Learner-Centered Teaching Activities for Environmental and Sustainability Studies

1. Learner-Centered Teaching for Environmental and Sustainability Studies
Loren B. Byrne

Part I. Conceptual Foundations and Frameworks

2. Which Is Most Sustainable? Using Everyday Objects to Examine Trade-Offs Among the “Three Pillars” of Sustainability
Corina McKendry

3. An Introduction to Systems Thinking Using Plastic Dinosaurs
Laura A. Hyatt

4. An Introductory Examination of Worldviews and Why They Matter for Environmental and Sustainability Studies
Loren B. Byrne

5. Building Resilience: Modeling Resilience Concepts Using Legos
Courtney E. Quinn, John E. Quinn

6. Eco-crimes and Eco-redemptions: Discussing the Challenges and Opportunities of Personal Sustainability
Mercedes C. Quesada-Embid

7. Engaging with Complexity: Exploring the Terrain of Leadership for Sustainability
Matthew Kolan

8. Discovering Authentic Hope: Helping Students Reflect on Learning and Living with Purpose
Kimberly F. Langmaid

9. Teaching How Scientific Consensus Is Developed Through Simplified Meta-analysis of Peer-Reviewed Literature
Emily S. J. Rauschert

Part II. Ecology, Ecosystems and Environmental Management

10. Understanding Ecosystems and Their Services Through Apollo 13 and Bottle Models
Carmen T. Agouridis, Tyler M. Sanderson

11. Using Soil Organisms to Explore Ecosystem Functioning, Services, and Sustainability
Jessica Baum, Rachel Thiet

12. Fire, Pollution, and Grazing: Oh My! A Game in Which Native and Invasive Plants Compete Under Multiple Disturbance Regimes
Heather E. Schneider, Lynn C. Sweet

13. Exploring Trophic Cascades in Lake Food Webs with a Spreadsheet Model
Kyle A. Emery, Jessica A. Gephart, Grace M. Wilkinson, Alice F. Besterman, Michael L. Pace

14. Ants, Elephants, and Experimental Design: Understanding Science and Examining Connections Between Species Interactions and Ecosystem Processes
Christine M. Stracey

15. Teaching Lyme Disease Ecology Through a Primary Literature Jigsaw Activity
Jae R. Pasari

16. A Fishery Activity to Examine the Tragedy of the Common Goldfish Cracker
Jessa Madosky

17. Making Biodiversity Stewardship Tangible Using a Place-Based Approach
Christine Vatovec

18. Conservation Triage: Debating Which Species to Save and Why
Loren B. Byrne

19. Everything Cannot Be Equal: Ranking Priorities and Revealing Worldviews to Guide Watershed Management
Bethany B. Cutts

20. Location, Location, Location! Analyzing Residential Development in Environmentally-Fragile Areas
Erica A. Morin

Part III. Consumption, Economics and Energy

21. Tasting Sustainability: Using Multisensory Activities to Retune Food Preferences
Jennifer Gaddis

22. Relationships Between Consumption and Sustainability: Assessing the Effect of Life Cycle Costs on Market Price
Madhavi Venkatesan

23. Business Sustainability and the Triple Bottom Line: Considering the Interrelationships of People, Profit, and Planet
Marilyn Smith

24. A Triple-Bottom-Line Analysis of Energy-Efficient Lighting
Timothy Lindstrom, Catherine Middlecamp

25. Go with the Flow: Analyzing Energy Use and Efficiency in the USA
James D. Wagner

26. Exploring Complexities of Energy Options Through a Jigsaw Activity
Nathan Hensley

Part IV. Environmental Justice and Pollution

27. Introducing the Conflicting Meanings of “Justice” Using a Candy-Distribution Exercise
Kate J. Darby

28. Beyond Band-Aids: Using Systems Thinking to Assess Environmental Justice
Meghann Jarchow

29. Engaging the Empathic Imagination to Explore Environmental Justice
Joseph Witt

30. Helping Students Envision Justice in the Sustainable City
Joshua Long

31. Social-Ecological Systems Mapping to Enhance Students’ Understanding of Community-Scale Conflicts Related to Industrial Pollution
Curt Dawe Gervich

32. The Skies, the Limits: Assessing the Benefits and Drawbacks of Tighter US Soot Emission Standards
Sandra L. Cooke

33. Don’t Blame the Trees: Using Data to Examine How Trees Contribute to Air Pollution
Patrick W. Crumrine

Part V. Information Literacy and Communication

34. Evaluating the Effectiveness of Green Roofs: A Case Study for Literature Research and Critical Thinking
Erika Crispo

35. The Story of Source Reliability: Practicing Research and Evaluation Skills Using “The Story of Stuff” Video
J. J. LaFantasie

36. Critically Evaluating Non-Scholarly Sources Through Team-Based Learning
Nathan Ruhl

37. Using the Insight, Question, and Challenge (IQC) Framework to Improve Students’ Environmental Communication Skills
Seaton Tarrant

38. Building Students’ Communication Skills and Understanding of Environmental and Sustainability Issues Interactively and Cumulatively with Pecha Kucha Presentations
Bonnie McBain, Liam Phelan

39. Engaging in Climate Change Conversations: A Role-Playing Exercise to Cultivate Effective Communication
Stephen Siperstein

40. Writing Letters to the Editor to Promote Environmental Citizenship and Improve Student Writing
Andrew J. Schneller

41. Captioning Political Cartoons from Different Perspectives as a Tool for Student Reflection
Katharine A. Owens

42. Analyzing Nature as a Persuasive Tool in Advertisements
Rebecca Duncan

43. Making and Assessing Art in the Sustainability Classroom
Bruno Borsari

Keywords: Environment, Sustainable Development, Learning & Instruction, Science Education, Literacy