Course Titles and Narratives

Central Foci of the Curriculum
The two-week curriculum is inherently interdisciplinary and will be taught in an integrated manner. The following descriptions represent the academic topics, or courses, addressed by the activities of the two weeks:

Introduction to Environmental Studies
Students will explore and critically assess the wide range of ideas, ways of understanding, and practices encompassed within the field of Environmental Studies. More specifically, our goal is to gain a better understanding of the complex interactions and interdependencies between environmental science, environmental thought and ethics, environmental practice or policy, and the development of practical and successful solutions to environmental problems.

Environmental Thought
Students will explore the intersections between environmental problems and contemporary environmental thought. Combining eastern and western perspectives, traditional and post-modern philosophy, aesthetics, feminism, policy, and economics, we will question the development of environmental sensibilities and the relationship between these sensibilities and one’s conception of the human role within the non-human world. We will discuss the culture-nature relationship and the myriad ways this relationship is borne out in theory and practice.  This material provides an intensive exposure to the intellectual developments, conceptual frameworks and challenges within contemporary environmental thought.

Environmental Education in Motion
Students will learn how hands-on exploration and activities enhance one's understanding of environmental concepts.  In Glen Helen Nature Preserve, students will have an opportunity to put environmental education theory into practice through the use of educational games, activities, and self-led discovery.  Students will learn how to develop activities that allow for educational and personal growth, and how to utilize the natural world as a classroom.  At the end of the program students will develop an activity to demonstrate one of the environmental concepts learned during the program.

Ecological Footprint I & II
Studying environmental problems can often be debilitating, leaving individuals feeling powerless.  This session serves to empower students with practical steps they can take as individuals to lessen their environmental impact.  First, students will examine the correlation between resource use and consumer goods.  Through group activities, students will follow the paths of at least two products (bottled water and a hamburger) in order to gain a better understanding of the environmental impact of producing common products.  Then students will collect data about personal habits and will calculate their individual ecological footprints.  Through this process students will be able to evaluate their own consumer practices and habits, and thus, determine what steps they can take to personally decrease their ecological footprint.

Environmental Policy
Students will learn through first-hand accounts, and large group discussion, the effects of large corporate practices such as factory farming, highlighting how communities are organizing to protect themselves from the negative, social and environmental effects of such practices.  Through examining Pennsylvania case-studies, in which local laws give rights to nature and natural communities (just as corporations have), and laws that strip corporate constitutional rights, students must consider the philosophical, ethical, and legal boundaries of nature.  This session is a great introduction to the possibilities available in an environmental public policy career field.

Land Management
Students will test their observation skills as they hike through red oak stands, a pine forest, and other plant communities, observing unique plant relationships within a specific floral community.  Many challenges of restoring and maintaining these public habitats exist.  In this session, students will gain a better understanding of physical work that is required, such as how to make human use of the area as low-impact as possible, and will also discuss public relation challenges that arise regarding management issues such as; use of herbicides, and control of deer population.

Sense of Place Photography
This session connects students to the land as they seek to discover and express their “sense of place” through they eye of a camera.  Students collaborate in groups of three to select and compose a series of photographs of a place in Glen Helen. These photographs are then developed into slides and transferred to a poster collage utilizing emulsion transfer techniques. Through this process students artistically transform their photographs into a unique expression of their group’s collaborative sense of place in the natural world. 

Wabi-Sabi Ecoart
Wabi-sabi is a Japanese aesthetic that can be used as a basis for making and interpreting artworks, as well as reflecting on the challenges of contemporary life. This activity gives students an opportunity to apply the Wabi-sabi aesthetic in their artistic work and to relate this aesthetic to environmental problems and solutions. By thinking about the Wabi-sabi aesthetic in this way, students challenge themselves to understand the aesthetic and the ways in which it relates to our world.

