Students prepare for this two session lab by reading a lengthy peer-reviewed article (Schmoll et al, 1999) about the Geomorphology of Anchorage. No coaching is provided for this reading assignment, but students have experience reading and discussing such articles from earlier in the course and are expected to write a brief overview of the article (with outstanding questions) prior to class. Major concepts important for understanding the article have already been covered in lecture and/or lab: glacial geology, Quaternary climate, isostasy, and southern Alaska tectonics. In the first (indoor) lab session, students (many of whom are from out of state and are thus not intimately familiar even with the street layout of Anchorage, let alone its geomorphology) are guided by the instructor through an orientation to the Anchorage landscape, relating mapped cultural elements on a street map to topographic features visible on topographic maps and a hillshaded LIDAR map. They are then broken into small groups, each of which is assigned responsibility for identifying and interpreting landscape features associated with a particular section of the Schmoll article (e.g., LGM moraines or coseismic landslides). Mylar overlays allow each group to map the features directly over blown up (poster-size) sections of the LIDAR map. Each group then concludes the first lab section by presenting their results to the larger group with an explanation of pertinent processes and time relations. Each group is then assigned responsibility for preparing for a field presentation for the next week's field trip. Over the next week, small groups, on their own time, locate and visit sites in the field, refine their understanding of the processes that generated these sites through a meeting with the instructor, and coordinate with other small groups to structure a half-day field trip. In addition to presenting their results orally during the trip, each small group prepares a field trip guide for the larger group.
Designed for a geomorphology course
Has minimal/no quantitative component

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This animated video outlines Earth's energy. The video presents a progression from identifying the different energy systems to the differences between external and internal energy sources and how that energy is cycled and used.

This interactive world map shows the impact of a global temperature rise of 4 degrees Celsius on a variety of factors including agriculture, marine life, fires, weather patterns, and health. Hot Spots can be clicked on to get more specific information about the problems in different regions.

This poster, viewable online, highlights some of the impacts of a global-average temperature rise of 4 degrees C above the pre-industrial age climate.

Students demonstrate their skill in soils investigation and interpretation through independent projects undertaken in groups of one to three and presented in class using visual aids.

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This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Coral reefs are unique hotspots of marine biodiversity, and millions of humans rely on them. However, ocean warming is causing reef-building corals to bleach, or expel their symbiotic algae, and die at unprecedented rates. Severe bleaching events are accelerating, so strategies to enhance coral stress resistance are needed. One possible strategy involves manipulation of corals’ rich and diverse microbiomes. A recent study investigated the effects of a new method, coral microbiome transplantation, on heat resistance in Pocillopora and Porites corals. The researchers used homogenized tissues from heat-tolerant donor corals to inoculate heat-sensitive recipient corals of the same species. They found that the recipients bleached less than seawater-inoculated control corals during short-term heat stress, indicating improved heat tolerance. And 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding revealed several donor-specific bacterial species, indicating that microbe transmission took place in both corals, Pocillopora and Porites..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This activity utilizes publicly available, proposed national legislation to provide a platform for student inquiry into the intersection of climate science, environmental economics and sustainable public policy.

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The Oceanic Machine - Sébastien Carassou This video is part of the Billes de sciences series, produced by the Main à la pâte Foundation.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"The Paris Agreement, signed on the run-up to the hottest 3-year period on record, is humankind’s best bet at fighting climate change. The Agreement set a goal of holding the global average temperature to below 2°C above preindustrial levels. But while setting that mark was a promising start to halting global warming, it has appeared to invite more questions than it has answered: How much climate change is actually caused by human activity? How much of it is simply due to natural changes in our planet? To resolve that confusion, an international team of researchers set out to decouple natural from human-induced causes of global warming. Every factor contributing to climate change, natural or otherwise, leaves a distinct fingerprint across the planet’s entire historical temperature record. Increases in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, for example, cause the planet to warm up. Whereas volcanic eruptions, which spew sunlight-blocking ash and other material into the air, tend to cool it down..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

The changing climate is a phenomenon that will affect us all in the future - with a global increase of 2.1 degrees Fahrenheit over the last century1,decreasing sea ice in the arctic, rising sea levels, and an increase in the frequency of severe weather events, high school students are sure to feel the effects of climate change. While many students may have heard the terms “climate change” and “global warming” in the news, this unit aims to help students develop a scientific understanding as to what is causing these changes. Through a deeper understanding of the scientific basis of climate change, specifically the role of carbon dioxide in climate change, students will be better equipped to explain the changes that they are observing in real time. It is my hope that through this investigation students will become voices of change in their schools and communities, helping to educate others and get involved in climate action.

Children observe an ice cube in water and discuss the amount of ice above and below the water, discuss density of ice, and make predictions. Based on what they have observed about small ice chunks, the children apply what they have learned to make a prediction about large ice chunks or icebergs.

Developed by the World Affairs Council of Seattle, this teaching and learning module provides a series of lessons that engage students in exploring the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. With 17 goals in total, this ambitious framework targets local and global issues ranging from ensuring quality education for all to mitigating climate change. This set of lessons has student facing materials translated into Russian. Разработанный Советом по мировым делам Сиэтла, этот образовательный модуль предлагает серию уроков, которые позволят студентам исследовать Цели устойчивого развития Организации Объединенных Наций. Включающая в себя 17 целей,  эта амбициозная структура направлена на решение как локальных, так и глобальных проблем, начиная от обеспечения качественного образования для всех и заканчивая смягчением изменения климата. 

Developed by the World Affairs Council of Seattle, this teaching and learning module provides a series of lessons that engage students in exploring the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. With 17 goals in total, this ambitious framework targets local and global issues ranging from ensuring quality education for all to mitigating climate change. This set of lessons has student facing materials translated into Ukrainian. Цей навчальний модуль, розроблений Світовою Радою з міжнародних відносин у Сіетлі, надає серію уроків, які залучають студентів до вивчення Цілей сталого розвитку Організації Об'єднаних Націй (ООН). Ця амбітна програма, що має загалом 17 цілей, спрямована на вирішення місцевих і глобальних проблем, починаючи з забезпечення якісної освіти для всіх і закінчуючи зменшенням впливу зміни клімату.