2019 Syllabus

Monday, June 3 – Friday, June 7, 2019

  • 9:00AM-3:30PM
  • OSU Campus, Enarson Classroom Building

 

Lead Facilitators:

  • Prof. Roger Williams, School of Environment & Natural Resources (Lead Instructor)
  • Prof. Tami Augustine, Department of Teaching and Learning
  • Janet Smith, Assistant Director of Outreach, East Asian Studies Center

Outcomes: This weeklong institute aims to inform K-12 teachers on environmental issues related to the natural   resources of various countries, including Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. The ecological footprint of various countries will be examined and how each impacts these resources and its people, including biodiversity, forests, wildlife, water, air, soil and the related economics and policy.

The seminar will deepen teachers’ understanding of the different environmental issues and challenges facing society now and in the future, and through pedagogical training enable the incorporation of this new content into their curricula. Some countries will be used as case studies to examine particular problems, how these countries are attempting to address the problems, and an analysis of the potential outcomes.

Completed lesson plans are due August 1, teachers are expected to integrate them into their classrooms. The lesson plans will be available online for other teachers to access.

Resources: A key goal of the institute is to support teachers’ development or revision of class units relating to environmental issues. The Area Studies Centers will provide each teacher with resource guides for each case study (area of the world), which will include links to news articles, books, videos, and websites. From these resources, teachers will create a lesson plan based on one of the case studies taught at the seminar.

Monday, June 3

  • 9:00am-9:30am: Introduction to Summer Institute
    • Syllabus and goals
      • Led by Janet Smith, East Asian Studies Center
  • 9:30am-12:00pm: Introduction to the concept of Global Environmental Issues
    • Key Questions and Approaches to Global Environmental Issues
      • Led by Seminar Instructor Dr. Roger Williams
  • 12:00 – 1:00pm: Lunch (on your own)
  • 1:00-3:00pm: Global Environmental Issues in the Classroom
    • What are we already teaching in the classroom?
    • What do we want to be teaching and how do we get there?
    • Discussion of ideas and goals for unit plan, and time to brainstorm
    • Led by Dr. Tami Augustine
  • 3:00-3:30pm: Brainstorming

Tuesday, June 4

  • 9:00-10:30am: Case Study #1: East Asia
    • Led by Dr. Roger Williams, School of Environmental & Natural Resources, Ohio State
    • Topic: The ecological footprint of Asian countries will be examined and how it impacts these resources and its people, including biodiversity, forests, wildlife, water, air, soil and the related economics and policy.
  • 10:30 – 11:00am: East Asian Resource Guides
  • 11:00am – 12:00pm: Brainstorming (breakout by grade levels) 
  • 12:00 – 1:00pm: Lunch (on your own)
  • 1:00-2:30pm: Case Study #2: Middle East
      • Led by Dr. Faisal Rifai, Euphrates Tigris Initiative for Cooperation
  • Topic: Impact of Pollution and Conflict on the Environment in the Middle East
  • 2:30 – 3:00pm: Middle East Resource Guides
  • 3:00 – 3:30pm: Brainstorming (breakout by grade levels)

 

 

Wednesday, June 5

  • 9:00-10:30am: Case Study #3: Latin America
    • Led by Dr. Nick Kawa, Anthropology, Ohio State
    • Topic: Urban ecologies of the Amazon
  • 10:30 – 11:00am: Latin America Resource Guides
  • 11:00am – 12:00pm: Brainstorming (breakout by subject area)
  • 12:00 – 1:00pm: Lunch (on your own) Plastic China (optional)
  • 1:00-2:30pm: Case Study #4: Africa
      • Led by Dr. Amanda Davey, Global Water Institute and International Programs in Agriculture, Ohio State
  • Topic: Agroecology: A Solution for Food Security in the West African Sahel
  • 2:30-3:00pm: African Resource Guides
  • 3:00 – 3:30pm: Brainstorming (breakout by subject area)

 

 

 Thursday, June 6

  • 9:00-10:30am: Case Study #5: Northern Eurasia and the Arctic
    • Led by Leonid Polyak, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, Ohio State
    • Topic: Climate change in the Arctic and its ecological and societal impacts
  • 10:30 – 11:00am: Eastern European Resource Guides
  • 11:00am – 12:00pm: Brainstorming (breakout by subject area or grade level)
  • 12:00 – 1:00pm: Lunch (on your own) Plastic China (optional)
  • 1:00 -3:30pm: Research time/lesson plan preparation (instructors available)

Friday, June 7

  • 9:00-10:30am: Field Trip or Independent research time
    • Field Trip: Wilma H. Schiermeier Olentangy River Wetland Research Park (optional, transportation provided)
    • Lesson planning/research time: Instructor available for feedback
  • 10:30-12:00: Global Environmental Issues
    • Led by Seminar Instructor Dr. Roger Williams
  • 12:00 – 1:00pm: Lunch (on your own)
  • 1:00-3:00pm: Presentation of lesson plans, group discussions, feedback from Dr. Augustine and Dr. Williams (3-4 minutes per teacher, maximum)
  • 3:00 – 3:30pm: Wrap up and discussion of lesson plan deadline
    • July 10: Draft deadline
    • August 1: Final Lesson Plan deadline