WWMKD?

For those of us who teach very large classes (my Intro Environmental Science course has about 650-700 students each year, and my Natural Hazards class is bursting at 150 students), it can be a constant challenge to think of each student as an individual. I think we can agree that everyone in academia is big on maintaining a mutually respectful environment in the classroom. But how this can be done effectively, if we know our students as a nameless, faceless mass?

Professors use a wide variety of tricks to get past this problem. I know of someone who teaches courses with hundreds of students (Intro Biology), and has the students make name-plates that stand on their desks at each lecture session. She then attempts to learn all of their names, and connect them to their faces…! At my age, I’m sorry, but I am way past being able to learn several hundred names and faces each term. That simply won’t work for me.

Instead, I try to focus on always being conscious of the HUMANITY of each individual student. I actively remind myself that “students are people, too.” Each of them has a mother and a father, and some of those moms and dads are pressuring their kids in not-always-healthy ways. Each of my students has a work schedule, health issues, family stresses, assignments for other courses, trouble sleeping, relationship problems – whatever it may be that takes their attention away from my course, or clouds their thinking from time to time.

It is probably MOST difficult to remember that “students are people” when you are answering the same stupid question for the 10^th time. Yes, I said “stupid question,” even though it’s not politically correct. In my opinion, contrary to popular belief, there ARE stupid questions in this world. For example, consider the following: I use i-clickers in my class (I’m not a complete fan of them; more on that in a future posting, perhaps), and one of my students once asked me, “Can I use my i-clicker at home?”

Let the full weight of that question sink in for a minute, and I think you will agree that it IS possible to ask a stupid question.

I answered that particular question with extreme patience; that is my practice. After all, what do I know about this student’s life…? Maybe he didn’t get any sleep last night because he works a graveyard shift. Or maybe he’s got a lot on his mind because he just got kicked out of his house, or his mom is dying of cancer. There are many reasons why people ask not-very-brilliant questions from time to time. I make sure that my answer doesn’t make my students feel that THEY are stupid, although I might gently hint that the question itself could have been better thought-out.

To help me remember the life pressures and humanity that lies behind each student’s classroom face, I carry around in my head a screening tool that I call WWMKD?, which stands for, “What Would My Kid Do?”. For those who don’t have kids, or those whose kids are still little, this will obviously be difficult to apply. But my oldest is now 21, so for the past five or more years she has been a pretty good analogue for my students. This does not mean that I treat my students like children, nor that I think of them as if they were my own kids (please, no!). It just reminds me that each one of them is an individual young person (for the most part), with the same types of pressures and concerns that my own children are facing.

So if my TAs and I take more than a week to hand back marked work, in my head I can hear my kid (and therefore my students) saying, “Mom, why hasn’t my prof posted our marks yet? I’m so worried about my grade – I won’t be able to sleep until I find out what I got on that paper.” I think about how I would feel, as a parent, to know that my kid is losing sleep over this, and I try to hustle our processing of the papers as much as possible.

If I am tempted to give a very weighty assignment at a time when I know students will have other course work due, I can hear my kid saying, “Mom, I can’t stay up any more to finish this assignment – I’m just too exhausted.” And I think about tweaking my scheduling just a bit.

If I am losing patience with answering yet another of those not-so-brilliant questions, I remember how complicated and daunting this institution looked to my own child when she first started as an undergraduate. I try to give them just a bit of leeway, since I know that they are still working at conquering the complexities of university life.

I don’t think this WWMKD approach harms my “bottom line” in terms of maintaining high academic and behavioral standards in my courses. Just as for my own kids, I never pass up an opportunity to remind my students that clearer thinking, better efforts, and higher-quality work is always desirable, and pretty much always possible no matter what pressures you are facing. But it helps me to remember that none of us is perfectly brilliant or brilliantly perfect all the time, and we all – even students – have burdens to carry.

Barbara Murck is a Geologist and Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science at the University of Toronto, Mississauga as well as a Wiley author.

