This case was developed for use in the first weeks of a course in order to show students how participating in active learning exercises in their cl ...
In this problem-based learning case, three housemates in an environmentally-themed college house debate the pros and cons of compact fluorescent la ...
In 1986, Lake Nyos, a volcanic lake located in Cameroon, Africa, released a huge amount of carbon dioxide gas, killing over 1,700 people and countl ...
The Three Gorges Dam in China is one of the world's largest hydroelectric dams, providing energy for millions of people. However, the dam's constru ...
This case study presents the fictional tale of two neighboring towns that have recently experienced a growth boom and are now suffering the environ ...
This interrupted case study, designed for an introductory biology or environmental science course, introduces students to the complexity of ecosyst ...
As the carbon dioxide concentration of our atmosphere increases and our climate warms, the hay fever season seems to be getting longer and more sev ...
This directed case study covers fundamental information about ocean acidification using relevant examples from general science news articles as wel ...
Symbiotic relationships are interactions between species that live closely with each other and are commonly separated into three types: parasitism, ...
This case study focuses on the relationship between the microbiome (the suite of species that live in or on the human body) and autoimmune and alle ...
Squirrels are frequent and beloved residents of college campuses throughout the United States, but oftentimes less welcomed by campus maintenance o ...
This dilemma case explores the controversy over introducing non-native oysters to the Chesapeake Bay as a means of improving its ecological and eco ...
In this interrupted case study students analyze the complexities surrounding identification and confirmation of cancer clusters. The case challenge ...
This case is based on the controversy that surrounded harvesting of the Pacific yew from 1989 to 1997 to develop paclitaxel (Taxol), a revolutionar ...
As a Government of Canada biologist, "Rachael Mercer" faces the task of advising the Environment Minister on whether a proposed wolf cull should be ...
Conservation biology focuses on the scientific study and practice of preventing biodiversity loss. Many complex sociocultural factors affect the su ...
This role-playing case on climate change policy is designed to engage student groups in parallel discussions on policy instruments and packages for ...
To what extent should corn be used for the production of ethanol? Are we better off producing corn for food or producing corn for fuel? This case s ...
This case study introduces important issues related to invasive species and noxious weeds that have particular ecological and agricultural importan ...
In this case study, students hear arguments on both sides of a debate over wildlife management and must integrate ethical and scientific perspectiv ...
This interrupted case study introduces students to the complexity of understanding natural variation in ecosystems through time in the absence of l ...
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 c ...
In this interrupted case study, students apply the scientific method to probe possible reasons behind declining marine iguana populations in the Ga ...
In this case study, students apply principles of landscape ecology, experimental design, and data interpretation to examine alternative explanation ...
This case study examines a variety of biological factors that may have been involved in the 2013 dolphin "unusual mortality event" (UME) on the Eas ...
This case study tells the story of a 14-year-old boy, "Danny," who wants to go on a snowboarding adventure with his friends, but is unable to provi ...
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 instruct ...
Managing the St. Croix River has sparked tremendous controversy due to conflicting uses of the river. At risk is the water quality and aesthetic va ...
Every year during the foodless winter months, bears enter their den and lapse into a state of extended dormancy and slumber (called hibernation). F ...
This laboratory-based case study is designed to train students in using the scientific method to explore chemical equilibrium in the context of oce ...
The theory of evolution by natural selection is simple, elegant, and profound. Yet, a large number of undergraduate students including biology majo ...
This case examines the biological, ecological, social, political, and economic factors surrounding exotic species as well as the role of resource m ...
Developed for an introductory environmental studies course, this case study explores the ecological, economic, and legislative issues associated wi ...
In this case study, students examine data from a number of published studies of the effects of Pacific salmon on freshwater and riparian ecosystems ...
With increasing U.S. government support for biofuel production in the late 2000s came increased pressure to convert more land to cornfields for eth ...
This case study investigates the use of methyl bromide as a pesticide and methyl iodide as an alternative pesticide in strawberry fields in Califor ...
