The UC Natural Reserve System's Angelo Coast Range Reserve in Mendocino County has become the focus of a number of national climate change research efforts. Learn how multi-disciplinary teams of scientists, equipped with advanced technologies, are deepening our understanding of the environment and how it is responding to the rapid warming of our planet. (57 minutes)

At the University of California Natural Reserve System's (NRS) Sedgwick Reserve near Santa Barbara, UC researchers are delving deep into the earth to understand the microorganisms that support California's ecosystems and are working to preserve the state's disappearing oak woodlands and restore native grasslands. Local schoolchildren also visit the reserve as part of an innovative "Kids in Nature" science program. (29 minutes)

Situated on California's scenic Big Sur Coast, the Natural Reserve System's (NRS) Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve provides researchers and students with a spectacular location to study nature. Scientists use the reserve to track water quality, monitor fish populations, and survey California's disappearing native wildflowers. Students from UC Santa Cruz use the off-shore marine reserve to test their underwater research skills, and grade school students visit Big Creek to learn how animals adapt to their environment. (29 minutes)

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) sponsors a collection of online resources for training in environmental topics. These resources are organized by topic (agriculture, energy, human health, and others) and are searchable by keyword. Each resource is accompanied by a brief metadata description and is provided in a choice of formats: downloadable (PDF), XML, or a bookmark.

This video from Kentucky's Last Great Places shows how the Green River has remained unusually clean and why it is home to several endangered aquatic species.

empty

(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.)

In this activity, students are introduced to the concept of ecosystem services, provided with a tool for exploring these services in particular landscapes, and led through a few examples so that they will be comfortable using the tool. Google Earth is presented as a tool for exploring landscapes and evaluating the ecosystem services provided by those landscapes, including spatial and temporal variability. Students use Google Earth to identify and classify ecosystem services according to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) categories, first by looking at an example landscape along the the Missouri River, and then by looking at an example specific to their location.

(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.)

In this activity, students focus on ecosystem services specifically related to the hydrologic cycle. Using rainfall-runoff data for a small watershed in Ohio, students are introduced to the technical vocabulary associated with watersheds, watershed hydrology, and water balance. Working with hydrologic data will enable the students to test their understanding of watershed hydrology and the water balance equation, which is a measure of how much water is stored within different parts of the watershed.

(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.)

The focus on soil in this unit is accomplished by browsing and reading or browsing (in some detail) information from nine websites as well as a book chapter. This effort will help students to understand issues relating to soil erosion, the state factors of soil formation, methods of soil description and classification in the field, soil orders, soil surveys and threats to soil. Questions are posed that require written responses and the in-class activity involves a web-based soil survey using the Natural Resources Conservation Service Web Soil Survey. This activity can be accomplished individually or by groups and should involve a short report of findings.

(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.)

The term "Earth system science" is typically used to describe the science (especially quantitative modeling) of the interactions between the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and cryosphere, and biosphere---the addition of lithosphere to that list provides all of the main generalized components ("spheres") of the Critical Zone.
In this lesson, students will consider basic concepts of system science (studying complex systems), specifically as it can be applied to Critical Zone science. Students will engage in developing a qualitative systems model graphic of the Critical Zone. The knowledge gained here will be applied later in the semester to more in-depth systems thinking of the Critical Zone.

(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.)

In this activity, students examine the impact of land use on runoff. Using rainfall-runoff data for two small watersheds in Ohio, one dominated by agricultural land uses and the other dominated by urban land uses, students evaluate natural and human factors that impact watershed hydrology and water balance, and generate potential provisioning and regulating services provided by natural ecosystems within watersheds.

(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.)

How are rising sea levels already influencing different regions? This unit offers case study examples for a coastal developing country (Bangladesh), a major coastal urban area (southern California), and an island nation (Maldives). What are the anticipated consequences of additional sea-level rise this century in these different places? This introduction to the module is designed to prompt student consideration of the economic and social impacts of sea-level change. As a class, students conduct a stakeholder analysis for one or more of the case study regions in order to better understand how different segments of a society affect and will be affected by sea-level change.

Show more about Online Teaching suggestions
Hide
Online-adaptable: This exercise could be converted to online whole-class discussions and a breakout group activity. At least the whole-class portion would probably need to be done synchronously.

(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.)

In this unit, students will be introduced to different data types used in the geosciences and other disciplines to understand environmental problems. The instructor will discuss the difference between qualitative and quantitative. Then, students will be given data sets related to water in Phoenix, Arizona. Students will work in groups of two to five to categorize different data sets as qualitative or quantitative and to reflect on their emotive responses to different data. The session ends with a discussion about the potential uses of these various data sets in decision-making around water in Phoenix, and uses this to foster a discussion about the ways in which different data sources lend insight into complex system problems.