Investigating 3 Hazards of 2010

Investigating 3 Hazards of 2010:
Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill, Eyjafjallajokull Volcano in Iceland, and the Haiti Earthquake
Submitted by Joseph Kerski

http://edcommunity.esri.com/arclessons/lesson.cfm?id=537

Investigating Three Hazards of 2010: The Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill, Eyjafjallajokull Volcano, Iceland, and the Haiti Earthquake This 30-question lesson invites exploration of three 2010 hazards using GIS as the investigative tool. Each hazard uses progressively more robust GIS tools and invites deeper exploration. (1) What is the difference between natural hazards and human-caused hazards? What are three hazards that caused much devastation and destruction in 2010, and why? Which of the three were natural hazards, and which were human-caused? What are the “gray areas” between natural and human-caused hazards? (2) What are the geographic components of hazards? How can GIS help us understand the causes and impacts of hazards? (3) What were the chief causes, impacts, location, movement, and spatial pattern of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the Eyjafjallajokull Volcano in Iceland, and the earthquake in Haiti?

Joseph Kerski is a Geographer and Education Industry Curriculum Development Manager at the Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI).

Disastrous Playlist (Redux)

Pursuant to my posting from last week concerning My Disastrous Playlist, I am posting the whole list of songs that I have put together for use during the breaks in my Natural Hazards class. I have added a couple of the suggestions provided by commentators, too – thanks!

James, I’m saving your suggestions for my Environmental Science playlist – stay tuned for that, or maybe you can post yours…? But I also like the idea of using songs to introduce specific lecture topics. How about this one for your insolation lecture: Why Does the Sun Shine? (The Sun is a Mass of Incandescent Gas) by They Might Be Giants, which I discovered while researching one of the other suggestions. I haven’t actually listened to it yet, but the lyrics start out:

The sun is a mass of incandescent gas
A gigantic nuclear furnace
Where hydrogen is built into helium
At a temperature of millions of degrees

Yo ho, it’s hot, the sun is not
A place where we could live
But here on earth there’d be no life
Without the light it gives

Again my disclaimer for using the playlist – you need to actually LISTEN to all of these before you play any of them in your classroom. I have vetted them fairly thoroughly for overtly objectionable language, but everyone has different levels of tolerance. The range of musical styles represented here is very broad – everything from punk to alternative, hip-hop, reggae, inspirational, jazz, and traditional music. You have to decide what to play based on your own level of comfort and your students’ sensibilities.

But they’re all fun! So here’s my complete Disastrous Playlist – so far – along with the name of the album in parentheses; it’s in some kind of semi-alphabetical order, as per iTunes. By the way, so far Bob Dylan and Sufjan Stevens are tied for the most songs on the list:

1. Volcano by The Akkademiks (The Akkademiks….ROCK! And by the way, this is an entire album of geologically-themed songs. They have other-themed science albums, too, hence the band’s nerdy name.)
2. Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) by The Arcade Fire (Funeral)
3. Los Angeles Is Burning by Bad Religion (The Empire Strikes First)
4. Volcano by Blues Machine (The Blues Tribute to Jimmy Buffett)
5. Shelter From The Storm by Bob Dylan (The Essential Bob Dylan – Disc 2)
6. Hurricane by Bob Dylan (The Essential Bob Dylan – Disc 2)
7. The Levee’s Gonna Break by Bob Dylan (Modern Times)
8. Black Diamond Bay by Bob Dylan (Bob Dylan: The Collection)
9. I Feel The Earth Move by Carole King (Tapestry)
10. 20 Year Flood by Chris Velan (Twitter, Buzz, Howl)
11. Upon This Tidal Wave Of Young Blood by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah)
12. London Calling by The Clash (London Calling)
13. Volcano by Count Basie & His Orchestra (The Classic Swing Collection)
14. Landslide by The Dixie Chicks (Home)
15. Riders on the Storm by The Doors (L.A. Woman)
16. Flood by Eleven Fingered Charlie (Owl Hollow Acoustic Sessions)
17. Landslide by Fleetwood Mac (The Very Best Of Fleetwood Mac)
18. The Lightning Storm by Flogging Molly (Float)
19. End Of The World by Great Big Sea (Rant And Roar)
20. Warning by Green Day International Superhits)
21. Storm by Gregory Isaacs (One Man Against the World: The Best of Gregory Issacs)
22. Volcano by Jamaican Steel Band (Steel Drums of the Caribbean, Vol. 2)
23. Fire And Rain by James Taylor (Sweet Baby James)
24. Flood by Jars of Clay (Jars of Clay)
25. Willow by Joan Armatrading (Love and Affection: Joan Armatrading Classics 1975-1983)
26. Electrical Storm by Joseph Arthur (Nuclear Daydream)
27. Down In the Flood by Mark Selby (Mark Otis Selby…And the Horse He Rode In On)
28. Red River Flood by Murray McLauchlan (Songs from the Street: The Best of Murray McLauchlan)
29. Volcanoes by Povi (Life In Volcanoes)
30. End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) by R.E.M. (Document)
31. Riders On the Storm by Snoop Dogg featuring The Doors (Riders On the Storm – Fredwreck Remix)
32. Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Step-Mother! by Sufjan Stevens (Illinoise – and yes, I know that’s not how it is spelled – you’ll have to talk to Sujan Stevens about it…)
33. Prairie Fire That Wanders About by Sufjan Stevens (Illinoise)
34. The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us by Sufjan Stevens (Illinoise)
35. The Avalanche by Sufjan Stevens (Illinoise – who would have guessed that Sufjan Stevens would have so many disaster-themed songs…?)
36. Galveston Flood by Tom Rush (Take a Little Walk With Me)
37. Wasn’t That a Might Storm by Tom Rush (New Year)
38. New Orleans Is Sinking by The Tragically Hip (Yer Favourites – Disc 1)
39. Electrical Storm (William Orbit Mix) by U2 (The Best of 1990-2000)
40. Volcano Girls by Veruca Salt (Eight Arms to Hold You)
41. Deluge by Wayne Shorter (Juju)

