A “Jigsaw” Activity for a Natural Hazards Course Cody Kirkpatrick Lecturer, Indiana University Earth Educators Rendezvous 2017

The course “Extreme Weather and Its Impacts” Gen Ed Natural Science, no lab Mostly non-science majors, taught at the freshman level One of the only geoscience courses many students will ever take! The course

Students have a recommended reading assignment (it’s in your handout) Answer questions online in the LMS before coming to class; for credit Goals: learn basic vocabulary; begin practicing with the day’s concepts Before coming to class

What weather variable do you have? Can you interpret the data given? Where are the maxima? Minima? Large gradients? Other peculiar features? How does your ingredient contribute to fire weather? The activity: Phase 1

“Where do all the ingredients come together to create the most dangerous fire weather conditions?” In your new teams, determine the area of “extreme” fire weather risk. And a larger area of “general” risk Draw outlines of these on your map The activity: Phase 2

After the activity, display some of the student maps on the projector And show the “right” answer! Reflection about what they liked, what they found confusing, etc. Make small adjustments to these every year. Close the loop

“Student Engagement Techniques” has a chapter dedicated to the Jigsaw activity (and four dozen other ideas, too!) More information