. Students work in pairs to analyze an actual, local contaminated site (Delphi) and use raw data from consulting reports (boring logs, water levels, chemical water analyses) to prepare a geologic cross-section, water table map and contaminant plume map. Students are assigned different lines of cross section, water level dates and contaminant types. Students examine the variety of different figures and maps to better characterize hydrogeologic and water quality conditions over the entire site and answer some assigned questions. This project is an opportunity for students to apply skills they learned in the course (contouring, groundwater flow) to investigate an existing groundwater contamination event. It also provides the kind of "practical" experience the students can highlight in a job interview.

Key words: Groundwater contamination, case study, TCE

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In this problem-based learning module, students will investigate the importance of genetic diversity will be explored by examining several case studies revealing consequences that can occur in individuals within a limited gene pool and how a variety of genes can lead to the survival of a species. Students will be able to create and interpret information from pedigree charts.

This assignment is meant to make students stop and think about an environmental issue that gets to them and do some research on what type of solutions would be appropriate. It also challenges them to go out and research the effectiveness of the solutions to that problem and propose other options. An important part of the assignment is to make students realize that sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to do "nothing." Some solutions, especially those arrived at from consensus, may worsen the problem.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)