Barbara Murck is a Geologist and Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science at the University of Toronto, Mississauga as well as a Wiley author.

Fieldwork Videos

Geographer Joseph Kerski is using YouTube to post videos from his fieldwork, workshops, and work with GIS technologies.  Videos range from wind farms, lava rocks in Idaho, red soils in Oklahoma, GeoCaching, and Geotechnologies in Education.

URL: http://www.youtube.com/geographyuberalles

How do you share photos and videos from your field work/travels?

My Disastrous Playlist

In my Geography course GGR378 Natural Disasters: Risk and Vulnerability, I have started using music to welcome students at the beginning of the class, and during the lecture breaks (it is a two-hour class session with a 10- to 15-minute break).

A fair bit of research has been done on the use of music in the classroom. Most of the published research is in educational/pedagogical and psychological journals. Much of it focuses on children, adolescents, and special-needs learners (see, for example, Hallam and Price, 1998). The adult-centered research tends to focus on the role of music in memory, skills acquisition, or test performance (see, for example, Furnham and Bradley, 1997). Another area of interest, for both children and adults, has been the use of music to create a setting that is conducive to learning, and to establish the mood of the classroom.

To that end, I started to keep my eye out for “disaster-themed” songs – earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, tsunamis, storms, floods, fires, even pest infestations – to fit the themes of my course. I was surprised to discover how many disaster songs there are out there. I’ve been collecting them on a separate playlist on my iPod.

Some disaster songs are obvious right from the title: “New Orleans is Sinking” by The Tragically Hip, or “Los Angeles is Burning” by Bad Religion, for example. Some are obvious, but metaphorical: “Hurricane” by Bob Dylan, “I Feel the Earth Move” by Carole King, or “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac or the Dixie Chicks (I’ve got both versions on my playlist). Others are more subtle; can you find the disaster references in songs like “Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)” by Arcade Fire, “Warning” by Green Day, or “Decatur (or, Round of Applause for Your Step-Mother)” by Sufjan Stevens?

You need to use a bit of caution and set ground rules for the language and even the type of music you want to permit in the classroom; these are adults, but it is an academic setting, after all. I also find that you either need to present a wide diversity of music or be prepared for students to be somewhat disdainful of your choices. If you are going to play the Spice Girls, for example, you should probably do it with a certain amount of irony, or students will find you hopelessly out of date. You can expect that students will come up with suggestions to add to your playlist, once you tell them what you are up to.

Does anyone have any disaster-themed songs I could add to my playlist?

References:

Hallam, S., and Price, J. (1998) Can the use of background music improve the behavior and academic performance of children with emotional and behavioral difficulties? British Journal of Special Education 25, 2:88-91.

Furnham, A., and Bradley, A., (1997) Music while you work: The differential distraction of background music on the cognitive test performance of introverts and extraverts, Applied Cognitive Psychology, 11:445-455.

Barbara Murck is a Geologist and Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science at the University of Toronto, Mississauga as well as a Wiley author.

Sandy Beach, Oahu, On Location with Chip Fletcher

Learn about the Geology of Sandy Beaches in Oahu with Wiley author and University of Hawaii Professor Chip Fletcher.

Running Time: 3:46

Video created by Sufiya Mohamed Ismail and Chip Fletcher.

