Ecological Society of America

I used this module in a very small (4 student) sustainability minor capstone course, called "Sustainable Human Ecology". I did not need to introduce the quantitative skills to my students, since they were upper division, but I did review what the slope of a line represents. We read the most recent IPCC summary report for policy makers and a recently published opinion piece in Science on political agency (attached) during the ~2 weeks we discussed climate change in the course. I did not make any revisions to the TIEE module - my students were very motivated and excited to do this project. Since it was a small course, I had each student create graphs for 2 latitudes, and email the graphs and predicted change in temperature to me. I compiled all of the graphs/predicted changes into one document, which we discussed in class. Students then completed the attached handout on the project, after we had in-class discussion.

Instructor Notes and Classroom Materials used at Del Mar College.

This module was implemented in a section of BIOL 1407 (BIOLOGICAL CONCEPTS II - EVOLUTION, DIVERSITY, STRUCTURE, FUNCTION AND ENVIRONMENT)/ Lecture & Lab at Del Mar College, an independent community college. The course is intended for biology majors but may be taken as a science course for the core curriculum requirement.

The section in which this module was implemented was reserved for biology majors because it is part of Del Mar’s participation in the HHMI SEA-PHAGES program (seaphages.org).

This collection contains documents used for implementation of the module at University of Puerto Rico at Humacao (D. S. Fernandez).  The module was used in the General Ecology laboratory, as part of the syllabus, as a special assignment (Project).  Two lab sessions, plus the final report, were necessary for full implementation.  Students' handout and assignment are written in Spanish, but description and details about the implementation are published in English.

List of documents:

1. Final Network Reflections and Implementation Notes
2. Handout for Students (in Spanish)
3. Spreadsheet with Temperature Data
4. Assignment: Final Report (in Spanish)
5. Spreadsheet with slope data
6. Paper: Modelling Temperature and Precipitation for Puerto Rico during 21st Century

I used this module in a large (i.e., 150 students) introductory Biology course for non-majors that ran for 7 weeks and had no laboratory component. I used this module because it met several learning objectives for this class including the ability to quantify, analyze, and interpret biological data. In this posting I have included Instructor Notes that describe how I modified and supplemented the module to create 5 assignments that students worked on in teams of 4-5 students. This class met 4 days per week and students were provided 1 day per week to work on their group project assignments. I also included several assignments that were supplemental to the module.

The “Global Temperature Change in the 21^st Century” was used in the majors introductory non-lab biology course. The purpose of this course was to introduce potential biology majors to the process of science and to understand that all the science information they read in their textbooks comes from people doing work and analyzing information. The class met for 90 minutes twice a week. I used the module near the beginning of the semester, week 4, and it was their first experience using Excel in my course. The module took two 90 minute class periods and I included a take-home summative assignment at the end.

I launched a Supplemental Instruction session using modified resources in March 2016. Everything seemed to go smoothly, aside from our computers all deciding to randomly shut down and install updates halfway through the activity. Honestly, some computers did appear to work and students seemed to complete the activity. The way I have it all streamlined should have helped these non-major students. I have three master Excel files (these sheets are not locked) and can be manipulated. The three city Excel files have the first two sheets locked/protected to minimize students accidentally erasing data. Please let me know if you have any questions as the last file is the word document each group of students had in front of them to turn in. Hopefully you find it useful if you choose to use pieces of this.

Brandon