By the end of this course participants will…Understand how local phenomena interact with the Next Generation Science Standards, climate change, ecosystems, and people in a community.Experience how local phenomena and field investigations can build scientific understanding.

In this activity, students collect data and analyze the cost of using energy in their homes and investigate one method of reducing energy use. This activity provides educators and students with the means to connect 'energy use consequences' and 'climate change causes.' Through examining home energy use and calculating both pollution caused by the generation of electricity and potential savings, students can internalize these issues and share information with their families.

Comparative Politics: A Practical Guide for a Globalizing World is perhaps the first introductory textbook in comparative politics to be written with an emphasis on case studies from the Global South and other alternative perspectives. It was inspired by my own experience as a student and professor who had the privilege to live, learn, and work in places as diverse as Bangladesh, Egypt, and Germany. My experience in each country provided an important contribution to my own understanding of political science, perhaps in more important ways than my formal political science education. It was written with the belief that political science has focused too heavily on developing theories and models based primarily on the “Western” world to the detriment of both the discipline as well as students. 21st century students are learning and living in an increasingly globalized world in which traditional notions of statehood, development, elections, and more are rapidly changing and facing deep contestation. Following the calls to “decolonize” its sister discipline, International Relations, it is both timely and imperative that comparative politics follows suit. While traditional approaches offer important lessons about the nature of government and political processes, this text believes that the Global South has much to offer in the way of what politics looks like in the face of social unrest, increasing inequality, disputed legitimacy, climate change and other 21st century challenges that the Global North can no longer ignore. Another unique aspect of this textbook is that it contains contributions from students from Colorado Mesa University, a rural institution in Western Colorado primarily focused on undergraduate and first-generation education, with edits and additions from myself. Therefore, this book is written both by and for students of first-generation and minority-serving institutions.

POLS 261 Course Description: In this course, we will explore contemporary comparative politics. Comparative politics is the study of different political systems outside of the United States, with the goal of comparing these different systems in order to better understand the advantages and disadvantages of how various political systems are designed. We will focus on several questions that have been central to this sub-field of political science including democratization and democratic stability, how states vary in their political institutions on a constitutional, electoral, administrative, and party level, and what explains the persistence of ethnicity and causes of civil conflict. Students will use cases from various global regions and employ comparative research methods.

SYNOPSIS: In this lesson, students are introduced to biomass energy and use algebra to calculate the amount of land needed to produce biofuel using different plants.

SCIENTIST NOTES: This lesson introduces students to biofuels and how they are sourced, including the supply chain. It does not only equip them to compute the acres of land needed to grow crops to produce biofuels but allows them to compare biofuels with other renewable energy sources, including the benefits and limitation to scale up. All the materials have been fact-checked, and they are suitable to build students' knowledge on the topic. Hence, this lesson has passed our science credibility process.

POSITIVES:
-Students have opportunities to think critically about the topic of renewable energy in their community.
-Students have the chance to use math in a real-world application, which makes it more relevant and engaging.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-This is lesson 4 of 5 in our 6th-8th grade Renewable Energy Algebra unit.
-This lesson could be used as a standalone lesson if desired.
-There are quite a few drawbacks and challenges to large-scale biofuel production and use. Students should begin to see this through their calculations and discussion. An optional extension video is included at the end of the lesson that looks more at some of the issues with biofuel.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-Teachers can have students work with a partner on the calculations in the Investigate section and purposefully group students based on skill level.
-Teachers can work in a small group with students who may need additional assistance with the calculations.
-Teachers can limit the number of questions students complete. Questions get progressively more difficult on the Student Document.
-Interdisciplinary connections can be made with Earth science, physical science, and engineering design.

In this lesson, students are introduced to biomass energy and use algebra to calculate the amount of land needed to produce biofuel using different plants.

Step 1 - Inquire: Students watch a video on biofuels and discuss how biofuels are similar to or different from other renewable energy sources.

Step 2 - Investigate: Students complete real-world math problems that compare the amount of land needed for various biofuel crops.

Step 3 - Inspire: Students explore the current use of biomass in their region using this map and discuss potential benefits and drawbacks to increasing biomass energy in their community.

Carbon calculators, no matter how well intended as tools to help measure energy footprints, tend to be black boxes and can produce wildly different results, depending on the calculations used to weigh various energy factors. By comparing different calculators, learners can analyze which ones are the most accurate and relevant, and which are the most transparent.