This problem-based case study presents recent advancements in the development and application of technologies geared towards harnessing sunlight fo ...
This case study, developed for a general chemistry course, is intended to teach students the interdisciplinary nature of environmental science. Stu ...
In this interrupted case study, Ph.D.-paleoclimatologist-turned-TV-meteorologist Sara Fahrenheit finds herself projected into a future climate that ...
This case study in restoration ecology utilizes two peer reviewed articles that ask a similar question about the effects of grazing in temporary we ...
This case study was developed to teach students the importance of understanding the behavior of wildlife, explore the difficulty in making manageme ...
This problem-based case study guides students through a systematic exploration of the scientific issues surrounding the application and development ...
In 1958, black bass were introduced into Lake Atitlan in the highlands of western Guatemala as a way to attract tourism and boost the local economy ...
This case study is based on a real scenario in which a high-profile ethnobotanical study in Chiapas, Mexico, ended when local and international org ...
This case study describes experiments to seed the ocean with iron to encourage algae growth. It explores how human activities contribute to greenho ...
This case study explores some of the health issues brought to light during the flooding in New Orleans caused by Hurricane Katrina. The case encour ...
This case study explores the unintended side effects of chemicals introduced into the environment, specifically organic compounds that can act as e ...
In this interrupted case study, students view a documentary film about a coyote hunting contest and then assume the role of various stakeholders in ...
The first day of class is often a reading of the syllabus, even when active learning approaches are used throughout the rest of the term. This inte ...
In this case, developed for a course in Issues in Environmental Biology, students learn that water samples collected from a local river show elevat ...
In this case study, students examine hydrologic characteristics of a real farm property in northwest Georgia and calculate the volume of storm runo ...
This interrupted case study teaches probability theory and transmission genetics through their application to the conservation of the endangered Fl ...
This set of mini cases on the ecology of eastern cottontail rabbits is designed to give students practical experience using statistics in a scienti ...
Healthy river systems serve a wide variety of functions, including recreation, crop production, and navigation. Effective floodplain management req ...
This interrupted case study highlights the importance of energy considerations within food chains by examining the population decline of Steller se ...
This case explores the complex and multifaceted resource management issues that arose when traditional Zuni Indian land and water use practices wer ...
The essential elements of this dilemma case are based on a real-life wetland mitigation problem. A biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Servic ...
This case study focuses on the growing issue of water use rights in the southeastern United States. Approximately 1.3 million people in North and S ...
By simulating a public hearing, this case study requires that students sift through and organize information on pesticide use presented to them fro ...
This flipped case study is formatted as a PowerPoint presentation that uses group experimentation to encourage active learning in a large science c ...
This case study uses a jigsaw activity to introduce students to four specific plant responses to climate change: elevational range shifts, phenolog ...
This interrupted case study provides students with an opportunity to compare and contrast methods for controlling spotted knapweed, an invasive spe ...
Sheep ranching has destroyed habitat and decimated species in many areas of the world, but in Patagonia declining wool prices provide an opportunit ...
In this case, students work in small groups to analyze and critically evaluate the often political nature of news stories. The case was developed f ...
This case study uses a PowerPoint-driven approach combined with role-playing to explore issues surrounding the grey seal population off the coast o ...
Using a progressive disclosure format, this case study teaches students how to apply ecological principles to a real-life ecological problem, namel ...
This "clicker case" gives students an opportunity to apply their understanding of three different types of selection (directional, stabilizing, and ...
This case study is used to teach undergraduate students about hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking), a controversial method for extracting methane f ...
This directed case study introduces students to photosynthesis and illustrates how biology plays a vital role in the carbon cycle and the conversio ...
This case is a classroom simulation of the types of negotiations that went into the Kyoto Protocol agreement on limiting global greenhouse gas emis ...
In this decision case, students consider the pros and cons of reintroducing grizzly bears into the northwestern United States as they learn about n ...
Students enrolled in natural resource programs typically have classroom experience in science-based curricula with little exposure as to how to app ...
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), the widespread loss of honeybees, has devastating repercussions for the environment, industry, and the economy. Thi ...