Environmental Restoration
Students will gain acquaintance with the theory and practice of ecological restoration. By exploring concepts within the sciences, social sciences, and humanities, the sessions will help students gain a well-developed sense of the interdisciplinary nature of ecological restoration projects.  Students will explore ongoing local habitat restoration efforts, with emphasis on invasive plant species removal, native species reintroduction and quantitative vegetative analysis. From the social sciences, students will gain an understanding of the psychological benefits of volunteer opportunities, the relationship of environmental policy to restoration practices, as well as how public values and opinions impact both the policy and practice of ecological restoration. We will also approach some of the larger, overarching philosophical and ethical questions within restoration such as: Do we have a responsibility to restore nature? Is restoration simply another instance of human domination over nature? Are restored areas “natural”? Is restoration trying to “fake” nature? If restored areas are “fake” nature, do they then have a lesser social or ecological value?

Wildlife Ecology and Rehabilitation
Students will explore habitats and ecology of species indigenous to Glen Helen. They will study birds of prey as examples of wildlife threatened by human activity during a visit to the Nature Preserve’s regionally-acclaimed raptor rehabilitation center. Raptor biology will be introduced, with emphasis on specialized adaptations in birds of prey. Raptor ecology, habitat requirements and threats to raptor populations and individuals will be discussed as well as issues in rehabilitation and release of recovered birds.

Wildlife Natural Heritage
Students will explore Ohio’s wildlife heritage since the time of European settlement from the 18th Century to today. Students will understand the reasons for the extirpation of certain wildlife species from Ohio such as the Woodland Bison and Mountain Lion and the relationship between the disappearance of species and land use changes that occurred in Ohio in the 18th  & 19th Century. The Instructor will provide information and give a description of each major ecosystem type in Ohio.  Groups will discuss representative wildlife species found in each ecosystem type. Students will examine the efforts and successes of the Ohio Division of Wildlife with the re-introduction and restoration of species such as the Bald Eagle, River Otter, and Peregrine Falcon.

Plant Identification/ Forest Community Ecology
Students will study first-hand the magnificent diversity of plants that occur in Glen Helen. Students will be introduced to over 50 forest species and will learn how to use a dichotomous key. Invasive species will be identified and their detrimental effect on Preserve natives observed. Students will examine the species composition of several of the Preserve’s plant communities. The interrelationships of the various species will be examined, and the environmental factors that allow the communities to persist. Students develop an understanding of the reasons why certain plants associate with one another and how human factors (i.e., land use or time since release from management) and environmental factors (i.e., slope, acidity of soil, and drainage) determine distribution patterns. 

Landforms/Hydrogeology
Students will have the opportunity to examine the geology of Glen Helen, investigate earth history in the region and explore how topography and underlying rock structure and composition effect soils and water quality. Students will observe such phenomena as fossils, glacial erratics and karst landforms as clues to the Preserve’s geologic evolution. Current hydrogeologic conditions will be studied in the context of ground and surface water quality issues.

Stream Study/Watershed Management
Students will engage in hands on investigation of stream ecology and human impacts on water quality in Glen Helen. Students will use state-of-the-art equipment to measure chemical and physical parameters and collect and analyze samples from a Preserve stream above and below a municipal sewage treatment plant. These activities will combine field measurements and sample collection with laboratory analysis and a field-intensive investigation of watershed health in the heart of Glen Helen. Students will explore watershed ecology and survey benthic macroinvertebrate populations as indicator organisms in a Preserve stream. Students will examine land use in the watershed area and the natural and human factors that influence water quality.

Environmental Problem Solving
This informal discussion session will engage students in a critical examination of the dilemmas we face when attempting to mitigate detrimental effects of human activities on the environment. Value choices are examined through interactive games and discussions of situations where difficult choices must be made when attempting to solve an environmental problem. This session is designed as an exercise in critical thinking, with students themselves facilitating various activities.

The Population Connection
With the world population at 6.5 billion and growing, it is essential to understand human population history and the effect that growth trends have on natural resource use and social systems. Are there limits to our growth? In this hands-on workshop, students engage in inquiry-based activities that build understanding of growth trends for humans and other species, including limiting factors and fertility trends. They will explore the relationships between population growth, resource consumption, environmental health, social well-being, and carrying capacity. The concepts in these activities support Ohio academic content standards in science, mathematics, and social studies, making this an interdisciplinary lesson.