BIO 628: Climate Change
Fall 2024 Elective W+ Course
In-Person Dates: 8/31, 9/8, 9/28, 10/27, 11/14
Location: Central Park Zoo
3 credits, Letter Grade
Global warming is irrevocably altering our polar ice caps, our oceans, our forests, and the world’s plant and animal life. In this course, participants study the science of climate change, the diverse causes of climate change, and the impact of climate change at local, regional, and global scales. Topics include global warming’s effect on weather and climate, ice caps, deforestation, and species conservation. Because the public plays a central role in how the world responds to climate change, students also investigate the factors that guide public perception, ranging from media to social interaction. Students explore the effect of climate change specific to the biology of their local region and consider what actions they and their communities can take locally. Through project assignments and research, at the end of this course participants not only have a solid understanding of current issues surrounding climate change but will also have considered and developed strategies for taking action. This is a Miami University online course with experiential learning on-site at an affiliated Dragonfly Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP) institution.
Student Learning Outcomes:
- Engage with each other and with experts in the field to investigate and interpret global climate change issues.
- Critically analyze primary research on the causes, impacts, and proposed solutions to climate change.
- Evaluate methods by which public perception is formed and consider and critique the polling process, including national and international media and social interaction.
- Gain an understanding of climate change and global warming as a field of study locally and assess how to apply the tools of conservation science in their own communities.
- Become more proficient employing local resources, including the AIP Master Institution environment, exhibits, and community partnerships, to increase public engagement in climate change issues.
- Engage in reflective and evaluative peer review in face-to-face environments and on the web to provide colleagues with personal insight, new perspectives or analyses, ideas for useful applications, and connections to other research and projects.