1. Design an Integrative Sustainability
Assignment
Modified from Curriculum for the Bioregion
Initiative and Jean MacGregor
Washington Center for Improving the Quality of
Undergraduate Education
The Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA

2. Goal :
Incorporate sustainability concepts,
skills, and habits of mind into an
activity in a ways that has curricular
integrity and "standing" – both for
faculty and students.

3. Design an Integrative Sustainability Assignment
“Big Idea”
or concept
in the discipline
Integrative
Assignment
Sustainability
context
or “Big Idea”

4. Design an Integrative Sustainability Assignment
Step 1: Form Groups (e.g., Grand Challenges)

5. Intersections of geoscience and sustainability

6. Economics and
geoscience
•Resource economics
•Land use planning,
•Land value
•Energy
Society and geoscience
•Human security
•Natural hazards
•Toxic hazards
•Food security
•Disease
•Energy security
•Availability of
resources
•Social equitability
•Open space
•Access to resources
•Efficient
transportation
•Efficient housing
•Education
•Jobs
•Mining
•Agriculture
•Fisheries
•Forests
•Environmental
regulations
•Permitting
•Carbon emissions
•Cap and trade
•Infrastructure
Environment and
geoscience
•Water
•Air
•Climate
•Biodiversity
•Soils
•Forests
•Coastlines
•Oceans
•Grasslands
•Habitats
•Pollution
Intersections of geoscience
and sustainability

7. Economics and climate •Impacts of emergency
measures
•Price of energy
response, health care
•Emissions policy
•Impacts to tourism
•Price of food
•Impacts to recreation
•Price of water
•Costs of carbon
•Property destruction (sea sequestration
level rise)
•Costs of other adaptation
Environment and
Society and climate
climate
•Human security
•Species loss
• Extreme weather
•Habitat
• Sea level rise
alteration/destruction
• Food security
•Impacts from carbon• Water resources
free energy (nuclear
• Disease
waste)
• Energy security
•Benefits from carbon• Availability of resources
• Displaced population
free energy
• International tension or
(renewables)
cooperation
•Climate feedbacks
•Social equitability
•Unpredictable impacts
• Efficient transportation
•Effects of carbon
• Efficient housing
sequestration
• Unequal distribution of
impacts
Specific example for climate

8. Economics and
energy
•Price of energy
•Emissions policy
•Infrastructure
Society and energy
•Human security
•Energy security
•Mine safety
•Social equitability
•Efficient
transportation
•Efficient housing
•Affordability of
energy
•Storage of waste
products
•Viewshed
•Jobs
•Rare earth elements storage
•Military conflicts
over resources
•Costs of cleanups
•Costs of waste
Environment and
energy
•Acid mine drainage
•Nuclear waste
•Greenhouse gas
emissions
•Dams
•Impacts to air
•Impacts to water
•Oil spills
Specific example for energy

9. Design an Integrative Sustainability Assignment
Step 2: Working individually, identify what, for you, are the key concepts or "big
ideas" that form the "tree trunk" of your course related to your Grand
Challenge. Write each concept legibly on a separate sticky note. Generate about
3 - 5 concepts. (3 - 5 minutes)
Key "tree trunk" Concepts are:
• Theories, principles, questions, and animating ideas that matter to your
course.
• Key concepts should be powerful enough that students can remember them,
see them at work, and use them years into the future.
• Key concepts are those that you want your students to take away from the
class and if they don’t you would feel disappointed.

10. Design an Integrative Sustainability Assignment
Step 3: Discuss and distill your concept lists
In your small group, "put your concepts on the
table" in a way that everyone can see what has
been generated. For about 10 minutes, share your
concepts and develop a general prioritization list.

11. Design an Integrative Sustainability Assignment
Step 4. Continuing with your small group,
brainstorm and generate a list of sustainability
concepts that can be linked to the concepts in step
3 and incorporated into an assignment that can be
used in your class. Feel free to move around and
group up the sticky-notes to move along your
discussion. (~30 min.)

12. Design an Integrative Sustainability Assignment
Step 5. Develop an outline and details if there is
time for an engaging assignment or activity that
you could use in your class that will create a
learning opportunity that integrates geoscience
concepts and sustainability concepts.
Step 6. Provide a brief overview of what you
accomplished.

13. Workshop Resource:
http://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/workshops/sustainability2012/key_concepts.html
http://faculty.washington.edu/rturner1/Sustainability/Big_Ideas01.htm

14. Workshop Resource:
http://serc.carleton.edu/dev/integrate/teaching_materials/systems.html

15. Key Concepts and Geoscience: Assignment/Unit
Integrative
Assignment
or Units
Examples:

16. Key Concepts and Geoscience: Course
Course Structures
For
Interdisciplinary
Teaching and Learning
Structure Examples:

17. Workshop Resource:
http://serc.carleton.edu/dev/integrate/teaching_materials/service_learning.html

18. Workshop Resource:
http://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/workshops/sustainability2012/outcomes.html

19. Goal: Incorporate Key Concepts of Sustainability
into our Courses
Learning Outcomes:
1. Identify possible integration points for
sustainability and geoscience content.
2. Formulate a plan to integrate sustainability
into at least one assignment in a course you
currently teach.
3. Support participant’s in achieving personal
outcomes.

20. Closing reflection and discussion
• How did the worshop go?
• What did you take away ?
• Does this make sense?

21. THANK
YOU!!!
You have only just begun….