Students learn far more from doing than from viewing. By seeing relationships that they have developed themselves, by diagraming those relationships themselves, students learn far more than merely reading over what someone else has done. It is argued that especially for the dynamic problems encountered in environmental and resource economics, Excel has a comparative advantage as a learning aid. We develop a simple, flexible Excel assignment to illustrate the Brander and Taylor (1998) model of the Easter Island economy. Brander and Taylor argue that on Easter Island a crucial natural resource, the island's palm forest, was an open-access (res nullius) resource, leading to over harvesting and eventual societal collapse. Brander and Taylor's simple model showing the interaction of human population with a renewable resource, a forest, mimics what is known about the human population and forest from archaeological evidence.

The open access institutional protection of renewable resources is illustrated by a simple diagram of population and resource stock over centuries, a model much like ordinary predator-prey models in biology. Variations on the basic Brander and Taylor model, such as changes in propoerty rights institutions and/or changes in technology, based on published work in the literature, can be explored and compared to the original Brander and Taylor results of boom and eventual collapse.

Brander, J.A. and M.S. Taylor (1998). The simple economics of Easter Island: A Ricardo -- Malthus model of renewable resource use. American Economic Review

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This set of assignments exposes students to data which can be used to analyze economic inequality in international and historical context. Then students are asked to generate a thesis-driven argument drawing supporting evidence from one or more of the data sources.

This activity allows children to explore the effects of oil spills on birds.

In this introductory-level lab activity, students first view a 20-minute portion of an informative video to learn about the operation of an array of moored buoys that is used to detect changes in the El NiÃo Southern Oscillation (El NiÃo, "normal", and La NiÃa conditions)in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. Students then directly access, display, and work with recent and present data collected from the buoy system using the Tropical Atmosphere Ocean project website. Finally, students examine data from a coral geochemical record to infer past ENSO events.

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This activity allows students to demonstrate their understanding of the Law of Conservation of Energy in the framework of student-designed investigations.

This activity requires students to explore a range of datasets that help substantiate Plate Tectonic Theory. Students investigate plate tectonic environments (convergent, divergent, transform boundaries), topography/bathymetry of continents and ocean basins, the distribution and pattern of earthquakes, the distribution of volcanoes, as well as ages of the sea-floor, and more.

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This activity is a laboratory activity where students gather data relating quantities of salt to the freezing point of water/ice.

Average inquiry level: Structured
This groundwater lab is designed for online, asynchronous instruction and uses Google slides (or Powerpoint) so student can use the draw features. Within this lab, students will:

Evaluate and conclude the seasonal and annual trends of the water table from data monitored groundwater wells;
Predict and assess the permeability and porosity of different substrates and rocks;Â
Create a contour map and cross-section of the water table given data from multiple wells and draw the flow direction of water;
Predict and communicate the changes of the water table that could occur in response to different water-related scenarios;
Determine solutions for an area experiencing groundwater problems.

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This activity is a classroom and lab investigation of magnetism. Students gather results of experiments involving the forces of magnets. They use this data to develop their own experiments to test properties of magnets.

This exercise uses empirical data and Google Earth to explore the surficial distribution of marine sediments in the modern ocean. Over 2500 sites are plotted with access to original data. We recommend first completing the Primer on Google Earth to become familiar with tools in Google Earth that are used in this exercise. The Exploring Marine Sediments in Google Earth exercise has four parts:

- Stories from the Sea Floor: A Lesson on How Science Works
- A First Look at Marine Sediments
- Exploring the Distribution of Marine Sediment Types on the Sea Floor
- Refining Your Hypotheses on Biogenic Marine Sediment Distributions

This is a teacher demonstration used to show an example of kinetic molecular energy using food coloring and water. The students are also given opportunity to develop their own questions and tests.

Using the scientific method this simple hands on experiment is designed to verify Newton's Second Law.

Students are asked to keep a food diary for 24 hours and then asked to analyze the products they consumed in terms of the ocean resources needed to make and deliver that product. This assignment was designed to help develop ocean literacy for students learning oceanography in a landlock classroom.

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Students apply the main research methods in sociology to explore their personal footprints (i.e., the global consequences of their individual actions).

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This activity is a field investigation where students gather information before and after learning about plants, which will allow you to compare the knowledge the previously know and have acquired through your teaching.

