This case examines the integrated physiological response to dehydration and starvation from the real-life report of a girl discovered 15 days after an earthquake devastated Port Au-Prince, Haiti, in January 2010. From the meager scientifically relevant facts reported by the newspaper accounts of the girl's condition, students are asked to work through the pathways of water loss from dehydration as they examine the multiple systems involved in homeostatic responses, and then are asked to calculate whether it is possible for a human to withstand 15 days without water. The case also gives the instructor the opportunity to differentiate between the general adaptive response to a stressor and the specialized adaptive responses exhibited by well-acclimated natives. The case was designed for an upper division comparative or human physiology course or possibly a graduate level medical physiology course.

This "clicker case" begins by assessing students' impressions of global climate change and the role that human activities play in recent global warming trends. Students assume the role of an intern working for a U.S. senator. They need to understand the scientific evidence for human impact on climate change so that they can advise the senator on future policy decisions. The case was designed for use in a one-semester introductory biology course taken primarily by freshmen and sophomores to fulfill a general education requirement, but could be used in any introductory biology course or in an ecology or environmental science course. It consists of a PowerPoint presentation (~1.6MB) presented in class that is punctuated by multiple-choice questions students respond to using personal response systems ("clickers"). The case can be adapted for use without these technologies.

This "clicker case" is a continuation of another case in our collection, "Global Climate Change: Evidence and Causes," in which students assumed the role of an intern working for a U.S. senator so that they could advise the senator on future policy decisions. In this case, students learn about the impact and effects of global climate change as well as technologies and practices available to remediate the impact of climate effects. The case was designed for use in a one-semester introductory biology course taken primarily by freshmen and sophomores to fulfill a general education requirement, but could be used in any introductory biology course or in an ecology or environmental science course. It consists of a PowerPoint presentation (~2.2MB) presented in class that is punctuated by multiple-choice questions students respond to using personal response systems, or "clickers." The case can be adapted for use without these technologies.

Students explore the effects of regional geology on bridge foundation, including the variety of soil conditions found beneath foundations. They learn about shallow and deep foundations, as well as the concepts of bearing pressure and settlement.

Students use graph theory to create social graphs for their own social networks and apply what learn to create a graph representing the social dynamics found in a dramatic text. Students then derive meaning based on what they know about the text from the graphs they created. Students learn graph theory vocabulary, as well as engineering applications of graph theory.

Students analyze their social networks using graph theory. They gather data on their own social relationships, either from Facebook interactions or the interactions they have throughout the course of a day, recording it in Microsoft Excel and using Cytoscape (a free, downloadable application) to generate social network graphs that visually illustrate the key persons (nodes) and connections between them (edges). The nodes in the Cytoscape graphs are color-coded and sized according to the importance of the node (in this activity, nodes are people in students' social networks). After the analysis, the graphs are further examined to see what can be learned from the visual representation. Students gain practice with graph theory vocabulary, including node, edge, betweeness centrality and degree on interaction, and learn about a range of engineering applications of graph theory.

This PowerPoint case (~2.4 MB) was developed for an undergraduate, non-majors course in conservation biology. It explores the controversy surrounding land purchases in the Patagonia region of Chile and Argentina. According to local indigenous peoples, wealthy individuals are purchasing their ancestral land and then forcing them to leave. Individual landowners and international environmental groups wish to preserve the pristine ecosystems that remain in Patagonia. This case serves as an introduction to stakeholder controversy, the international dimensions of environmental policy, public versus private ownership for environmental protection, and conflict resolution.

The marine environment is unique and requires technologies that can use sound to gather information since there is little light underwater. The sea-floor is characterized using underwater sound and acoustical systems. Current technological innovations are allowing scientists to further understand and apply information about animal locations and habitat. Remote sensing and exploration with underwater vehicles allows scientists to map and understand the sea floor, and in some cases, the water column. In this lesson, the students will be shown benthic habitat images produced by GIS. These imaged will lead to a class discussion on why habitat mapping is useful and how current technology works to make bathymetry mapping possible. The teacher will then ask inquiry-based questions to have students brainstorm about the importance of bathymetry mapping.

Students explore heat transfer and energy efficiency using the context of energy efficient houses. They gain a solid understanding of the three types of heat transfer: radiation, convection and conduction, which are explained in detail and related to the real world. They learn about the many ways solar energy is used as a renewable energy source to reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses and operating costs. Students also explore ways in which a device can capitalize on the methods of heat transfer to produce a beneficial result. They are given the tools to calculate the heat transferred between a system and its surroundings.

Students learn about geotechnical engineers and their use of physical properties, such as soil density, to determine the ability of various soils to offer support to foundations. In an associated activity, students determine the bulk densities of soil samples, and assess their suitability to support foundations.

Students determine the mass and volume of soil samples and calculate the density of the soils. They use this information to determine the suitability of the soil to support a building foundation.

This activity is a investigation where students observe soil and rocks, record their similarities and differences, interpret their findings, and are guided to develop a new investigable question.

While learning about volcanoes, magma and lava flows, students learn about the properties of liquid movement, coming to understand viscosity and other factors that increase and decrease liquid flow. They also learn about lava composition and its risk to human settlements.

Students learn about the underlying engineering principals in the inner workings of a simple household object -- the faucet. Students use the basic concepts of simple machines, force and fluid flow to describe the path of water through a simple faucet. Lastly, they translate this knowledge into thinking about how different designs of faucets also use these same concepts.

In this lesson, students will learn how great navigators of the past stayed on course that is, the historical methods of navigation. The concepts of dead reckoning and celestial navigation are discussed.

This activity is an observation where students study clouds and predict the weather.

This activity is a teacher demonstration of an ice cream model representing glacier movement across Minnesota. Teacher/student questions and discussion should be encouraged during the demonstration.

Hands-on group activity in where children go outside to find clouds, document with pictures, and identify them.

This activity is a kindergarten field and classroom investigation where students make observations, collect data and share conclusions that shows they understand that the sun is a source of light.

This activity is a student based inquiry looking at various natural disasters and their impact.