Using Liberal Art Student Interest in Climate Change to Develop Computer and Analytical Skills

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9354782 O'Connell Courses in Climate Change, Global Warming and Paleoclimatology are a recent addition to most earth and environmental science curricula. Most courses do not include laboratory exercises. Climate change is a subject which is ideally suited to teach students computer and analytical skills. It can be used to encourage them to look at data and to draw their own conclusions, and thus to question predictions and solutions that are not based on thoughtful and thorough analyses of the available information. They can learn that in science there is often no single clear-cut answer. I propose to develop an integrated course syllabus using available texts and journal articles with six, climate-oriented laboratory exercises. Developing the laboratory exercises is the main focus of this proposal. The exercises should be adaptable to most Climate Change courses and would be used to teach students to collect and analyze data with a spreadsheet (using Microsoft Excell), to develop simple model simulations (using Stella II), and to manipulate and present data in variety of visibly useful formats (using Spyglass Transform 2.0). They would learn to use these programs as a component in assessing climate change from both the geological and modern record. The resulting course would be highly interactive, with students thinking through their own answers. This format will better prepare them to address the complex environmental and social questions of the 21st century. ***