As part of their general education studies, all students at the University of Kentucky must take two natural science courses. Many non-science majors choose the biology sequence of courses. Unfortunately these courses are lecture-only courses, and so some students can graduate without ever having had a science laboratory course. In an effort to provide students with some laboratory experience, I have developed / adapted a number of laboratory activities, which I have successfully incorporated into a non-majors biology course (Human Ecology). These activities are carried out in a lecture hall with 300 students in 50-minute time periods. In this chapter, two of these laboratory activities are presented. 1) Soil Testing - students test soil samples for nitrogen, potassium, phosphate and pH; compare the relative fertility of different soil samples; and carry out an inventory of animal and microbial life in soil samples. 2) Water Pollution Testing - students examine the effects of household chemicals on water quality (from Using Fast Plants and Bottle Biology in the Classroom, published by National Association of Biology Teachers, 1994, ISBN #0-941212-17-3).

Students learn about the periodic table and how pervasive the elements are in our daily lives. After reviewing the table organization and facts about the first 20 elements, they play an element identification game. They also learn that engineers incorporate these elements into the design of new products and processes. Acting as computer and animation engineers, students creatively express their new knowledge by creating a superhero character based on of the elements they now know so well.

Students learn about energy and nutrient flow in various biosphere climates and environments. They learn about herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, food chains and food webs, seeing the interdependence between producers, consumers and decomposers. Students are introduced to the roles of the hydrologic (water), carbon, and nitrogen cycles in sustaining the worlds' ecosystems so living organisms survive. 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.

" This course is an introduction to chemical oceanography. It describes reservoir models and residence time, major ion composition of seawater, inputs to and outputs from the ocean via rivers, the atmosphere, and the sea floor. Biogeochemical cycling within the oceanic water column and sediments, emphasizing the roles played by the formation, transport, and alteration of oceanic particles and the effects that these processes have on seawater composition. Cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen, and sulfur. Uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide by the ocean. Material presented through lectures and student-led presentation and discussion of recent papers."

Nitrogen, one of the most abundant elements in the universe, is essential to life. This interactive activity adapted from the University of Alberta provides an overview of the nitrogen cycle.

This USGS site provides access to data sets collected by the National Water-Quality Assessment Program. It features fact sheets, reports, bibliographies, additional data sets and links to other resources about nutrients in streams, rivers and aquifers of the United States. The site briefly explains what nutrients are, how they are used in the agricultural industry, how they react chemically in the environment, some of the transport processes that introduce them to surface and groundwater, and why excessive nutrients create water quality problems.

Students use M&Ms to create a pie graph that expresses their understanding of the composition of air. The students discuss why knowing this information is important to engineers.

In this activity students learn that elements are the basic building blocks of all things found on Earth and in space including water, the human body, and the Earth, the Sun, and the planets. By counting elements extracted from sample of beads designed to simulate a Genesis sampling grid, they will learn how the extraction of atoms from the Genesis samples help scientists have a better understanding of the abundances of elements in the solar wind. The hands-on experience helps students to discover that the elemental abundances from the sun can be used as a baseline to compare with the diverse bodies of our solar system. A student worksheet and data spreadsheet are provided.

The purpose of this resource is to measure the amounts of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium in each horizon in a soil profile. Using a NPK test kit, students mix a dry, sieved soil sample into a solution and chemically extract the N, P, and K as nitrate, phosphate, and potassium. The N, P, and K amounts in the sample are determined by comparing the solution to a color chart. Students describe the N, P, K amounts as high, medium, low, or none. These measurements are conducted three times for each horizon.

This site looks at soil fertility, nitrogen in soil, soil chemistry, soils as electrical systems, soils as filters, soil physics and particle sizes (silt, sand, and clay), microorganisms in soil, nutrients that plants need, soil morphology, judging soil by feel, structures and shapes of soil, and soil profile images from Arizona, Florida, Michigan, and other states. Learn how soil is formed and how long it takes to create an inch of soil.

An introduction to chemical oceanography. Reservoir models and residence time. Major ion composition of seawater. Inputs to and outputs from the ocean via rivers, the atmosphere, and the sea floor. Biogeochemical cycling within the oceanic water column and sediments, emphasizing the roles played by the formation, transport, and alteration of oceanic particles and the effects that these processes have on seawater composition. Cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen, and sulfur. Uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide by the ocean. Material presented through lectures and student-led presentation and discussion of recent papers.