Green Thread Lesson Plan
AASC 100: Introduction to the University Experience
Fall 2011
This lesson will encourage new students to become aware of UM’s commitment to sustainability and
reflect on how this connects to their own experiences and choices. At the same time, students will
consider whether their own academic goals align well with their personal values.
Part 1: Introducing the Idea
During week 3 of our class, our reading discusses setting goals & staying motivated in college. The
reading emphasizes the importance of aligning academic goals with individual values and interests. It
goes on to compare this to the way a mission statement articulates the values that inform the programs
and strategic goals of a college or university. To illustrate this, we will consider the document, UM 2020:
Building a University for the Global Century, which offers a succinct overview of the University’s
mission, vision, core values and strategic goals. Students will be asked to examine the university’s core
values (Leadership, Diversity, Engagement, and Sustainability) and consider how these are connected to
the mission, vision and strategic goals.
Activity: Students will be assigned to small groups and asked to consider the core value of
“sustainability” and discuss the following questions:
 What is sustainability?
 Why do you think this is included as a core value of our University?
 Does this value align with the mission of the University?
 Do you see any strategic goals that emphasize this?
After a 15 minute small group discussion, I will ask each group to report their answers and facilitate a
full class discussion to explore this idea more fully. We will then Segway to the next activity where
students are asked to reflect on the alignment of their own values, mission and academic goals.
Materials/Resources:
 UM 2020 (link to brochure for class presentation):
http://www.umt.edu/planningassessmentcontinuum/plan/plandocs/2020stratplan.pdf
 Strategic Plan 2012-2020 (more information for discussion of specific goals)
http://www.umt.edu/planningassessmentcontinuum/plan/plandocs/StrategicPlan2012-2020.pdf
Learning Objectives:
 Students will become aware of UM’s commitment to sustainability
 Students will explore the idea of sustainability as it relates to higher education
 Students will reflect on their own values and academic goals and consider how alignment
between these contributes to motivation and academic success in college.
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Part 2: Exploring Campus Culture & Diversity
During week 5, students are given an assignment to explore a campus activity, event, or office and then
write a brief summary of what they explored. As a prelude to this exercise, we will discuss a reading
about the role of culture in learning and present two perspectives on multi-cultural education. Students
are asked to share examples of diversity they have noticed at UM and around Missoula and explore their
responses to this (curiosity, discomfort, etc).
Following this discussion we will explore the ASUM website and related online resources to introduce
the range of student organizations and events offered on campus. This will be an opportunity to revisit
the issue of sustainability by highlighting the ASUM sustainability office as one of several places they
might consider. We will also visit the Diversity website, which speaks to several sustainability “big
ideas;” especially cultural diversity, local-global nexus, and environmental justice.
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ASUM group listings: http://life.umt.edu/asum/student_groups/group_listing/default.php
ASUM sustainability office as one of the resources they might explore or visit:
http://life.umt.edu/asum/asum_agencies/Sustainability_Center/default.php
Include Greening UM website: http://www.umt.edu/greeningum/
Include Diversity website: http://life.umt.edu/diversity/
Part 3: Purpose of Higher Education
During week 6-7, the class will be asked to read and discuss three short essays about the purpose of
higher education. Two of these perspectives focus on the role of research and education in responding
to individual and societal needs, including career development, economic development and the
advancement of technology. The second of these goes on to argue that universities have a further role
as a critic of society to advocate for improvements and advance social equity as well. This discussion will
be an opportunity to revisit UM’s Core Values in this context as an illustrative example. Students will be
asked to consider whether UM’s commitment to “sustainability” reflects one or more of these purposes.
The larger discussion will raise the question, what is a legitimate purpose of higher education, and
explore the concept of responsibility as it pertains to knowledge and educational institutions.
Regardless of whether they agree or disagree with specific values, I will encourage them to explore
arguments on both sides of the question and search for the best evidence to support their views.
Part 4: Developing Writing Strategies
During week 9 of our class, students will explore writing strategies and the range of writing assignments
in college. This lesson features several in-class activities to provide guided practice to explore writing
techniques: free-writing, brainstorming, clustering, and fast-writing. I will modify these activities to
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emphasize the “big ideas” of sustainability, first by altering the topic to address a sense of place (rather
than a room) and then by extending the lesson with a free writing exercise based on a theme of
intergenerational thinking.
Activity:
1. Students are asked to brainstorm (individually) and then fast write about a place they remember
from their childhood. The instructor guides this by reading aloud from a script drawn from a
freshman writing handbook, The Curious Writer (Ballenger, 2008, p.17). This prompts them to
recall sights, sounds, smells, feelings, etc., and include everything they can remember as they
brainstorm.
2. Next, students are asked to circle one detail on the list that stands out (for whatever reason).
3. Next students are told to focus on the circled detail and fast write whatever this makes them
think of and keep going writing whatever they can think of for the next five minutes.
4. After the exercise, students are asked, Did anything surprise you? This leads into a general
discussion of unexpected outcomes with regard to quantity, content, and insights.
This discussion emphasizes the versatility of brainstorming and fast writing to generate ideas, while also
revealing the value of writing as a method of discovery or inquiry.
Extension:
This will be a follow-up exercise in free-writing and inter-generational thinking.
1. Ask students to envision themselves back in the place they remembered for the initial
brainstorming. Again, I will read a brief script to encourage them to look around and imagine
the sights, the sounds, the sensations all around them.
2. Next, imagine you have entered a time wrinkle and 100 years have passed in the blink of an eye.
3. What has changed? Free-write for 5 minutes to describe the place as you imagine it will be in
the future; the sights, the sounds, the feelings you would expect to experience in the same
place 100 years later.
4. After this exercise, I will ask the students to compare notes about what changed and engage the
class in a discussion about exploratory writing as a tool for developing ideas. The topical focus
will also facilitate some discussion of what we expect to be changing in the world around us. In
some cases, the places in question may be already gone; in others they may be relatively
unchanged. This will promote awareness of place and our connection to places that have
meaning for us. The larger discussion may address our expectations, reactions, and
responsibility with respect to the places that hold meaning for us.
This discussion will address free-writing as a means of generating, exploring and reflecting on ideas,
while offering an opportunity to reflect on our connection to place and practice inter-generational
thinking.
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Part 5: Critical Thinking
During week 10 of our class, we have a lesson on Critical Thinking. This emphasizes checking facts,
evaluating opinions, and recognizing errors in logic. In this lesson, I draw on YouTube videos and
Internet magazines to present students with a variety of assertions and arguments for them to
evaluate. They are asked if the claims seem credible, whether convincing evidence is offered, and
whether the arguments appear to be based on sound logic. This lesson will be adapted by introducing
a thematic focus on sustainability issues. I will draw on examples that address climate change,
environmental justice, and pollution issues.
Resources:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-february-10-2010/unusually-large-snowstorm (from 3:45)
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-december-1-2009/scientists-hide-global-warming-data (from 2:45)
(this list is still a work in progress)
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