This role-playing case on climate change policy is designed to engage student groups in parallel discussions on policy instruments and packages for controlling greenhouse gas emissions. Specifically, student groups discuss cap-and-trade and carbon tax policies for reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Each group has four students representing one of the following characters: climate scientist, economist, political sociologist, and the staff expert on science related policy. Students study the policies from a holistic perspective and explore related social, economic and environmental issues. In the end, each group drafts a statement for the senator that includes choices and recommendations based on these different views. This case is appropriate for introductory environmental studies and environmental economics courses once students have been introduced to the basic technical and scientific information on climate change.

In this case study, students hear arguments on both sides of a debate over wildlife management and must integrate ethical and scientific perspectives to formulate their own opinions. The case as written is most appropriate for an environmental ethics or policy course, but could also be used in an introductory or interdisciplinary environmental studies course.

In this lesson, students find their location on a map using Latitude and Longitudinal coordinates. They determine where they should go to be rescued and how best to get there.

In this "clicker case," students learn about natural selection through the research of Peter and Rosemary Grant and colleagues on the finches of the Galapagos Islands. Students are presented with data in the form of graphs and asked to determine what is happening to a population of finches as the changing environment produces changes in the shape of the finches' beaks. This case is suitable for any size course in introductory biology, ecology, or evolution, and does not require any pre-requisite knowledge of evolution or natural selection. The case consists of a PowerPoint presentation (~4.5MB) punctuated by questions that students answer in class using "clickers." It can be adapted for use without these technologies.

This interrupted case study focuses on the seasonal hypoxic area in the Gulf of Mexico known as the Dead Zone. It follows Sue, a college student, whose father is a commercial fisherman affected by the lack of fish in his usual fishing grounds in the summer. In her quest to determine why the fish disappear, Sue learns about both the biological and physical forces that produce, maintain, and eventually dissipate the hypoxic zone. The case introduces students to the marine food web, the aquatic microbial loop, the impact of exogenous nutrients, and the physical forces that affect oxygen content and water stratification. It could be used in introductory biology or ecology courses or in an oceanography course.

In this case study, students examine tropical deforestation in the Amazon from the perspective of three dominant stakeholders in the region: a peasant farmer, logger, and environmentalist. As part of the exercise, students perform a cost-benefit analysis of clearing a plot of tropical forest in the Amazon from the perspective of one of these stakeholder groups. Developed for a course in global change biology, this case could also be used in courses in general ecology, environmental science, environmental ethics, environmental policy, and environmental/ecological economics.

This interrupted case engages students in issues contributing to the increase of dengue fever in Jamaica. The overall goal of the case is to make clear the connections between land use management and public health, specifically dengue fever. Students learn about the effects of land use management on the breeding of the Aedes aegypti mosquito and its implications for public health as well as about the spread, extent, and form of the disease. In addition, students are challenged to think of solutions to public health problems given limited resources (in terms of personnel and money). The case was created for an introductory course in fisheries, wildlife and conservation biology. It may also be appropriate for introductory biology and ecology courses. A PowerPoint presentation to supplement the case is also available.

In this first part of a two-part lab activity, students use triple balance beams and graduated cylinders to take measurements and calculate the densities of several common, irregularly shaped objects with the purpose to resolve confusion about mass and density. After this activity, conduct the associated Density Column Lab - Part 2 activity before presenting the associated Density & Miscibility lesson for discussion about concepts that explain what students have observed.

Concluding a two-part lab activity, students use triple balance beams and graduated cylinders to take measurements and calculate densities of several household liquids and compare them to the densities of irregularly shaped objects (as determined in Part 1). Then they create density columns with the three liquids and four solid items to test their calculations and predictions of the different densities. Once their density columns are complete, students determine the effect of adding detergent to the columns. After this activity, present the associated Density & Miscibility lesson for a discussion about why the column layers do not mix.

Students are challenged to design a permanent guest village within the Saguaro National Park in Arizona. The design must provide a true desert experience to visitors while emphasizing sustainable design, protection of the natural environment, and energy and resource conservation. To successfully address and respond to this challenge, students must acquire an understanding of desert ecology, environmental limiting factors, species adaptations and resource utilization. Following theintroduction, students generate ideas and consider the knowledge required to complete the challenge. The lectures and activities that follow serve to develop this level of comprehension. To introduce the concepts of healthy ecosystems, biomimetics and the importance of sustainable environmental design, students watch three video clips of experts. These clips provide direction for student research and challenge design solutions.

