This first-year undergraduate open textbook covers the most salient environmental issues from both biological and social science perspectives.
This zine is comprised of four main sections: (1) a history of natural resource inequalities in NYC and the goals of environmental justice; (2) the importance of effective waste management with ways to reduce waste in your community; (3) a breakdown of legislative influence and how to get involved in local politics to further environmental justice; and (4) a collection of environmental groups and resources across NYC. An online version of this resource exists at ourcityplanetfuture.wordpress.com. That site also has a link to a printable version of the zine.
This online reference list provides links to nine local and national environmental organizations that have Web sites rich in valuable biodiversity information. Where possible, it includes the following information for each: details about the organization's mission, knowledge base, and activities; the type of support offered, including educational materials, resource libraries, and classes/workshops; and mailing address and contact information. In addition, links to four Web directories are provided, which in turn have links to dozens of other organizations.
Gallery walk activity that relies on students' prior knowledge of environmental issues as an introductory activity in a general education, large-lecture format environmental science class.
This online article, from the museum's Musings newsletter for educators, provides an introduction to environmental stewardship. It discusses Earth's rarity as a planet that supports life and the mounting evidence that indicates human activity is, indeed, altering global climate.
Students explore the biosphere and its associated environments and ecosystems in the context of creating a model ecosystem, learning along the way about the animals and resources. Students investigate different types of ecosystems, learn new vocabulary, and consider why a solid understanding of one's environment and the interdependence of an ecosystem can inform the choices we make and the way we engineer our communities. This lesson is part of a series of six lessons in which students use their growing understanding of various environments and the engineering design process, to design and create their own model biodome ecosystems.
Each issue of the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle explores an essential principle of climate science and climate literacy with background information, lessons, activities, original stories, and more for the K-5 classroom. This article shows the alignment of these materials with the content standards of the National Science Education Standards.
This article identifies age-appropriate national science education content standards and curriculum connections for introducing complex concepts contained in Principle 7 of the Essential Principles of Climate Sciences. The principle describes consequences of climate changes on Earth systems and human lives. The content standards will help teachers determine appropriate topics for their students. A number of resources from the online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle are highlighted for their connection to the science curriculum in the early grades. In addition, the article identifies common misconceptions about weather and the water cycle often held by students.
The year is 2050 and your once-idyllic beachfront vacation home is now flooded up to the second story. The crab your family has enjoyed every Christmas for as long as you can remember has now become an endangered species. The oceans have changed. In Earth 540, Oceanography for Educators, we explore the mechanisms that lead to sea level rise and ocean acidification. We strive to understand how natural processes such as ocean currents, the gulf-stream, tides, plate tectonics, and the Coriolis Effect, affect our oceans and ocean basins. We then predict how man-made issues such as climate change and overfishing will affect our beloved waters and our livelihoods. Want to see into the future? Then this course is for you!
Using a website, students virtually sample water from a stream at different levels of pollution, and observe the differences in macroinvertebrate species present. The collected data is analyzed by calculating the percentage of each species present and answering questions based on their findings.
Engativá es una de las 21 divisiones político – administrativas del Distrito Capital de Bogotá (Colombia), y se distingue por su composición urbana, una alta densidad poblacional y sus suelos dedicados principalmente al uso residencial, comercial e industrial. No obstante, este territorio también es caracterizable por la presencia de ecosistemas ricos en biodiversidad que se encuentran amenazados por factores asociados a la urbanización y los efectos del cambio climático. En esta localidad se encuentran tres humedales urbanos de categoría RAMSAR: Juan Amarillo, Jaboque y Santa María del Lago, además, en materia de ordenamiento hídrico, por la jurisdicción administrativa de Engativá se encuentra una porción de terreno de las cuencas del río Bogotá y del río salitre. Por otra parte, entre las áreas verdes constitutivas del tejido urbano como los parques de carácter vecinal, sobresalen las áreas complementarias para la conservación como el jardín botánico y el Parque regional La Florida. En relación con estos ecosistemas urbanos, que hacen parte de la Estructura Ecológica Principal del Distrito Capital y su región ambiental, el presente libro contiene un análisis de cada uno de estos componentes, resaltando elementos de su trayectoria histórica, las regulaciones jurídicas especializadas y una descripción de los desafíos específicos. Uno de los propósitos de la sistematización de información aquí recogida es hacer evidentes los matices del ordenamiento urbano ambiental gestionado en la jurisdicción administrativa de Engativá: un lugar donde convergen la vitalidad urbana y la naturaleza en un equilibrio frágil, marcado por una trayectoria compleja de degradación ambiental y adoptación de los habitantes al territorio.
Estuarine Geography utilizes an ecological approach to understanding physical and biological parameters to estuarine evolution.. Superimposed upon that spatial site and situation are social, human, cultural and political activities. Humans role in estuarine evolution is discussed at length.
In the first video segment, we analyze the population dynamics for a test-tube of cells that affect each others' likelihoods of replication when they collide. The particular example we use is a prisoner's dilemma, which has the almost paradoxical property that survival of the relatively most fit leads overall fitness to decrease. In the second video segment, we suggest that the population dynamics from the first segment can be related to an analysis that uses payoff matrices found in traditional game theory.
Students will examine ways declining bee population can impact day-to-day life, by considering how the cost of honey and pollination has been affected in society. Students will create real-world problems that relate to statistics on the declining bee population.
Example identifying roles in a food web.
Climate change has been at the forefront of discussions in the last couple of decades. Whilst some people are at the privileged position that they hardly ever feel the impact of climate change, there are others who face these issues as everyday reality. When it comes to documenting people’s lived experiences, nothing comes close to literary portrayals. Therefore, this lesson plan outlines how a group of 30 tertiary level students can be introduced to the idea of ecocriticism and how they can build their eco-consciousness through understanding different eco-disasters as narrated in Amitav Ghosh’s The Great Derangement. The lesson plan also includes tasks of creative writing and translating eco-literature.
In this activity, students use real water chemistry data and descriptive statistics in Excel to examine primary productivity in an urban estuary of the Salish Sea. They will consider how actual data do or do not support expected annual trends.
In this activity, students use real water chemistry data and descriptive statistics in Excel to examine primary productivity in an urban estuary of the Salish Sea. They will consider how actual data do or do not support expected annual trends.
Watershed Awareness using Technology and Environmental Research for Sustainability (WATERS)
The WATERS project is developing and researching a student-centered, place-based, and accessible curriculum for teaching watershed concepts and water career awareness for students in the middle grades. This 10-lesson unit includes online, classroom, and field activities. Students use a professional-grade online GIS modeling resource, simulations, sensors, and other interactive resources to collect environmental data and analyze their local watershed issues. The WATERS project is paving a path to increased access to research-based, open access curricula that hold the potential to significantly increase awareness of and engagement with watershed concepts and career pathways in learners nationwide.
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Learn about population growth rates and how they can be modeled by exponential and logistic equations.