Capstone: Environment, Technology & Society
Section 82 / Berg
Global Climate Change: Causes, Consequences, Solutions
Class Organization and General Requirements
The course will be taught over a period of three weeks, from 9:30 to noon M-Th. The topic to be considered will be global climate change, specifically global warming. There will be three major sections to the course, each taking approximately a week:
- Science, evidence and mechanisms: how we go about deciding (in a scientific manner) what is happening, the evidence for the changes, and the mechanisms by which we see that the change is taking place. Students will do some experiments (instructions given) during this week, and will answer questions and discuss material from the reading and from class videos.
- Impact: what the expected impacts will be in different parts of the world, and for different systems (e.g., agriculture, wildlife, insurance) and people (e.g., Inuit natives in the Arctic, Americans). Note that not all impact is negative. Students will give presentations during this week, and will discuss and fill out evaluations of others’ presentations. The instructor will present an overview and summary, and will be part of the discussions.
- Solutions: what kinds of actions we can undertake that will either reduce the unfavorable impacts of warming already underway and/or reduce the extent of avoidable warming predicted for the future. Students will give presentations during this week, and will discuss and fill out evaluations of others’ presentations. The instructor will present an overview and summary, and will be part of the discussions.
What is expected of the students?
- attend every class (we only meet twelve times, so each miss is equivalent to missing 1.3 weeks of classes in a semester, or missing 1.7 days in a 21-day month of work days)
- come prepared by having done the reading and answered the questions given for that reading
- participate in the class, including answering questions and discussing
- give two short (10 minutes) presentations, followed by discussion (5 minutes) with a partner, one each in the 2nd and 3rd weeks
- thoughtfully discuss and evaluate the presentations of other students
- write two short papers on topics assigned
- write a short reflection paper on your experiences in the class (due on last day)
- be attentive and respectful toward others
What can students expect to get from the course? A better understanding of…
- how the current climate change relates to past climate history
- how changing the atmosphere can change the climate
- why most educated people think that global warming is taking place
- why most educated people think that humans are (and have been) contributing to it
- what the likely effects of global warming are
- how humans can limit the change and reduce negative impacts
- what we know, how we know it, and what we are uncertain about
- how science, technology and society interact
- how science works to discover how nature operates and to predict future events
Grading is based on performance in the class
- attendance
- participation (more points for more participation)
- assignments (more points for better assignments)
- presentations (more points for better presentations)
- evaluations and discussions of presentations (points for doing this)