Students disassemble and analyze retractable pens. Through the process of "reverse engineering," they learn how the ink pens work.

This is an investigation where students observe what happens to land after it is mined. Students will create a hypothesis, observe their model, conclude what happens to land after it is mined, and discover the role humans play in land conservation.

This case study discusses conservation corridors as a means to reduce the problems of population size and isolation in a fragmented habitat. In an interrupted format, students learn what a corridor is, consider how nature preserves and corridors function, and analyze data from an article in Ecology on the use of corridors by various plant and animal species. As written, this case reviews and applies several topics from an introductory ecology and evolution class (population genetics, population ecology and island biogeography) to the problem of protecting species in fragmented habitats. It could be modified for use in environmental or conservation biology courses.

In this case study, students role-play members of a task force whose task it is to advise the Director of the National Park Service (their instructor) on the best location for creating a wetland using dredge material from the Potomac River. Students apply previously learned knowledge about wetland ecology (i.e. hydrology, soils, and plants) to a wetland restoration decision. Through the case, students increase their understanding of the principles of ecosystem ecology and the complexity of natural resource management dilemmas. The case was developed for a wetland ecology course, but would also work well in an ecosystem ecology or natural resource management course.

Tom and his grandfather, a retired high school chemistry teacher, are talking about a National Geographic television documentary titled "Waking the Baby Mammoth." As students read the dialogue that ensues, they learn how carbon, an essential element of life, is transformed from carbon dioxide to carbohydrate to animals, then back to carbon dioxide. The case emphasizes a number of chemistry concepts, including atomic structures, carbon isotopes, radiocarbon dating, beta decay, half-life, and photosynthesis. Developed as a supplement to the nuclear chemistry chapter in a non-majors general chemistry course, the case could also be used in an introductory botany, paleobiology, plant, or general ecology course after students have completed at least one semester of general chemistry.

This case is based on an actual news release reporting on research about the effects of eating Lake Ontario fish contaminated with PCBs. Developed to teach students about statistical analysis and experimental design, the case has been used in a senior-level biostatistics course as well as part of a one-week survey of statistics for a biological methods course. It could also be used in an ecology or environmental science course or as a component of a course examining how the media reports science.

This is a "clicker" adaptation of another case in our collection, "Eating PCBs from Lake Ontario: Is There an Effect or Not?" (2001), written by the same author. It encourages students to examine how scientific results get presented and interpreted for the public as well as how experiments are planned, carried out, and analyzed. Students read three different news reports about the same scientific study, then sort through the different accounts to determine for themselves what happened in these studies and what the findings were. The case illustrates the complexities of scientific reporting and challenges students to figure out the original research design and data. It was designed for an introductory biology course for majors that uses personal response systems, or "clickers." The story is presented in class using a PowerPoint (~1MB) presentation punctuated by multiple-choice questions that students answer using their clickers.

Is it better to have a new parking lot on campus or use that space to develop a community garden? This is the issue presented in this "clicker case," which pulls students into the decision-making process. Students learn about concepts related to sustainability and the challenges of developing more sustainable life styles. They also calculate their ecological footprint. The case combines the use of personal response systems (clickers) with case teaching methods and formats. It is presented in class using a series of PowerPoint slides (~800KB) punctuated by questions that students respond to before moving on to the next slide. Written for a non-majors introductory biology class, the case also is suitable for use in courses in ecology, environmental science, conservation biology, environmental studies, and general biology.

This interrupted case is based on the author's own personal research on the fragile prickly pear cactus in Stearns County, Minnesota. The data described is a product of the work of several undergraduate students at St. Johns University, which partially funded this research. By simulating the process of doing science through its progressive disclosure format, the case encourages students to think about plant population ecology from an actual research perspective. The case can be used in an introductory biology or botany course, and with slight modifications in an upper-level plant ecology course.

In this case study, students assess ecotourism in Costa Rica by considering the viewpoints of a displaced landowner, banana plantation worker, environmentalist, state official, U.S. trade representative, and national park employee. Working in small groups, students evaluate the scenario and develop a strategy that can provide balance between the protagonists of the case and the delicate ecosystem. The case was developed for a study abroad course in Costa Rica, but could be applied to traditional courses in sociology, international business, political science, bioethics, or public administration and policy analysis.