Chimpanzees need water, air, food, and shelter.
Students begin by reading Dr. Seuss' The Lorax as an example of how over-development can cause long-lasting environmental destruction. Students discuss how to balance the needs of the environment with the needs of human industry. Student teams are asked to serve as natural resource engineers, city planning engineers and civil engineers with the task to replant the nearly destroyed forest and develop a sustainable community design that can co-exist with the re-established natural area.
This graduate-level class explores the complex interrelationships among humans and natural environments, focusing on non-western parts of the world in addition to Europe and the United States. It uses environmental conflict to draw attention to competing understandings and uses of "nature" as well as the local, national and transnational power relationships in which environmental interactions are embedded. In addition to utilizing a range of theoretical perspectives, this subject draws upon a series of ethnographic case studies of environmental conflicts in various parts of the world.
Students explore the biosphere and its associated environments and ecosystems in the context of creating a model ecosystem, learning along the way about the animals and resources. Students investigate different types of ecosystems, learn new vocabulary, and consider why a solid understanding of one's environment and the interdependence of an ecosystem can inform the choices we make and the way we engineer our communities. This lesson is part of a series of six lessons in which students use their growing understanding of various environments and the engineering design process, to design and create their own model biodome ecosystems.
Some animals can live in hollowed out trees, and this snake is one of them. Owls and squirrels can also be found living in tree holes.
Mosses require moisture and nutrients to grow (such as moist soil or tree bark). They anchor to tree bark with rhizoids, which are root-like structures lacking phloem and xylem. Mosses are able to lose most of their moisture without dying.
This activity lets students discover the benefits of urban forests by looking at trees on the schoolyard. Students will read a synopsis of the 400-year Social Sciences of communal forests, survey their schoolyard trees, and draft a schoolyard tree ordinance.