Waves Photos

Clark Little is a nationally recognized photographer of waves from the North Shore, Hawaii. His photographs have garnered praise from Geo Magazine, The Discovery Channel/TreeHhugger.com, and Kahala Magazine.

His gallery of photographs let you enjoy a different view of the fluid dynamics of waves.

To view his photographs please visit his website – http://www.clarklittlephotography.com.

Hoover Dam, On Location with Alan Arbogast

Learn about the Geography of the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead with Wiley author and MSU Professor Alan Arbogast.

Running Time: 7:08

Why can oil be found in the Gulf anyway?

The ongoing environmental drama in the Gulf of Mexico provides an opportunity to briefly consider the geology and geography of oil production in the region. The ill-fated Deepwater Horizon platform was one of about 4,000 such platforms in the Gulf, which collectively produce over 1.5 million barrels of oil per day. This amount represents approximately 30% of domestic oil production in the United States. But why can oil be found in the Gulf anyway? The answer lies in the structural and sedimentary geology of the area.

The Gulf is rich in oil due to a complex history that involves marine transgressions (rising sea levels), regressions (falling sea levels), and delta formation during its evolution. In the context of sea level history, geologists know that numerous periods of rising and falling sea levels have occurred in the Gulf’s history, with each lasting for millions of years. These fluctuations in water level were perhaps several hundred meters in height. During low sea stands, plants and animals occupied the exposed surfaces. The organic residue from this biota was then buried by marine sedimentary deposits during the next transgression. This cycle of surface exposure, accumulation of organic material, and subsequent burial during a marine transgression occurred numerous times, resulting in a thick sedimentary sequence of limestone, sandstone, and shale. The organic deposits were subsequently converted to oil and natural gas through intense pressure and heat caused by the weight of the overlying rocks.

The evolution of the Mississippi Delta has also contributed to the formation of hydrocarbon reservoirs in the Gulf. At this location, clouds of microscopic organisms develop that feed on the dissolved load carried into the Gulf by the Mississippi River. As these organisms die, they settle on the ocean floor, forming a mix of sediment and organic ooze. Over time, these layers are buried progressively deeper by additional deltaic and marine deposits. As a result, the organic remains are also converted to oil and natural gas because they are cooked in the manner previously described.

The numerous oil wells in the Gulf are tapping into vast reservoirs of petroleum that have formed over millions of years. Some reservoirs consist of pockets where oil collected after it was forced upward through overlying layers of sandstone after it formed. At some level, this upwardly moving oil encountered a shale layer, which trapped it from rising further. As more oil moved upward from underlying strata, the volume within the trapped reservoir increased. In many other places, oil is found in relation to salt domes associated with the Louann Salt. This wide-spread evaporite formed during an extensive period of aridity and low-sea stand in the mid-to-late Jurassic Period, between 175- and 145-million years ago. This salt bed is less dense than the sediments above it and has thus been forced upward by pressure in many places. Over time, oil has flowed upward along the edge of these features until it encounters some form of trapping layer that causes it to collect in mineable quantities.

So, as we view this unfolding environmental disaster, it is worth considering the time and events required to develop reservoir-quality hydrocarbons in the Gulf of Mexico. It is also important to note that a primary reason the spill has yet to be contained is because the damaged well is about one mile below the ocean surface where access is especially difficult. This remote location reflects the fact that most of the easily accessible oil on land or near the coast has already been extracted, forcing oil companies to search in progressively deeper waters. As a result, the limits of technology are stretched, especially when problems arise. For the American consumer, these geological and geographical relationships mean that the coming years probably mean higher prices at the pump as our search for oil becomes more complicated. In the meantime, the Gulf of Mexico is bearing the environmental and societal costs of our growing need for oil.

By Alan Arbogast, Professor of Geography, Michigan State University.  Author of, Discovering Physical Geography, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Associated web sites:

http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/06mexico/background/oil/oil.html

http://www.priweb.org/ed/pgws/backyard/sections/southcentral/southcentral2.html

Google Earth(tm) Resources for the Gulf of Mexico Oil Slick

Description:  NASA has provided a KMZ file that gives animations, photo overlays, satellite images, trajectory forecasts, and additional resources for looking at the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Source:  Google Earth(tm) and NASA.  Open Google Earth and fly to  28°56’52.10″N,  88° 6’36.41″W to access the NASA placemark.

Discussion Topics:  Observe and describe the flow of oil over several days.  What impact will the oil spill have on human environments?  wildlife?  marine ecosystems?

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