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This activity applies to Teaching Principle 2: Climate is regulated by complex interactions among components of the Earth System. It specifically addresses Concept 2A: Earth's climate is influenced by interactions involving the sun, ocean, atmosphere, clouds, ice, land, and life. Climate varies by region as a result of local differences in these interactions. It is anticipated that the activity will take two 50 - 75 minute class periods with additional time for follow-up assessment.
Students use web resources to identify climate patterns and distributions and
synthesize the information to develop an understanding of the global variation.

Students develop tables of temperature and precipitation averages and also identify and describe an extreme weather event. This exercise is an inquiry-style lesson and can easily be adapted for use in or out of the classroom.

Note: Prior to this assignment, students should receive some information on how to sample climate data from the GLOBE or NASA sets, or how to find quality online resources about climate and climate variability. This could be done as a walk-through, in-class tutorial of government/ university research centers and SERC sites, comparing the information in each to less reliable sources such as Wikipedia.

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This well-designed experiment compares CO2 impacts on salt water and fresh water. In a short demonstration, students examine how distilled water (i.e., pure water without any dissolved ions or compounds) and seawater are affected differently by increasing carbon dioxide in the air.

Incorporating elders’ wisdom in the process of systematically analyzing climate impacts and vulnerabilities in nine categories of tribal life prioritizes actions to take to enhance the evolution of an ancient culture, while protecting tribal traditions.

This activity represents a culmination project for this unit by means of which students can assess whether the IPCC prediction of increased storminess as an outcome of global warming survives testing. For the previous three weeks students will have conducted several inquiry-based group activities designed to introduce and reinforce fundamental meteorology/climatology concepts. In this 2-day project, students access online AVHRR SST imagery, as well as tabulated numeric data regarding historical North American tropical cyclones, import data into Excel for interpretation and analysis, and submit two group reports.

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Each winter, massive waves attract surfers and visitors to the North Shore of O‘ahu in Hawai‘i. Some years, the waves cause severe erosion, and continuing sea level rise will accelerate this issue. Residents and the state are taking steps to preserve homes and beaches.

Students apply economics, politics and sociology to better understand why cap and trade is the preferred political approach, but also why it's potentially problematic.

Rapid, unprecedented climate warming is occurring because of increased concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases due to the use of fossil fuels. As Earth’s climate warms, extreme heat events will increase, sea levels will rise, freshwater resources will become more scarce and infectious diseases will spread. Despite imminent threats from climate change and the need for people from all sectors, backgrounds, and disciplines to contribute to solutions, we avoid taking actions necessary for mitigation. We created Connecting for Climate Change Action, aimed at community and Post-Secondary learners from a range of disciplines. The course combines Western and Indigenous Sciences to educate and encourage discussions on climate change. We provide innovative, experiential, online learning opportunities to engage and stimulate student action to mitigate climate change and leave Earth a sustainable place for future generations. The course contains approximately eight weeks of materials and is packaged in four modules: 1) Ways of Knowing the Climate is Changing, which provides an introduction to euro-western Science and Indigenous Knowledge, and explores positionality; 2) The Earth, Climate and Connections, which provides a basic understanding of the Earth and its climate system, and examines various views of human's role in the Earth system; 3) Why is the Earth's Climate Changing?, which provides an overview of the knowledge we have of climate change, 4) Emissions, Responsibility, and Reimagining Economies, which shows the complexities of responsibility for our current situation reflect on Indigenous economies that emphasize respect and reciprocity.

In this lesson, students will explore a consequence of burning fossil fuels: the greenhouse effect. By the end of the lesson, students will be able to interpret data to explain the greenhouse effect on temperature and how various human activities could cause changes in local and global temperature over time. This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA. Lesson modified from Global Climate Change and Sea Level Rise plan from the California Academy of Science http://www.calacademy.org/educators/lesson-plans/global-climate-change-and-sea-level-rise .

This article from the free online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle provides appropriate science lessons for Grades K-5. The focus is on acquainting young learners with climate-change concepts that are not too complex for their grade level and will not frighten them. In each issue, the magazine develops articles around one of the seven essential principles of climate science. The author believes early lessons about water availability and extreme weather events will prepare students for complex climate concepts they will encounter in later grades.

A two-day assignment focusing in the melting or Arctic sea ice and the increased global temperature. The lesson involves reading the text Decline in Arctic Sea Ice, reviewing video clips, in depth discussions, and independent research and writing.

