Instructor's Integrator  Environmental Hazards on the US-Mexico Border   Mark Finco & George Hepner

 
 Jump Point: 

Prior Learning Expectations 
Some Recommended Prior Textbook Reading 
Earth Systems Science Skills/Tools Emphasized  
Correlation with the National Science Education Standards 
Correlation with National Geography Standards 
Answers to Activities 
Notes on Active Pedagogy in the Geosciences 
Feedback and User Participation

Prior Learning Expectations  
 

This case study assumes a basic understanding of geography, geology, population and settlement studies, economics and trade, ecology, environmental health sciences, and GIA (Geographical Information Analysis).  It is recommended that the student have the ability to: 

a) Explain and discuss basic principles of environmental health science and industrial hygiene issues as it relates to air, land/soil and water pollution and contamination (surface and sub-surface). 

 b) Manipulate and interpret basic geological and topographic maps, aerial photos and remotely-sensed imagery to assess and analyze urban and rural land use and transportation systems as well as residential patterns that indicate "vulnerability" to natural and human-induced hazards. 

c) Gather and analyze socio-economic and natural science data from traditional print as well as newer electronic sources son such issues as population and hazards data, commodity and trade/transportation movements and so on. 

d) Know generally how to find government data  and documents on environmental regulations, laws, hazards, waste storage and processing, transport and disposal. 

e) Perform simple computations and calculations used in the earth, social and health sciences. 

Some Recommended Prior Textbook Reading  
 

Background reading on selected earth science and environmental topics in basic Wiley textbooks will enhance understanding of the case study material.  Following are specific chapters in selected textbooks that are recommended for student reading. 

Geology Today: Understanding our Planet. Murck and Skinner. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1999.  Ch. 14 "Deserts, Glaciers, and Climate Change"; Ch. 15 "A Brief History of Life on Earth"; Ch. 16 "Earth Resources"; Ch. 17 "The Role of Geoscientists in the 21st Century" - Understanding Earth Resources and Geologic  Hazards" - page 512-521. 
 
Blue Planet: an Introduction to Earth System Science. Skinner and Porter . John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1999. Ch. 13 "Winds, Weather and Deserts"; Ch. 17 "Biological Evolution and the History of the Biosphere";  Ch. 20 "Global Change: A Planet under Stress". 

Environmental Geology. Murck, Skinner and Porter . John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1996. Part IV Managing Wastes: Ch 16 "Waste Disposal"; Ch. 17 "Contaminants in the Geologic Environment"; Ch. 18 "Atmospheric Change". 

Geography: Realms, Regions and Concepts. H.J. de Blij and peter O. Muller. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1997. Ch 3 "North America: The Postindustrial Transformation" (see particularly parts on agriculture, settlement history and related issues in the southwest of North America); Ch. 4 "Middle America: Collision of Cultures" (part about Mexico). 

Environmental Science: Earth As a Living Planet. Daniel B. Botkin and Edward A. Keller. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1998.  Part IV Sustaining Living Resources: Ch. 10-14: "World Food Supply; Agriculture and the Environment; Wild Living Resources; Landscapes and Seascapes; Environmental Health and Toxicology".  

Earth Systems Science Skills/Tools Emphasized  

Both the web-based and printed materials in this case study can be used to increase student skills and knowledge in the following areas: 

• Access, acquisition, display, and interpretion of basic maps and images that depict patterns of geomorphology, geology, seismology, limnology, ecology and hydrology of the US-Mexico border region as it relates to environmental risks and hazards as well as economic, social, industrial, land use/land cover and settlement/demographic change. 
   
• Acquisition of place-name literacy regarding major features of the US-Mexico border  region's physical, cultural and biogeographical landscape and its historical development. 
   
• Evaluate the policy implications of legal and regulatory crises, issues and trends  that pertain to the prevention, mitigation and enforcement of environmental treaties, accords, and laws both internationally  within NAFTA) and the US. 

Correlation with the National Science Education Standards  (NSES) 

A good place to start is with the online or print version of: 

• Every Child A Scientist: Achieving Scientific Literacy for All. National Academy Press, 1998. 

• You will also want to see the online version of the National Science Education Standards (click "Access Now" or purchase the book online).  
   
   
• North Central Regional Educational Laboratory - Science Education.
   
• You will also want to see the online publications by the National Academy of Sciences Preparing for the 21st Century project and other publications available through the National Academy Press.
   
• See also resources by Project 2061 of the AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science). 

Correlation with the National Geography Standards 

• Start with the summary of the Geography Standards online by the National Geographic Society. 
   
• You can get much more detail at the GENIP homepage (Geography Education National Implementation Project) hosted by the NCGE (National Council for Geographic Education). 
   
• Take the Online Tutorial for the book: Geography for Life: The National Geography Standards. 
   
• Also see other Internet Resources for Geography by the Virtual Geography Department Project. See particularly the Educational Resources listed. 

Answers to Activities 

 
• Self-Test Exercises of Virtual Tours: 
   
Virtual Tour I Answers and Worksheet 
 
• More Activities:

  Answers 
   

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Notes on Active Pedagogy in the Geosciences   
  

There are many resources on the Internet that now deal with "active learning" and other inquiry-based approaches to teaching science.  Here are a few specific resources that you can start with--particularly those which emphasize GEC (Global Environmental Change) and HDGC (Human Dimensions of Global Change) as well as ESS (Earth System Science). 

• Go to the HDGC "Hands-On" project of the AAG (Association of American Geographers) under "Education".  Note particularly an online module entitled: Notes on Active Pedagogy, by Susanne Moser and Susan Hanson of the Graduate School of Geography, Clark University. See also the ARGUS project (under "Education") from the AAG.
    
• See some of the resources produced by the Woodrow Wilson Leadership Program in Environmental Science and its Environmental Science Summer Institutes of 1997 and 1998 which have focused on Earth Systems and Global Climate Change.
    
• Many other resources that focus on Earth Science Education--many emphasizing the "systems approach" as well as use of technology in education, simulation and modeling, visualization and STELLA--are included in a supplementary resource list.
    
• The VGDP (Virtual Geography Department Project) which is funded by NSF also has many useful Internet-based resources that emphasize active learning.  See particularly its Bibliography on Using Technology to Enhance Learning that was part of a 1998 Workshop held in Austin, Texas.
    
• The GDN (Geography Discipline Network) based in the United Kingdom also has many useful resources that emphasize technology-based learning.
    
• I also recommend the many resources listed by NASA under the Earth Science Enterprise project as well as its Spacelink - NASA Educational Products list.

  See also PAGE (Program for the Advancement of Geoscience Education) from UCAR (University Corporation for Atmospheric Research)  
   

I've also listed an excellent online resource dealing with Web-based Teaching, e.g. issues of evaluating web resources and plagiarism on the web.  I recommend highly Bruce Leland's homepage (Professor of English Western Illinois University) and its resources for librarians.  See specifically: 

• Evaluating Web Resources
• Evaluation Guide
• Plagiarism on the Web

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Feedback and User Participation  

To make suggestions and corrections or to participate by submitting material please contact: 

                          Robert E. Ford  
                          International Studies and Earth System Science 
                          Westminster College of Salt Lake City  
                          1840 South 1300 East  
                          Salt Lake City,  Utah 84105  

                          Tel. 801-488-1655  
                          Email: rford@igc.org  
                          Personal homepage:  
                          http://www.wcslc.edu/pers_pages/r-ford/ford1.html  
 

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