Did you know that the population of bees is declining? How will this affect honey? Have you ever seen a swarm of ladybugs? What happens to the ecosystem when the ladybugs invade? A monarch butterfly can migrate up to 2800 miles, but did you know the numbers of monarch butterflies migrating through the United States and Mexico has been declining over the last 15 years, by as much as 80 percent? In this class, students will become entomologists and break up into teams to investigate a current problem in the insect world, including over population, under population, and migratory patterns! Students will learn the importance of insects on their biomes, and the ripple effect of the presence or absence of certain insects on humankind.

Water is all around us, in fact, it makes up the about 70% of the Earth's surface! But rising population growth and commercial demands have placed increasing burdens on the world's water resources, not to mention the impact of pollution! With the current pace of global usage, some scientists are predicting that water will become a very valuable (and expensive) commodity. In this problem-based course, students will understand why water is being used at a greater pace than ever, learn concepts of water conservation, investigate what effect the diminishing quality of the water supply has on the broader ecosystem and discover some of the interesting properties that make water unique.

Students will work together as an investigative team created by the Mayor to solve the problem of deer over-population in the local area. In this problem-based learning experience, students are tasked with creating a solution to the problem brought forward by town residents, who are complaining that the deer are a nuisance, eating plants and spreading ticks around the town. The students are presented with the initial problem, and then determine the areas where they need further research and study. Students then begin the process of researching animal populations in order to strategize a solution to the problem. Students will put their mathematical and scientific skills to work in this in-depth exploration of population biology, honing their presentation skills through the final project, a proposal to the Mayor and town residents.