Unit 1 Foundations and Tools of the Trade
1. Environmental Literacy
On the Road to Collapse
What lessons can we learn from a vanished Viking society?
2. Science Literacy and the Process of Science
Science and the Sky
Solving the mystery of disappearing ozone
3. Information Literacy
Toxic Bottles?
On the trail of chemicals in our everyday lives
4. Human Populations
One-Child China Grows Up
A country faces the outcomes of radical population control
5. Environmental Economics and Consumption
Wall to Wall, Cradle to Cradle
A leading carpet company takes a chance on going green
Unit 2 Ecology, Patterns, and Processes
6. Ecosystems and Nutrient Cycling
Engineering Earth
A desert experiment gone awry
7. Population Ecology
The Wolf Watchers
Endangered gray wolves return to the American West
8. Community Ecology
What the Stork Says
A bird species in the Everglades reveals the intricacies of a threatened
ecosystem
9. Biodiversity
Nature’s Medicine Cabinet
Will the bark of an ordinary tree in Samoa become a cure for cancer?
10. Evolution and Extinction
A Tropical Murder Mystery
Finding the missing birds of Guam
Unit 3 Earth’s Resources, Current Challenges, and Sustainable Options
11. Forests
Returning Trees to Haiti
Repairing a forest ecosystem one tree at a time
12. Grasslands
Restoring the Range
The key to recovering the world’s grasslands may be a surprising one
13. Marine Ecosystems
Science Under the Sea
Aquanauts explore an ecosystem on the brink
14. Fisheries and Aquaculture
Fish in a Warehouse?
How one Baltimore fish scientist could change the way we eat
15. Water
Toilet to Tap
A California county is employing a controversial method to
supply drinking water
16. Water Pollution
Saving the Bay
Teams of researchers try to pin down what’s choking
the Chesapeake
17. Solid Waste
A Plastic Surf
Are the oceans teeming with trash?
18. Agriculture
Fine-Feathered Farming
Creative solutions to feeding the world
Unit 4 Energy: A Wicked Problem with any Consequences
19. Coal
Bringing Down the Mountain
In the rubble, the true costs of coal
20. Petroleum
A Dangerous Dependence
Drilling for answers after an oil rig explosion
21. Air Pollution
The Youngest Scientist
Kids on the frontlines of asthma research
22. Climate Change
When the Trees Leave
Scientists grapple with a shifting climate
23. Nuclear Energy
The Future of Fukushima
Can nuclear energy overcome its bad rep?
24. Sun, Wind, and Water Energy
Fueled By the Sun
A small island makes big strides in renewable energy
25. Biofuels
Gas from Grass
Will an ordinary prairie grass become the next biofuel?
Unit 5 Toward a Sustainable Future
26. Urbanization and Sustainable Communities
The Ghetto Goes Green
In the Bronx, building a better backyard