Matching Our Curriculum to Our Planet: An Interdisciplinary Approach

“I wanted to learn the names of the birds, so I bought a book and learned their names. I wanted to learn to swim.  So I bought a book on how to swim and I drowned.”  Clearly, match-making is important.  Those of us who teach entry-level science courses have a wonderful opportunity to match what we teach both to the current interests of our students and to their longer-term concerns as citizens, parents, voters, professionals, and inhabitants of our planet.  Much is at stake.  If we continue matching our students with science courses that are mono-disciplinary and largely devoid of the real-world context that can motivate and inspire them to learn more than is in the textbook, we risk far more than drowning.  This talk explores some of the options for match-making, the candidly pointing out both some of the risks and benefits.