This case study reviews a controversial court case that took place in Canada in 2002 concerning an allegation of patent infringement and a genetica ...
Based on the disputed rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker in April 2005, this interrupted case study tells the story of a fictional characte ...
Loss of species richness is often due to anthropogenic activity. The global decline of amphibians is one such example. This case study examines the ...
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, w ...
In this case study, students examine tropical deforestation in the Amazon from the perspective of three dominant stakeholders in the region: a peas ...
In this case study, the complexity of the Malaysian palm oil industry is examined through the perspective of various stakeholders, namely, villager ...
In this case study students are provided with information for piecing together the story of how forest fragmentation and biodiversity loss can affe ...
This interrupted case study presents published data on the effect of coyote removal in Texas. It was designed to help students in introductory leve ...
The water crisis in Flint, Michigan, provides a compelling context for understanding the importance of each of the major classes of chemical reacti ...
This PowerPoint case (~2.4 MB) was developed for an undergraduate, non-majors course in conservation biology. It explores the controversy surroundi ...
In this case study, students examine global water shortage problems in the context of the current Klamath Basin water crisis. Two main perspectives ...
This interrupted case study introduces basic modeling to investigate a decline in an American marten population on an island in Southeast Alaska. T ...
This case study discusses a possible national security crisis of a terrorist group stealing radioactive materials in an attempt to build and detona ...
This interrupted case study addresses several concepts related to climate change and its effect on the American pika. Often called an indicator spe ...
Polar bears are an iconic symbol of climate change, but regionally relevant examples of susceptible biota are needed to highlight how global forces ...
This interrupted case study tells the story of Miles, a freshman in college, who volunteers to help with the composting program on campus. Miles is ...
In this dilemma case, Congresswoman Madeline Gibson must cast her vote on the fate of the lower Snake River dams. The stakeholders in this decision ...
Working through this case study, students explore the intersection between scientific and information literacies and consider how authority (scient ...
This case study introduces students to the elements of a renewable resource management project. The issue of wetland drainage, for the purpose of i ...
This case study presents a realistic example of drinking water contamination within a fictional local community and leads students through an abbre ...
In this analysis case, students study predator-prey dynamics in the Isle Royale National Park ecosystem drawing on data and findings from the artic ...
In this directed case study, students first watch a brief video and then read a short passage about the 1984 Bhopal, India, disaster in which a Uni ...
This interrupted case study examines the tensions that a small town in Texas faces between economic development and the preservation of a natural w ...
This case examines mercury bioaccumulation and biomagnification within the context of the human health impacts of ingesting food (specifically, fis ...
This interrupted case study focuses on a biological phenomenon known as temperature-dependent sex determination to guide students through the scien ...
This case study investigates how plant domestication sometimes produces unintended consequences for plant-insect interactions. The narrative follow ...
This case spotlights Great Plains water shortages by focusing on the High Plains Aquifer. This groundwater reservoir provides nearly a third of gro ...
This problem-based case study explores the scientific issues surrounding the use of large scale iron fertilization as a means of decreasing atmosph ...
This interrupted case study presents the work of biologists who are trying to understand the functions of bright color patterns in jumping spiders. ...
In this interrupted case study, two students explore evidence suggesting that environmental estrogens leach out of some plastic containers and that ...
This directed case study uses a fictionalized story about a family that has recently moved to the Washington DC area and is confronted with a situa ...
This case study addresses several concepts related to water hypoxia including physical laws governing dissolved oxygen levels and impacts to living ...
This case study has students analyze real population and climate data to address a problem in conservation. Many elephant populations exist in Afri ...
This case study reviews the hydrologic cycle and uses a water balance equation to examine the hydrology of White Bear Lake, a 2,531-acre natural wa ...
This case study is designed to help students learn about the ecosystem services of Earth (Biosphere 1) by examining the challenges faced by the des ...
Students assume the roles of CDC researchers who must determine how to most effectively stop an impending Zombie apocalypse. The story line leads s ...