This 4-H project book includes a series of eight activities, focused on polar science, that youth can complete with an parent or mentor. Each activity includes a hands-on component and options for communication. The activities featured are appropriate for use outside of 4-H, for instance in science classrooms, with after school programs, or during enrichment camps. Each activity includes links to supplemental materials to extend learning.

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An activity in which students use dice to explore radioactive decay and dating and make simple calculations.

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This activity is a class lab activity in which students will observe unknown rocks and learn about how they fit into the rock cycle.

The students will come into this activity with no or very little knowledge of snow. They will divide into groups, each group receiving the first list of questions (on Rite-in-Rain paper). The questions help guide them through their inquiry and are divided into groups: A) initial observations, B) measurement and detailed observations, and C) inferences and hypotheses. They dig a snow pit to the ground (typically < 2ft).

Part A, they study the layered structure, the texture of different layers, the color (presence of sediment?), initially using basic sketching. Then they decide what aspects are worth measuring in further detail (such as thickness of layers, hardness of layer, density of layers, size of crystals) and come up with a plan.

Part B, they are allowed to begin making their measurements and they are given guiding questions, such as what are the errors in these measurements? How many measurements is sufficient to describe the characteristic you are describing?

Part C is primarily brainstorming ideas and hypotheses among their group, and they can return inside if they choose. They are asked consider the role that snow plays on the landscape. How does the snow affect the ground underneath it? Would that role be different at the coldest part of winter than during the spring melt? Does snow affect the air above it? How might snow play a role in the large climate system?

Oral Synthesis: after completing Part C, each group is given a different overarching question, they must use what they have learned and their ideas to give a 4-5 minute oral synthesis to the class.

This activity is meant to give them new insights into a common geologic material and to recognize the linkages between the atmosphere above the ground and the geology and ecosystem below.

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How do soils develop over time? Perhaps the best place to learn is a across a chrosequence of deposits that span a wide range in age (and appearance). If we can identify parent material and measure its chemical composition, it can be used as a benchmark for comparison with the chemical composition of soils that were formed from it. This enables us to quantify the degree of chemical depletion. In general we expect older soils to be more depleted, all else equal. But older soils might also be subject to greater physical erosion, in addition to chemical weathering. This complicates the assessment of soil development because the eroded material is no longer present.

Students are presented with two alternate hypotheses about the soils/deposits they visit:
a) the material has been weathering w/ little physical erosion since it was deposited
b) the material has been weathering and eroding since it was deposited
These hypotheses are developed in lectures before the activity and are based on principles of conservation of mass.

During their site visit, students coarsely characterize topography (@2 -- 5 m scale) for several "representative" cross sections. If time is limited this step could be done remotely (e.g., with topo maps and Google earth).

Students assess and discuss evidence for erosional (and depositional) processes since the deposits were created. They look for broad topographic signatures and measure (for example) the spatial density and material volume of tree throw and animal burrowing mounds, if present.

Students also assess and discuss evidence for in-situ weathering (e.g., development of rinds, soil texture, and mineral alteration). The idea is to train their eyes to observe and key in on any site-to-site differences.

Students dig (and discover!) at select sites. They sample soils at regular intervals from pits (with discussion of merits of different sampling approaches e.g., random vs. stratified random). Students discuss relationships in excavated pits.

A jigsaw approach would be an effective way to tackle the large number of field tasks outlined here.

Back in the lab, using literature values, students estimate weathering rates for each deposit. They compare their estimates with back-of-the-envelop estimates for physical erosion rates (based on tree throw/animal burrowing density) and literature values of diffusivity (which can be coupled with curvature measurements).

The instructor promotes discussion of the implications of differences in residence time on weathering rate estimates.

Students analyze samples by XRF; depending on the course's time constraints students are provided with geochemical data from previous year's field effort or other existing data (in this case Taylor and Blum, 1995).

Students are asked to prepare a final report focusing on the following questions: Are soils products of erosion and weathering, or are they being formed in place by weathering alone? Under what circumstances can we expect erosion to dominate over weathering and visa versa? Students first prepare figures and then use them to develop an an outline (reviewed by the instructor) for their report. Students prepare a draft and engage in peer review (one review each). Students revise their reports, based on the peer review comments, and submit their final report.
Designed for a geomorphology course

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