(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.)

This unit is designed to engage students by introducing them to patterns in recent climate and investigating possible reasons for recent changes. Students work in small groups to plot and analyze real-world temperature data covering a decade, and use that information to make predictions about future climatic trends. Whole-class discussions illustrate the differences between short- and long-term trends. Students also analyze graphs of solar irradiance to begin to determine reasons for the observed increase in temperature, setting the stage for Unit 2, which examines the role of the atmosphere in controlling Earth's surface temperature.

(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.)

Students will conduct a virtual exploration of Harrier Meadow, a saltmarsh in the New Jersey Meadowlands. They will identify its vulnerability to pollution, its tidal connection to the Hackensack Estuary and the Atlantic Ocean along with its proximity to New York City. Vegetation patterns within this wetland will be explored, focusing on a salinity tolerant native plant (Pickleweed) that is returning to the marsh. The return of such native species is critically important to wetland restoration efforts that aim to reclaim native habitat following decades of environmental degradation since the industrial revolution. These vegetation patterns are the focus of resistivity and electromagnetic surveys that the students explore in the subsequent units of this module. The geophysical surveys aim to better understand the underlying factors controlling the distribution of Pickleweed. By understanding where the Pickleweed is thriving, restoration efforts could subsequently be improved by locating regions of such wetlands with similar underlying factors where Pickleweed (and other native plants) could be successfully reintroduced. In the first unit of this module, students will use Google Earth (on the web), high-resolution video acquired from an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and an ArcGIS Storymap in their exploration. Primary outcome: students comprehend the association between salinity and Pickleweed and formulate plans to test a hypothesis for Pickleweed persistence/patterning in Harrier Meadow that will ultimately be implemented using near surface geophysical methods in the remaining units of the module.

(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.)

How does water move throughout the Earth system? How do scientists measure the amount of water that moves through these pathways? This unit provides an alternative way for students to learn the major components of Earth's water cycle, which includes actively thinking about how we measure the water system. In this unit, students annotate a schematic diagram to identify the major reservoirs and fluxes in the hydrosphere. They also work in teams of different "experts" to identify traditional and geodetic techniques that are used to measure components of the hydrosphere and the changes over time. Using their recently acquired knowledge about these techniques, they make inferences about which methods are best for measuring different components of the hydrosphere. Measurement methods include stream gauges, groundwater wells, snow pillows, vertical GPS changes, reflection GPS for snow depth, and GRACE satellite (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment).

Show more about Online Teaching suggestions
Hide
Online-adaptable: Main exercise is a jigsawactivity that could be done in an online course but student groups with online collaboration (probably synchronous) would need to be organized OR the exercise would need to be adapted away from group format.

(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.)

Unit 1 introduces foundational concepts in geoscience, emergency management, and political science that are critical for developing a systems thinking approach and for achieving the learning objectives in the storm module. More specifically, within Unit 1, students acquire a vocabulary related to storm systems and risk, engage in practical exercises on event probability and frequency, and complete written activities and oral presentations that reinforce these concepts, using their own community and two case studies as examples. The activities include: a pre-and post-Unit survey on natural hazard risk, an optional concept map exercise to identify associations of risk in major storms, an exercise on probability and frequency of natural hazards in general and major storms in particular, an exercise using hazard vulnerability analysis (HVA) and the HVA's findings, and a synthesis assignment that requires analysis of an assigned hazard mitigation plan (HMP) and development of a proposal to improve mitigation plans.

(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.)

Students will identify and apply credible geologic and social science data sets to identify local hazards and vulnerable groups and structures, and assess risk for their community.

(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.)

This introductory unit is designed to provide stand-alone introduction to geophysical imaging of the shallow subsurface, motivate students to become invested in the topic, provide career context for these scientific subjects, and build enthusiasm for the following units. The shallow seismic refraction module (Measuring Depth to Bedrock using Seismic Refraction) is designed to fill the need to expose students to geophysical concepts and surrounding earth science principles so that students begin to know why geophysics is important to geoscience and how these concepts are related to future careers and day-to-day life.

(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.)

This unit introduces systems and systems thinking. The unit is easily adaptable to any course and includes an introduction of terminology, motivation for using systems thinking, and practice reading, as well as interpreting and evaluating systems diagrams. Note that an Internet connection and speakers are required to play the audio file in Part 3.

(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.)