The OER course "Conservation Across Borders: Case Studies in European Landscape Restoration and Biodiversity Connectivity" is an interactive online course designed using the H5P tool. The course aims to raise understanding and awareness of landscape conservation and biodiversity connectivity in Europe.Course descriptionThe course will present various case studies and initiatives focusing on landscape restoration and biodiversity promotion. Through interactive elements such as quizzes, videos and other H5P modules, participants will be actively involved in the learning process.Learning objectivesParticipants will acquire a sound knowledge of the importance of nature conservation, the challenges and solutions in landscape restoration and the role of transboundary projects in biodiversity conservation.MethodologyBy using H5P, the learning content is delivered in an engaging and interactive way, enabling effective and sustainable learning.This course provides a comprehensive and interactive learning experience that raises awareness of the importance of landscape conservation and biodiversity in Europe and identifies practical solutions to address current challenges.

Numerical models are widely used to simulate systems ranging from climate to traffic jams, yet a high percentage of college-level students have little awareness of how they are constructed and their limitations. This activity is intended to introduce students to the construction and use of a simple conservation equation model using MATLAB. Students will construct, with the help of the instructor, a MATLAB script to simulate inputs and outputs to and from a water tank and the tracking of water volume through time. The activity includes calibration and verification of their model using data on flows observed in the water tank.

(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.)

SYNOPSIS: In this lesson, students learn about how people are protecting living things and create their own plan to protect living things.

SCIENTIST NOTES: The lesson features human actions to improve biodiversity. It would inspire students to lead initiatives on biodiversity conservation in their community. All materials have been fact-checked, and this lesson has passed our credibility process.

POSITIVES:
-This lesson creates a collaborative learning environment for students to consider positive action in their community.
-Students will consider how responsible decision-making directly impacts them and their environment.
-This lesson introduces options for helping wildlife using multiple learning styles.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-This is lesson 3 of 3 in our Number Sense and Biodiversity unit.
-You can choose to use the animals featured on the IUCN’s Red List slides in the Teacher Slideshow or identify 1-2 species on the IUCN’s Red List from your local area and adapt the slides. To find other animals, you may search for a specific species you know is in danger or use the directions below:
-Click on Advanced Search.
-Click on Land Regions.
-Click on the Arrow next to the Land Region you live in. This further narrows down the region.
-Click on Habitats. Choose a habitat that describes your area.
-Click on Red List Category, and select all categories except for Least Concern, Data Deficient and Extinct.
-The species will appear in a list. To view them on the map, choose the map setting on the gray header across the top.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-As a possible extension, students can share their design with the class and/or community leaders using cause and effect language.
-In the Inspire section, the class can choose to brainstorm ideas together and vote to create one conservation plan.
-The Student Worksheet has an adapted version for younger students.

Word Count: 21308
This eBook aims to support current and future plant genetic resource managers as they consider the impacts of climate change on plants, agriculture, agrobiodiversity, and plant collections. Our goal is to provide information for readers to learn, understand, plan, and anticipate climate change extremes and how they might impact plant conservation and ex situ collections. Developing plans and preparing management and decision-making processes for dealing with the effects of climate change aligns with many sustainability practices and brings forward skills and techniques for forecasting and adaptive resource management.

In this eBook, we focus on introducing broad ideas, tools, and tactics to support ex situ plant collection managers in building climate-ready collections. We summarize the impacts of climate change on agriculture and food systems, and present a series of chapters that highlight important considerations of a complex landscape, including:

Chapter 1 – Understanding how climate changes impacts agriculture and food systems
Chapter 2 – Identifying the importance of plants in both mitigating and adapting to climate change
Chapter 3 – Understanding the need and value of ex situ plant collections for providing solutions that address the effects of climate change
Chapter 4 – Understanding how climate change affects plant interactions with pollinators, pathogens, and pests
Chapter 5 – Describing methods and opportunities for plant breeding to respond to climate change
Chapter 6 – Considering climate change impacts on plant collections management
Chapter 7 – Learning to develop plans that address the vulnerabilities of climate change
This information serves as an overview of a complex subject that includes the impacts of climate change on agricultural productivity and the critical roles that plant collections have in mitigating and adapting to a changing climate. A greater understanding of these key topics will provide critical insights into the planning necessary to ensure that food plant genetic resources are conserved for current and future generations.

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically as part of a bulk import process by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided. As a result, there may be errors in formatting.)