The following is a collection of five-minute reads on various topics relating to sustainabilty. The stories were written by undergraduate students at Penn State Brandywine studying the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (link is external) in the fall semester of 2017. Each link will take you to a MS Word file that has the student-authored story. The numbers after each student name refer to the SDGs listed in the chart below the list.

The following is a collection of three-minute reads on various topics relating to sustainabilty. The stories were written by undergraduate students at Penn State Brandywine studying the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the fall semester of 2017. Each link will take you to a MS Word file that has the student-authored story. The numbers after each student name refer to the SDGs listed in the chart below the list.

The following is a collection of one minute reads on various topics relating to sustainabilty. The stories were written by undergraduate students at Penn State Brandywine studying the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the fall semester of 2017. Each link will take you to a MS Word file that has the student-authored story. The numbers after each student name refer to the SDGs listed in the chart below the list.

This exercise challenges students to think about the extent sea ice grows and melts each year and how sea ice coverage in the Arctic Circle changes with time. Students utilize the National Snow and Ice Data Center's Sea Ice Animation Tool (link is external) to explore these changes in the Northern Hemisphere.

This exercise challenges students to think about the order of and spacing between the planets in our solar system. Teachers may swap out and complete this exercise by having the students scale the relative size/diameters of the planets. I start by having the students work in groups of four or five and use the length of our classroom as the distance between the Sun and Neptune. Students must discussion and determine where to place a labeled Post-It note on the floor at the approximate relative position of the planet.

This exercise challenges students to think about the order of and spacing between evolutionary events in geologic time. Teachers may swap out and select their own events that are biologic, tectonic, environmental, etc. I start by having the students work in pairs, and I ask them to place the following alphabetical list of "first occurrences" in geologic time in the correct sequential order: dinosaurs, elephants, fish, humans (modern), insects, mammals, plants, reptiles. Then, students share their determinations in groups of four or five.

Goal: Students will understand the difference between climate and weather by exploring various urban center climographs of the United States.

The World Water Monitoring Challenge™ (WWMC) is an international education and outreach program that builds public awareness and involvement in protecting water resources around the world by engaging citizens in the monitoring of their local waterbodies. This activity has students test their own local water bodies (pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, temperature) and contribute their findings to a global database for use by scientists and other students across the globe.

Students will investigate data sources on snowpack, temperature, streamflow and population changes through out the watershed of the Colorado River.  They will analyze the impact these factors have on the effectiveness of the Colorado River Pact of 1922 and propose changes to the Pact to help with the current water dilemma in the region.

Student Description