Tuesday, July 29, 2014

The Power of Real World Scenarios: Loop Back Scenario #1- "Global Warming and Escalating Extreme Weather Events"

The purpose of the "loop-back"scenario is to give students as a collaborative group the opportunity to apply new knowledge and skills obtained from the moon colony planning exercise to a more current real world issue or problem. The following describes the setup for the loop-back scenario as well as the scenario itself.

Instructions to Students Team:
"As a team you were faced with a very challenging scenario in the design of the moon colony and your instructor introduced confounding events throughout the collaborative scenario to test your abilities as members of a team to use your abilities to solve problems posed to ensure that your plan would be feasible. Through this simulation, you acquired new knowledge in your designated area of expertise, new skills for approaching problems and acquired some very valuable contacts within the professional communities who agreed to mentor you when dealing with some of the more challenging aspects in this cross disciplinary simulation.


Now it is time to take stock of what you have learned from having designed the domed structures, the life support systems, the power systems and the specialized medical research on the growing field of Nanotechnology. Each member of the team is to present a report from his or her area of expertise in the design of the colony. Remember that the report must be presented from a science, technology, engineering and mathematics perspective. The report should be irresistibly engaging to those viewing it. You may make use of whatever multimedia digital tools found on the Internet, with one exception. No PowerPoint should be used for our purposes here."

Introduction and Set Up for Loop Back Scenarios:

" Our challenge for you as a team is to tell you that we have two real world scenarios that currently are ongoing on the planet. In order to address these scenarios, we are splitting you up into the following two teams:

Team Alpha: Two members who were those responsible for the design of domed structures and power generation will make up this team.

Team Bravo: Two members who were responsible for the medical research dealing with Nanotechnology and life support systems will make up this team. Team Bravo you are on standby.

It should be obvious to you that your teams will be lacking certain skill sets and contacts that may be vital to your mission. After the scenario has been described to you, you are to do a needs assessment based upon two factors: skill sets required for the successful completion of the scenario and skill sets lacking based on you own self-assessments. Your first task is to recruit other students by exchanging information with them and studying bio information that they have made available after having registered for this course. Upon finding two suitable members you are to invite them to join the team pending final approval from your instructor. Like you, they will receive the appropriate credit and recognition for having participated. Now, on to the scenario:

Scenario #1: "Global Warming and Escalating Extreme Weather Events"

"Latest satellite data and imagery compared with past data indicates that the frequency of extreme weather events on the Earth is increasing and is now threatening the infrastructure, ability to produce food for populations and the ability of people to provide the very basics of life in some areas of the Earth. If this allowed to continue it will have a domino effect and we will see the break down of civil law and order in those societies affected. It has not yet reached the point of crisis.

You are being called upon to come up with an innovative solution using the skill sets, mentor contacts and knowledge that you have gained from the design of the moon colony. Improvisation will be required as you receive live reports from the target region detailing changing conditions.The changing conditions will not only be meteorological but also changes in societal, political and fresh water and food production in the region.

Your target area is the country of Bangladesh for your simulation.

As a team you will collaborate to learn as much as you can about the following:

  • the meteorological data for this region over the last century in order to establish a baseline by which to measure change by
  • positions held by environmentalists on the contentious issue of whether or not global warming is the cause of an increased frequency of extreme weather events in different areas of the Earth. You will need to discern bias in the presentation of facts on both sides of the issue through collaborative discussion with your team members and with other professional mentors whose expertise lies in this area. As a team, through intense collaborative discussion, you will have to weigh the arguments on both sides of this issue and come up with an agreed upon position supported by verifiable evidence. You must be prepared to state your group's position and defend it on this issue when called upon.
Your tasks are as follows:
  1. Gather data on the geography and the agricultural restoration potential  of the region. Choose an area of Bangladesh to conduct your test.
  2. Determine whether a domed area to re-construct a sustainable agricultural potential is feasible and draw up a plan to develop an agriculture sanctuary to re-establish viable growth of sustainable crops to feed the target population. You must be able to defend your decisions from an meteorological, hydrological, agricultural and engineering perspective.
  3. Identify the life-support systems needed in the domed enclosure to support the mission. You must be able to explain and defend the usefulness of domed structures in extreme weather events.
  4. Use Internet resources to design a detailed diagram of the domed sanctuary and be able to explain your design from a science, technological, engineering and mathematical perspective.
  5. Present an extension of your research and plan to a professional panel which discusses the issue: " Could Extreme Weather Domed Habitats Be Used to Create Domed Cities?"

Image Courtesy of Victor Hobbick/FreeDigital
 The learning outcomes for this scenario will be detailed along with those of scenario #2 after the presentation of scenario#2.

Next: Loop-Back Scenario #2 and Team Bravo

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